Broadcaster & author, trying to make sense of a mad world. Presenter of ‘Unspun World’ on @BBCTwo, BBC World etc. Instagram @johnsimpsonnews.

Live in UK, travel anywhere
Joined February 2016
I’m celebrating (if that’s quite the right word) the 60th anniversary of my arrival at the BBC in 1996. Tomorrow (Tues) at 9 pm BBC Two will mark it with a documentary, which will then be available on iPlayer. It’s been made by the brilliant Simon Lister, and does me proud.
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Anyone recall the 1980s CBS tv series ‘Lou Grant’ about an LA newsroom? I loved it when LG (played by Ed Asner) confided ‘My staff look up to me as a father-figure because I’ve got white hair. But I’m still the selfish asshole I always was.’ I couldn’t possibly comment.
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Episode 2: ‘Russia Bombards Ukraine After Trump Envoy Hails “Humanitarian” Putin’. Good job Witkoff wasn’t negotiating with Pol Pot, or we’d have another mountain of skulls.
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I don’t really enjoy bad restaurant reviews, even in the case of Gordon Ramsey, if only because I feel bad for the staff. But this is so superbly written by Camilla Long in the S Times… thetimes.com/article/5189c90…
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John Simpson retweeted
NOW BBC lawyers hit back at Trump's deposition delay in latest filing ... 1) Point out that Trump is the plaintiff not the defendant 2) Urge the court not to accept without question that request for delay is down to national security matters 3) Say BBC is happy to accommodate special security measures 4) Argue that request not to videorecord Trump deposition is "unexplained"
NEW Trump hits back on BBC deposition date. Says deposition cannot be videoed In latest filing, he accuses BBC of failing to fully confer with his lawyers to set date Says matters of national importance that precluded deposition included conflict in Iran (BBC says agreed date was postponed because of a rally) Trump is willing to sit for deposition within the period of January 11 through January 22, 2027
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Do you like honey? Of course you do. The trouble is, if you buy cheap ‘honey’ in squeezy plastic bottles with a label saying it’s the produce of several countries, it may well contain little to no genuine, 100% bee-made nectar. Chances are it’s just composed of synthetic syrup.
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In St Petersburg, Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s envoy, has told Vladimir Putin: ‘You talk so much about my president, Pres Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you and I thank you again.’
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John Simpson retweeted
Donald Trump says the Russian sanctions waiver is to help negotiate peace. But one Russian paper today writes: “We will make a deal with Ukraine entirely on our terms.” Another paper: “Russia’s borders, as we know, do not end anywhere.” #ReadingRussia
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Donald Trump canceled his scheduled Oct. 16 deposition in his lawsuit against the BBC because of "matters of national importance." The BBC alerts the judge that those matters were: a rally in Dalton, Ga. and a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
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Christiane has been one of the great forces in international broadcasting: magnificent, honourable, principled, charming. Whatever will we do without her?
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John Simpson retweeted
For centuries, the stones of the Monastery of Monk Bahira in Bosra al-Sham #Syria have endured wars and the passage of time. Today, they are being disfigured by random graffiti. 💔 Syria’s archaeological sites are not silent walls. They are the memory of a civilization we must protect before more of it is lost. 🏛️ @AL_SAALEH @mocsyr @UNESCOarabic #Bosra #SyrianHeritage #HeritageProtection
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From The Telegraph: Donald Trump has been threatened with “sanctions” by a judge for refusing to co-operate in the defamation case he has brought against the BBC, court papers reveal. Judge Enjoliqué Lett rapped Mr Trump on Friday over his lack of co-operation with the court during the discovery process, when each side can compel the other to provide relevant evidence. The BBC’s lawyers filed five separate motions seeking the US president’s compliance and claimed Mr Trump was having to be dragged “kicking and screaming” to co-operate. According to the latest filings, submitted on Friday by Judge Lett, “the court has admonished the plaintiff for his lack of participation to no avail”. “The court expects strict compliance,” he added, “the failure of which will lead to sanctions.” Legal experts warned the president could face having his suit dismissed in the most extreme case. “Potential sanctions in civil litigation might include award of attorney’s fees and costs and even the dismissal of the plaintiff’s lawsuit,” Jason Sullivan, a lawyer, said. Dmitry Bam, a professor at the University of Maine Law School, said sanctions could be escalated if Mr Trump continued his defiance. “That could again include attorney’s fees, fines, treating certain facts as presumed established against Trump, all the way up to dismissing the case. Most judges would only take that last step as a matter of last resort. “Beyond the case, the court could hold Trump in contempt for violating a discovery order. Even the President must follow ordinary civil procedure rules,” Prof Bam added.
