2022 has been a lesson in never judging a book, nor a country, by its cover. At the end of February, while the city of Kharkiv was still under attack, I met 21 yo, Eugene Gromadskyi. At the time I had no idea what he, nor Ukraine, were capable of. bbc.co.uk/news/world-eur… A hurried mobilisation was underway. The city and the country felt underprepared for the scale of what had hit them. These were the most troops I’d seen in the week there. From the crowd, a young National Guards lieutenant emerged and said, in English, “call me Eugene”

The battle for Donbas has seen Russia switch to artillery barrages that last day and night. Ukraine's National Guard have endured much of it and have shared their footage with the BBC. The video below is what is left of Rubizhne bbc.com/news/world-eur… The guardsmen held out for two months, before retreating to Lysychansk a couple of weeks ago. Many were combat veterans but hadn't experienced anything like this. “It wasn’t Mariupol, but it was pretty close," one man told me. Between 1000-1500 strike a day.

Our piece on the plight of the children left behind by the Islamic State Group, and now languishing in Syrian prison camps. Produced by @DebsR and team. "Ahmed's" story is particularly harrowing. He'd chat about his life in London, KFC, Xbox and then describe in detail the weapons systems that were used to kill his mother, sisters and his brother.

Beirut is a city of a thousand aftermaths. Four months on from the explosion, we looked at the story of one, The Orient Queen, Lebanon's only cruise liner. it was 500m from the explosion in the port. we received this picture just after the blast, and enquires from the companies at the port for a high resolution copy, as they were still looking for lost staff members.

Beirut 1952, Photogarpher unknown *not 1952; sometime earlier

Things TV editors say that fill reporters with dread ht @JohnReedwrites
1/ Amazing piece for the Six, I have a few suggestions for Ten. 2/ I liked the way you slowly build it up, but can we put the explosion at the top?

Exclusive footage of the moment before Beirut's ruin. And the devastating story of Sahar Fares, the 27 year old firefighter medic who lost her life in the blast. @GhassanBBC @colmonews @cswift2 Sahar was the only female member of the team. Her and nine colleagues were lost in the explosion.

Breaking: the kids are safe.

https://twitter.com/leloveluck/status/1183702588702756864

Here’s a list via @Dalatrm of some countries that have repatriated extremist family members from Syria - some with regime support
Malaysia
Russia
Chechnya
Belgium
Uzbekistan
Australia
Germany
Kosovo
USA
France

It’s clear that the western strategy of using north eastern Syria as a holding pen for jihadists and their families is approaching an end. But where will they end up? The SDF repeatedly told Britain to take back the likes of Shamima Begum and Jack Letts. Instead the UK stripped them of their citizenship. It was never a sustainable policy in the long term.

These three kids, Amira, Hamza and Hiba, are orphans of the Islamic State. Their nationality has been a mystery since they were found after the fall of Baghouz. Their in a Kurdish-run camp in NE Syria not far from the Turkish-led incursion They speak Arabic. Amira, who is ten, was brought to Syria five years ago. Like many of the children left by radicalised parents, they are wary of revealing details about themselves.

There are an approx 2,000 foreign IS fighters currently held in prisons in N E Syria. Those prisons are now at risk. The Islamic State Group was born in prisons, it’s leadership got out, organised, and brought terror to the region and the world. This is a counter terrorism crisis

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1182147895371472896

A useful reminder of the birthplace of IS. It was only ten years ago! independent.co.uk/news/world/mid…

I spoke to Jack Letts in October last year, now that his parent's trial is over, it can be broadcast. And here are some additional details on his radicalistation, his service in the Islamic State and what he would describe as his road to repentance. He fought for IS in Deir Ezzor, Syria, Fallujah, Iraq and elswhere. He said he wanted to kill; but didn't. After almost losing his arm in battle, he taught IS "cubs", kids under 15 years old. Jack Letts says he also worked on IS propaganda videos and their magazine Dabiq.

The children no-one wants. The families of Islamic State Group at Al Hol camp, Syria. Here's a long read on the remaining radicalisation and the desperation inside the Al Hol internment camp. bbc.com/news/world-mid…

Shamima Begum tells @BBCNews it is wrong she’s being deprived of her citizenship without anyone from the home office speaking to her first “ I wasn’t born in Bangladesh, I’ve never seen Bangladesh, and I don’t even speak Bengali properly, so how can they claim I have Bangladeshi citizenship”

IS supporter Shamima Begum admits to @BBCNews she was a poster girl for IS recruitment, apologises to Britain for joining IS and says she is ready to face prison if she’s allowed to return. She still has sympathy for the group and equated its crimes to coalition airstrikes against the extremist group.

Fascinating transcript of @thetimes Shamima Begum interview. When read in full her naivety, and her lack of care and compassion shine through. thetimes.co.uk/article/isis-j… Some countries - Russia, Kazakhstan and the US - have repatriated some or all of their women and children from Syria. They do this because they don’t belong there, they are unwanted by the Kurds who don’t have the resources to bring them to justice. Or care for their kids.