Julia Macfarlane
BBC Journalist, formerly ABC News, exiled Scot and Twitter refugee
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneThe 2025 Word of the Year is "slop," both as a noun for low-quality AI-generated content and as a combining form for anything of little value. Read the full press release. #WOTY2025 #ADS2026 #LSA2026 americandialect.org/2025-word-of...
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneIf you search TikTok for Hurricane Melissa videos right now, you'll see a flood of AI-generated and fake videos. These AI videos include eye of the storm views from above, sharks swimming in floodwaters, huge waves battering towns, destroyed airports, and fake news reports.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneThree times in the past two weeks, editorials at the 'Washington Post' failed to disclose that they focused on matters in which owner Jeff Bezos had a material interest.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneIf Dems win the Supreme Court races in Pennsylvania in 9 days, it’s extremely likely the GOP can’t get a majority on that court until 2029. The GOP really wants to have this majority during the 2028 presidential race. Can’t put the stakes any more clearly than that. boltsmag.org/pennsylvania...
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneHis ROOMBA that had been sending detailed maps of his house god knows where, and bricking itself when he tried to disable the spyware INCREDIBLE freaking story Can we have Things with No Internet please, happy to pay extra
- We’re expecting the new Deputy Labour Leader to be announced imminently - live here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...
- New Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell is MP for Manchester Central and former Leader of the House of Commons. She was sacked from her Commons leadership role in a reshuffle that followed Angela Rayner's resignation.
- On your 📻 at 7pm with The Newsroom on #bbcworldservice
- Putin bombed a kindergarten
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneAll this stuff, aside from being ugly as hell, once more proposes the UK as a country which doesn’t pay its debts. It’s unserious.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneWe are reporting a MASS HYSTERIA EVENT at Heathrow that closed Terminal 4 for a bit. No-one was hurt.
- Israel claims it has already set back Iran's presumed nuclear programme by at least two years, a day after President Trump warned Tehran has a "maximum" of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes. Gideon Saar on Saturday: We already delayed the possibility of a nuclear bomb by 2/3 years
- 2005 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE IS ON IPLAYER, RUN DON’T WALK www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
- A busy weekend of news for you to catch up on: Five years since George Floyd’s death; Israel under mounting pressure over the deaths of 9 children in a single family - the mother is a paediatric doctor at the local hospital. And, Trump lashes out against Putin. Tune in www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneBuilder.ai just went bust. Around half a billion dollars invested from the likes of Microsoft, QIA and Insight Partners wiped out. Full story here with @alexandraheal.bsky.social. Comes after a run of probing FT stories (led by Alex) on the company and its founder Sachin Duggal on.ft.com/43gI8YN
- “Goodwill towards Israel is running out” - BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneIsraeli authorities have temporarily allowed us to deliver limited aid to Gaza after 11 weeks of blockade. A drop in the ocean. It must reach the civilians who need it so urgently, and we must be allowed to scale up. We are determined to save as many lives as we can.
- I can’t believe there was a time in my life when I didn’t know what jujube tea was
- Tried to put on a news podcast from a very established media company - really interesting sounding topic on fast fashion - couldn’t make it through five minutes because of the unbearable amount of vocal fry. Why are people doing so much of this these days? Am I the only one who finds it grating?
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneNigel Farage once doubted the name “Reform” but Patrick O'Flynn, former Ukip MEP, advised him to stick with it patrickoflynn.substack.com/p/bite-size-...
- Sky News Australia projects Labour and the incumbent PM Anthony Albanese will win the general election
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneNigel Farage tells Sky: "Kemi Badenoch please stay. Please don't resign. We want you to stay on as leader. I'll put some money if you want to keep you there...In many parts of this country if you vote Conservative, you get Labour. The Tories really are a waste of space."
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneMike Waltz has left the chat.
- My husband is in Vogue! 😍 Proud wife moment www.vogue.com/article/excl...
- Right, come on Duffle Coat #grandnational
- The video shows that the 15 aid workers in Gaza were wearing medic reflective gear and had emergency lights on, contradicting Israel’s claims. There is nonstop rapid fire heard for over six minutes, as the aid worker recording quietly repeats his dying prayers www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/w...
- Four mins until the nyse opening bell…
- Reposted by Julia Macfarlane[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneFox removed the stock market ticker from their broadcasts.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneIf this ain't a goddamn perfect eulogy, I don't know what is.
- Live coverage now in the USA as Americans try their own cheese and chocolate for the first time
- Reposted by Julia Macfarlane[This post could not be retrieved]
- Courageous colleagues from the BBC Burmese Service have reached Sagaing - the area closest to the earthquake epicentre. "We can see that as we drive through the streets - three out of every five houses have collapsed." www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c2...
- NYU cancelled a speech by Doctors Without Borders' former chief because she wanted to mention the casualties in the Israel-Gaza war. The university said it 'could be seen as antisemitic' and mentioning cuts at USAID could be deemed to be 'antigovernment' www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
- Trump's first overseas trip as President to be Saudi Arabia and the Gulf (the first trip overseas in his first administration was also to Saudi) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneWisconsin: not for sale
- Give the poor man a break! www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/u...
- Heaving myself ever closer to Easter Sunday without coffee and chocolate, 0/10 do not recommend #Lent
- Exclusive: US suspends financial contributions to WTO, trade sources say - www.reuters.com/world/us-sus...
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneIn @nytopinion.nytimes.com The most effective way to protect the American system of checks and balances starts with courage from more people who believe in it, the New York Times editorial board writes.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneTHREAD: The impact of the Executive Order VOA shutdown, while not as devastating as the USAID funding freeze, will have a similarly long ranging and damaging impact on the world and yes, US interests.
