carol doyle

I am a Dubliner with an interest in current affairs and travel.

[Philip Obaji Jr. @PhilipObaji]

Here’s how Russian intelligence infiltrated Jeffrey Epstein’s inner circle

[Gabriel Pogrund @Gabriel_Pogrund]

Here are a couple of details in our investigation you may have missed, but on which we await answers.

— why does Mowbray Jackson (below left), Reform UK’s serving “data protection officer” and a friend of both Farage and Cottrell, own a company which has been used to make secret and potentially illegal payments destined for https://t.co/eC7ZrJrVMW, the crypto gambling platform in which Cottrell is involved?

— how much did George Cottrell pay Reform treasurer Nick Candy for the £8.5m house in Chelsea he now owns, which, according to Land Registry, was “not for value” (ie free), but according to Candy involved a purchase of shares of an offshore Guernsey entity?

[不変哲 🦥 @fuhentetsu]

外からやってきた狐がロバの子と戯れ遊んでいるのかと思ったら、だんだん狩りをするような不穏な空気になってきたので、怖くなった子ロバがお兄ちゃんワンコに救けを求めたら、お兄ちゃんワンコはすぐに駆けつけてくれ、追い払ってくれた…

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

WOW -- Danish reporter *goes there* with Mark Rutte

"You sit next to Donald Trump at moments when he talks about conquering Greenland, talks about lashing out at allies like Spain -- things it doesn't seem like the old Mark Rutte would approve of. Does this have any affect on your self-respect when you sit there and say nothing?"

[AJE Sport @AJE_Sport]

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan used his FIFA World Cup news conference to raise awareness about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, days after dedicating his team's historic knockout win to the Palestinian people.

🔗 https://t.co/3hZuLYnUvA

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

Otter at a local zoo is going viral after showing zookeepers her favorite marble collection.

At a local zoo, staff noticed one otter had a habit that was different from the rest.

Otters are known for using rocks to crack open shellfish, and some even keep their favorite stones because they work better than others. But this otter wasn’t saving rocks. She was saving marbles.

Zookeepers first noticed her hiding one shiny marble in the corner of her enclosure. Then another appeared. Then another.

Soon, staff realized she wasn’t just collecting them by accident. She was carefully keeping each one like it meant something.

The zookeepers thought it was so sweet that one by one, staff members started bringing her a different marble as a gift. Every time she received one, she would take it gently, inspect it, and add it to her little collection.

Now, whenever certain keepers visit, she gathers the marbles together as if she’s showing them off. Visitors say it looks like she knows exactly which marble came from which person.

[Saint Javelin @saintjavelin]

The moment Ukrainian drones hit Omsk oil refinery.

After flying 3,400+ km to strike Russia’s largest oil refinery, Ukrainian drones have demonstrated that even the country’s most important oil and gas-producing regions are no longer protected by distance.

[Suppressed Voices @supressedvoic]

URGENT CALL: Join the "One Million Voices for the Free of Hussam Abu Safieh" campaign.

Reply with 🇵🇸 or even a dot.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Just some months earlier, rescued tiger Maruay only knew a concrete floor and a small cage.

This is an uninterrupted minute of Maruay with his beloved ball.

[📹 wildlife_friends_foundation]

[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

Vasyl Zvarych, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Czech Republic:

"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
To those who claim that Ukraine should not be given weapons or military aid because it will supposedly bring the end closer, I invite you to look at reality.

Last night, Russia attacked Kyiv with missiles and drones, killing at least 18 people [the death toll is now 31 people after the search and rescue operation ended] and injuring more than 100 others. It struck residential buildings, not military targets.

This is state terrorism. And if Ukraine had had sufficient air defense systems, many innocent lives could have been saved. Russia can stop its attacks at any moment, but it does not want to.

That is why military aid to Ukraine saves human lives. The path to peace leads only through pressure on Putin and limiting his ability to continue the war. And please do not justify Russian atrocities by claiming that Moscow is merely responding to Ukrainian strikes on military targets on Russian territory.
Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine is defending itself. It is defending itself in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter. There can be no sign of equality between the aggressor and the victim.

