Svenja O'Donnell
@svenjaodonnell.bsky.social
Journalist, writer, editor. Reformed lobby hack. Owned by dachshund.
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
God this poor woman must have been absolutely terrified in her last minutes www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
How the ICE shooting in Minneapolis unfolded
BBC Verify breaks down how the shooting which killed a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis unfolded.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 10:12 PM
God this poor woman must have been absolutely terrified in her last minutes www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
This is interesting because when I went for my first Covid vaccination, Farage arrived and pushed straight to the front of the queue.
Farage: "I believe in vaccinations when they're vaccinations. I don't think what happened with Covid were vaccinations. You have to keep having them every 6 months."
Conspiratorial nonsense.
Some vaccinations like Covid shots require multiple/seasonal doses because immunity fades & viruses change.
Conspiratorial nonsense.
Some vaccinations like Covid shots require multiple/seasonal doses because immunity fades & viruses change.
January 7, 2026 at 8:52 PM
This is interesting because when I went for my first Covid vaccination, Farage arrived and pushed straight to the front of the queue.
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
Great.
Now someone is going to blow Boudica's trumpet, and who knows what will then happen.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Now someone is going to blow Boudica's trumpet, and who knows what will then happen.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Thetford dig unearths Iron Age war trumpet and boar standard
The discoveries are "extraordinarily rare", say the archaeologists who helped find them.
www.bbc.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Great.
Now someone is going to blow Boudica's trumpet, and who knows what will then happen.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Now someone is going to blow Boudica's trumpet, and who knows what will then happen.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
I am extremely confused as to why the UK government and police are saying Grok’s mass-scale CSAM generation is an issue for Ofcom.
This isn’t about X failing to moderate CSAM, which is an Online Safety Act issue. It is about the company and its technology being actively involved in its generation.
This isn’t about X failing to moderate CSAM, which is an Online Safety Act issue. It is about the company and its technology being actively involved in its generation.
January 7, 2026 at 7:37 AM
I am extremely confused as to why the UK government and police are saying Grok’s mass-scale CSAM generation is an issue for Ofcom.
This isn’t about X failing to moderate CSAM, which is an Online Safety Act issue. It is about the company and its technology being actively involved in its generation.
This isn’t about X failing to moderate CSAM, which is an Online Safety Act issue. It is about the company and its technology being actively involved in its generation.
Parents of toddlers/ Anne of green gables fans: croup is just the pits isn’t it? Third sleepless night w. daughter while down with this flu/virus that’s doing the rounds myself and it feels like a particularly sophisticated form of torture
January 6, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Parents of toddlers/ Anne of green gables fans: croup is just the pits isn’t it? Third sleepless night w. daughter while down with this flu/virus that’s doing the rounds myself and it feels like a particularly sophisticated form of torture
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
“Who are you? Where am I? Why am I tied up? Why am I covered in blood? WHERE HAVE YOU TAKEN ME?”
January 4, 2026 at 1:21 PM
“Who are you? Where am I? Why am I tied up? Why am I covered in blood? WHERE HAVE YOU TAKEN ME?”
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
This is absolutely amazing. Hurray for science! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time
One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 4, 2026 at 1:27 PM
This is absolutely amazing. Hurray for science! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
We’ve all been down -toddler included- with this horrendous lurgy for a few days which is a mix of pneumonia and gastric flu. Fun times. What a way to start the year.
January 4, 2026 at 4:21 PM
We’ve all been down -toddler included- with this horrendous lurgy for a few days which is a mix of pneumonia and gastric flu. Fun times. What a way to start the year.
Perfectly put
I'm not a diplomat, but one thing I have to do regularly is to draft or help to draft public statements that parties to litigation agree as part of a settlement. There is an art to drafting something that reasonable readers can agree is clear but from which they draw irreconcilable meanings. /1
January 4, 2026 at 8:36 AM
Perfectly put
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
I'm not a diplomat, but one thing I have to do regularly is to draft or help to draft public statements that parties to litigation agree as part of a settlement. There is an art to drafting something that reasonable readers can agree is clear but from which they draw irreconcilable meanings. /1
January 3, 2026 at 10:37 PM
I'm not a diplomat, but one thing I have to do regularly is to draft or help to draft public statements that parties to litigation agree as part of a settlement. There is an art to drafting something that reasonable readers can agree is clear but from which they draw irreconcilable meanings. /1
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
Big protests going in Iran, and the state is trying to put them down with force, already killing 3.
I don't know where this is going, and the Iranian government has survived big protests before. But whatever happens, it's admirably brave when people take on violently repressive regimes.
