This is my piece on my Grandfather who survived 5 years in concentration camp and spent the rest of his life giving others the love, compassion and freedom he’d been denied. He was my hero, and he still is:
NEW: 17 doctors die of coronavirus in Italy, 3,654 medical staff there infected- from CNN's Livia Borghese in Rome. The bravery and dedication of medical staff is astounding.
EXPLAINER: what’s behind the flaring tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, and the violent clashes in Kosovo this week? (Attempt to condense 1000 years into 2 minutes!)
10 year old Khloie Torres called 911 during the Uvalde shooting - pleading for police action with composure and grace while trying to keep her classmates calm. With permission from her parents CNN has excerpts of the call. Astonishing report from
@ShimonPro
EXPLAINER: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un travels to Russia on bulletproof train to pledge full support for invasion of Ukraine and deepen ties with Putin. Backstory here👇🏼(in 2 mins)
Heartened by the response and debate around these explainers. Even if they can’t begin to do the topics justice. Let me know if there’s a geopolitics/news subject you’d like one on 👇🏼
EXPLAINER: what’s behind the flaring tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, and the violent clashes in Kosovo this week? (Attempt to condense 1000 years into 2 minutes!)
Huge contrast between NZ & US elections:
- incumbent internationally renowned for being compassionate & down to earth
- Cordial leaders debates
- Successfully controlled covid spread
- Simple voter enrolment
- Trust in advance voting
P.S. NZ's White House is called The Beehive🐝
Incredible story of an Afghan woman who gave birth in the cargo bay of a US military flight to Germany - the Commander’s decision may have saved her life. Via
@atika_etc
&
@Acosta
“Your journalism is excellent but your skin is really shiny”- first show blooper with none other than the king of bloopers (& political rants) Tom Walker aka
@JonathanPieNews
. Full interview to come on
#TheBrief
Doesn’t accept the caricature? I wonder if the government accept the evidence of over 10,000 deaths in care homes and elderly patients being sent back from hospital to care homes, without testing?
Environment Secretary George Eustice said he 'doesn't accept the caricature that we took an approach that was wrong' on care homes
He added that 'very early on in this epidemic' there was protocols and guidance in place for the sector
More here:
Bizarre how many anti-vaxxers say they’re “strong and healthy enough” not to fear getting a demonstrably lethal virus...but they’re not “strong and healthy” enough to cope with the minimal risk of a vaccine
Prime Minister of Kosovo
@albinkurti
tells me: “as the Russian blitzkrieg in Ukraine is failing we are worried (Russia) may try to spread and expand the conflict, and the Western Balkans could be a place where new Russian battlegrounds could develop.”
Historic victory for Jacinda Ardern
#NZElection2020
.
Her Labour party on track for a govern-alone victory, on course for 50% of the vote.
No leader in NZ has been able to govern without the support of other parties since the current MMP system was implemented in 1996.
“Jews are the only minority with the double thought by racists that they are both low status, i.e. vermin, lying and thieving, but also powerful and rich and seek control of the world” -
@Baddiel
on why ‘Jews Don’t Count’ and why there shouldn’t be a “league table of racisms.”
Happy Friday! Join us in an hour at 4am in New York/1 am in California /9am in London on
@CNN
. We’ve got: G20 (without the Chinese President- further sign of shifts in global order?), rush to save man trapped in extreme deep cave & 1 year on from the death of Queen Elizabeth II
Kazakhstan: state of emergency declared amid protests, the government resigns and the President asks for military assistance. What’s going on? (In under 90 seconds)
SNP Westminster Leader
@Ianblackford_MP
on PM Boris Johnson: “I’m asking each and every (Tory MP) to look at their own souls, consider their own conscience…they have to do the right thing. They have to make sure this man is removed.”
123 doctors and 31 nurses with coronavirus have died in Italy. 80% of the deceased doctors were working in the northern part of the country (the epicentre of the country’s outbreak)- Association of Doctors
Not sure what this
#MeAt20
thing is but it’s funny. Here I am- wearing a parliamentary visitors pass, looking stroppy in what seems to be a very inappropriate skirt
An Auschwitz tattoo kit is up for auction. If it's real it might have tattooed my grandfather and thousands of others.
No one should make money off the site of the worst mass murder in human history. It's callous and must not go ahead.
BREAKING NEWS- NEW JOB! Today is my first day on the executive leadership team at IFS ai. Stick around for content demystifying the AI, mixed reality and simulation running our world behind the scenes…and much more! Excited to share it with you ☺️.
Sounds obvious but all my friends and family who work in the NHS are telling me the biggest problem is that if you wait until the urgent need for quarantine, beds, ventilators and staff to become starkly visible before you take action, you’re already playing catch up with lives.
NZ has reported 1 coronavirus death and a decline in new cases. I’m always proud of my country being a few steps ahead of history and not afraid to go its own way, but rarely has it been more meaningful than right now.
When
@piersmorgan
asked “Who is the British Trump?” the President responded “I don’t know...I don’t want to destroy anyone’s careers.” Is it me or is British humour rubbing off on
@realDonaldTrump
this
#StateVisit
?
Boris Johnson announces further easing of lockdown:
▪️Outdoor markets, car showrooms reopen from 1 June
▪️Non-essential retail: clothes, furniture, toys etc to reopen from 15 June if they follow covid-secure guidelines & governments 5 tests are upheld
Historically neutral Sweden is now sending defence equipment to Ukraine. Follows Germany breaking longstanding tradition of never sending lethal weapons to conflict zones - citing the post WW2 order is in peril.
Hard to believe this is my last week at CNN. Savouring every moment on and off air. Immensely grateful to every viewer who made my time here possible and supported our shows 🙏🏼.