- “Tesla’s slipping sales are mostly, if not completely, attributed to the statements and behavior of Elon Musk.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/b...
- Canada is actively looking at potential alternatives to the U.S.-built F-35 stealth fighter and will hold conversations with rival aircraft makers, Defence Minister Bill Blair said late Friday www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
- How I sleep at night knowing I put all my savings into yarn and vintage handbags instead of the stock market
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneTesla board member James Murdoch sells $13 million worth of Tesla shares www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneThe number of children needing emergency treatment for severe acute malnutrition in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh has surged by 27% in Feb '25 compared to the same period last year, as worsening conditions push more young children into life-threatening hunger. www.unicef.org/press-releas...
- US retail investors are not “buying the dip” as one might have expected - due to ongoing anxiety about Trump govt policy and fears over the economic impact of tariffs www.reuters.com/markets/weal...
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneChinese investors privately take stakes in Elon Musk’s companies ft.com/content/66857e1e-a2…
- Donald Trump is making Justin Trudeau Great Again www.economist.com/interactive/...
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneMore than 75,000 digital subscribers to The Washington Post have cancelled since owner Jeff Bezos announced changes to its opinion pages last weekend, according to NPR
- Just some of the protesters’ posters in Vermont, where JD Vance went skiing over the weekend:
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneIt seems Moscow's quite pleased with how the last few days have gone. Today's Russian papers: · “Russia can't conceal its malicious pleasure…” · “The Western system is crashing like a house of cards.” · Kremlin “New US foreign policy configurations largely aligned with Russia’s” #ReadingRussia
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneOut for a walk in North London; I always like seeing the Dollis Brook viaduct, one of the more rural-looking bits of the Northern Line.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneI’m sure it’ll work out great this time!
- Just found out there’s a Sri Lankan restaurant called “Rambutan” and it’s fired up my cortisol like nothing else today. What next, a French restaurant called Potato? Or an Italian restaurant called Yam
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneEvery accusation is an intention.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneVance is completely wrong here. US military sales to Ukraine served as a catalyst to rebuild our production capacity for our own potential military needs. I bet you'll never hear him say the same thing about US missiles fired to defend Israel, though that did deplete short-term stocks.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneWe didn't know how this will end. But in 30 years people will look back at 2025 and say "I was there. I lived through that mess. And we came out better for it." Well, I hope. Read "Suite Française" to see what it was like during the occupation of France, when they didn't know how it would end.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneThe US is not that far away from Russia It’s 50 miles.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneNew York Times, Jan. 26, 1935.
- Some more unprecedented headlines
- Well it’s safe to say I’ve never seen anything quite like that Zelensky - Trump press conference in my entire career
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneElon at the White House yesterday vs. a scene from Don't Look Up.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneAOL warned us of the dangers of logging on. It would play for us the screams of the damned. But we didn’t listen. We didn’t listen.
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlanePresident Zelenskyy has been one of the greatest leaders of our time, guiding Ukraine through the darkest period of its recent history, rising up to Russia’s unwarranted aggression, being an inspiration to the Ukrainian people and ensuring that Ukraine’s voice is heard on the world stage.
- Graham Hancock, currently sipping a margarita somewhere thinking “I told you all so”
- Remember this iconic image? 11 years ago today, police stormed the Euromaidan protests in Kyiv. This was shortly before the Russian-friendly president Yanukovych fled, now living in exile in Russia. www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-e...
- More women and children have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s military over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict these past two decades, according to Oxfam. Please watch this necessary film by Abdullah al Yazouri and Yousef Hammash www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
- Never change, @FT www.ft.com/content/834e...
- Powerful
- 📰 Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Israel last night ahead of talks with Netanyahu today. This morning he attended Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jlem, the spot where Jesus was buried. He will visit Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial later this morning
- Ah, that early morning Sunday shift at work, where you drive past folk for whom it is clearly still Saturday night
- 👀
- Pope Francis appears to smack down JD Vance’s theological claims in a letter to US bishops, criticising mass deportations across America and schooling the VP’s use of the Latin phrase ‘ordo amoris’ saying “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests” www.vatican.va/content/fran...
- Reposted by Julia Macfarlane“…it is someone acting extra to the law, extra to the legal framework, it is a form of state capture and the really disturbing thing, that in much of the US media and in much of the British media is barely causing a raised eyebrow. We’re treating it as if it’s normal.” #hypernormalisation
- My husband is very excited about the latest Times cartoon because he’s been calling him “Elongated Muskrat” for over a year now and it’s finally caught on
- Million £ business idea: instead of stealing creative peoples’ jobs, maybe AI can design a printer that actually is f***ing reliable
- Reposted by Julia MacfarlaneI'm not normally the most prideful of people when it comes to my country, not because i'm some lefty who hates Britian, its just not my bag but The BBC, along with the NHS, is one of the few things in this country that stirs a hint within me
- Huge tractors in central London - farmers protesting changes to inheritance tax. From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets £1m+ will be liable to 20% tax - half the usual IHT. Many farmers argue while they are asset rich - eg land, livestock - they are cash poor and they would have to sell up
- Brilliant initiative: 'I miss my school': BBC launches programme for children in war zones www.bbc.com/news/article...
- One might expect this cover to NOT go down well with President Trump…
- Government confirms plans to demolish Grenfell Tower in west London, saying it is expected to take “around two years to sensitively take down”. No changes are expected before the 8th anniversary of the disaster in June. - PA
