Tom Bateman
@tombateman
BBC State Department Correspondent. Former Middle East. Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/tombatemandc.bsky.social Email [email protected] Signal tom.6441
1. Civilians who escaped Mariupol in recent days have described the growing desperation in the besieged city, including accounts of bodies buried in shallow graves, looting by Chechen fighters, and starving residents being killed when they venture out of shelters to find water
"In the case of Mr. Epstein, these theories... reflect a widely shared sense of elite betrayal and institutional inertia. For many Americans, such stories have far more explanatory power than, say, a primer on neoliberalism by Wolfgang Streeck" nytimes.com/2025/07/20/opi…
Gaza aid site offered a 'women only' day. It didn't stop the killing bbc.in/46p3FAn
A joint statement on Gaza from AFP, AP, BBC News and Reuters
AFP warning its Gaza reporters are at risk of literally starving to death - having risked their lives for so long to tell the story that Israel prevents the international media from reaching.
AFP Journalists’ Association on reporters in Gaza: ‘Since AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and prisoners in our ranks, but none of us can remember seeing a colleague die of hunger. We refuse to see them die’
"Canada has never been a threat to the United States, except in hockey... Yet what Trump has done...has enraged a normally mild-mannered people. What had seemed the unquestionable bases of Canadian foreign policy are melting like the glaciers in Greenland" foreignaffairs.com/united-states/…
Depuis que l’AFP a été fondée en août 1944, nous avons perdu des journalistes dans des conflits, nous avons eu des blessés et des prisonniers dans nos rangs, mais aucun de nous n’a le souvenir d’avoir vu un collaborateur mourir de faim. Nous refusons de les voir mourir.
Bedouins tell BBC they could return to fighting Druze in Syria bbc.in/3GAdkK1
How Canada became the centre of a measles outbreak in North America bbc.in/3ITnfe8
Syria’s government said Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from Sweida after days of deadly violence reut.rs/4maqVH3
על פי משרד הבריאות בעזה מאז אתמול מתו מרעב ברצועה *18 בני אדם*. כדי לתת קנה מידה, מאז תחילת המלחמה ועד אתמול מתו כ-70 בני אדם בשל רעב. אם הנתונים האלו אמיתיים אנחנו עומדים בפני קטסטרופה שלא הייתה כמותה.
AFP Journalists’ Association on reporters in Gaza: ‘Since AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded and prisoners in our ranks, but none of us can remember seeing a colleague die of hunger. We refuse to see them die’
"their experience shows that no place in this territory — even a relatively wealthy one populated by American passport holders — is immune from the violent advances of Israeli settlers" washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/…
"With a blizzard of new levies on major nations and selected product sectors, Trump has lifted the average tax on imported goods from just above 2 percent in January to around 15 percent, the highest mark since the early 1940s..." washingtonpost.com/business/2025/…
BREAKING: At least 67 Palestinians have been killed and scores more injured while waiting for aid in Gaza, according to hospital officials Read more ⬇️ news.sky.com/story/at-least…
BREAKING: More than 30 people have been killed after Israeli troops opened fire towards crowds of Palestinians waiting for aid, according to witnesses and hospital officials news.sky.com/story/gaza-mor…
The US should no longer publicly comment on elections, including making an assessment of whether the election was “free and fair,” unless there is a “clear and compelling U.S. foreign policy interest to do so,” Rubio said in a cable to diplomats Thursday
In May, Secretary Rubio said that no food aid would be wasted — and yet nearly 500 tonnes of energy-dense biscuits used as emergency food rations will be destroyed before their expiry this month. And that will cost US taxpayers an extra $100,000. reuters.com/world/us/us-ai…
“The Epstein saga has exposed the hazards of Ms. Bondi’s focus on courting her mercurial political patron, an inside-game strategy rooted in the assumption, now an open question, that Mr. Trump will maintain the total backing of his political base” nytimes.com/2025/07/17/us/…
