Richard Colebourn
@colebourn.bsky.social
Europe Regional Director for BBC News. Likes: Europe news, Italy, climate + tech stories, Middle East, Afghanistan, community, meaningful online conversation
2024 was the deadliest for Russian forces since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine - at least 45,287 people were killed. The latest BBC Russian investigation into Russia's invisible losses by Olga Ivshina: www.bbc.com/news/article...
27 lives per kilometre: How Russia suffered record losses in Ukraine in 2024
Last year was the deadliest for Russian forces since the start of the full-scale war with at least 45,287 killed.
www.bbc.com
May 5, 2025 at 7:51 AM
2024 was the deadliest for Russian forces since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine - at least 45,287 people were killed. The latest BBC Russian investigation into Russia's invisible losses by Olga Ivshina: www.bbc.com/news/article...
Many congratulations to Andrew Harding and the BBC team in Europe whose reporting on the deadly people smuggling across the English Channel has been nominated for an Emmy
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC tracks down man behind Channel crossing which killed Sara, 7
After the BBC saw a girl die in a small boat off France, we found the man who arranged the deadly trip.
www.bbc.com
May 2, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Many congratulations to Andrew Harding and the BBC team in Europe whose reporting on the deadly people smuggling across the English Channel has been nominated for an Emmy
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
How TikTok became central to an extraordinary election scandal in Romania that is being closely watched from Washington to Brussels to Moscow. Great piece from BBC World Service and BBC Trending www.bbc.com/articles/cqx...
Romanian elections: TikTokers and an election scandal
The BBC speaks to Romanian influencers, implicated in the unprecedented cancellation of an EU election
www.bbc.com
April 30, 2025 at 9:29 AM
How TikTok became central to an extraordinary election scandal in Romania that is being closely watched from Washington to Brussels to Moscow. Great piece from BBC World Service and BBC Trending www.bbc.com/articles/cqx...
Journalists from BBC Russian are facing serious threats under the country’s foreign agents legislation. Listen to editor Sergei Rakin on the challenges facing Russian journalists from the BBC and other organisations www.bbc.co.uk/sounds...
Over to You - The challenges facing the BBC’s Russian service - BBC Sounds
The editor of BBC News Russian explains the impact of being labelled “foreign agents”
www.bbc.co.uk
April 19, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Journalists from BBC Russian are facing serious threats under the country’s foreign agents legislation. Listen to editor Sergei Rakin on the challenges facing Russian journalists from the BBC and other organisations www.bbc.co.uk/sounds...
#Ukraine may have signed a minerals deal with the US but is it actually going to buy a sustainable peace as a result? @jameswaterhouse.bsky.com reports www.bbc.com/news/article...
Trump's threat makes Ukraine mineral deal look like business move
As Trump threatens to walk from peace talks, a mineral deal looks unlikely to offer Ukraine security.
www.bbc.com
April 19, 2025 at 8:11 AM
#Ukraine may have signed a minerals deal with the US but is it actually going to buy a sustainable peace as a result? @jameswaterhouse.bsky.com reports www.bbc.com/news/article...
The hard right League Party - whose leader Matteo Salvini is Italy’s deputy PM - is using AI generated fake images of violent incidents committed by ethnic minorities in its political communications reports @lorenzo_tondo www.theguardian.com/...
Italian opposition file complaint over far-right party’s use of ‘racist’ AI images
Centre-left parties slam ‘racist, Islamophobic and xenophobic’ faked images posted on social media by League party
www.theguardian.com
April 19, 2025 at 8:00 AM
The hard right League Party - whose leader Matteo Salvini is Italy’s deputy PM - is using AI generated fake images of violent incidents committed by ethnic minorities in its political communications reports @lorenzo_tondo www.theguardian.com/...
It's a seriously big week for the Italian-American relationship. Meloni in the White House yesterday. Today JD Vance is in Rome. But will one of the most influential Catholics in the world meet with Pope Francis? www.bbc.com/news/art...
JD Vance heads to Rome - could he meet Pope Francis?
The US vice-president will meet Italy's prime minister but an audience at the Vatican could also happen, the BBC learns.
www.bbc.com
April 18, 2025 at 11:08 AM
It's a seriously big week for the Italian-American relationship. Meloni in the White House yesterday. Today JD Vance is in Rome. But will one of the most influential Catholics in the world meet with Pope Francis? www.bbc.com/news/art...
