Thomas Sorlie

a man in a red vest is standing next to a man in a white robe Alt: Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in the movie Back to the Future (1985)

Enjoy!

Tonight's viewing.

I'm all about the limited re-releases of classic films! 🎥🎬

@moremovies.co.uk
@letterboxd.social

After being persecuted for decades, Jafar Panahi could win an Oscar The Iranian director has been jailed and banned from filmmaking. Will the acclaim for “It Was Just an Accident” protect him — or make him a target once again?

Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been jailed and banned from filmmaking. Will the acclaim for his latest, the stirring “It Was Just an Accident,” protect him from authorities, or make him a target once again?

Syria’s Shibani says no concrete progress in integration talks with Kurds Syria’s foreign minister cites a “positive trajectory,” but Damascus and Kurdish officials remain deadlocked despite US-brokered efforts to unify the country’s political and military structures.

“The discussions with the SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] are continuing. There are no positive or practical steps [taken so far],” Shibani told Al-Monitor on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue Conference in Bahrain. “In general, the trajectory is positive,” Shibani added.

Al Monitor

They were promised a lifeline to 'graduate' from poverty. Then it was taken away Thousands of South Sudanese refugees and impoverished locals in Uganda saw a brighter future with a new USAID-funded project. They'd get $205 and coaching to build a business. Then came the cuts.

"When you're in a problem and someone helps you, you will never forget that person."

@npr.org

No spoils of war: Syria’s new ruler lays down the law to loyalists Sharaa has launched a crackdown on corruption as he attempts to transform an insurgent movement into a functioning government

"The message delivered to loyalists points to a critical challenge facing the 43-year-old president, according to Syrian officials and analysts: how to pivot from an insurgency to a civilian government without replicating the endemic corruption of Assad’s reviled police state."
@timesofisrael.com

How al-Qaida-linked jihadist group JNIM is bringing Mali to its knees Political instability and fuel shortages caused by rebel group is driving Mali to brink of becoming Islamist republic

“Before 31 December, a coup will happen in the Sahel,” the former official continued. “Mali will go first and then you’ll have the same domino effect that we’ve seen between 2020 and 2023, with all of these countries falling one after the other.”

@theguardian.com

Turkey to call for action on Gaza from Muslim countries | The Jerusalem Post Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to call a meeting with ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Pakistan, and Indonesia to discuss action on Gaza.

The source said Fidan was expected to "emphasize the importance of coordinated action by Muslim countries for the ceasefire to evolve into a lasting peace."

@thejerusalempost.bsky.social

Tanzania: President Samia Hassan’s grip on power has been shaken by unprecedented protests The regime once seemed untouchable. Now anything feels possible.

"By putting her main rival Tundu Lissu on trial for treason and barring others from contesting the presidency, Hassan has crossed autocratic thresholds that other leaders have not. Activists have been arrested, brutalised or disappeared."

@theconversation.com

"The assault came just a day after the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that this year’s olive harvest in the occupied West Bank has been the most violent since 2020, with Israeli settlers and soldiers vandalising more than 4,000 olive trees."

US looks to build ‘new Gaza’ on half of Strip under IDF control, but faces pushback Plan to build half a dozen residential regions on eastern side of Yellow Line for up to 1 million people receives chilly reception from some potential donor countries in the Gulf

US looks to build ‘new Gaza’ on half of Strip under IDF control, but faces pushback

Plan for 5-6 residential regions on east side of Yellow Line for 1 million receives chilly reception from Gulf donor countries

@jacobmagid.bsky.social

www.timesofisrael.com/us-looks-to-...

Mnangagwa’s third term bid foments violence | ISS Africa The ruling party’s decision to extend President Mnangagwa’s second term in office is inflaming tensions in Zimbabwe.

"Zimbabwe Council of Churches General Secretary Kenneth Mtata warned in a statement that Mnangagwa’s bid to extend his term would undermine all his efforts to re-engage the world and bring Zimbabwe in from the cold."

