Mark Urban

Excellent reporting from Reuters: Syrian President Shaara is dismantling Assad’s old oligarchy and replacing it with his own—a mix of family members and shadowy figures known only by noms de guerre. This new power structure now controls Syria’s economy, risking both foreign…

The Foreign Desk: From drones to radios, how is the war in Ukraine shaping the future of warfare? And will humans have a role on the battlefield? @andrew_mueller is joined by @MarkUrban01, @PMBreedlove and @theviralpapers monocle.com/radio/shows/th…

Quite a moment yesterday - I was invested as an honorary doctor of letters @uniofwarwick by the chancellor Bience Gawanas, having been proposed by Prof Richard Aldrich. He cited my books in particular. What a privilege to share in the graduation ceremony& happiness of that day!

🔥🔥And with breaking news re France promising recognition of a Palestinian state, we quite fortuitously earlier today tackled this very thorny and complex issue -on this week's must-listen to episode of @CrisisRoomPod ! With my incredible co-hosts @MarkUrban01 and @AmberRuddUK

New Episode! 🚨 This week, @AmberRuddUK, @MarkUrban01 and @Mpolymer cover the Gaza humanitarian crisis, The Epstein Files and are joined by Former UK ambassador to the US Kim Darroch. Listen to the latest episode of The Crisis Room on @GlobalPlayer 🎧 #Politics #Gaza #Epstein

As always - a peace deal requires two willing partners 👇🏻

So glad my former BBC Panorama colleague Peter Taylor has been made a CBE for his dogged, courageous and deeply honest reporting of Northern Ireland over the decades.

"It could become part of the panoply of complaints the far right uses." In the recent episode of The Crisis Room, @AmberRuddUK, @MarkUrban01, and @Mpolymer unpack the Afghanistan data leak scandal - exploring how the far right could use it to push an anti-immigration agenda.

“If you want to see a Machiavellian element to what’s going on… Israel wants to keep Syria as a kind of weak buffer state.” Turkey and Israel are currently in a “power struggle” over the future of Syria, says Sunday Times columnist @MarkUrban01. @EdVaizey | #TimesRadio

Here is my considered position on having Parkinson’s and accepting that four years in, people are now able to spot it.

Shannon airport model plane bonanza

Russian TV aired a segment on the drone factory in Tatarstan where ever larger numbers of the Geran (Iranian Shahed design) are made - Ukrainian intel estimates production at 170 a day

Anyone who lives in UK will still be able to use ⁦@BBCSounds⁩ app when they go on holiday abroad. BBC Sounds will close for listeners based outside UK on 21 July 2025. Details of how to access BBC radio stations for listeners outside UK 👇🏻 bbc.com/future/article…

I've had a lot of responses to this blog about how the British armed forces' relationship with the media has been crushed over the years - including from Alastair Campbell pointing out a mistake I'd made which I'm happy to correct in this updated version markurban.substack.com/p/our-broken-c…

🎧 Listen now to The Crisis Room with @AmberRuddUK, @MarkUrban01 & @Mpolymer on @GlobalPlayer linktr.ee/thecrisisroom

My recollection is it was Geoff Hoon who lunched in the same restaurant as us, and had the DPR posts abolished as a result. Would have been surprising if he did it without consulting Alistair but perhaps so

This is a characteristically good piece from @MarkUrban01. The one thing I’d add is about the declining investment in defence journalism. A consumer/society focus in new correspondent posts isn’t necessarily in the public interest.

Fascinating Alistair - maybe @tnewtondunn can shed more light on this?

It was great to see @MarkUrban01 at the #GlobalAirSpaceChiefs conference - we need good journalism and journalists like him to report on our armed forces. And although some UK Officers were on the record at the Conference, his observations are absolutely worth noting. 🧵1/20

A lot with which to agree in this, and some that probably warrants a longer discussion.