📰 Special Projects Editor at @TheiPaper.com, based in London ✍️ I write long reads, investigations and interviews 🏆 Legal Reporting Award winner ⚽️ Spurs fan 💻 https://robhastings.co.uk 💻 https://inews.co.uk/author/rob-hastingshttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mtto34yifc2j🔥 Russia may hire gangs to launch covert terrorist-style attacks on the UK, in retaliation for British supplies of missiles and drones to Ukraine, warns the former CIA Director General David Petraeus My interview for @theipaper.com: https://inews.co.uk/news/cia-putin-use-terrorist-gangs-attack-uk-472171324 Aug 2026 15:55 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtto34yifc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mtlkgq7enk2k✈️ Merle Meyers worked at Boeing for 31 years, but refuses to fly on a 787 Dreamliner or a 737 Max He claims to have seen factory staff “raiding the scrap area” and installing faulty parts on airliners to save time and money My interview with him for @theipaper.com: https://inews.co.uk/news/worked-boeing-30-years-never-travel-two-planes-netflix-471173221 Aug 2026 10:28 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtlkgq7enk2khttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mtdxambm2s23⛈️ Philip and Elaine Marco died tragically in their car on a journey home in Liverpool. Their vehicle didn’t crash. They drowned in it. 🧵1/818 Aug 2026 09:56 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtdxambm2s23https://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3msurbglspk2bIlya Yashin survived awful solitary confinement in Moscow If Putin's regime collapses, he aims to end the Ukraine war and create a democratic Russia The late Alexei Navalny's ally spoke to me about "psychopath" Putin's threat to Nato and challenges for opposition exiles https://inews.co.uk/news/world/jailed-criticising-putin-preparing-his-downfall-467568512 Aug 2026 08:59 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3msurbglspk2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3msssxgflvc23📹 Here's how my investigation into abuse of workers making clothes for Under Armour led to US import bans Our thoughts are with the families of three women whose tragic suicides we uncovered and their Needle Craft factory colleagues Read my full story for @theipaper.com https://inews.co.uk/news/under-armour-clothes-from-sweatshop-supplier-banned-449752911 Aug 2026 14:24 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3msssxgflvc23https://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mrul4dd4yc2hTrue story: I have a family friend who hates football. A few years ago, she mentioned off the cuff to my dad that she'd only been to one football match in her life and she didn't get what all the fuss was all about. My dad asked her which match it was, but she couldn't remember at first. (1/5)30 Jul 2026 13:44 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrul4dd4yc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mrn2ml5lcs2y🧵 Imagine you're in your eighties or nineties, you have dementia and you're in a care home. Then your life savings, which have been covering the cost of your bed at £1,000 per week or more, start to run out. It could be the most vulnerable moment of your life. (1/13)27 Jul 2026 14:00 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrn2ml5lcs2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mrfchjpgbk2kWhen Ed Miliband stopped the UK from bombing Syria's Assad regime in 2013, did it change history for better or worse? I interviewed the man who was US Ambassador to Syria at the time, Robert Ford, for @theipaper.com: https://inews.co.uk/news/miliband-blocked-syria-strikes-handle-trump-better-466180624 Jul 2026 11:59 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrfchjpgbk2khttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mr36zuz5o22oMiguel Maduro joined Fifa hoping to clean up the organisation - yet was sacked just months later for standing up to Gianni Infantino Describing his experiences, Maduro tells me why he is "deeply skeptical of any likelihood of any reform" My interview for @theipaper.com: https://inews.co.uk/news/chaired-fifas-top-committee-infantino-anything-keep-power-464646220 Jul 2026 11:31 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr36zuz5o22ohttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mqoneajhq22kAhead of England v Argentina, two sport psychologists tell me how players prepare mentally - after years of training their minds to cope in big matches So interesting to hear how visualisation techniques work and their takes on Tuchel My article for @theipaper.com: https://inews.co.uk/news/tuchel-england-psychological-win-world-cup-464454915 Jul 2026 11:43 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqoneajhq22khttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mqbw7webl22dOhhh OF COURSE even the man behind Count Binface studied Classics at Oxford https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/count-binface-who-farage-reform-clacton-byelection-b3012363.html10 Jul 2026 10:17 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqbw7webl22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mp4ee77mok2a🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Under Armour clothes made by abusive factories expected to be seized by US authorities in response to my investigation for @theipaper.com Details about the story in thread and link below... 