I don't know where this is going, and the Iranian government has survived big protests before. But whatever happens, it's admirably brave when people take on violently repressive regimes.
At least 3 reported killed during widening protests in Iran sparked by ailing economy
Protests over Iran's struggling economy have spread into rural areas, with at least three people killed.
apnews.com
January 1, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Big protests going in Iran, and the state is trying to put them down with force, already killing 3.
I don't know where this is going, and the Iranian government has survived big protests before. But whatever happens, it's admirably brave when people take on violently repressive regimes.
I don't know where this is going, and the Iranian government has survived big protests before. But whatever happens, it's admirably brave when people take on violently repressive regimes.
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
In Agadoo did Kubla Khan
Push pineapples, shake the tree
Push pineapples, shake the tree
January 1, 2026 at 5:37 PM
In Agadoo did Kubla Khan
Push pineapples, shake the tree
Push pineapples, shake the tree
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
My old cat used to regularly visit a couple who were next door neighbours with Ewan McGregor’s uncle.
Please quote this with the time you didn’t interact with someone famous - eg one time I was in Cardiff the same weekend as Willem Dafoe (but I didn’t see him or even know he was there until he appeared on the telly later)
Please quote this with your major interactions with massive celebrities. eg “I was married to the pope for fifteen years”
December 30, 2025 at 2:32 PM
My old cat used to regularly visit a couple who were next door neighbours with Ewan McGregor’s uncle.
Having a relaxing Boxing Day after hosting 8 people for Christmas Eve and Christmas day by watching 80s tv adaptations of Barbara Taylor Bradford and eating leftovers on the sofa? Not for me! Husband and toddler have a stomach bug.
December 26, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Having a relaxing Boxing Day after hosting 8 people for Christmas Eve and Christmas day by watching 80s tv adaptations of Barbara Taylor Bradford and eating leftovers on the sofa? Not for me! Husband and toddler have a stomach bug.
12 hours in and my sister in law’s present to our 2 1/2 tear old- a karaoke machine- is still going.
December 25, 2025 at 8:22 PM
12 hours in and my sister in law’s present to our 2 1/2 tear old- a karaoke machine- is still going.
Merry Christmas everyone !
December 25, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Merry Christmas everyone !
Toddler had chocolate covered gingerbread for dinner and is in bed in the tulle skirt/christmas jumper and hat combo she’s been wearing all day. Almost as though it was the 90s…
December 24, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Toddler had chocolate covered gingerbread for dinner and is in bed in the tulle skirt/christmas jumper and hat combo she’s been wearing all day. Almost as though it was the 90s…
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...
Donate to Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025, organized by Rhodri Marsden
Unbelievably, it's the 15th year of this thing.
What is it?
Improbably, the nig… Rhodri Marsden needs your support for Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025
www.gofundme.com
December 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...
My pet insurance have rather randomly sent me a rubber duck that looks like it’s standing for Reform in the next council elections
December 23, 2025 at 9:17 PM
My pet insurance have rather randomly sent me a rubber duck that looks like it’s standing for Reform in the next council elections
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
*investigative journalism*
December 23, 2025 at 7:19 AM
*investigative journalism*
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
if you have small kids, here’s a cheap and easy last minute gift idea:
after they go to bed, pull your sofa out from the wall and retrieve all the toys that they pushed under there over the last year
after they go to bed, pull your sofa out from the wall and retrieve all the toys that they pushed under there over the last year
December 22, 2025 at 6:08 PM
if you have small kids, here’s a cheap and easy last minute gift idea:
after they go to bed, pull your sofa out from the wall and retrieve all the toys that they pushed under there over the last year
after they go to bed, pull your sofa out from the wall and retrieve all the toys that they pushed under there over the last year
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
This is the sweetest thing and I hope they keep hanging out periodically
December 20, 2025 at 10:31 PM
This is the sweetest thing and I hope they keep hanging out periodically
Reposted by Svenja O'Donnell
for all the women remembering holiday stuff they forgot to do because they were too busy carrying everything else 🫡
It’s become conventional wisdom that America’s young men are in crisis. The reality is more complicated than that. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
What Did Men Do to Deserve This?
Changes in the economy and in the culture seem to have hit them hard. Scott Galloway believes they need an “aspirational vision of masculinity.”
www.newyorker.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:28 PM
for all the women remembering holiday stuff they forgot to do because they were too busy carrying everything else 🫡
Coughs in German.
Whether you like it or not, it is an obvious point that a state which struggles to conquer territory with strong cultural similarities - and a recent history of voting for candidates advocating strong ties with that state - is going to get nowhere in territory where none of this applies.
December 16, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Coughs in German.