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
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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.
John Simpson retweeted
I know he's ex Spurs but congratulations to Kane. Thoroughly deserved imo. Model professional and role model and his consistency thtoughout his career has been insane. Wasn't blessed with the best natural talent but a great example of making the best of yourself. Good luck to him
I don’t think I ever believed I’d see a newspaper paragraph like this: President Trump ‘said he would welcome immigrants from Denmark but not from Norway “because I didn’t get the Nobel Prize, so I don’t want anybody from Norway”.’
John Simpson retweeted
UK crime was four times higher when Oasis first played Knebworth than at last year’s reunion gigs.
The collapse of crime and safer streets is one of the biggest stories of our time.
But one almost never told - or believed.
My take on today’s figures: comment.press/lawless
Really glad the BBC is standing up for itself, in a way other US networks didn’t. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmy0…
John Simpson retweeted
Ukraine is not Russia. That's Putin’s problem – refusing to recognize a separate nation, refusing to recognize a separate country – that's what did him in. He was shown a military operation that was supposed to take three days. We found parade uniforms in their various military vehicles. They were literally marching to a parade. He still doesn't understand and doesn't want to admit that this is a different nation, a different people.
They were advancing on Kyiv from all directions. Their main goal was to seize the capital of Ukraine. They reached Kyiv. They trapped us, and then we started hammering them, and they didn't know what to do about it. They were especially shocked when they drove toward the capital and people were just throwing burning mixtures. People were setting their armor on fire. It wasn't a matter of some general being an idiot. I believe the one who gave the order just didn't fully realize what was happening.
Because what does taking Kyiv mean? When you've taken those towns on the way to Kyiv, you have to leave troops behind to hold those towns. And that takes a huge number of people. It's a pretty large territory. If the people inside offer resistance, then you need an army to hold every town. That was their mistake. They didn't even realize there would be resistance. That was their main mistake. That's it.
From The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett. (1/3)
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.
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.
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…
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
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.
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.’
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
John Simpson retweeted
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.
ALT The BBC submits this Notice to raise newly available information regarding the “matters of national importance” that Plaintiff claimed kept him from his scheduled deposition. As the BBC now knows, on October 16, Plaintiff attended and addressed a campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia, alongside Plaintiff’s favored candidates in Georgia’s upcoming U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections. Plaintiff subsequently traveled to his resort club and residence at Mar-a-Lago for a Republican National Committee fundraising event.
Christiane has been one of the great forces in international broadcasting: magnificent, honourable, principled, charming. Whatever will we do without her?
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
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.
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.
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!