Fear and resistance in Russian occupied regions of #Ukraine - a rare snapshot of life inside: www.bbc.co.uk/news/a...
Ukraine war: ‘Russians are even trying to ban our holidays' - life in occupied territories
Ukrainians in Russian-held land tell the BBC about the difficulties of life under occupation.
www.bbc.co.uk
April 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Fear and resistance in Russian occupied regions of #Ukraine - a rare snapshot of life inside: www.bbc.co.uk/news/a...
I am a month late, but this programme by my friend Sarah Birke is one of the smartest things I’ve heard on Syria after Assad. A portrait of Damascenes in a space between processing and reconciling the history of their shattered city and country economist.com/podcas...
Damascus, divided
How more than a decade of war has changed Syria’s newly liberated capital
economist.com
April 12, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I am a month late, but this programme by my friend Sarah Birke is one of the smartest things I’ve heard on Syria after Assad. A portrait of Damascenes in a space between processing and reconciling the history of their shattered city and country economist.com/podcas...
“The question is whether Americans can ever understand that we are living in a continuous experience that has no end,” Kissinger said. “[As Europeans] we knew that we were living in a continuous history. It never comes to an end.” Great read: on.ft.com/43QWEXJ
The last grand strategists: what Brzezinski and Kissinger could teach Trump
Living parallel lives, they counselled presidents and changed the course of the cold war. How would they steer America today?
on.ft.com
April 12, 2025 at 8:06 AM
“The question is whether Americans can ever understand that we are living in a continuous experience that has no end,” Kissinger said. “[As Europeans] we knew that we were living in a continuous history. It never comes to an end.” Great read: on.ft.com/43QWEXJ
Fantastic being back in Perugia for the International Journalism Festival - energising and inspiring - and great conversations with amazing journalists from Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, Azerbaijan and beyond @journalismfestival.com
April 11, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Fantastic being back in Perugia for the International Journalism Festival - energising and inspiring - and great conversations with amazing journalists from Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, Azerbaijan and beyond @journalismfestival.com
More immediate military aid for Ukraine seems to be back on the agenda as 50 allies of the country meet in Brussels today - the US not attending, in person at least. £450m from the UK. BBC reporting live from NATO HQ www.bbc.com/news/liv...
Ukraine war live updates: UK announces further £450m military support as 50 countries to meet in Brussels
The UK and Germany are convening a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group aimed at "piling pressure" on Vladimir Putin.
www.bbc.com
April 11, 2025 at 7:27 AM
More immediate military aid for Ukraine seems to be back on the agenda as 50 allies of the country meet in Brussels today - the US not attending, in person at least. £450m from the UK. BBC reporting live from NATO HQ www.bbc.com/news/liv...
German government agreed but challenge for Merz seems immense: revolutionary defence and debt expansion, economic weakness, demand for rapid infrastructure improvements and AfD now polling one point ahead of his party for first time www.bbc.com/news/art...
Germany is back, says Merz, after sealing government deal
The chancellor-in-waiting's conservatives have reached a coalition agreement with Germany's Social Democrats, five months after the last government collapsed.
www.bbc.com
April 10, 2025 at 7:45 AM
German government agreed but challenge for Merz seems immense: revolutionary defence and debt expansion, economic weakness, demand for rapid infrastructure improvements and AfD now polling one point ahead of his party for first time www.bbc.com/news/art...
Ursula von der Leyen has just welcomed Trump’s tariff pause: ‘Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function.’
April 10, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Ursula von der Leyen has just welcomed Trump’s tariff pause: ‘Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function.’
Has President Zelensky's international diplomacy failed to keep track with changing politics in the US and Europe? Great read from @jameswaterhouse.bsky.social on the Ukrainian leader under pressure www.bbc.com/news/art...
War has changed Zelensky - but now is the time to transform again
How have the last three years shaped Ukraine's wartime president and where does he go from here?
www.bbc.com
April 10, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Has President Zelensky's international diplomacy failed to keep track with changing politics in the US and Europe? Great read from @jameswaterhouse.bsky.social on the Ukrainian leader under pressure www.bbc.com/news/art...
Great piece by @ionewells.bsky.social on how important Ecuador is for flows of cocaine to Europe, often involving Albanian mafia bbc.com/news/article...
Tracking the world’s major cocaine route to Europe - and why it’s growing
The UK is now a major market for cocaine in Europe - and that's affecting people around the world.
bbc.com
April 9, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Great piece by @ionewells.bsky.social on how important Ecuador is for flows of cocaine to Europe, often involving Albanian mafia bbc.com/news/article...
