@UNESCO’s new study Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity is not another love letter to culture. It is a brisk demand for budgets, rights, metrics, mobility, and fewer grand speeches standing in for actual policy.
The cultural sector has never lacked flattering language. Culture is vital, transformative, inclusive, resilient, regenerative, future-facing, community-building, soul-nourishing. It has been praised from lecterns, embroidered into strategy documents, and wheeled out whenever a city wants to sound civilised.
What it has not always received is infrastructure.
That is what makes #UNESCO’s newly published 2026 edition of Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity worth reading.
READ on https://t.co/U0TzyWqFX2
‘Betraying his country’: 19-year-old Iranian footballer on death row for protesting
Family of Amir Hossein Ghaderzadeh say the teenager was sentenced to hang after taking part in sweeping anti-government demonstrations, @chloehadj reports
https://t.co/ALcdhmXpCJ
In a strong show of international unity, the University of Waterloo's men's basketball team showed solidarity with the Lion and Sun Revolution during a game.
Among those murdered by the regime, athletes have made up a large portion.
Thank you to these young men.
Iranian security forces killed 27-year-old @realmadrid fan Mehrdad Moshtaghi with a shot to the head during January protests in the central city of Arak.
His gravestone now bears the Spanish club’s logo, as his brother laments that his dream of seeing Real play in the stadium “is now engraved on his gravestone.”
Iranian football player Mehdi Sharifi, who plays for Fajr Sepasi of Shiraz, skipped a goal celebration during a match against Tractor, instead making a symbolic protest-style gesture. Other top-flight players have made similar moves in response to Iran's massacre.
On Wednesday, 14 Jan 2026, IR forces kidnapped #SalehMohammadi, a young wrestling champion, in Iran. His abduction has led to grave concerns as reports indicate he is now facing the risk of execution. No more info is available on his condition.
@wrestling, please be his voice...
🚨VIDEO NEWS RELEASE🚨
@MariahCarey, @AndreaBocelli & @LauraPausini will headline the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games #MilanoCortina2026 at the iconic San Siro on 6 February. 🤩
Spectacular Opening Ceremony is two weeks away!
🔗https://t.co/NJ7kxjJheA
Reports: The Iranian judiciary has ordered the seizure of all assets belonging to football legend Ali Daei, part of a wider crackdown aimed at punishing those linked to the recent unrest.
The Islamic Republic has executed Ali Rahbar.
This is not an exception. It is part of a broader pattern of executions carried out quietly in Iran. without fair trials or due process, in order to avoid international scrutiny.
Mr. Trump, you stated that executions in Iran had stopped.
They have not.
Iran’s people are being killed, through executions, firing squads, and state violence. The claim that authorities “intended to execute but didn’t” is no longer credible.
They did execute.
They did kill.
How many people must be murdered before you act?
@realDonaldTrump
#IranMassacre
#IranRevoIution2026
#FreeIran
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#GlobalMeditationForIran
Wednesday, January 21
Anytime.
Anywhere.
Anyhow.
Offer your thoughts for the people of Iran.
🤍🤍🤍
More info : https://t.co/KNtcefZRhF
Ali Heibati, a professional MMA fighter, describes the horror he witnessed in Iran during the #IranMassacre:
"I was in Iran for two months. I returned yesterday because I have a fight in Austria in 20 days, but I came back with a heart that feels heavy and broken.
Honestly, I don’t even have the words for what I saw. I am truly in mourning.
We have lost such incredible people.
Today, after ten days without internet or satellite TV in Iran, I finally saw the full scale of what has happened. I cried more than ten times. I still can’t believe how many brothers and sisters we have lost.
God is witnessing all of this.
He sees the oppression being done to this nation. May those responsible be cursed, and may they face the consequences of their actions. God, give patience to the parents of these fallen flowers.
We are ashamed (of not being able to help). We are only ashamed.
One thing I saw with my own eyes, something I still can’t fully process, was seeing women, men, children, and the elderly out in the streets together.
This is not just dissatisfaction with the situation in the country. This is outright protest.
When an entire family comes into the streets with a 12-year-old child, it says everything. It shows how deep this pain runs, and how desperate people have become.
I swear to God, every time I ate, it felt like one of our families or friends was being killed. It stayed in my body like a thorn every single day.
The situation is extremely bad. Some neighborhoods in Tehran looked like a war zone, from the north all the way to the south.
I’m leaving tomorrow, but I’m not leaving this behind. Tehran doesn’t even feel real to me anymore after what I’ve seen.
All I can say is this: some of your “friends” have destroyed my life.
And let me be clear. This is not cowardice. These people are not cowards. This pain is beyond what we can even describe.
I know many will say, “Don’t write this. If you speak up, you won’t be able to return to Iran.”
But as long as I can remember, I have fought in the name of Iran. I have always cared about my country, and I still do.
There are many things I saw that I cannot say.
But I will say this. The day will come when we no longer kill each other."
#GlobalMeditationForIran
Wednesday, January 21
Anytime.
Anywhere.
Anyhow.
Offer your thoughts for the people of Iran.
🤍🤍🤍
More info : https://t.co/KNtcefZRhF
A personal note from our founder @museumviews, “To everyone who has stood with us through these horrific days—thank you. As our Iranian compatriots are being slaughtered by their country’s brutal regime, your solidarity has meant more than words can say. We will never forget your kindness.”
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Dr. Martin Luther King.