John Lubbock

Chris Murphy: "I think it's likely the United States that carried out this attack on this school. I think it's unforgivable under any circumstances, but the fact this was one of our first targeting decisions speaks to the incompetence of our leadership at the Dept of Defense."

New video footage shows a US Tomahawk missile hitting an IRGC facility in Minab, Iran, on Feb 28, showing for the first time that the US struck the area. The footage also shows smoke already rising from the vicinity of the girls’ school, where 175 people were reportedly killed, including children.

CNN correspondent inside Iran:

The people who shout loudest about Jesus while doing none of the things he commanded are the worst charlatans. Thank you for your service to humanity.

Yesterday's strike on Tehran fuel depots caused a spill that sent burning fuel flowing through the capital's street drains, triggering additional fires across the city. #Iran

My mum has a Ukrainian lodger whose brother was just kidnapped by Ukrainian army recruiters and forced into the army. This war has gone on long enough and cost too many lives and needs to end.

With the enshittification of everything technological that I once loved, the appeal of all things analog and offline is getting irresistible…

Footage from Chinese social media site Weibo shows hundreds of Iranian missiles raining down on Israel.

Rapper-politician Balendra Shah set to be Nepal's next prime minister Thursday's general election was the first since violent youth-led protests toppled the government in September.

Is Nepal’s new PM the first rapper to hold high political office? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It’s great when American dudes have names like ‘Markwayne’.

Unemployment set to hit 5.3% this year amid ‘worrying’ rise in young jobless OBR raises forecast from 4.9% and downgrades UK’s growth prospects for 2026 – while also warning of war uncertainty

Again, the government should get directly involved in accelerating those things. If the market is not supplying the right number of solar/heat pump installers, while we have rising unemployment, it's an obvious case of where the govt needs to act. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

I know, I used to cover renewables as my job! But the point I was making is that we need faster rollout.

He only quit the Greens after he was suspended for transphobia. A matter of days ago, he was claiming that the Greens want to dish out "puberty blockers like confectionery."

What despicable little man.

British and French solar generation hit new records UK solar generation records have continued to tumble this year, with a new record of 14GW being set this week

You're right, their total capacity is 1200 GW, my mistake. And you're also right that UK solar is around 22 GW. Thanks for correcting me, though I think the point still stands that we are lagging behind China badly. solarenergyuk.org/news/british...

TKL The Kobeissi Letter •5m BREAKING: US oil prices surge above $86/barrel for the first time since April 2024. Qatar is now warning that prices could hit $150/barrel. 85.91 84.00 82.00 80.00 78.00 76.00 74.00 72.00 70.00 68.00 66.00 64.00 62.00 60.00 58.00

⚠️ US oil prices surge above $86/barrel for the first time since April 2024.

This is why the FT is miles better than the Economist.

Incredibly normal to be banging on the door of the Quakers repeatedly but allowing literal organisations such as Britain first to stalk homes of refugees and domestic violence survivors every weekend.

Totally normal is this government. Not worried at all.

Axel Springer buys Telegraph in £575mn deal German media group has gatecrashed a proposed acquisition by the owner of the Daily Mail

Axel Springer has agreed to buy the Telegraph for £575m in a move expected to derail the proposed acquisition of Daily Mail owner DMGT, The Financial Times reports www.ft.com/content/e5cb...

Basically two groups in Labour right now:

-soft left types starting to realise they followed the herd when they probably shouldn't have and are thinking they might have fucked it.

-Blue Labour types, grenade in one hand, pin in the other screaming that if they're going you're going with them

Collage of the top three: Black-and-white profile portrait of a woman with short wavy hair, wearing a light-collared dress. Black-and-white portrait of a young woman in traditional Japanese attire, facing forward. Black-and-white portrait of a young woman with hair pinned back, wearing a dark dress with decorative trim.

Here's a question for you: Why do you think the oldest people in history are overwhelmingly women?

On average, the 100 oldest women have lived several years longer than the 100 oldest men. See the patterns yourself (and consider what longevity really means) ➡️ w.wiki/DrAK

Female athletes must pay £185 to prove their sex Matt Lawton - Chief Sports Correspondent British female track and field athletes are being asked to pay £185 for a sex test if they want to compete internationally. World Athletics requires all athletes to take an SRY gene test before competing in the female category at major championships and Diamond League events to guarantee fair competition by excluding trans and DSD (differences of sex development) competitors. Before the World Championships in Tokyo last September, World Athletics gave $100 per test for the thousand or so female athletes needing one. More money will be provided by the international federation for this year’s World Junior Championships. But British women have been advised by UK Athletics (UKA) to pay for the test themselves, urging them to have the cheek swab, which indicates the presence of a Y chromosome, “as soon as possible to avoid delays around selection”. However, some women have complained it is unfair when the test is not required for men. UKA has a hardship fund to pay for the test and will assess requests on a case-by-case basis. But the situation is symptomatic of a national federation already facing financial challenges, made worse by UK Sport cutting its funding for this Olympic cycle. While almost £32 million was given to the relatively niche sports that won five medals at last month’s Winter Olympics, athletics has had its funding cut from £22.18 million to £20.45 million despite winning ten medals in 2024. It was only last year UKA returned to some form of financial stability, posting a profit of £107,588. But it is now facing a big fine after admitting corporate manslaughter over the death of Abdullah Hayayei, who died in 2017 after a metal cage fell on him while he was training for the World Para Athletics Championships in London.

"Feminism" [Times]

Literally the same thing keeps happening and we are sitting twiddling our thumbs while China built 1200 GW of solar capacity in 2025. The UK has 18 GW total.

Invest directly in building out renewable production. Stop relying on the private sector to build all your infrastructure. Use government to do what government is supposed to do. Thatcherism has made us weak and unable to deal with global and national problems.

The Kurdish Freedom Struggle Is Facing a Crucial Moment Abdullah Öcalan’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party is engaged in high-stakes negotiations with the Turkish government over a peace settlement. The outcome will shape the future for Kurds throughout the region...

Given how important Iran’s Kurdish minority groups are within the wider conflict, I’m going to re-up this article I wrote in December interviewing some of the main leaders of Iranian Kurdish group PJAK. jacobin.com/2025/12/ocal...

I’ve gone to a Peep Show quiz but it’s really difficult.

Todd @ Why are we bothering with the Strait of Hormuz when we could simply do this? Explain it to me like I'm 5. Canal RIOS 508 MOUNTAIN HARD AND BIG, WATER NO UP. MANY MANY DIG DIG.

Trump on the Iranian leadership:

They are wasting their time. Khamenei's son is a lightweight.

I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy in Venezuela.

Source: Axios

Left can't resist being on wrong side of a war Whether it's Jeremy Corbyn or Zack Polanski, their foreign policy stances terrify voters outside core supporters

Well, here’s the thing about being antiwar as an ethical belief: it means you end up opposing most wars. Almost all of them, in fact. This is quite common in people who have consistent beliefs but looks insane to people who have none, or mostly just believe superior people should make the decisions.

A post on r/Kurdistan with a Kurdish flag in the middle and a cycle that starts at the top with 'America arms Kurds' then an arrow to 'Kurds fight', another arrow to 'America betrays Kurds', and then another arrow to 'Kurds: 'Never again'', and then an arrow back to the first 'America arms Kurds', and so on...

The circle of life, Middle Eastern edition.