Paul Knott

Oggy oggy oggy! The donk-tacular dance music of Hull’s huge funfair With 600,000 people attending, Hull Fair is the UK’s biggest – and has a thrilling but overlooked musical subculture. We follow the blaring soundsystems to meet the DJs and MCs facing off in waltzer b...

For all sorts of reasons, there is nothing like Hull Fair.
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

Carole Cadwalladr was right and we’d be in a better world if more people had listened.

Along the old Silk Road, Uzbekistan takes a new turn Once remote, Uzbekistan is on a national charm offensive, seeking to attract tourists by promoting the arts

I enjoyed this trip down memory lane to Uzbekistan, which has changed since I lived there over 25 years ago. But not completely.
observer.co.uk/style/travel...

‘Perfect pro’ Farnworth gives England hope of Ashes victory Series returns after a 22-year hiatus as NRL-infused team take on Australia with new confidence

‘Perfect pro’ Farnworth gives England hope of Ashes victory trib.al/lUoRMaZ

Russia is torturing its Ukrainian captives “Worse than the worst horror film” says the former mayor of Kherson

“It’s important that people understand what they are dealing with. The biggest lesson I have learned is that you can’t negotiate with evil. And Russia is evil.” via @economist.com .
www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

Trump’s Gaza plan hinges on security force yet to take shape Thornier second stage of US president’s proposal includes Hamas’s disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal

It is a cause for some joy and a lot of relief that the people of Gaza are getting some relief from Israel's onslaught & that the Israeli hostages are being released. But caution is required in the longer run. Trump is not a details man and Netanyahu & Hamas are devious ones.
on.ft.com/46V79sM

Taking ever riskier actions is a sign of Putin's desperation and awareness that time is running out on his disastrous war on Ukraine. Russia is in deep trouble. Time to hold our nerve and step up the pressure on this evil regime. Its collapse would be the best way to bring us peace and security.

Grudging congratulations to @hullkr.bsky.social on finally ending forty years of abject failure and utter misery. (Will that do? From a @hullfcofficial.bsky.social fan). #rugbyleague #SuperLeague #GrandFinal @forty20live.bsky.social

And massive thanks to you @collinstony.bsky.social for a great book that does full justice to the brilliant Roy Francis. Buy it, people.

We know what the comedians got out of the Riyadh comedy festival. What about the Saudi regime? | Jonathan Liew The tawdry event was an ultimately doomed attempt by the Saudi government to buy the kind of authentic grassroots culture it is unwilling to countenance, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew

An outstanding one by @jonathanliew.bsky.social about the tawdry court jesters who went to perform comedy in a medieval autocracy.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

@hco96.bsky.social's "A Flower Traveled in My Blood" is a brilliant book about the horrors of Argentina's 1970's military junta & the incredible Abuelas (Grandmothers) de Plaza de Mayo. If you have people this brave & dedicated to bending it, then that arc really can be shifted towards justice.

Excellent idea. Let's help these unfortunate people to escape from their self-segregated, restrictive and insular communities.

Opinion | Someone Tipped Me Off About a Crypto Story. What I Found Was Crazy.

Someone Tipped Me Off About a Crypto Story. What I Found Was Crazy. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/o...

Time may no longer be on Russia's side.

US, EU and Chinese policies, and domestic strains, are reshaping Russia's calculus. So it is challenging Western resolve in risker ways. This is certain to escalate unless Europe responds.

www.iiss.org/online-analy...

I didn’t realise how much I loved my home town until a terrorist attacked it. I pray unity prevails there | Simon Hattenstone Last week’s attack on the synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, was also an assault on a model and diverse community, says Guardian features writer Simon Hattenstone

Crumpsall is an amazing melting pot where so many cultures, classes and religions have lived peacefully alongside each other. That mustn't be forgotten amid the horror of the Heaton Park synagogue attack
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I visited the apartment building ICE raided on Tuesday today. Story to come, but you can walk right in. Half of the apartments have no doors on them. Children's stuff abandoned in some flats. *Citizen* residents told me they were arrested and held for hours in zipties. This is America

‘Thick as Thieves’: Nathan Gill and Nigel Farage’s Putin Problem Far from being distant from the Reform UK Leader, insiders told Byline Times that the former MEP convicted of bribery was one of Farage’s closest aides, while we reveal how Gill worked on the Kremlin’...

