Recent piece for @ocmedia.bsky.social on Georgian animation, with photos by Poppy Askham:

oc-media.org/dancing-fabr...

On my way back to Italy I stopped in Chambéry, capital of the Savoyard state before it was moved to Turin in 1562. If things had gone differently between 1500 and 1860, this could have been the capital of a small but significant bilingual European state, a sort of alpine Brussels...

Who is Vladimir Medinsky, Russia’s chief negotiator in Turkey?

Read my mini profile of Putin's bespectacled aide in Istanbul in
@thetimes.com live blog as we keep you updated on the proposed Russia-Ukraine negotiations as they progress.

www.thetimes.com/world/russia...

Really pleased to have a piece in the most recent issue of
@indexoncensorship.org
about a cinematographer from Yemen and his beautiful film about music, resilience and joy

His final photo was of the bomber that killed him: the last journalist to die before Assad fell

Anas Alkharboutli was fatally injured in a missile attack just four days before Assad fled to Russia. Colleagues and friends tell of his life.
@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

An excellent and fascinating interview from @antonialangford.bsky.social and Ms. Magee! I would encourage people to read it to learn about culture and activism in #Belarus.
www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/03/02/m...

"The biggest tragedy is that all of our mistakes could be possible again because we don’t remember. This play is a way of training the audience to stay human."

With Heather Magee, I interviewed the Belarusian playwright Andrei Kureichik for The Moscow Times.

www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/03/02/m...

Israel has killed 110 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced, in case another reminder was needed of which lives matter and which don't. Fairly sure if 110 Israelis had been killed we wouldn't be hearing that the Palestinian groups had kept to the ceasefire deal

‼️ Warning: The following content contains explicit wording.

Radio Liberty interviewed women after they had been arrested and collected the dehumanizing, insulting, sexually assaulting remarks and actions police officers used against them:

#TerrorinGeorgia 1/

"The conjuring trick, rhetorically, for every successful candidate is the extent to which he can maintain outsider status after an emphatic victory. That was the conundrum of Trump’s second inaugural."

✍️Our founder Philip Collins in The Spectator today:

www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...

The Draft is now on Bluesky - give us a follow!

Georgia’s new pro-Moscow president is determined to fight his own people – meanwhile, his pro-EU predecessor has left office and gone into the streets to join the protests

#Background #stories | #GeorgianProtest #Georgia #SouthCaucasus #FBPE #NAFO
"The diaspora Georgians fighting for their homeland" by @antonialangford.bsky.social via @ocmedia.bsky.social
oc-media.org/the-diaspora...

On Day 21 of protests in Georgia, thousands are still gathering each night to demand a European future and protest disputed election results.

My piece in @prospectmagazine.co.uk today

"People are not scared — they’re getting angrier and angrier"

Posting this very belatedly, but proud to have written this for @ocmedia.bsky.social last week on the Georgians who travelled thousands of miles home to take part in protests.

oc-media.org/features/the...

“People died on the journey here. Do you think we would take that risk for a free breakfast, lunch and dinner?”

My piece in The Mill on the asylum seekers housed in a hotel in Altrincham and the deluge of far-right activity surrounding their arrival.

manchestermill.co.uk/p/at-the-hea...