“Air France resumed its service to Dubai on Saturday, after temporarily suspending it the previous day due to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, the airline announced. Dutch airline KLM halted flights until further notice to cities in the Middle East and would not fly through the airspace of several countries in the region, including Iraq and Iran, according to the Netherlands’ state broadcaster. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a US ‘armada’ was heading toward the Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely, even after downplaying the prospect of imminent military action and saying Tehran appeared interested in talks.” (01/24/26)
“Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has been barred by Labour’s ruling body from standing as a candidate in the upcoming by-election in Gorton and Denton, stopping his bid to return to Westminster. The Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) voted 8-1 against allowing Burnham to step down as mayor of Manchester to run in the by-election. Burnham, who has been flirting with running again for parliament, is widely seen as a potential leadership challenger to Prime Minister Keir Starmer should he return to Westminster.” (01/25/26)
“The Chinese military’s top general is being investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law the Defense Ministry said Saturday. Zhang Youxia, the senior of the two vice chairs of the powerful Central Military Commission, is the latest figure to fall in a long-running purge of military officials. Analysts believe the purges are designed both to reform the military and to ensure loyalty to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who also chairs the military commission. They are part of a broader anti-corruption drive that has punished more than 200,000 officials since Xi came to power in 2012. Another member of the commission, Liu Zhenli, has also been placed under investigation by China’s ruling Communist Party, a Defense Ministry statement said.” (01/24/26)
“A suicide bombing attack at a wedding in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least seven people, according to the police. The bombing tore through a building housing members of a peace committee during a wedding ceremony on Friday in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police official Muhammad Adnan said on Saturday. The committees are made up of residents and elders and supported by Islamabad as part of its efforts to counter fighters in the regions along the Afghan border.” (01/24/26)
“A Texas sheriff has been charged with fraud two months after President Donald Trump pardoned his brother, Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar – although the president later accused him of being disloyal. Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar Jr., 67, from Laredo, was accused by federal prosecutors of defrauding his office by misappropriating funds to run a for-profit disinfecting business during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last month, Cuellar’s brother and his brother’s wife, Imelda Cuellar, were pardoned by Trump in a federal bribery case. … Martin Cuellar, along with his assistant chief, Alejandro Gutierrez, 47, and a former assistant chief, Ricardo Rodriguez, 65, opened Disinfect Pro Master in April 2020 and used employees from the sheriff’s office to run the company’s day-to-day operations both on and off the clock with the county, prosecutors alleged.” (01/23/26)
It’s a “Hybrid Friday” at the freedom movement’s daily newspaper — we’ve got a full 60-item email and social media edition going out, plus another 50 (maybe more by the time you read this) news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links here at our web edition. Enjoy!
Crass commercialism:
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“The toll in Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests has reached at least 5,002 people killed, activists said Friday, warning many more were feared dead as the most comprehensive internet blackout in the country’s history crossed the two-week mark. The challenge in getting information out of Iran persists because of authorities cutting off access to the internet on Jan. 8, even as tensions rise between the United States and Iran as an American aircraft carrier group moves closer to the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump likened the carrier group to an ‘armada’ in comments to journalists late Thursday. Analysts say a military buildup could give Trump the option to carry out strikes, though so far he’s avoided that despite repeated warnings to Tehran.” (01/23/22)
“With just a week left to avoid another government shutdown, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Jan. 22 to send a $1.2 trillion spending package to the Senate. The appropriations bills passed despite widespread consternation from Democrats over keeping the lights on at the Department of Homeland Security. The Trump administration’s nationwide immigration enforcement operations – which came to a head recently with the [murder] of Renee Good in Minneapolis – prompted most Democrats to vote against funding the agency, which includes Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Seven Democrats supported the DHS bill.” (01/22/26)
“Before the US military snatched Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this month, Delcy Rodríguez and her powerful brother pledged to cooperate with the Trump administration once the strongman was gone, four sources involved at high levels with the discussions told the Guardian. Rodríguez, who was sworn in on 5 January as acting president to replace Maduro, and her brother Jorge, the head of the national assembly, secretly assured US and Qatari officials through intermediaries ahead of time that they would welcome Maduro’s departure, according to the sources. The communications between US officials from Delcy Rodríguez, who was then Maduro’s vice-president, began in the fall and continued after Trump and Maduro spoke in a crucial phone call in late November, the Guardian has learned, in which Trump insisted that Maduro leave Venezuela. Maduro rejected the demand.” (01/22/26)
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement has [abducted] four children from the same Minnesota school district this month, including a 5-year-old boy. Preschooler Liam Ramos was [abducted] in the driveway of his home along with his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, on Tuesday. The father and son were then transported to a detention center in Texas. … Ramos is the fourth child in the Columbia Heights Public School District to be [abducted] by ICE this month.” (01/22/26)
