Underground church says leaders detained as China steps up crackdown pred 4 urami in 2 minutama Early Rain pastor said to be among those held in sweep that followed arrests of members of other unregistered churchesLeaders of a prominent underground church have been detained in south-west China, according to a church statement, the latest blow in what appears to be a sweeping crackdown on unregistered Christian groups in the country.On Tuesday, Li Yingqiang, the leader of the Early Rain Covenant Church, was taken by police from his home in Deyang, a small city in Sichuan province, according to the statement. Li’s wife, Zhang Xinyue, has also been detained, along with two other church members: Dai Zhichao, a pastor; and Ye Fenghua, a lay member. At least a further four members were taken and later released, while some others remain out of contact. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Rightwing bloggers and Maga minions: meet the Trump-loving Pentagon press corps pred 4 urami in 2 minutama A group of reporters meant to hold the Pentagon to account is full of pro-Trump sycophants … what could go wrong?After US troops swarmed into Venezuela, seizing the country’s president and his wife, there was little to be heard from the Pentagon.Typically, it would be a time for defense officials to talk to the Pentagon press corps: a group of journalists made up of some of the most talented reporters in the US. The Pentagon could have been expected to be held to account over what has been criticized as a violation of international law. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Nobel Institute rejects María Corina Machado’s offer to share peace prize with Trump pred 4 urami in 3 minutami Organisers clarify award ‘cannot be revoked, shared or transferred’ after Venezuelan opposition leader’s commentsThe organisers of the Nobel peace prize have said it “cannot be revoked, shared or transferred” after Venezuela’s opposition leader, María Corina Machado, said she wanted to give her award to Donald Trump.When Machado was named Nobel laureate in October, it was seen as a snub by the White House, despite Machado rushing to dedicate the prize to the US president and his “decisive support of our cause”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Excessive screen time limits vocabulary of toddlers, experts warn pred 4 urami in 8 minutami Children aged two with highest screen use can say significantly fewer words, UK government research findsExcessive screen time is damaging toddlers’ ability to speak, the UK government has warned as it prepares to issue advice to parents for the first time on how to manage screen use in under-fives.Research has found that children aged two with the highest screen use – about five hours a day – could say significantly fewer words than those with screen use of about 44 minutes a day. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Family seeks answers after ICE deported man to Costa Rica in vegetative state pred 4 urami in 26 minutami Exclusive: Before Randall Gamboa Esquivel died, his health had deteriorated badly while he was in ICE custodyCosta Rican family demands answers after ICE deportation and death: ‘Have you ever smelled a cadaver?’The family of a Costa Rican man who was deported from the United States in a vegetative state and died shortly after arriving back in his home country is still urgently seeking answers from the authorities about what happened to him while he was in detention.Randall Gamboa Esquivel had left Costa Rica in good health and crossed the United States-Mexico border in December 2024, according to his family. However, Gamboa was detained by the US authorities for re-entering American soil unlawfully, as he had previously lived there undocumented between 2002 and 2013. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Peter Mandelson declines to apologise for association with Jeffrey Epstein pred 5 urami in 12 minutami Former UK ambassador says he is sorry for system that does not give victims protection they are entitled to expectPeter Mandelson declined to apologise to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims for remaining friends with the paedophile financier after his conviction but said he was sorry for “a system” that meant Epstein’s victims were ignored.The Labour peer, who was sacked as US ambassador when details of his support for Epstein emerged in September, gave an interview to the BBC on Sunday, saying he had paid a “calamitous” price for his association with the “evil monster”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Parents of critically ill children ‘crushed’ by lack of support, say campaigners pred 5 urami in 48 minutami Frances and Ceri Menai-Davis, who lost their son Hugh to cancer, say gap in financial help is ‘devastating’Parents of critically ill children are being “crushed” by a lack of statutory financial support when they need to take time off work, the parents of a six-year-old boy who died of cancer have said.Hugh Menai-Davis was diagnosed with a rare form of the disease when he fell ill suddenly in October 2020. The boy, then aged five, had been happy and healthy before he developed severe stomach pains. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Syrian forces expel Kurdish fighters as US strikes Islamic State targets pred 5 urami in 56 minutami Three hundred Kurds detained and further 400 evacuated following clashes in AleppoSyrian government forces have detained 300 Kurds and evacuated more than 400 Kurdish fighters after clashes in Aleppo, the interior ministry has said, as US and allied forces carried out separate “large-scale” strikes against Islamic State targets.An interior ministry official told Agence France-Presse that about 360 Kurdish fighters and 60 wounded had been bussed to the Kurds’ de facto autonomous zone in the north-east from the Sheikh Maqsoud district, the last area of Aleppo to fall to the army. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Council member who lost eye in George Floyd protest sees echo in Ice killing pred 6 urami in 2 minutama Soren Stevenson says Minneapolis shooting ‘reminiscent in a scary way’ – but he and his neighbors are feeling activatedIt was Soren Stevenson’s third day in office as a Minneapolis city council member on Wednesday when Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE on the edge of his district.On Thursday, he sat in an eerily quiet food court at lunchtime in Plaza Mexico, a mall of mostly Latino businesses in south Minneapolis, eating carne asada and talking about how his neighborhood was once again the center of a national firestorm. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Mandelson praises Trump’s ‘graciousness’ and declines to apologise for friendship with Jeffrey Epstein – UK politics live pred 6 urami in 11 minutami In first TV interview since he was sacked as UK ambassador to US, Mandelson says association with Epstein was ‘terrible mistake’ but adds: ‘I was not culpable’Laura Kuenssberg asks Peter Mandelson if he liked Donald Trump when he was the UK ambassador.Mandelson says he did like Trump, listing of numerous reasons why, but said he did not like all of his “language”.I like him, yes, I liked his humour, his graciousness…I liked his directness. You knew exactly what he was thinking and where you stood and what he wanted. And how he was proposing to engage, with you. Did I like in all his language? No, I didn’t, did I? Did he make me gasp? What’s going to happen is there’s going to be, another discussion, a lot of consultation and a lot of negotiation.At the end of the day, we are all going to have to wake up to the reality that the Arctic needs securing against China and Russia. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