🧵125 Jun 2026 11:49 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp4ee77mok2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mp4ee77mok2a🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Under Armour clothes made by abusive factories expected to be seized by US authorities in response to my investigation for @theipaper.com Details about the story in thread and link below... 🧵125 Jun 2026 11:49 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp4ee77mok2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mouudwlv7c2qAfter raising concerns about Fifa World Cup bid corruption, @bonitamersiades.bsky.social lost her job and was threatened Ten years into Gianni Infantino's leadership of Fifa, Mersiades is angry at continued ethical failings My interview for @theipaper.com: https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/fifa-whistleblower-how-infantino-keeps-grip-football-448697922 Jun 2026 12:13 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mouudwlv7c2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mkmywpcpt22cAttempts to assassinate the US President dominate the news, but former Secret Service agents Jeffrey James and Paul Eckloff warn that political violence is spreading more widely across America, which could leave authorities "overwhelmed" My article for @theipaper.com: https://inews.co.uk/news/world/guarded-trump-secret-service-harder-to-protect-him-438406029 Apr 2026 11:33 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkmywpcpt22chttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3miy3nyek5s26📰 An encouraging read about the value of good journalism: https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/digital-journalism/times-fewer-better-stories-strategy-leads-to-run-of-audience-growth https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/digital-journalism/times-fewer-better-stories-strategy-leads-to-run-of-audience-growth/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email08 Apr 2026 10:31 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3miy3nyek5s26https://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mirg6yywik2h@philwisden.bsky.social Loved your piece on my boyhood hero's 207 - so well told, great job05 Apr 2026 18:51 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mirg6yywik2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mienrlofuk2b🚨 I have interviewed Igor Salikov, a senior Russian officer who defected after being horrified by the invasion of Ukraine He has provided evidence to the International Criminal Court about war crimes he witnessed or learnt about His story, shared with @theipaper.com, is astonishing... (🧵 1/13)31 Mar 2026 17:02 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mienrlofuk2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mguefu5os22zAn Epstein survivor calls on British police to question her alleged groomer about any victims potentially trafficked through UK Teresa Helm, who was abused in the US in 2002, said authorities must contact Sarah Kellen, one of the convicted paedophile’s closest associates https://inews.co.uk/news/world/jeffrey-epstein-abused-me-office-who-uk-police-should-speak-424993112 Mar 2026 12:07 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mguefu5os22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mgqduj7enk2oAt least Kinsky lasted 17 minutes tonight, one poor Peruvian lad in here was taken off after 13 https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/nov/01/theknowledge.sport10 Mar 2026 21:46 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgqduj7enk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mght752hjs2iIf anyone should welcome Trump's war on Iran's regime, it's ex-US embassy hostages - yet two tell me it's "insane", "moronic", "a huge screw-up" It was an honour to interview Barry Rosen & John Limbert, among 52 held in awful conditions for 444 days, for @theipaper.com https://inews.co.uk/news/world/american-hostage-iran-444-days-trumps-war-moronic-427498407 Mar 2026 12:27 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mght752hjs2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/robhastings.bsky.social/post/3mexs473xys22🥸 For nearly three years, Joe Augustyn ran the CIA unit that arranges new identities for defectors escaping from Russia, to shield them from attacks. He spoke to me for @theipaper.com about protecting some of the world's bravest - and most unusual - people: https://inews.co.uk/news/world/cia-unit-protecting-defectors-why-spies-turn-russia-422348816 Feb 2026 09:59 +0000at://did:plc:ueivecetg7pzhashe2b7utng/app.bsky.feed.post/3mexs473xys22