From “cable bashing” to anchoring election night coverage-
@Lee_Tomli
this one really got me!
Fought for Britain at age 21. Raised £33 million for the NHS and became a national inspiration at 100.
Never too old, or too young, to make a difference.
#CaptainSirTomMoore
👏🏼
* the 2011 Kosovo census (excluding North Kosovo) had the Serb population as low as 1.5%. Because of boycotts the Serbian population statistics in Kosovo are unreliable and require a cautious approach
My grandpa was persecuted by the Nazis for 5 years in Auschwitz & Buchenwald. Thinking of him today, and the millions of men, women & children whose lives and families were brutally extinguished so they could never pass on the love and lessons I had from him
#HolocaustMemorialDay
“I did a calculation ... the amount of heat we have put in the world's oceans in the past 25 years equals to 3.6 billion Hiroshima atom-bomb explosions.” Terrifying, and difficult to fathom 👇🏼
The Prime Minister keeps referring to the “mandate” he has to continue (from the election in 2019)…when the MPs and Ministers who backed his leadership are resigning in droves and polls shows voters want him to resign- that’s not a mandate.
Tensions are high between Putin & Biden over fears Russia is planning to invade Ukraine…what happened when they met virtually today? (In under 90 seconds) 👇🏼
BREAKING: "EACH AND EVERYONE OF US IS NOW ENLISTED"- Boris Johnson orders UK citizens to stay at home. Exceptions : food shopping, exercise 1/day, travelling to/from essential work. No meetings of 2+ people. Police will have power to enforce through fines/ dispersing.
Anyone who disses the map drawing can meet me outside in the parking lot because I drew this in 5 minutes at a funny angle while elevating my sprained ankle 😇
President Joe Biden and President Xi Jingping meet for the first time as heads of state - and strategic rivals for a high stakes meeting. What do you make of the body language?
“He’s not a remarkable man, Boris...it’s an accident of birth that he’s in No 10” the man behind
@JonathanPieNews
, Tom Walker, on Boris Johnson, politics & satire and illiberal liberalism. Full interview:
#MichaelBloomberg
officially enters the Democratic race. Justice Democrats Executive Director
@alexandrasiera
tells me why Bloomberg would reinforce the “corporate takeover” of American democracy
Took some time off social media and after scanning my DMs turns out people think (in descending order)...that I’m dead, fired, No 10’s new press secretary and keen to send them photos of my feet
Dominic Raab on PM’s condition: “The PM had a comfortable night in hospital and he’s in good spirits. He is still in hospital under observation. He’s been given regular updates on developments and he continues to lead the government.”
“I think it's always been Mr. Putin's intent to take over Moldova and Georgia, and the Baltic states. He is certainly capable of horizontal escalation…if he thinks he can deter the West” - Fmr NATO Supreme Allied Cmdr
@GeneralClark
on if Putin’s war in Ukraine could spill over.
100-year-old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer today expressed her disbelief that the Holocaust is sometimes “politically abused” or “ridiculed and trampled on.” She said “we must stand together so the memory of the Holocaust remains alive and is not abused by anyone"
“Putin is living in history” - historian
@simonmontefiore
on the dangers of Putin ruminating on Soviet leaders and Tsars, and how that is shaping his decisions in Ukraine today…
Always a pleasure talking to one of my favourite authors!
“Boys play, girls perform…the fact your friends look more beautiful than you - because they look more beautiful than they are- means almost all girls feel below average." Social psychologist
@JonHaidt
breaks down how social media is driving depression and suicide rates in teens.
Reporting from home, punching my reflection in my spare time...NO CONTACT SPORTS 🥊🥊🥊 while self-isolating & social distancing! Missing all my friends from the boxing gym but it’s shadow boxing and bag work for now
#StayHomeSaveLives
Some good news- a 102-year-old woman in Genoa called Italica Grondona has recovered from coronavirus after more than 20 days in hospital, doctors who treated her & her nephew told CNN.
What would NATO do if Russia attempted an incursion in Ukraine? NATO Secretary General
@jensstoltenberg
tells me, and explains how he's monitoring the situation.
BREAKING: U.K. PM confirms British military will be deployed to eastern Mediterranean to “reinforce regional stability and prevent escalation.” Maritime patrol & surveillance aircraft to start flying Friday to track threats eg transfer of weapons to terrorist groups - No 10
Just finished ‘My Fourth Time We Drowned’ by
@sallyhayd
. It’s a stunning investigation into the migrant crisis. Harrowing, impeccably researched and compassionate- this is a book for anyone who cares about the world. I think everyone should preorder it:
Reading these names and hints of their lives again. Beautifully humanising tribute to the devastating loss of life.
“L Crahen, 87, Waunakee, Wis., nicknamed “Boxcar Bob” for his luck shaking dice...Hailey Herrera, 25, New York City, budding therapist with a gift for empathy.”
Sunday's entire
@nytimes
front page is a partial list of Covid-19 victims. "The 1,000 people here reflect just 1% of the toll. None were mere numbers."
BREAKING
#NZElection2020
results with 97%+ of votes counted:
Labour (Jacinda Ardern): 64 (+18) / 49% of the vote
National : 35 (-21) / 27%
Green: 10 seats (+2) / 7.6%
ACT : 10 (+9) / 8%
LANDSLIDE for Labour. Ardern promises to be "a party that governs for every New Zealander"
@BuljevicJosip
Minutes ago popular CNN anchor
@bianca_nobilo
🇬🇧 told the world she is rooting for Croatia🇭🇷 because she is mostly Croatian. She proved it by saying "Idi Hrvatska!" in excellent pronunciation👍