Rebuffed Burnham can return to honing his stature and attack lines
Greater Manchester mayor will not be tested in tough byelection or against PM for now, but can continue to pose speculative threatLabour row erupts after Andy Burnham blocked from byelection raceWith his return to Westminster seemingly blocked, on Monday Andy Burnham will get back to the two roles to which he has devoted his time in recent years: being mayor of Greater Manchester and annoying Keir Starmer.The second is very much a part-time and unofficial role, but it is noticeable how Burnham manages to edge back into the media spotlight whenever the leader of his party is having a tough time. Continue reading...
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At least seven people dead as US winter storm cuts power and grounds flights
Snow, sleet, freezing rain and perilously cold temperatures sweep eastern two-thirds of country in ‘historic’ stormAt least seven people are dead as the result of a monster winter storm that has brought heavy snowfall and ice from the Gulf coast to the north-east, leaving more than 700,000 in the US without power and cancelling more than 10,000 flights.The Louisiana department of health confirmed two deaths related to the winter storm in Caddo parish. According to the agency, two men of unknown ages died of hypothermia. Continue reading...
Canada has no intention of pursuing free trade with China, says Carney
PM says recent agreement just cuts tariffs on a few sectors, as Trump threatens 100% tariffs on Canadian importsCanada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, said on Sunday his country has no intention of pursuing a free trade deal with China, responding to Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if the US’s northern neighbour went ahead with a trade deal with BeijingCarney said his recent agreement with China merely cuts tariffs on a few sectors that were recently hit with tariffs. Continue reading...
Venezuela frees dozens of political prisoners, human rights group says
It is the latest batch of detainees freed since the US seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a raid.
Minneapolis shooting: Barack and Michelle Obama call out Trump and ICE for ‘assault’ on nation’s core values
‘This has to stop’, former president and first lady said in a statement on the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agentsAlex Pretti did not brandish gun, witnesses say in sworn testimonyCalls mount on Trump administration to fully investigate killingMinnesota workers pressure employers to take action against ICE operationsAlex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs Hospital ICU nurse, was said to be deeply upset about the Trump administration’s sometimes brutal immigration crackdown. The 37-year-old has been described as kindhearted by his friends and family (see opening post to read what his parents said about him in a statement issued after he was killed).Dimitri Drekonja, chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital and a colleague of Pretti, called him “a good kind person who lived to help.” Pretti was a nurse working “to support critically ill veterans,” he added. Continue reading...
Calls mount on Trump administration to fully investigate Alex Pretti’s killing
Republican senator says ‘credibility’ of ICE and DHS are ‘at stake’ as calls come from both sides of political dividePressure mounted on Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday to fully investigate the previous day’s killing by federal immigration officers of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.Calls for an investigation have come from all sides of the political divide after video analysis showed officers had removed from Pretti a handgun he was reportedly permitted to carry – and which he was not handling – before fatally shooting him. Continue reading...
NRA and pro-gun groups call for ‘full investigation’ into killing of Alex Pretti
Groups typically aligned with Trump call for investigation as NRA wades into the national dialogueThe National Rifle Association (NRA) has joined other gun lobbying and advocacy groups that are typically aligned with Donald Trump in calling for the Republican president’s administration to conduct a “full investigation” into the killing of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse who was shot dead by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis on Saturday.Pretti was reportedly legally permitted to carry a gun and is a citizen of the US, where it is a constitutional right to bear arms. Widely circulated video of his shooting death does not depict him ever holding a gun. It does show an officer reaching to Pretti’s lower back and stepping away with what appeared to be a pistol – and Pretti being subsequently shot to death. Continue reading...
Almost a quarter of UK GPs are seeing obese children aged four and under
Exclusive: Almost half of GPs have seen children up to the age of seven who have obesity, research findsAlmost a quarter of GPs are seeing children aged four or under who are obese, according to a survey of UK family doctors.The “alarming” research also found that almost half (49%) of GPs have seen boys and girls up to the age of seven who have obesity, including a handful younger than a year old.Almost one in four (23%) said they had seen children aged zero to four where obesity was a clinical concern.Among the doctors, 81% have seen obesity in those between their first 12 months and the age of 11.Four in five (80%) find it somewhat or very challenging to talk to the parents of an obese child under the age of 16 about their weight and health, with only 10% saying that is easy to do.Nearly two thirds (65%) find it hard to talk to obese young people themselves, with just 20% saying that is easy. Continue reading...
Amid Two-Week Internet Blackout, Some Iranians Are Getting Back Online
Many in Iran are gaining brief and unexplained windows of online connectivity, offering a widening glimpse of the extent of the government crackdown.
Iran president’s son urges authorities to restore internet after protest blackout
Yousef Pezeshkian says nothing will be solved by trying to postpone moment footage of violent crackdown circulateThe son of Iran’s president has called for the internet restrictions in the country to be lifted, saying nothing will be solved by trying to postpone the moment when pictures and video circulate of the protests that were violently crushed by the regime.With a battle under way at the top of the regime about the political risks of continuing to block Iran from the internet, Yousef Pezeshkian, whose father, Masoud, was elected in the summer of 2024, said keeping the digital shutdown would create dissatisfaction and widen the gap between the people and the government. Continue reading...