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Tim Spanner

@timspanner

News, politics, publishing, Mexico, F1 and radio in no particular order. Husband, Dad, Hispanohablante and cat owner. QRZ: M8GTS Oxford, UK

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Latest posts by Tim Spanner @timspanner

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Thousands of authors publish ‘empty’ book in protest over AI using their work About 10,000 writers including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman join copyright campaign Thousands of authors including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman have published an “empty” book to protest against AI firms using their work without permission. About 10,000 writers have contributed to Don’t Steal This Book, in which the only content is a list of their names. Copies of the work are being distributed to attenders at the London book fair on Tuesday, a week before the UK government is due to issue an assessment on the economic cost of proposed changes in copyright law. Continue reading...

Thousands of authors publish ‘empty’ book in protest over AI using their work

10.03.2026 06:08 👍 295 🔁 119 💬 6 📌 13

🤡

07.03.2026 22:28 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

This “leak” has almost certainly been fabricated in order to shore up the PM’s relationship with Trump.

I am sure he will buy into it as well.

06.03.2026 09:35 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

WTF?!

01.03.2026 21:31 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Americans, this is what you don’t understand about British manners — The i Paper Bebe Rexha's humbling at the hands of a heckler is proof of how far apart we are

apple.news/ABybpOonpR5a...

01.03.2026 10:21 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I truly feel sorry for anyone who has the misfortune to live on that road.

It has been turned into a traffic sewer to pay for the quiet mostly car free streets of Florence Park.

2/2

28.02.2026 21:06 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Hardly surprising when @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social has displaced so much traffic onto Church Cowley Road.

Like most weekends, at 3pm this afternoon there was a long queue of stationary cars belching out fumes all the way from just after the Rose Hill Junction right through to Cowley Centre. 1/2

28.02.2026 21:02 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

That’s 1 failing @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social road surface fixed, just 57,125 more to go. 🕳️

26.02.2026 16:52 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

It’s very confusing but yes, as I understand it, it will no longer be possible to buy a return or day ticket with cash, so anyone paying with cash on the bus will have to buy the more expensive single tickets.

22.02.2026 23:15 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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La caída del Mencho desata una ola de violencia del narco en varios Estados de México Las autoridades reportan bloqueos, enfrentamientos y quema de vehículos en al menos cinco entidades, tras el operativo en el que cayó Nemesio Oseguera

🔴 URGENTE | La caída de Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho”, ha desatado una ola de violencia en al menos cinco entidades de México

22.02.2026 18:12 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Understood, however that’s still £6 into the city centre and back, even from within the ring road, which is an awful lot of money for many.

22.02.2026 17:44 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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🔴 ÚLTIMA HORA | México mata a Nemesio Oseguera, ‘El Mencho’, el narco más buscado en un operativo de seguridad dozz.es/jtk4w34

22.02.2026 17:36 👍 8 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 1

So £6 return for those who pay in cash, who are often the poorest?

22.02.2026 13:24 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Fare Changes from 22nd February 2026 From Sunday 22nd February 2026 we’ll be making a number of changes to our tickets and fares.

Bus passengers in Oxford no longer have the option of buying return tickets. From today, Oxford Bus Company is following Stagecoach in discontinuing return tickets within the SmartZone area (which includes the town of Kidlington), except for Park & Ride journeys. www.oxfordbus.co.uk/fare-changes...

22.02.2026 12:57 👍 1 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
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‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

'She has a message for other tourists considering a trip to America: “Don’t go – not with Trump in charge. It’s totally out of control over there. There’s no accountability. They don’t seem to need a reason for detaining you.”'
#ICE
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

21.02.2026 12:47 👍 2349 🔁 988 💬 126 📌 89

Correction: £51 million!

21.02.2026 11:48 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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a man in a suit and tie is making a funny face while holding a glass of wine . ALT: a man in a suit and tie is making a funny face while holding a glass of wine .

There are many things Cllr. Gant could have said in response to the PM, but Oxfordshire County Council being “well run”…

20.02.2026 12:13 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Will Cllr. Gant be showing the PM around his flagship Eynsham Park and Ride project, completed in 2024 at a cost of £32 million and which costs taxpayers £10k a month in maintenance, yet still isn’t connected to the road network?

20.02.2026 11:55 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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UK has not given US permission to use RAF bases for Iran strikes It comes as US President Donald Trump criticises Sir Keir Starmer's deal to hand over the Chagos Islands.

UK has not given US permission to use RAF bases for Iran strikes

19.02.2026 21:29 👍 33 🔁 11 💬 0 📌 0

Life comes at you fast.

19.02.2026 20:54 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

bsky.app/profile/andr...

The only disgraceful thing is the state of Oxfordshire’s road network under this individual’s watch at @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social

19.02.2026 20:35 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Carlos III es el rey del Reino Unido, no solamente Inglaterra.

19.02.2026 15:54 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Never struggle to occupy myself for half an hour in beautiful #Oxford - the first pic is the view that’s said to have inspired CS Lewis to write the Mr Tumnus scene in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. #travel #oxfordshire #radcliffecamera

13.02.2026 14:16 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
A plate of British cottage pie sits on a wooden counter next to a plate of mashed potatoes and a small bottle of Batts Sea Salt. A stainless steel pipe and Russel Hobbs branding are visible in the background.

A plate of British cottage pie sits on a wooden counter next to a plate of mashed potatoes and a small bottle of Batts Sea Salt. A stainless steel pipe and Russel Hobbs branding are visible in the background.

British cuisine. Best in the world.

15.02.2026 15:13 👍 45 🔁 4 💬 9 📌 1
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WATCH: Trump, EPA's Zeldin announce end of scientific basis for U.S. action on climate change The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressiv...

Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules. Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change—all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money.

12.02.2026 19:46 👍 27777 🔁 11819 💬 2079 📌 1021

🤡

12.02.2026 19:51 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Petition: Allow radio operators to install antennas & masts without planning permission Reform planning laws to allow licensed amateur radio operators to install antennas and masts without planning permission, to support innovation, skills, and emergency communications.

Click this link to sign the petition "Allow radio operators to install antennas & masts without planning permission"

petition.parliament.uk/signatures/1...

Thanks,

10.02.2026 19:10 👍 7 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
Aerial night-time view of Oxford city centre, with the Radcliffe Camera in the foreground lit in warm yellow light. Surrounding historic college buildings glow against the dark sky, with church spires and rooftops stretching into the distance.

Aerial night-time view of Oxford city centre, with the Radcliffe Camera in the foreground lit in warm yellow light. Surrounding historic college buildings glow against the dark sky, with church spires and rooftops stretching into the distance.

A stunning view of Oxford at night 😍

📷 Instagram | DrTSuleymanov

08.02.2026 17:22 👍 90 🔁 11 💬 3 📌 1

I wonder how many people of all ethnicities that identify as being English, say so because they mistakenly think they have “English” citizenship and an “English” passport.

My guess that it would be a high proportion, which underlines why there is a strong education and social class element to this.

05.02.2026 19:27 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

This issue goes to the core of why I always describe myself as British, even though I am white and grew up in England.

It’s such a more inclusive term than English.

05.02.2026 18:40 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0