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Pres Trump has called Ukraine’s renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries “a disgrace” and criticised Volodymyr ⁠Zelenskyy after an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine failed to take hold. Clearly Zelensky now feels he’s got nothing to lose by ignoring Trump’s wishes.
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I can see why she’s in the job. Not.
Zacharia: They have said I only took questions from conservative outlets. However, The Daily Mail is not known to be a conservative outlet or friendly to conservatives
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Thank you, dear Jeremy. It’s one of the great pleasures of my job to be invited into your programme.
1966-26 and still going so strong. Proud to work in the same building as this brilliant broadcaster #JohnSimpson — who joined BBC when I was a one-yr-old!
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Excellent, balanced assessment by the excellent Steve Rosenberg.
"In the closed world of Russian politics, what clues can we find to what comes next?" Our report from Moscow on Vladimir Putin's appearance at a foreign policy forum.
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Happy Birthday RVW Check out the Vaughan Williams Society website for more about his life and works RVWSociety.com #RalphVaughanWilliams #VaughanWilliams #OnThisDay
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Congratulations to The Independent on reaching the fortieth anniversary of your admirable journalism. Having just reached my sixtieth, I hope to be reading you (or indeed anything) when you reach your sixtieth!
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For nearly ten years, he walked into the same pharmacy every month. He took out a folded $100 bill, placed it on the counter, and walked away. Nobody was supposed to know why. His name was Hody Childress. He lived in the small town of Geraldine, Alabama, with a population of fewer than a thousand people. Around 2012, Hody walked into the local pharmacy, Geraldine Drugs, and asked its owner and pharmacist, Brooke Walker, a simple question: “Do people ever come here to pick up their medications but leave without them because they can't afford to pay?” She answered, “Yes.” Hody then handed her $100 and asked her to use the money for people who couldn't afford their prescription medications. But he had two conditions: he didn't want to know whom he helped, and the people receiving the assistance were never supposed to know his name. If anyone asked where the money came from, Brooke was instructed to say only: “It's a blessing from God.” The following month, Hody returned and brought another $100. Then he came back again. And again. Month after month, year after year, for nearly a decade. He wasn't a millionaire. Hody was a farmer, a U.S. Air Force veteran, and a retiree. He lived primarily on his savings and Social Security benefits. Yet every month, he found that same $100 for someone who might need it more than he did. The pharmacy used this small, secret fund to help people without insurance or those whose medications their insurance companies refused to cover. According to the pharmacist, the money was often enough to help approximately two people each month. Over the years, hundreds of people benefited. Some received the essential medications they needed. Others had prescriptions paid for when their insurance wouldn't cover them. For one family, the assistance made it possible to purchase an expensive EpiPen for their child. And almost nobody knew whom to thank. In late 2022, Hody's health deteriorated significantly. Because of a chronic lung condition, he could no longer make his regular visits to the pharmacy. That was when he finally had to reveal his secret to at least one person: his daughter, Tania. He told her about the $100 and asked her to continue delivering the money on his behalf. On January 1, 2023, Hody Childress passed away. He was 80 years old. It was only at his funeral that his daughter told people what her father had been doing all those years. And the little town finally discovered who had been behind those mysterious acts of generosity. People who had once received their medications despite not having enough money learned the name of their anonymous benefactor for the first time. Then something happened that Hody would never live to see. Other people began coming into the pharmacy. Some brought $20, others brought $50, and some brought their own $100. Among them were neighbors, relatives, and even people whom Hody himself had once helped. The pharmacy established the Hody Childress Fund so that his small tradition could continue paying for medications for people who couldn't afford them. For nearly ten years, Hody did everything he could to make sure nobody knew his name. And after his death, that name became the name of a fund. All he had done was leave a folded $100 bill on a pharmacy counter every month. But it turned out that he had left behind something far greater. Sometimes kindness needs no cameras, no applause, and not even a thank-you. Sometimes it simply waits quietly behind a pharmacy counter, at the exact moment someone needs it most. ❤️
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Sorry — finger-trouble. I joined the BBC in 1966.
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