Quentin Sommerville

Beirut on a clear day

Lakkis farms

Vintage Lebanon travel posters from pan American Airlines

Beirut, where east meets west

Baalbek Roman ruins

Baalbek

A ginger cat on a chair

The Ukrainians staying home - despite Russian attacks - BBC Sounds The BBC's Quentin Sommerville has been meeting people in Donetsk.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

As Russian forces advance, Ukrainians in Donbas must choose to stay or go In Bilozerske, eastern Ukraine, people must make the agonising decision to flee or risk staying.

#BBCNews - As Russian army inches closer, Ukrainians must decide to stay or go
www.bbc.com/news/article...
By @sommervilletv.bsky.social
#UkraineWar

A cat in your face

When you’re trying to write

She rules the roost

A cat on a knee

Tabitha belongs to no man

A brown Labrador on a wooden floor.

Our Frank

Ukrainian postage stamps illustrated with a camera journalist and correspondent under fire

The Mission: Truth postage stamp of the Heroic Professions series is a symbol of gratitude to those who make the truth heard, who risk their lives to defend us from the enemy with the power of truth. This stamp issue is a tribute to the memory of media professionals killed by Russia.

Dani Garavelli · Dance in the Rain: Sturgeon comes out swinging It’s hard to articulate what Nicola Sturgeon’s feminism meant to someone like me who moved back to Scotland in the...

"In the de-Sturgeonisation process that took place in the wake of her resignation..her relatability, gravitas & high approval ratings were forgotten; her managerialism, insularity & lack of transparency stressed." I wrote about Sturgeon's memoir & attempt to reclaim the narrative in the @lrb.co.uk

Strangely reassuring

Donetsk hound

They’re being well looked after by a nine year old and his family.

Some kittens in a box

Three kittens in a box

And a box of kittens

Three overwhelming puppies

A puppy invites tummy rubs

Snarling pup submits

Relentless Ukrainian assault

Let’s pretend it’s an everyday occurrence
Wordle 1,533 2/6

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YouTube video by BBC News Ukraine frontline report: fighting rages in Donetsk region as Putin demands full control | BBC News

Watch: Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region is on the frontline of the military and diplomatic battle over the country’s future. Our latest from Donbas. youtu.be/g1HM7-Vu_Wg

Inside Donetsk as residents flee attacks on Ukrainian region Putin wants to control Quentin Sommerville follows volunteers carrying out evacuations in eastern Ukraine as drone attacks rage.

Read: Inside Donetsk as residents flee attacks on Ukrainian region Putin wants to control www.bbc.com/news/article...

Peace Changed the Village Where War Changed Me

Peace Changed the Village Where War Changed Me www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/w...

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Apply by Mon 1 Sept, noon (UK time)
More info: buff.ly/FTCNDd1

The complex question of what it is to be culturally Irish in 2025 Ed Sheeran grew up in England but described himself as 'culturally Irish,' prompting debate about what that really means

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

This is a very good piece.

When you are, to quote Starmer, the result of a squalid experiment doing untold damage to the UK then what do you self-define as?

Living your life in opposition to a culture is unsustainable so how do you find/make/sustain your own?

First group of Syrian refugees returns home from Lebanon under new UN plan The first group of Syrian refugees has returned home from Lebanon under a new plan developed by the United Nations and the Lebanese government.

First group of Syrian refugees returns home from Lebanon under new UN plan

apnews.com/article/leba...

Desperation of people in Gaza is visible from space in extraordinary image from Planet Labs PBC captured on Saturday afternoon showing crowds on and around aid trucks north of Morag Corridor. The same scene is visible at street level in numerous videos like this one: www.instagram.com/p/DMkmVvNo6nj/

A FT analysis has identified a number of detention facilities housing hundreds more people than they were designed to hold. The experience has left lasting scars. https://on.ft.com/3IAh26M

War zone surgeon David Nott: ‘Life is all about taking calculated risks’ [FREE TO READ] The doctor who’s saved countless lives through his work in Ukraine and Gaza on operating under fire, the challenges of PTSD — and his belief in God

In Ukraine, some people with tourniquets can’t escape because drones are waiting to kill them. “There are so many people [in] Ukraine now with tourniquet syndrome, because the tourniquet’s on for more than six hours. They’re all getting very high arm amputations, leg amputations.” on.ft.com/3TKYraF

“The River House Broke. We Rushed in the River.” The July 4 Texas flooding ripped our Kerr County home from its pillars, pulling us into the water and into the night. Then morning came.

“Alissa managed to keep both kids on the countertop, one hand on each, still trying to reassure them. As the house came undone, she grabbed one in each arm. This is the part that will forever haunt me. If I or anyone else had been closer to them, we would have helped her”

How Syria’s Dictator Buried His Victims A cemetery near Damascus was transformed into an industrial-scale mass grave for Syrians who opposed President Bashar al-Assad.

How Syria’s Dictator Buried His Victims www.nytimes.com/interactive/...