Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Esther Bintliff

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 12h

Been to the youngest’s harvest assembly.
Theory: every primary school built pre about 1980 in Britain has some version of this equipment. It is referred to as something like ‘the apparatus’.
No one has any memory of it ever being used.

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · 2d

“All our tech businesses are turning awful,” Doctorow writes... “And they’re not dying. We remain trapped in their carcasses, unable to escape.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/b...

A Powerhouse Writer Found One Word to Change the Debate About Tech

www.nytimes.com

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 6d

As Yom Kippur ends, it is terrible that a holy day has seen people killed at a place of worship in Manchester

I hope many of us will express solidarity + support for Jews in Britain, and work with them + those of every faith and none to deepen our efforts to tackle antisemitism, hatred + extremism

To everyone in Britain's Jewish Community: you are not alone.

We will not let hate or those who spread it win.

We stand with you

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · 9d

Sign up to the newsletter here: www.nytimes.com/newsletters/...

Sign up for The World - The New York Times

A guide to understanding the news without feeling overwhelmed, made for readers around the globe.

www.nytimes.com

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · 9d

❤️ this Q&A with the incredible Katrin Bennhold, host of a new global newsletter from @nytimes.com. She's German, lives in Wales & has reported from around the world, and she brings curiosity, empathy and humility to everything she does:

Q&A: Our New Global Newsletter Host on Creating an ‘Antidote to the Overwhelm’

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Esther Bintliff

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 16d

Any journalist quoting this absurd, invented £234 billion number cited by Farage/Reform should make absolutely clear that it has been withdrawn by *its own authors* (the Centre for Policy Studies) after they admitted it contained several major errors (1/3)

Farage pledges to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants
Reform says mass deportation would save £234bn as it warns ‘Boriswave’ of migration will take critical toll on welfare system

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · 19d

A doctor who spoke with The New York Times last week was among those killed when a missile hit a mosque on Friday, as paramilitaries stepped up their brutal siege of the city of El Fasher, reports @declanwalsh.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/w...

‘Harrowing Beyond Description’: Dozens Killed While at Prayer in Sudan

www.nytimes.com

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

"Commentary *like this* about a deputy Prime Minister felt politically unsurvivable" - Chris Mason, BBC ten o'cıock news.

This script over these pictures treats vandalism & criminal damage as a legitimate form of democratic voice. The BBC should avoid doing that, esp in broader current climate

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Reposted by Esther Bintliff

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · Sep 3

Much of the current debate around speech, and the government’s response, misses the deeper issue: society’s information systems have shifted. Epistemic judgements are now shaped by algorithmic visibility rather than through gatekeeping institutions.
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Streeting says hate speech laws are having ‘unintended consequences’ after arrest of Father Ted writer – UK politics live

Health secretary says government needs to balance legislation so police are ‘not just policing tweets’ following detention of Graham Linehan over posts on transgender issues

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Esther Bintliff

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · Sep 2

How Elon Musk Is Remaking Grok in His Image

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/t...

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Reposted by Esther Bintliff

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Aug 22

The thing you don’t see about lengthy libel cases like this is the mental impact on witnesses - and on news outlets’ willingness to do similar stories.

Respect to all the women who chose to go to court to defend this story - plus Sirin Kale, Lucy Osborne, Paul Lewis and the Guardian team.

Henry Dyer @direthoughts.com · Aug 22

The Guardian has successfully defended a libel action brought by the actor Noel Clarke over an investigation by the newspaper in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women.

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/a...

Noel Clarke loses libel case against Guardian over sexual misconduct investigation

High court rejects actor’s claim that accusations against him by more than 20 women were false and part of a conspiracy

www.theguardian.com

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · Aug 16

If you listen to one thing this weekend, make it this incredibly insightful interview with @philippesands.bsky.social‬ on the history of genocide and its relevance to current conflicts

Opinion | When Is It Genocide?

www.nytimes.com

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Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · Aug 13

The unprecedented super injunction that banned reporting of the British government's Afghan data breach was in place for almost two years, and subject to numerous court hearings where the Ministry of Defence fought attempts to lift it

I asked how much it cost.

