Fact and fiction: Raynor Winn won’t talk to us. But here... After our exposé of the inaccuracies behind a couple’s walk to salvation, their defence raises new questions

The #SaltPath saga continues with this excellent follow-up piece by @chloehadj.bsky.social, addressing Raynor Winn’s rather shifty explanatory note issued this week. Still many unanswered questions & more creditors emerging.

observer.co.uk/culture/book...

I got a tip off...

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😂

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The real Salt Path: how the couple behind a bestseller le... Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. We can reveal it was far from the truth

Penniless and homeless, Raynor and Moth Winn found fame with their story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. The Salt Path became a global bestseller and was adapted into a major film.

But we can reveal it wasn’t the whole truth.

@chloehadj.bsky.social

Read more:

The real Salt Path: how the couple behind a bestseller le... Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. We can reveal it was far from the truth

I spent months on this investigation and gathered docs from the UK courts, Land Registry and a French local authority, to show that Raynor and Moth Winn's story is not as they claim. @tortoisemedia.bsky.social @observeruk.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

The accuser accused | The Observer The British barrister, the Netanyahu arrest warrant and the sexual assault case that could destroy the International Criminal Court

With brutal wars raging in Gaza, Sudan & Ukraine, the world’s war crimes court is needed more than ever — but it’s facing an existential crisis.

Karim Khan KC, Chief Prosecutor at the ICC, faces serious allegations of sexual misconduct.

🧵 @chloehadj.bsky.social

bit.ly/43LIAgs

Victim...Or Hero? Lucky Boy investigates how toxic masculinity warps memory, and why the inevitable the death of one geriatric cat created two victims in The Final Days of Sgt Tibbs

Yup, it's time to interrogate toxic masculinity....the thing that feels like it overwhelms my newsfeed, touching everything from auto parts to red wine.

From @tortoisemedia.bsky.social , journalist @chloehadj.bsky.social deftly dives into these murky waters

open.substack.com/pub/bingewor...

Gripping podcast on female-on-male child sexual abuse from @chloehadj.bsky.social - #CSA and the abuse of power damages people, often for years - no ifs and buts. Plus - yet again - the school knew, didn't act. #MandatoryReporting @mandatenow.bsky.social

Gareth | Lucky Boy Ep1 Gareth spent years believing he was a lucky boy. He was the 14-year-old who got the attention of the attractive young science teacher. Now, decades later, he wants the truth to come out about the dama...

Gareth’s whole life has been defined by a relationship he had as a 14-year-old schoolboy with an attractive young teacher at his school.

🗣️ @chloehadj

Listen to the first three episodes of Lucky Boy now: lnk.to/LuckyBoyBS

Gareth spent years believing he was a lucky boy.

He was the 14-year-old who got the attention of the attractive young science teacher.

In our latest series series, @chloehadj.bsky.social asks who gets to be a perpetrator and a victim.

Listen to Lucky Boy now: lnk.to/LuckyBoyBS

@chloehadj.bsky.social first called me about this story back in early 2024. As she laid the details over the phone I was astounded: a 14-year-old boy had a 'relationship' with his 27-year-old female teacher but no one wanted to see him as a victim of sexual abuse.

Tortoise signs deal to buy The Observer

Tortoise is pleased to announce that it has signed a deal to buy The Observer from The Guardian Media Group and The Scott Trust.

Read more ⬇️ torto.se/3Bw2br1

For Syria followers this is not a surprise- grave diggers were telling us about daily deliveries of trucks full of bodies years ago. Very few were listening.

After spending 5 Months in jail, whaling activist Paul Watson has been released.

Last month, @basialc.bsky.social and @xaviergreenwood.bsky.social looked into Paul Watson's story and asked: how should we treat the radicals willing to go to extremes to protect the planet?

Listen: lnk.to/XeyG1iBS

An investigation into AI companions by my incredible colleagues @paticlarke.bsky.social and @mattrussell3.bsky.social has been selected by the Pulitzer Center as one of their stories of 2024!

They say it's "a compelling and important piece of journalism"

👏 👏 👏

Chuffed to see Who Trolled Amber, which I made w/ Alexi Mostrous (not of this parish), named one of Amazon Music’s best new shows of 2024.

Hugely grateful to @tortoisemedia.bsky.social which gives space for deep coverage not always possible in the rush of 24h news.

open.spotify.com/episode/4okm...

Assad's final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight Bashar al-Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed. Instead, aides, officials and even relatives were deceived or kept in the dark, more than a dozen people with knowledge of the events told Reuters.

🧵 On Assad's escape.

"Hours before he escaped for Moscow, Assad assured a meeting of about 30 army and security chiefs at the defence ministry on Saturday that Russian military support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold out"

He deceived his own loyalists
www.reuters.com/world/middle...

The ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad has revealed the full scale of how he used the prison system to lock up, torture and execute his opponents.

What do we now know about what went on?

Listen: lnk.to/yFIx2mBS

Like Tortoise? You'll love our people.

Here's our Bluesky starter pack for those who work across Tortoise ⬇️

go.bsky.app/7qe26Xi

The News Meeting: The end of the house of Assad Tortoise News · Episode

There was only one story to pitch in today's News Meeting: Syria and the fall of Assad. But how should journalists cover such a momentous moment?

Fantastic to be joined by Loose Women's @charlenewhite.bsky.social and Tortoise's own @chloehadj.bsky.social 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/1brv...

Most Syrians know – or know of – someone jailed by their deposed dictator.

As the Assad regime relinquishes control of Syria, hundreds of people have been flooding to its prisons hoping to find their loved ones.

✍️ @chloehadj.bsky.social

Read more: torto.se/41oJM9V

Families flock to Syria’s prisons looking for released inmates - Tortoise Prisoner releases bring joy, but also stories of horror

Today's Sensemaker on Syrian prisons is brilliant by @chloehadj.bsky.social. Can't stop thinking about Adnan, jailed for 21 years after beating President Assad’s brother in a horse race. Or Ali, who vanished from a checkpoint when he was 18 and emerged days ago aged 57.

shorturl.at/fAPM2

Uniforms of Syrian soldiers from the dictator Bashar al-Assad’s army, abandoned as they fled Damascus. A historic image marking the end of the dictator and his army.

Just stunned by the speed of events in the last few days. Source in the Kremlin saying Assad and his family are in Moscow and have been granted political asylum.

"Jolani is best understood as a Syrian cut from the same cloth as the Assads: brutal, cynical and triangulating...He is a cunning person; two-faced; adores himself." #Syria

Syria’s rebels say Assad forces ‘melted away’ - Tortoise That doesn’t mean Assad will give up power. But he is acutely vulnerable

www.tortoisemedia.com/2024/12/03/s...

Brilliant interactive data base by @tortoisemedia.bsky.social political and data team is so fun to play with and offers real insight into the House of Lords.