Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Brieg Powel

@briegp.bsky.social

1.4K followers 1.5K following 150 posts

Personal account. World politics, theory, global history, conflict, football coach (UEFA C), Exeter Uni academic, Stoke Hill AFC, Swansea Jack 🦢🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Jul 1

Delighted that my chapter 'Historicizing the Global' in the weighty Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology is now out in both print & ebook!

Huge thanks to the editors Stacie Goddard, @georgelawson.bsky.social , & Ole Jacob Sending for the hard work
doi.org/10.1093/oxfo...

Historicizing the Global

AbstractThis chapter challenges the preoccupation (“chronofetishism”) of international–political–sociological scholarship with the present. The rare studie

doi.org

1 4 12

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · 4h

Gone a bit quiet 😔

Reposted by Brieg Powel

Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 9d

Here is Nathan Gill in 2014 blaming the EU for Russia advancing on Ukraine

Nathan Gill pled guilty to accepting bribes from Russia to promote a pro Russia anti EU position

He started in UKIP, joined the Brexit Party, then Reform UK

Here's what he said at the European Parliament

31 220 350

Reposted by Brieg Powel

David Rothkopf @djrothkopf.bsky.social · 15d

Any journalist or commentator who writes a wrap-up of this speech that suggests that any of it was normal, worthy of respect, not absolutely deranged, not an insult to the audience, not an embarrassment for the US, should be relieved of their jobs.

54 410 1.4K

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Sep 5

Er...buses? Trams? Metros? Come on @economist.com , you're better than this

The Economist @economist.com · Sep 5

Will the absence of robotaxis in Europe mark the moment its citizens notice how far their continent has fallen behind?

Robotaxis will be the Sputnik Moment for a declining Europe

A slow-motion car crash on Europe’s roads

econ.st

Reposted by Brieg Powel

Grumpy Philosopher @stevecooke.org · Sep 5

Nick Gibb was awarded a BA in Law in 1981 & trained as an accountant. Hence, he's enormously well qualified to comment on the quality of education research. No irony at all in his criticism of the sector as 'out-of-touch, ideological and lacking rigour'.

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · Sep 5

“University education research was, and it still is, very abstract, not decipherable to policymakers and not of the quality that you saw with scientific research.”

Nick Gibb speaks to @jgro-the.bsky.social #highered #EduSky

Nick Gibb: education faculties ‘absent from schools revolution’

Longest-serving education minister explains why he ignored ‘abstract’ and ‘ideological’ academic research in fight to improve school performance

www.timeshighereducation.com

1 1 4

Reposted by Brieg Powel

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · Sep 5

Reform and X are not Britain, as John Curtice shows, though this loud minority voice thinks it is

Migration bad for economy?
32% of public - but 73% of Reform

Bad for our culture?
31% of public - 81% of Reform

Rights for ethnic minorities have gone too far?
18% of public - but 49% of Reform

29 230 460

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Aug 14

Report also notes how Iran abused the survivors

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Aug 14

More on the story today as a @hrw.org report finds that the strike was an "apparent war crime" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Israeli airstrikes on Tehran killed inmates in ‘apparent war crime’ – report

Human Rights Watch also finds that Iran abused survivors of June attack, which killed 80 people

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Brieg Powel

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Aug 11

'Just 40,900 students entered to take history, compared with 41,900 taking economics and 43,000 for physics. Maths remains the most popular A-level with 105,000 entries this year, up by more than 4% compared with 2024.'

Both 'Just' and 'career-related' doing heavy lifting here. 1/2

A-level results in England expected to return to near pre-pandemic levels

Career-focused subjects such as business studies and economics to surpass traditional academic disciplines like history in popularity

www.theguardian.com

7 26 89

Reposted by Brieg Powel

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · Jul 21

A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"

Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:

Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die
July 21, 2025

AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip since its staff journalists left in 2024.

Along with a few others, they are now the only ones left to report what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The international press has been banned from entering the territory for nearly two years.

We refuse to watch them die.

One of them, Bashar, has been working with AFP since 2010, first as a fixer, then freelance photographer, and since 2024, as lead photographer. On July 19th he managed to post a message on Facebook: “I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work anymore.”

Bashar, 30, works & lives in the same conditions as all Gazans, moving from one refugee camp to another under Israeli bombings. For > a year he’s lived in utter destitution, working at extreme risk to his life. Hygiene is a major issue for him, with recurring bouts of severe intestinal illness.