Story coming soon 🗞️

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Reposted by Esther Bintliff

Will Jennings 🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · Aug 8

Well this by @jemima.bsky.social is fascinating on multiple levels...

Sunday at the garden party for Curtis Yarvin and the new, new right

What you learn at a gathering of neoreactionaries, Very Online rightwingers and the formerly cancelled

www.ft.com

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Reposted by Esther Bintliff

molly taft @mollytaft.com · Jul 29

SCOOP from me: Trump's AI action plan released last week makes a specific set of recommendations around loosening Clean Water Act permits for data centers — recommendations mirrored in letters sent to the administration by Big Tech lobbyists earlier this year:

Big Tech Asked for Looser Clean Water Act Permitting. Trump Wants to Give It to Them

New AI regulations suggested by the White House mirror changes to environmental permitting suggested by Meta and a lobbying group representing firms like Google and Amazon Web Services.

www.wired.com

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · Jul 29

Full article here: www.ft.com/content/69d5...

The world is failing the Palestinian people

As starvation stalks Gaza, western allies must press for an end to Israeli offensive

www.ft.com

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · Jul 29

Powerful FT editorial:
"The world is failing the Palestinian people... Unless the Israeli government agrees to an immediate end to the war and a surge of aid into Gaza, western countries should be sanctioning Netanyahu and his government. They should halt all arms sales to Israel"

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Reposted by Esther Bintliff

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · Apr 21

‘The data shows that just one dose cuts the chances of measles by about 95%, and two doses do even better.’

Timely review of the data on measles vaccines from @ourworldindata.org
ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...

How effective and safe are measles vaccines?

Data from large meta-analyses show that measles vaccination is highly effective and safe, giving a 95% reduction in the risk of measles.

ourworldindata.org

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · Jul 11

Full article here - gift link

Srebrenica, a Massacre Foretold, Still Casts Its Shadow

www.nytimes.com

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · Jul 11

'I learned, covering this war, that hatred is an elixir, a potent political bomb, a seductive answer to the banality of life... It is always available to the nationalist demagogue ready to identify scapegoats, promise vengeance and whip a pliant population into a frenzy' - Roger Cohen on Srebrenica

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Esther Bintliff @estherbintliff.bsky.social · Jul 9

“They weren’t shrapnel wounds anymore — bits of them had been blown off,” she said. “Children were coming in with knees missing and feet missing and hands missing.”

@lizziedearden.bsky.social interviewed Dr. Victoria Rose, a British plastic surgeon who recently returned from Gaza.

Gift link:

A British Surgeon on What She Saw in Gaza: ‘They’re Prepared to Die for a Bagful of Rice’

www.nytimes.com

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Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · Jul 9

"People are prepared to die for a bagful of rice and a bit of pasta"

That is the assessment of a British surgeon who was among the few international witnesses to the aftermath of the first shooting near a Gaza food distribution point. Read my interview with her here:
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/w...

A Surgeon on the Desperation in Gaza: ‘They’re Prepared to Die for a Bagful of Rice’

www.nytimes.com

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Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · Jul 8

Russian agents paid a group of UK criminals to set warehouses filled with supplies for Ukraine on fire

Their next mission was to kidnap a Putin critic and burn down his Michelin-starred restaurant, but their efforts to "move clean" failed and they were caught in time
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/w...

The Wild Russian Plot to Burn a London Restaurant and Kidnap Its Owner

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Esther Bintliff

Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · Jul 1

Chart in that FT explainer on how the US tax cuts will affect different income groups www.ft.com/content/7eca...

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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Jul 1

I’m hiring a reporter for London Centric, looking for someone smart who can use a phone, knock on doors and wants to cause trouble. Don’t care if you’ve got qualifications, just want evidence of caring about news. Initial six month contract, pay above national rates. www.londoncentric.media/p/jobs

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