Italy's Meloni to meet Trump on April 17th in Washington - can Europe’s ‘Trump whisperer’ pull off a diplomatic coup? www.reuters.com/world/italys...
Italy's Meloni to meet Trump on April 17 for tariff talks
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to the United States next week for talks on tariffs with U.S. President Donald Trump, her office said on Tuesday.
www.reuters.com
April 8, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Italy's Meloni to meet Trump on April 17th in Washington - can Europe’s ‘Trump whisperer’ pull off a diplomatic coup? www.reuters.com/world/italys...
The EU is an economic powerhouse and a market to rival the US - but will political divisions limit its response to Trump’s tariffs? Katya Adler analysis - www.bbc.com/news/article...
How will the EU respond to Donald Trump's tariffs?
The EU has enormous economic clout as the biggest single market in the world, but does not want to risk a backlash.
www.bbc.com
April 4, 2025 at 6:52 AM
The EU is an economic powerhouse and a market to rival the US - but will political divisions limit its response to Trump’s tariffs? Katya Adler analysis - www.bbc.com/news/article...
Assad’s fall brings joy and the call of home - lovely piece from Asser Khattab on the uprising in Syria and the exile experience Assad’s fall brings joy and the call of home on.ft.com/4getNjf
Assad’s fall brings joy and the call of home
Exiled journalist Asser Khattab on what the news from Syria means to its diaspora
on.ft.com
December 15, 2024 at 7:40 PM
Assad’s fall brings joy and the call of home - lovely piece from Asser Khattab on the uprising in Syria and the exile experience Assad’s fall brings joy and the call of home on.ft.com/4getNjf
Must read by Kim Ghattas - yes recent Mid East history cools hope. But when my father in law from Aleppo expresses such joy despite years of grief - ‘the future will be fine’ - who am I to disagree? Need to guard against hopeless pessimism not just naive optimism on.ft.com/4gteP92
How Syria broke the world and is now Iran’s Achilles heel
Helping Damascus stretched Tehran’s capabilities, while Russia exploited perceived western weakness
on.ft.com
December 10, 2024 at 11:43 AM
Must read by Kim Ghattas - yes recent Mid East history cools hope. But when my father in law from Aleppo expresses such joy despite years of grief - ‘the future will be fine’ - who am I to disagree? Need to guard against hopeless pessimism not just naive optimism on.ft.com/4gteP92
www.bbc.com/news/article... Germany and UK sign agreement to toughen action against those facilitating people smuggling across the Channel based in Germany. Follows five month investigation into legal loopholes by BBC’s Jess Parker and team
Germany to tighten people-smuggling law in UK deal
The Joint Action Plan sees Germany commit to making it easier to prosecute those facilitating people-smuggling to the UK.
www.bbc.com
December 10, 2024 at 8:56 AM
www.bbc.com/news/article... Germany and UK sign agreement to toughen action against those facilitating people smuggling across the Channel based in Germany. Follows five month investigation into legal loopholes by BBC’s Jess Parker and team
Brilliant reporting from BBC World. Service this morning including Barbara Plett-Usher from Damascus
December 8, 2024 at 8:48 AM
Brilliant reporting from BBC World. Service this morning including Barbara Plett-Usher from Damascus
Breathtaking news. Thinking mainly this morning of all the Syrians I have met who lost family at the hands of Assad and his father and those worried about fate of prisoners inside. Hope for stability and peace but prepare for trouble to come.
December 8, 2024 at 8:41 AM
Breathtaking news. Thinking mainly this morning of all the Syrians I have met who lost family at the hands of Assad and his father and those worried about fate of prisoners inside. Hope for stability and peace but prepare for trouble to come.
Reposted by Richard Colebourn
Outside Georgia’s parliament building tonight...
December 1, 2024 at 8:15 PM
Outside Georgia’s parliament building tonight...
Ever since the UK left the EU, talks have been going on with all parties to resolve the issues for Gibraltar - which barely register in the UK. They're still unresolved as the BBC's Guy Hedgecoe finds. Listen here - www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Pick of the radio in Guardian and Sunday Times
December 1, 2024 at 4:01 PM
Ever since the UK left the EU, talks have been going on with all parties to resolve the issues for Gibraltar - which barely register in the UK. They're still unresolved as the BBC's Guy Hedgecoe finds. Listen here - www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Pick of the radio in Guardian and Sunday Times