Brieg Powel

Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die July 21, 2025 AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip since its staff journalists left in 2024. Along with a few others, they are now the only ones left to report what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The international press has been banned from entering the territory for nearly two years. We refuse to watch them die. One of them, Bashar, has been working with AFP since 2010, first as a fixer, then freelance photographer, and since 2024, as lead photographer. On July 19th he managed to post a message on Facebook: “I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can’t work anymore.” Bashar, 30, works & lives in the same conditions as all Gazans, moving from one refugee camp to another under Israeli bombings. For > a year he’s lived in utter destitution, working at extreme risk to his life. Hygiene is a major issue for him, with recurring bouts of severe intestinal illness. Since Feb, Bashar’s been living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his mother, 4 brothers & sisters and the family of one of his brothers. Their house is devoid of any furnishings, except a few cushions. On Sunday morning, he reported that one of his brothers had “fallen, due to hunger.” Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, it’s no longer enough to buy food, or they have to pay completely exorbitant prices. The banking system has collapsed, and those who exchange money via online bank accounts charge a commission of up to 40%. AFP no longer has the ability to provide them with a vehicle and there is not enough fuel to allow these journalists to travel for their reporting. Driving a car means becoming a target for Israeli airstrikes. AFP reporters therefore travel on foot or by donkey cart. (alt txt continued in next post)

A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"

Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:

Israel levelling thousands of Gaza civilian buildings in controlled demolitions - BBC News Investigation by BBC Verify using satellite images and verified footage to show the extent of destruction in Gaza, where the Israeli military have carried out demolitions to raze entire towns and subu...

Just when you think the destruction in #Gaza can't get any worse. Good BBC investigation into deliberate demolition of entries Palestinian towns. Reveals that emolitions have significantly accelerated in the last 3-4 months in what are suspected "war crimes"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

I think my great grandfathers (from Somme to 1918), 2 great uncles (1 KIA in Arras, 1 so ill mentally after being gassed that he *never* slept a full night after 1916), 2 grandfathers (1 in Burma as infantry Lt, 1 RAF ground in UK), 2 grandmothers in industry & agriculture would agree you

According to the Dinah Project, the documented patterns - such as forced nudity, gang rapes, genital mutilation, and threats of forced marriage - indicate a deliberate and coordinated use of sexual violence by Hamas operatives during the attack.

The Dinah report is now published, on the widespread use of sexual violence by Hamas during the October 7th attack, consistent with earlier investigations by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC), and likely a deliberate coordinated strategy.

news.sky.com/story/widesp...

Record air bombardment of #Ukraine by #Russia last night. Straight after #Trump agreed to restart supplies to Ukraine & questioned #Putin 's sincerity

The proposals are 2% on income *above* a threshold (like £10m). So if you had £11m you would only pay the 2% on the £1m (therefore £20k tax)

Moving the Population in Gaza is a Manifest War Crime We wrote this essay to fulfill our human, conscientious, and civic duty, as Israelis – and as Zionists – who have expertise in areas related to the IDF’s order.

1/ A remarkable essay by two eminent Israeli scholars

"We wrote this essay to give [former IDF chief of staff's] words legal backing... We felt compelled to fulfill our human, conscientious, and civic duty, as Israelis – and as Zionists – who have expertise in areas related to the IDF’s ... order."

From economy of occupation to economy of genocide - (A/HRC/59/23) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (Advance unedited... To learn more about Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and the Question of Palestine, click here to visit the dedicated webpage. Human Rights Council Fifty-ninth session 16 June–11 July...

UN Special Rapporteur: #Israel has moved from an "economy of occupation" to an "economy of genocide" in #Gaza
www.un.org/unispal/docu...

Israel’s Deadly Assault on Iran Prison Incites Fury, Even Among Dissidents

Full story here (pay wall): www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/w...

