James Barr

Striking F-14s is risky under international law, intentionally destroying historical antiquities is a war crime

TOP TIP: get round the problem of no plan surviving contact with the enemy by having no plan.

“I want them remaindered”, you said sinisterly.

People in India queued outside cooking gas distribution centers amid fears of a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas, as concerns over energy supplies grow following the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. reut.rs/4uhywYZ

The twelfth imam would be prouder

I've been thinking about this: presumably it is perfectly possible for the ayatollah not to show his face, and a lot of followers to be fine with it.

I was in a 2 hour briefing today on the Iran War. All the briefings are closed, because Trump can't defend this war in public.

I obviously can't disclose classified info, but you deserve to know how incoherent and incomplete these war plans are.

1/ Here's what I can share:

TOP TIP: get round the problem of no plan surviving contact with the enemy by having no plan.

Hope he’s wearing his Tena Pants

Great intro to Daniel Finkelstein's column www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Yes, I was just wondering who might have given her that.

She goes on to say:

"Why is he asking our allies to do what we should be doing ourselves? I say to Labour MPs that we are in this war whether they like it or not. What is the Prime Minister waiting for?"

So she is arguing we should be doing what the US/Israel is doing- attacking Iran.

Hansard.

The problem is that she isn’t that bright but thinks she is.

"The US has taken offensive action to destroy missile launch sites to defend British territory. Why will the Prime Minister not allow the RAF to do the same?"

hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026...

Trump increasingly looks like a man with a leg caught in a man-trap.

This very straight news piece buried deep within the FT never uses words like corruption or insider dealing but every detail is quietly devastating. Why is the FT virtually alone in the UK media in covering this important story?

Pleased with this thoughtful and interesting review of my book:

@terrystiastny.bsky.social

Get one of your donors to offer Farage use of his light aircraft on the campaign trail.

Literary Review - For People Who Devour Books Book reviews by Philip Womack

PSA: if like us you are on the lookout for children's books, then @philipwomack.bsky.social's reviews for the Literary Review are available here, for free. We've had a lot of joy following his tips

Hegseth’s press conferences or parades of hostages to fortune as I prefer to call them.

What I love about Reddit is that you get these wonderful glimpses into completely sealed epistemic chambers on the same site. If you dropped this screengrab on r/AskHistorians I think it might kill someone. Certainly it would cause several ulcers.

note that it's the right-wing parties, who have complained that UK should have joined US strikes on Iran, who are now also demanding the Labour government steps up household help with energy bills

My review of Scott Anderson's superb book.

A graphic showing the paperback Don't Steal This Book: A Plea from Authors.

AI companies build their products by copying millions of books without permission or payment. We are urging the UK government to rule out legalising this large-scale theft.

We – along with almost 10,000 authors – are supporting #DontStealThisBook.

Find out more here: www.dontstealthisbook.com/

Bluesky - You won’t believe what the UKs defence attaché to the UAE is??

Sandy Sandilands! They send him to the land of sand!

Today, we're publishing Don't Steal This Book - a (mostly) empty book from almost 10,000 authors, protesting the theft of their work by AI companies.

🧵 1/3

Golf club firm owned by Trump’s sons merges with drone manufacturer

What an odd thing to happen.

“Let bygones be bygones”
said no Ayatollah ever

🚨🚨It's out on Thursday!🚨🚨

If you're not much of a reader you can get the audiobook. Twelve and a half hours of my uninterrupted voice... 😳
www.amazon.co.uk/Elemental-Ge...