Institute for Security Studies

Sudan: Foreign ministers decry 'apocalyptic' atrocities – DW – 11/01/2025 The civil war in Sudan has not received enough global attention, the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain and Jordan said. Doctors Without Borders fears for tens of thousands after the fall of el-Fas...

"This is something we have known for months, if not years, and the international community has been more or less silent," WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told DW.

@news.dw.com

This should be the biggest news story in the world right now

Palestinian property torched, olive harvesters assaulted in separate settler attacks Assaults near villages of Far’ata, Jaba and Burin come amid surge in West Bank settler violence during olive harvest season, with near-daily reports of attacks on residents

"There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank, particularly settler violence, which has been taking place on a near-daily basis with little to no police enforcement against perpetrators."

@timesofisrael.com

Trump threatens Nigeria with potential military action, escalates claim of Christian persecution U.S. President Donald Trump says he’s ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he's ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria as he stepped up his criticism that the government is failing to rein in the persecution of Christians in the West African country.

Trump to host al-Sharaa in first-ever visit by a Syrian president to White House, official says President Donald Trump will host Ahmad al-Sharaa for talks, a first-ever visit by a Syrian president to the White House. That's according to an administration official.

President Donald Trump will host Ahmad al-Sharaa for talks, a first-ever visit by a Syrian president to the White House, an administration official said Saturday.

Fast, Vicious, and Sweet was the name of my old law firm.

If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, “guns-a-blazing,” to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities. I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!

Old: The US might illegally attack Venezuela.

New: The US might illegally attack Nigeria.

If the republic falls, what will historians say was the Rubicon moment for the United States?

Ph.D.

Mali has not just plunged into crisis. It has been unraveling for years. Mali faces deep political, economic, and security crises, with military fragmentation, jihadist threats, and strained international ties.

"Today’s Mali tells a different story. Ethnic tensions in the central and northern regions, amplified by military abuses, have shattered intercommunity trust..."

@atlanticcouncil.bsky.social

Inside the divides of Iraq’s Coordination Framework—and why they matter ahead of landmark elections The November election will not necessarily determine who the next prime minister will be, but it will provide an opportunity to shift power dynamics within the fractious Shia bloc.

"The ultimate prize following elections is the leadership of the government. This is where matters become complicated. The selection of prime minister and the formation of the government has always been a fraught and prolonged process."

@atlanticcouncil.bsky.social

"An investigation by the federation into 571 referees in the Turkish professional leagues revealed on Monday that 371 of them had sports betting accounts and 152 were actively betting."

Egypt's Grand Museum opens, displaying Tutankhamun tomb in full for first time The launch of the billion-dollar site sees fresh calls for the return of antiquities held in museums overseas.

"The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), described as the world's largest archaeological museum, is packed with some 100,000 artefacts covering some seven millennia of the country's history from pre-dynastic times to the Greek and Roman eras."

BBC News

Iran grapples over social freedoms after war with Israel Some elements of the Iranian state are in favour of relatively relaxing controls, while others wish to cede no ground.

“Pragmatists within the state are just offering their own frustration, which is of zero value, and at best pointing out, as the president has, that he won’t enforce laws that the majority of the country opposes, like the hijab law,” she said.

@aljazeera.com

South Africa hits back at US plan to favour white Afrikaner 'refugees' Pretoria rubbishes claims of a white genocide and quotes prominent Afrikaners who dub Trump's plans racist.

"South Africa's latest crime statistics do not indicate that more white people have fallen victim to violent crime than other racial groups."

BBC News Africa

Tanzania President Hassan wins disputed election amid deadly protests Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan won a landslide election victory, official results showed Saturday. The opposition Chadema party, barred from taking part in the poll, said that hundreds of peo...

"The final result showed Hassan won 97.66 percent of the vote, dominating every constituency, the electoral commission announced on state television."

@france24.com