Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Iain King @iainbking.com · 1d

What’s WIC?

Iain King @iainbking.com · 1d

Very well put - yes, absolutely. I wish voices like yours got more coverage.

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 3d

Given it’ll be a key divide in the next election, that we have plenty of advanced warning, and learning from Brexit, it would be good to have an authoritative compare-and-contrast on what the two options - leave or remain - would entail before the vote

Iain King @iainbking.com · 4d

I’ve not watched BBC news for a week. It’s far too obsessed with immigration. I haven’t missed it.

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 7d

Quoted from my 2006 book on Kosovo, but named as 'Liane King'
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Trump's Gaza peace plan sounds promising in theory, but clashes with reality on the ground

In Exchange for the Immediate Release of Hostages, Trump's Plan Excludes Israel's Primary Objective of the War: Destroying Hamas. Although Hamas Will Not Serve in Gaza's Interim Civil Administration, ...

www.haaretz.com

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 10d

How? Don’t you need an academic affiliation in your email address?

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 11d

Excellent article on how smart phones are creating a post-literate society, with all the grim consequences that entails (by James Marriot):

substack.com/@nickcohen/n...

Nick Cohen (@nickcohen)

Brilliant piece. Every word rings true “Politics in the age of short form video favours heightened emotion, ignorance and unevidenced assertions.”

substack.com

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 12d

Profumo? (62 years ago)

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 12d

The most senior British politician guilty of illegally aiding a hostile foreign power since… WW1?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Reform UK's ex-Wales leader Nathan Gill admits pro-Russia bribery

Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Iain King

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 20d

There is “absolutely no evidence” that Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to negotiate peace in Ukraine, Sir Richard Moore, the outgoing chief of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, said Friday in a speech.

Britain spy chief says he sees no evidence Putin wants to negotiate peace in Ukraine

The head of Britain's foreign intelligence agency says there is "absolutely no evidence" that Russia's Vladimir Putin wants to negotiate peace in Ukraine.

bit.ly

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 20d

Given the degree to which algorithm on X is skewed for a particular political agenda, there’s a strong case for a mass shift to here. But how? (X is the QWERTY keyboard of the 21st century)

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 21d

And the numbers are going in the wrong direction, as the concentration of private school educated people in senior roles increases.

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 21d

I think in the 1920s, it switched from Liberal to Labour just on the numbers. (But would need to check)

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 21d

Excellent rebuke of Russia by the Polish foreign minister, Radek Sikorsky:

www.linkedin.com/posts/jaanik...

Still one of the best russian propaganda debunkings and more timely than ever. By the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radoslaw Sikorski responds to the russian ambassador in UN Security… | Jaan...

Still one of the best russian propaganda debunkings and more timely than ever. By the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radoslaw Sikorski responds to the russian ambassador in UN Security Council...

www.linkedin.com

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 21d

Privately educated people are already over-representated in senior positions; the shock is that the numbers are getting worse, and Britain becoming less meritocratic:
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Privately educated still have ‘vice-like grip’ on most powerful UK jobs

Those in top roles are five times as likely to have been to private school than general population, study finds

www.theguardian.com

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 21d

Excellent work by Canada to counter bad activities which seek to rile, fragment and implode our democracies and open societies:

www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/...

Combatting foreign disinformation and information manipulation

www.international.gc.ca

Iain King @iainbking.com · 25d

It’s possible to be fully in favour of free speech and also concerned about the unfair distribution of opportunities to make use of that right.

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 27d

www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

Violent crime plunges 13% in London as homicide rate less than Paris and Berlin

Despite there being ‘tens of thousands of fewer victims,’ Mayor of London Sadiq Khan acknowledged that ‘one death and one crime will always be too many’

www.standard.co.uk

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Iain King @iainbking.com · 27d

This is exactly what AI is for

becca laurie @imbeccable.bsky.social · 27d

if you thought captchas couldn’t possibly become worse, i have upsetting news for you

a captcha with that says “drag the pipe to fix fhe water pipes from the tank to the faucet”

Iain King @iainbking.com · 28d

Most British political trivia questions need only a small tweak for them to end with, ‘And Winston Churchill’

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Iain King @iainbking.com · Sep 8

I agree. The site is much less user-friendly than it was when Observer contact was with the Guardian. (I search for Andrew Rawnsley on this site each week, and then use that to access other columnists too).

Iain King @iainbking.com · Sep 7

www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/...

US Holocaust museum removes anti-genocide post amid Gaza atrocities

Holocaust Museum LA says the post was misinterpreted as a ‘political statement’ and promises to ‘do better’.

www.aljazeera.com

Iain King @iainbking.com · Sep 7

Is this genuine? It appears that a holocaust museum was forced to apologise for asserting that no group should be targeted for genocide. Surely this can’t be real… anyone?

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Iain King @iainbking.com · Sep 7

I’m sorry. If it’s any consolation, this happens quite a lot (and has happened to me): systematic, bad reviews of books arranged before publication, and issued by people who could not have read it. There are market incentives for this, and it’s awful.

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Iain King @iainbking.com · Sep 7

If a UK political party bans serious journalists from its annual conference (which seems to have happened this weekend), shouldn’t other serious journalists stay away in protest?

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