Yesterday, I interviewed for @repubblica the celebrated American novelist John Grisham. For the first time, Grisham revealed that Donald Trump has split his family and that he and his Trump-supporting siblings barely talked anymore. A thread 🧵 1 / Grisham: "I have friends who voted for Trump. I have siblings who voted for Trump, and this is what Trump has done to our country. A lot of families have split up. Including my family, a lot of friends have stopped speaking frankly - I have some Republican friends - because we never talk about politics in this country. You only bring up politics with somebody if you live with somebody on your side. You know you never because things are so toxic, almost to the point of violence, either you love Trump, or you hate Trump, and there's no in-between".

🧵Breve storia triste. Giusto per farvi capire in che mani stiamo su X. E quanto pericolosa sia diventata questa piattaforma.
1) Ashlea Simon, co-leader del partito di estrema destra britannico "Britain First", stamani twitta una fake news. Un fotomontaggio di un falso articolo del Telegraph, mai esistito, che parla di deportazioni alle Falklands degli arrestati dei riots di questi giorni... 2) @elonmusk, l'uomo più ricco del mondo e padre padrone del social più influente al mondo, riprende la fake news e la dà in pasto ai suoi quasi 200 milioni di follower, con il messaggio "Detainment Camps"....

NEW. A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Nigel Farage - here is the Italian version, but I had no time to write an English one:

Among other things, we also talked about Russia and Ukraine - and Meloni!

Here is what he told me (in English) 🧵repubblica.it/venerdi/2024/0… 1. Do you really think that Donald Trump, as he says, can stop the war in Ukraine in 24 hours?

NF: “This is how Trump operates: he makes big claims. What he's saying is that he will get Putin and Zelensky together for a peace negotiation. Now, it might fail. It might fail, but he will at least attempt to do that. Whereas, at the moment, the West seems to think that Ukraine is going to win. Well, however many weapons we give Ukraine, Russia isn't going to give in and there is a danger this war goes on for over five years. A genuine danger. It’s a little bit like the Italian battles on the Isonzo. Endless, endless, endless war… So look, Trump may fail with that. But I do see him as a peacemaker, the first American president in several that didn't launch any new wars. I think this is why he's important. And for Europe, you know, Trump is making NATO stronger by telling NATO members they got to pay their 2% and quite right, too.”

Ahead of Keir Starmer's major speech today, I interviewed veteran Labour MP Jon Cruddas @JonCruddas_1 in @repubblica about his new book “A Century of Labour” (Polity Books).

Cruddas explains to me why he "fears that Labour will have no mandate for change once in government", but also his concerns about "the lack of independent thought in the party".

Moreover, despite his great achievements so far, "Starmer remains quite an elusive political character" and Cruddas tells why the Labour Party "could be destroyed by victory" after the 2024 election. 🧵 FULL INTERVIEW HERE 👉repubblica.it/esteri/2024/01… 1. Cruddas praises the words of his leader Keir Starmer, because “it's quite a good, ethical case to make in terms of public standards in public life. There’s only been three Labour Prime Ministers who won power at general election in 100 years and the possibility of Starmer becoming the fourth Labour Prime Minister is a phenomenal development. Objectively that's something that should be recognised”.

However, Cruddas stresses, “The journey is not complete, and I don't think anyone should assume that the election is done and dusted”.

Qualche giorno fa sono andato a Portland, nel sud dell'Inghilterra, dove c'è la controversa chiatta dei migranti e richiedenti asilo, ieri evacuata perché è stato rinvenuto il batterio della legionella. Ecco quanto ho visto e sentito al porto e in città. Cose non incoraggianti. 1. La chiatta si trova qui, sull'isola di Portland, anche se in realtà una connessione con la Gran Bretagna c'è grazie all'unica strada verso Weymouth e Chesil Beach, infinito e malinconico istmo di spiaggia dello straordinario romanzo di Ian McEwan (terza foto, sullo sfondo).

BREAKING. Irish Foreign minister @simoncoveney tells me: "There is a real intent in London to try to resolve the #Brexit protocol issues through negotiation over the next few weeks and months. And I think the EU will respond to that generously. In fact, I know they will." 🇬🇧🇪🇺🇮🇪 Coveney: "I think there is an agreement between the British and Irish Governments and certainly, I think there's a view within the British government now that an election at this time in Northern Ireland really serves no positive purpose. It would be a very polarising..."

This video is an absolute gem. ❤️🇬🇧

In 1967 John Reith, the first ever Director General of the BBC, spoke to Malcolm Muggeridge about the "BBC accent". - via @BBCArchive

P.S. I’m just mesmerised by the way he pronounces tower, tar and tyre. 😵‍💫😍

NEW. I interviewed the celebrated British of Asian descent writer @Hanifkureishi on Rishi Sunak and he's not happy

"I don't think people feel excited about him in any way, shape or form: he's no Obama. He doesn't have any moral authority that Obama had"

repubblica.it/esteri/2022/10… Kureishi: "Sunak comes from a very wealthy background, and he hasn't actually struggled. He went to public school and then he went to Oxford, he worked for Goldman Sachs and so on. Unlike Obama, he has no real roots in the immigrant community."

