Tom Bateman

BBC State Department correspondent. Former Middle East. Foreign policy & international relations. Signal tom.6441 email [email protected]

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

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

[Ben Tavener @BBCBenTavener]

Rodney Mims Cook Jr - the man charged with overseeing Trump’s ballroom and arch projects - was in no mood to speak to the press in St Petersburg today. Marco Rubio said he was “unaware” a US delegation was at the International Economic Forum, once dubbed “Putin’s Davos”. Surreal!

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

“Trump’s claim that he can lawfully order the military to summarily kill people accused of smuggling drugs has come under widespread criticism…[but] ‘Cocaine remains highly available, highly prevalent and relatively inexpensive’.”

https://t.co/kvhxMxx6ss

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

“Trump by contrast talks about the board as “sort of a king’s court”, Schatz said. “So I just don’t know which one it is . . . It is not obvious to me at all.””

[Financial Times @FT]

Trump’s Board of Peace fund is empty https://t.co/r3U8sEB8oF

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

UNICEF told the BBC that during field visits the hospitals they went to were overwhelmed… their staff are helping to isolate and triage children arriving at hospitals where such measures are lacking, writes @caroline_gm_d

[BBC News (World) @BBCWorld]

Hundreds of children die within months as measles cases soar in Bangladesh https://t.co/PkhVLamchJ

[BBC News (World) @BBCWorld]

Hundreds of children die within months as measles cases soar in Bangladesh https://t.co/PkhVLamchJ

[Ros Atkins @BBCRosAtkins]

We analysed thousands of Donald Trump’s social media posts in 2026 - here’s what we found. Produced by Katerina Karelli. Graphics by Sally Nicholls and Mesut Ersoz. https://t.co/Ib1Pvk7grk

[Sidhant Sibal @sidhant]

Just in: US State Dept deletes the post involving my question on racism against Indians.

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

"Asked by visiting reporters in front of U.S. officials recently when she would hold elections, Rodríguez smiled uneasily. “I don’t know,” she said... “Some time”"
Great piece on the state of Trump/Rodriguez oil takeover of Venezuela by @VeraMBergen & team
https://t.co/suTuyqXpHi

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

I asked Rubio about scrutiny on the decision to launch the Iran war during the daytime when schools were operating, in light of the Congressional questions last week to CENTCOM’s commander over the Minab strike

[Sidhant Sibal @sidhant]

"Who said that...", US Secretary of State Rubio in response to my question on racism agaisnt Indians in US.

US President Donald Trump had endorsed a post terming India "Hellhole"

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

Stage set for Rubio’s press conference with Indian foreign minister Jaishankar in a roasting Delhi

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

“A deportation notice wrapped in bureaucratic prose” - @timesofindia front page on how Trump admin’s new green card rules could hit 10s of thousands of Indians in the US.

On the day Rubio is in Delhi trying to rebuild ties.

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

I put to Rubio what the US had heard back from Tehran on Saturday, and we got the first hint of Trump’s purported breakthrough on a prelim agreement #Delhi

[John Hudson @John_Hudson]

Rubio and his wife Jeanette just arrived in India, where they'll visit four different cities (Kolkata, New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) in a bid to repair U.S.-India relations. First official act: dusting off the shoulders of US ambassador @SergioGor. Video via @tombateman

[NYTimes Communications @NYTimesPR]

Journalists around the globe, particularly women and journalists of color, are being targeted for the role they play in ensuring a free and informed society. They should be free to work without harassment.

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

Rubio calls for Cubans to have same political and economic status as other Caribbean islands but suggests to me this is not nation building - amid growing US threats

[The New York Times @nytimes]

Breaking News: The Senate agreed to take up a measure that would force President Trump to win authorization from Congress to continue the war in Iran. https://t.co/8ntRNyXzhb

[Mohamed Mandour @m_medhaat]

Gulf governments are using the Iran war as cover to crack down on journalism. Journalists arrested. Sentenced. Citizenship revoked. Censorship expanded.
What is publicly known is only the tip of the iceberg. 🧵
Read CPJ's latest report 👇

https://t.co/saMc4469CJ

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

Centcom Adm. Brad Cooper told Congress the Minab school strike was “more complex than the average” investigation claiming the school was “on an active IRGC cruise missile base”.
Former defence officials told me last month it absolutely wasn't complicated
https://t.co/hc1OjwZ4Lz

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

“Rather than focusing on tactical secrecy, these new measures utilize vague language to criminalize reporting that undermines “state narratives” or “public morale.” By targeting journalists…authorities are bypassing traditional security needs to enforce ideological conformity.”

[Committee to Protect Journalists @pressfreedom]

Since the Iran war started in February, CPJ has documented a crackdown on the press across the Gulf, and tracked unpublicized cases of arrests, intimidation, legal and financial actions against journalists and their media outlets.
https://t.co/dIz9oXBhPE