Help Ukraine protect innocent people, especially children, whose right to life and a future is being taken away by Russia. Stand with Ukraine. We greatly value this." - @Vasyl_Zvarych

[Quds News Network @QudsNen]

Watch | An Israeli occupation soldier deliberately hurled a grenade at Palestinian civilians inside their vehicle in Qalandiya refugee camp, north of occupied Jerusalem.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Look at the baby's interaction with the horses, it's so nice how the horses greet him gently

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

This man is bottle-feeding baby deer fawns

[Bill McGuire @ProfBillMcGuire]

A shocking and desperately sad reminder of what we have lost in just 50 years

When will we ever effing learn?

https://t.co/NtRmFCTL6Z

[Mike Snyder 🇺🇸🇺🇦🏳️‍🌈 @dcmikesnyder]

@SamanthaJPower

[Samantha Power @SamanthaJPower]

Starting in early 2025, Elon Musk and the Trump administration began terminating USAID's programs and firing its staff — with Musk himself boasting about "feeding it into the woodchipper." One year ago today, USAID was officially dissolved, its remaining programs haphazardly folded into the State Department. Amid all the lies and misinformation that have followed, some facts about what has actually been lost:

• USAID saved more than 3 million lives a year at a cost of less than $10/month per American. That is what was destroyed. On purpose.
• According to Boston University's Global Impact Counter — which tracked deaths attributable to the cuts until it stopped operations in February 2026 — an estimated 781,000 people died preventable deaths in the first year, including 518,000 children.
• Global child mortality (the number of children who die before their fifth birthday) rose in 2025 for the first time in 35+ years — by 200,000 additional deaths.
• USAID's 50-country disease surveillance network — the system that cut outbreak response times from 2 weeks to 48 hours — is gone. We are now watching an unprecedented Ebola outbreak unfold in real time — with the highest first-month caseload and death rate in modern history.
• Programs reaching 93 million women and children were cut 92%. TB programs cut 56%. Water and sanitation cut 86%. Over 2,000 health facilities permanently closed.
• 25 million fewer people received humanitarian assistance in 2025. The overall humanitarian budget was slashed 74% — from $14.1 billion to $3.7 billion.
• 363 million people face acute hunger in 2026. The famine early-warning system that would have seen it coming went dark for five months.
• $1.7 billion in democracy and governance funding (election monitoring, anti-corruption work, support for independent media and civil society) was terminated.
• 360+ independent media outlets lost funding. Hundreds of legal clinics closed.
• Far from saving money, the Trump administration itself has already said the dismantlement will cost taxpayers at least $19.2 billion in cancellation fees, severance, and penalties. That's more than half of USAID's annual budget — spent on destruction and closeout, not support for vulnerable people.
• American farmers, universities, and businesses are among the casualties too. USAID partnered with more than 3,500 U.S. companies and maintained 17 university-based research labs. Its work with U.S.-based contractors and the private sector generated hundreds of thousands of American jobs and multiplied the return on every dollar spent. Those markets and partnerships are gone.

[Golshan @golshan_fathi]

سال‌ها به ما یاد دادند که شکنجه یعنی تازیانه،سلول انفرادی،بازجویی و بدن زخمی.

اما هیچ‌کس نگفت که حکومت‌های اقتدارگرا، پیش از آنکه استخوان انسان را بشکنند، زندگی او را می‌شکنند.

شکنجه،صرفاپشت دیوارهای زندان اتفاق نمی‌افتد.

شکنجه یعنی صبح که از خواب بیدار می‌شوی، قبل از آنکه چای دم کنی یا به مادرت سلام بدهی،اولین دغدغه‌ات این باشد که امروز چه چیزی را از تو گرفته‌اند.

خط تلفنت،دسترسی‌ات به حساب‌هایت،هویت دیجیتالت،امکان کار کردنت،امکان معامله کردنت وامید ساختن آینده‌ات.
شکنجه یعنی در قرن بیست‌ویکم، شماره تلفن از خود تلفن مهم‌تر باشد و تمام زندگی‌ات به آن گره خورده باشد؛ بانک،بیمه،کسب‌وکار،پیامک‌های بانکی،خدمات روزمره و ارتباط با آدم‌هایی که دوستشان داری را قطع کنند و زندگی‌ای را که با نخ‌های نامرئی اداره می‌شود، فلج کنند.