This from the @nytimes.com on #Israel's bombing of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. They targeted the visitor centre & the wing holding transgender prisoners. Around 100 transgender prisoners remain missing, presumed killed whilst 79 others from across the prison already confirmed killed

😂

Edrych ymlaen at ei weld! Hapus i ddarllen drafft os ti moyn

Thanks!

Diolch!

Really insightful piece this, highly recommended

Russia expanding chemical weapons use in Ukraine, say European spy agencies The Dutch and German secret services say there is strong evidence that Moscow is using the choking agent chloropicrin.

The Dutch and German secret services say there is strong evidence that Moscow is using the choking agent chloropicrin.

Somewhat reassured that the man who I thought was a spitting image of George Monbiot I saw crossing the road in front of me, stuck at a traffic light by the Exeter university campus, was in fact, George Monbiot.

BTW, interesting 🧵 from the man himself here 👇

BBC Open Letter | PDF | Bbc | Gaza Strip An Open Letter to BBC Management, Written by BBC Journalists and Signed by Media Industry Professionals

Just when there was a much bigger story about another letter, penned by their own journalists and staff, expressing concern with the Beeb's problematic coverage of #Gaza
www.scribd.com/document/883...

‘Shock and grief’ as senior doctor killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza Marwan al-Sultan, a renowned cardiologist and director of the Indonesian hospital, is the 70th healthcare worker to be killed by Israeli attacks in the past 50 days, says Palestinian medical organisat...

Marwan Al Sultan, cardiologist a
& Director of the Indonesian hospital in #Gaza is *70th* health worker killed in last 50 days in the territory
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

BBC Open Letter | PDF | Bbc | Gaza Strip An Open Letter to BBC Management, Written by BBC Journalists and Signed by Media Industry Professionals

Here's the text of the open letter protesting against the BBC's coverage of #Gaza. Robbie Gibb comes under particular scrutiny
www.scribd.com/document/883...

@cais-exeter.bsky.social

Historicizing the Global AbstractThis chapter challenges the preoccupation (“chronofetishism”) of international–political–sociological scholarship with the present. The rare studie

Delighted that my chapter 'Historicizing the Global' in the weighty Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology is now out in both print & ebook!

Huge thanks to the editors Stacie Goddard, @georgelawson.bsky.social , & Ole Jacob Sending for the hard work
doi.org/10.1093/oxfo...

Terrific new handbook on International Political Sociology, a what's what and who's who in the field:

"The Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology"
eds. Stacie E. Goddard, George Lawson, and Ole Jacob Sending

global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Book Launch: Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology

Interested in all things IPS? Join us for our online book launch featuring Co-Editor Ole Jacob Sending and Discussant Ingvild Bode on June 16 at 2 pm (CEST).

Details for the @dvpw.bsky.social event: www.dvpw.de/gliederung/a...

Not sure this profile quiz was designed for my diet...

www.idrlabs.com/food-choice/...

Populism, the International and Methodological Nationalism: Global Order and the Iran–Israel Nexus - Shabnam J Holliday, 2020 This article contends that the international is integral to populism. Thus, it calls for populism scholarship to embrace the interconnectivity between the domes...

A reminder in @polstudies.bsky.social of how long the #Iran - #Israel conflict has been in the making and the implications for global order. By @shabnamholliday.bsky.social
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Congratulations to @yazidbenhadda.bsky.social from @cais-exeter.bsky.social
for passing his PhD viva yesterday. Yazid explored legacies of colonial policing & migration in Europe & N.Africa

Thanks to examiners @fionaadamson.bsky.social & Martin Thomas, and lead supervisor @irenefmolina.bsky.social

Timely contribution 👇

What a time to be alive. The president of the United States doing battle damage assessment via sketchy OSINT accounts. I had blocked this particular account some time ago.

ChatGPT's Impact On Our Brains According to an MIT Study The study, from MIT Lab scholars, measured the brain activity of subjects writing SAT essays with and without ChatGPT.

'ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.”...ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.'
time.com/7295195/ai-c...