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@bylinetimes.bsky.social can now reveal that, during the crucial period when convicted Reform leader Nathan Gill was most active, working directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most senior ally in Ukraine, he was also one of Nigel Farage’s closest confidantes 1/12

Have we passed peak social media? As platforms degrade into outrage and slop, users are turning away

I do hope so (and understand the irony of saying so on social media).
on.ft.com/46Q8Bgh

YouTube video by WION French President Macron Speaks at German Unity Day Ceremony | WION LIVE

President Macron:
“We were very naive to leave our public space to social media networks controlled by US or Chinese companies that don’t share our interests and not interested in survival of our democracies.”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MggN...

Free Radicals | Sammy Feldblum Though José Mujica did not publish much writing, his views on life and politics live on through the corpus of interviews.

Uruguay's former President José “Pepe” Mujica was one of the most interesting (and successful) politicians of recent times. It's well-worth reading and listening to his thoughts on life.
thebaffler.com/latest/free-...

Vladimir Putin is testing the West—and its unity NATO must resist Russia’s efforts to corrode it from within

"Fainthearts worry about escalation, but declining to act threatens escalation of a different kind. If Russia thinks it can get away with limited acts of aggression, something really dangerous might one day happen".
www.economist.com/leaders/2025...

Please read this piece by @rmcunliffe.bsky.social in The New Statesman. If you really must "pick a side", the pick the side of decent, caring and peaceful people everywhere and stand together with them, whoever and wherever they are.

Crucial point made (again) by @keirgiles.bsky.social @chathamhouse.org today. "It's failing to confront Russia & set boundaries that has got us into this position". Don't fall for the Kremlin's fearmongering. They live by Stalin's maxim "if you feel mush, you push. If you find steel, you withdraw".

I have nothing but disgust for these vile terrorists who arrogantly think their twisted views entitle them to murder innocent people. Deepest condolences to the victims and their families.

HOPE not hate condemn the appalling, violent attack at a synagogue in Manchester which has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Our thoughts are with the Jewish community and all affected.

Farage, Trump, Musk: your boy Javier Milei just took one hell of a beating. Why so quiet? | Aditya Chakrabortty The wild politics and chainsaw made Argentina’s president an economic hero for the right. And now, with his nation’s finances in chaos: silence, writes Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

Elon Musk: “I love Javier Milei.”

Kemi Badenoch: “Javier Milei is the template.”

Donald Trump: “My favourite president.”

Nigel Farage: "Amazing. Cutting and slashing … doing all the things he’s done … that’s leadership.”

Meanwhile... in Argentina

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It's often hard to believe that the Russians could stoop any lower. And then they do.

A world with two predatory superpowers Nations must work out how to contend with Trump’s America and China

Rather than picking their US or China poison, "Other countries should dare to pursue a more independent course, together, including on managing global public goods, such as health, climate, even security. Could the EU help lead the way?" says Martin Wolf.
In @financialtimes.com
on.ft.com/4nTsKc4

Why Trump is going for Soros The philanthropist is as close as the world’s strongmen get to a cross-border demon

read this - on revenge by Trump and backlash against @opensocietybr.bsky.social
on.ft.com/4pVuUtK Why Trump is going for Soros
by @edwardluce.bsky.social in today’s @financialtimes.com

Russia’s New Fear Factor How the war is driving a wave of purges and suicides among the country’s elites.

"There have been 56 deaths of successful businesspeople & officials under strange circumstances since February 2022. Many of them have fallen out of windows". Plus 1 million war casualties. Russians are amazingly passive in the face of their persecutor, Putin.
www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/russi...