و این تازه آغاز ماجراست.

#شکنجه یعنی هیچ‌وقت دیگر زنگ در،فقط صدای زنگ نباشد.

هر صدای آسانسور،شماره ناشناس،خودرویی که جلوی خانه توقف می‌کند،پیام کوتاه و هر تماس، ضربان قلبت را بالا ببرد.

یعنی مغزت دیگر تفاوت میان خطر و احتمال خطر را فراموش کند و بدنت،حتی وقتی روی مبل خانه‌ات نشسته‌ای،در حال فرار باشد.

و دیگر ندانی کدام گفت‌وگوی خصوصی، کدام عکس،شوخی خانوادگی،پیام عاشقانه یا کدام فایل داخل گوشی،روزی ممکن است از «حریم خصوصی» به «پرونده» تبدیل شود.

حتی اگر هیچ‌وقت چنین اتفاقی نیفتد،کافی است احتمال آن در ذهنت زندگی کند.

قدرت، دقیقاً همان‌جایی پیروز شده است که دیگر نیازی ندارد دهانت را ببندد،چون خودت قبل از حرف زدن، جمله‌هایت را سانسور می‌کنی.

وقتی دیگر نیازی ندارد زندانت کند،چون ترس را به خانه‌ات آورده است؛ نیازی ندارد همیشه تعقیبت کند، چون تو خودت، هر لحظه مراقب خودت شده‌ای.

و این همان درونی شدنِ نظارت است؛ چیزی که اسمش را گذاشتم «استعمار روح».

از من می‌پرسند چرا با هر خبر اعدام، انگار عزیزی را از دست داده‌ام.

چون برای کسی که به حق حیات باور دارد،هر #اعدام مرگ یک انسان نیست؛ هر بار، بخشی از ایمانش به انسان،عدالت و آینده نیز بر چوبهٔ دار می‌رود.

اعلام این حقیقت تلخ است که زندگی ما می‌تواند به تصمیم انسان‌های دیگری وابسته باشد.
اعدام، طنابی است که هر بار،کمی محکم‌تر دور گلوی جامعه کشیده می‌شود.

هر خبر اعدام، فقط خانواده یک زندانی را داغدار نمی‌کند؛ به همه ما یادآوری می‌کند که امنیت،حق، عدالت و حتی نفس کشیدن،تا چه اندازه می‌تواند شکننده باشد.

و این هم شکلی از شکنجه است.

شکنجهِ شاهد بودن، زنده ماندن، روایت کردن؛ شکنجه‌ای که هر بار با خواندن یک خبر، دوباره آغاز می‌شود.

از بیرون شاید فکر کنند ما زندان نیستیم اما #زندان فقط جایی نیست که دیوار داشته باشد.

زندان،جایی است که اعتماد،حریم خصوصی، حق برنامه‌ریزی برای فردا، آینده و حتی حق اینکه یک روز کامل را بدون ترس زندگی کنی،از تو گرفته می‌شود.

بدترین شکنجه حکومت‌های اقتدارگرا،شکستن بدن نیست؛ این است که کاری می‌کنند انسان،بیرون از زندان زندگی کند،اما هیچ‌وقت احساس آزادی نکند.

و این، زخمی است که نه در پزشکی قانونی ثبت می‌شود، نه در عکس‌ها دیده می‌شود و نه در هیچ حکمی نوشته می‌شود.

اما سال‌ها، هر روز، هر ساعت و هر دقیقه، همراه آدم نفس می‌کشد.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Mom waking up her child in the morning is a universal trait across all species.

[Ghassan Abu Sitta, Chair of Conflict Medicine AUB @GhassanAbuSitt1]

One in every four Palestinians Israel kills in the West Bank is a child.
241 children since October 2023.

[Breaking the Silence @BtSIsrael]

Some joke in the comments that the trees are being uprooted because "the trees are Hamas." But that isn't far from one of the actual justifications the IDF has given for uprooting Palestinian olive trees: that they allegedly provide cover for terrorists.