Since Feb, Bashar’s been living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his mother, 4 brothers & sisters and the family of one of his brothers. Their house is devoid of any furnishings, except a few cushions. On Sunday morning, he reported that one of his brothers had “fallen, due to hunger.”

Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, it’s no longer enough to buy food, or they have to pay completely exorbitant prices. The banking system has collapsed, and those who exchange money via online bank accounts charge a commission of up to 40%.

AFP no longer has the ability to provide them with a vehicle and there is not enough fuel to allow these journalists to travel for their reporting. Driving a car means becoming a target for Israeli airstrikes. AFP reporters therefore travel on foot or by donkey cart. (alt txt continued in next post)

55 3.6K 5.7K

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Jul 18

Just when you think the destruction in #Gaza can't get any worse. Good BBC investigation into deliberate demolition of entries Palestinian towns. Reveals that emolitions have significantly accelerated in the last 3-4 months in what are suspected "war crimes"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

Israel levelling thousands of Gaza civilian buildings in controlled demolitions - BBC News

Investigation by BBC Verify using satellite images and verified footage to show the extent of destruction in Gaza, where the Israeli military have carried out demolitions to raze entire towns and subu...

www.bbc.co.uk

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Jul 16

I think my great grandfathers (from Somme to 1918), 2 great uncles (1 KIA in Arras, 1 so ill mentally after being gassed that he *never* slept a full night after 1916), 2 grandfathers (1 in Burma as infantry Lt, 1 RAF ground in UK), 2 grandmothers in industry & agriculture would agree you

Reposted by Brieg Powel

Adam Squires @adsquires.bsky.social · Jul 12

The Dinah report is now published, on the widespread use of sexual violence by Hamas during the October 7th attack, consistent with earlier investigations by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC), and likely a deliberate coordinated strategy.

news.sky.com/story/widesp...

According to the Dinah Project, the documented patterns - such as forced nudity, gang rapes, genital mutilation, and threats of forced marriage - indicate a deliberate and coordinated use of sexual violence by Hamas operatives during the attack.

4 15 39

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Jul 9

Record air bombardment of #Ukraine by #Russia last night. Straight after #Trump agreed to restart supplies to Ukraine & questioned #Putin 's sincerity

Olga Onuch @oonuch.bsky.social · Jul 9

Last night Russia bombarded Ukraine

741 areal targets including a RECORD 728❗️drones @ 13⚠️ missiles

Reports included a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile - which reaches its target in mere minutes.

A friend “it was loud but I tried to sleep” - she means in a basement on a cold floor

Others weren’t so lucky

Image of blaze after Russian attack on Ukraine. “Text says 728 drones. Russia launches record number of Drones at Ukraine”

2 3

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Jul 9

The proposals are 2% on income *above* a threshold (like £10m). So if you had £11m you would only pay the 2% on the £1m (therefore £20k tax)

Reposted by Brieg Powel

Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · Jul 8

1/ A remarkable essay by two eminent Israeli scholars

"We wrote this essay to give [former IDF chief of staff's] words legal backing... We felt compelled to fulfill our human, conscientious, and civic duty, as Israelis – and as Zionists – who have expertise in areas related to the IDF’s ... order."

Moving the Population in Gaza is a Manifest War Crime

We wrote this essay to fulfill our human, conscientious, and civic duty, as Israelis – and as Zionists – who have expertise in areas related to the IDF’s order.

www.justsecurity.org

10 230 490

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Jul 8

UN Special Rapporteur: #Israel has moved from an "economy of occupation" to an "economy of genocide" in #Gaza
www.un.org/unispal/docu...

From economy of occupation to economy of genocide - (A/HRC/59/23) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (Advance unedited...

To learn more about Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and the Question of Palestine, click here to visit the dedicated webpage. Human Rights Council Fifty-ninth session 16 June–11 July...

www.un.org

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Jul 7

Full story here (pay wall): www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/w...

Israel’s Deadly Assault on Iran Prison Incites Fury, Even Among Dissidents

www.nytimes.com

Brieg Powel @briegp.bsky.social · Jul 7

This from the @nytimes.com on #Israel's bombing of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. They targeted the visitor centre & the wing holding transgender prisoners. Around 100 transgender prisoners remain missing, presumed killed whilst 79 others from across the prison already confirmed killed