👀 CHINA EASTERN MILITARY COMMAND: WILL CARRY OUT JOINT MILITARY OPERATIONS AROUND #TAIWAN ISLAND FROM AUG 2 EVENING LOCAL TIME - Reuters 👀
#Pelosi CHINA EASTERN MILITARY COMMAND: WILL CONDUCT JOINT SEA, AIR TRAINING IN AIRSPACE NORTH, SOUTHWEST, SOUTHEAST OF TAIWAN ISLAND - Reuters

And we’re at Lady GAAAAAAGAAAAA, baby
@ladygaga ❤️ 🇺🇸 🇮🇹 🇬🇧

#London #tottenhamStadium GAAAAAAGAAAAAAAAA
@ladygaga #BadRomance #tottenhamStadium #London 🇺🇸🇮🇹🇬🇧

My interview with Sir Jeffrey Donaldson

“It’s the EU threatening a new Irish border. Tone-deaf Ireland must choose between the Brexit Protocol and the Good Friday Agreement”

His appeal to Europe for a solution and why Joe Biden should be "more balanced"

repubblica.it/esteri/2022/06… Donaldson on the Northern Ireland bill which rips off the Protocol: "We want to see the government follow through and take this bill forward in Parliament because I think it offers the potential to solve the protocol problem and restore the political institutions under the GFA".

NEW. The Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, spoke to Vice President Maroš Šefčovič today (Thursday 12 May) - FCDO

"The Foreign Secretary outlined that the UK's overriding priority is to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland and said that the Northern Ireland Protocol..." "...had become the greatest obstacle to forming a Northern Ireland Executive. She also noted that the current situation was causing unacceptable disruption to trade and had created a two-tier system where people in Northern Ireland weren’t being treated the same as..."

If the UK really wanted to trigger Art 16 of Brexit protocol, it’d already do so. The fact, unlike previous times, is the UK is in a weaker position than EU, if a trade war erupts. Especially in such turbulent times. EU knows it. But sure NI political stalemate is worrying. 🇬🇧🇪🇺 Yes, the DUP want radical changes to the Protocol for obvious reasons and there is no government without them. However, the new NI Assembly has a majority supporting the Brexit protocol, which would be then extended in 2024 beyond doubt. It's a very tricky position for the UK.

And we’re back. @muse second night in London at @EventimApollo. Floor standing tonight 🤟🏻🇬🇧 Better outfit than last night?
@muse #London @EventimApollo

Queuing for @muse almost 3 years after their last concert in London. Magical. 🤟🏻 @EventimApollo The right outfit for @muse?
#London @EventimApollo

Il discorso della ministra degli Esteri Liz Truss ieri a Londra secondo me è spartiacque e apre una nuova era geopolitica. Non solo: mi pare sia il manifesto di una nuova, sempre più probabile Guerra Fredda tra Occidente e Russia-Cina, oltre a quella "calda" in Ucraina. THREAD 👇 1. Truss ha subito messo in chiaro: la guerra in Ucraina si deve vincere non solo per difendere la libertà e la democrazia, ma anche perché è il baluardo ideologico e sistemico che porrà le basi della futura geopolitica mondiale, come ho scritto qui 🇺🇦🇷🇺

repubblica.it/esteri/2022/04…

Perché,con le frasi di Londra ieri sui “bombardamenti legittimi in Russia con armi britanniche”, siamo entrati in una nuova fase della guerra in Ucraina.

E perché UK e Usa sono passate al “contrattacco” contro Putin.

Il mio retroscena oggi su @repubblica
repubblica.it/esteri/2022/04… L'esplosiva affermazione del sottosegretario alla Difesa con delega all'Esercito, il deputato conservatore inglese James Heappey, apre un'altra fase della guerra in Ucraina, sfiorando una linea rossa sempre più indistinguibile. Perché per la prima volta, un Paese occidentale…

I have interviewed Nadia Murad @NadiaMuradBasee, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, on the tragedy of mass rapes in #Ukraine. She told me interesting things. Like, if we want to stop this appalling weapon of war against women, we also must change ourselves.
repubblica.it/cultura/2022/0… 1. @NadiaMuradBasee: "What is happening in Ukraine is appalling, but, unfortunately, not new. Women and girls in conflicts all over the world are subjected to sexual violence, just as Yazidis were. Women and girls will continue to be used as "weapons" of war until..."

Boris Johnson announces that the UK will reopen its embassy in Kyiv next week - as Italy did recently. Boris Johnson: the Indians want peace and the Russians out [of Ukraine]

EXCLUSIVE. Boris Johnson: How to avoid a nuclear disaster in Ukraine and why "Putin is in a cul-de-sac"

A long interview on Moscow's aggression, how to deal with the Russian President and the unity of the West, despite Brexit - @repubblica

repubblica.it/esteri/2022/03… PM: “An attack on a nuclear power plant or an explosion are clearly a matter of our common European health and safety. We remember what happened with Chernobyl, the radioactive clouds spread over the whole continent, and indeed, also to North America. There is clearly a risk.”

NEW. Boris Johnson: “We – and the world – cannot allow that freedom just to be snuffed out. We cannot and will not just look away.”

“Today in concert with our allies we will agree a massive package of economic sanctions designed in time to hobble the Russian economy”

#Ukraine Johnson: “For all his bombs and tanks and missiles I don’t believe that the Russian dictator will ever subdue the national feeling of the Ukrainians and their passionate belief that their country should be free”.