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"I've been warned not to talk about it," the woman wrote, before revealing snippets of the day she says she was arrested for publishing gay erotica.

"I'll never forget it - being escorted to the car in full view, enduring the humiliation of stripping naked for examination in front of strangers, putting on a vest for photos, sitting in the chair, shaking with fear, my heart pounding."

The handle, Pingping Anan Yongfu, is among at least 8 in recent months which have shared accounts on Chinese social media platform Weibo of being arrested for publishing gay erotic fiction. As authors recounted their experiences, dozens of lawyers offered pro bono help.

At least 30 writers, nearly all of them women in their 20s, have been arrested across the country since February, a lawyer defending one told the BBC. Many are out on bail or awaiting trial, but some are still in custody. Another lawyer told the BBC that many more contributors were summoned for questioning.

Dozens of people have been detained in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, and police blocked key parts of the city as the LGBTQ+ community attempted to hold a Pride parade.

Police in Istanbul on Sunday blocked attempts to hold a banned LGBTQ+ Pride demonstration, detaining more than 50 people who tried to march, according to activists and an opposition politician.

Istanbul Pride has been banned annually by Turkish authorities since 2015, including this year.

The governor of Istanbul had earlier banned the LGBTQ+ community from holding a Pride Parade, saying it "undermines social peace, family structure, and moral values."

A strong police presence in key areas of the city prevented large gatherings. Officers were seen clashing with activists holding rainbow flags in the city center.

Germany's Social Democratic Party says first legal steps should be taken to ban the far-right AfD party as unconstitutional. Conservative lawmakers are less keen on the idea.

A number of Germany's conservative lawmakers have called for a cautious approach after the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the junior coalition partner, on Sunday passed a motion calling for preparations to ban the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The debate on whether to ban the AfD, which forms the strongest opposition force in parliament, has gained momentum after it was reclassified by Germany's domestic intelligence agency in May as a "confirmed right-wing extremist" group — an assessment that is now under court review after a legal challenge by the party.

“Immigration policy has destroyed the lives of families, not criminals; women’s rights are becoming less and less every day; queer and trans lives are increasingly being erased; and gender-based violence is on the rise. This isn’t just policy, it’s personal.”

“Yeah, f–k them,” she added.

On the wall of the League of Social Democrats office, the Chinese characters for freedom are spelt out with court admission slips.

Members of the party take turns speaking into a microphone connected to a loudspeaker. They stand in front of a banner that reads "rather be ashes than dust", written in Chinese. Founded close to 20 years ago, the party is known as the last protest group in Hong Kong.

"The red lines are now everywhere," Chan Po Ying, the chair of the party, tells the BBC. "Our decision to disband was because we were facing a lot of pressure."

A heatwave continues to grip large parts of Europe, with authorities in many countries issuing health warnings amid searing temperatures.

Southern Spain is the worst-affected region, with temperatures in the mid-40s Celsius recorded in Seville and neighbouring areas.

A new heat record for June of 46C was set on Saturday in the town of El Granado, according to Spain's national weather service, which also said this month is on track to be the hottest June on record.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/32467220

By Elis Gjevori
Published date: 28 June 2025 21:08 BST

"Channel 4 will broadcast Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, a documentary laying out damning allegations that Israeli forces systematically targeted Gaza's hospitals and medical staff throughout their military campaign—allegations which would amount to grave breaches of international law.

"This is a meticulously reported and important film examining evidence which supports allegations of grave breaches of international law by Israeli forces," said L. Compton, Channel 4's Head of News and Current Affairs. "It exemplifies Channel 4's commitment to brave and fearless journalism," she added.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/32465391

Sanya Mansoor June 27 2025, 10:05 a.m

"For months, environmental researcher Yaakov Garb has been using satellite data to analyze the design, location, and expansion of these facilities. Garb, a professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, found in an analysis published earlier this month on Harvard Dataverse that most of Gaza’s population cannot access these centers in a safe and practical way. Doing so requires crossing the dangerous Netzarim Corridor, entering a buffer zone from which Israel has banned them from entering, or a long walk across a barren rubble field, while carrying a heavy box of food."

"What they're showing on Russian TV are fairy tales for fools. Most of Mariupol still lies in ruins," says John, a Ukrainian living in Russian-occupied Mariupol. We've changed his name as he fears reprisal from Russian authorities.

"They are repairing the facades of the buildings on the main streets, where they bring cameras to shoot. But around the corner, there is rubble and emptiness. Many people still live in half-destroyed apartments with their walls barely standing," he says.

It's been just over three years since Mariupol was taken by Russian forces after a brutal siege and indiscriminate bombardment – a key moment in the early months of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Trump dismisses leaked assessment suggesting strikes only temporarily disrupted Iran’s nuclear development

Donald Trump said he is weighing forcing journalists who published leaked details from a US intelligence report assessing the impact of the recent American military strikes on Iran to reveal their sources – and the president also claimed his administration may prosecute those reporters and sources if they don’t comply.

In an interview Sunday with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, Trump doubled down on his claim that the 21 June airstrikes aimed at certain Iranian facilities successfully crippled Iran’s nuclear program. He insisted the attacks destroyed key enriched uranium stockpiles, despite Iranian assertions that the material had been relocated before the strikes.

Trump dismissed the leaked intelligence assessment in question – which suggested the strikes only temporarily disrupted Iran’s nuclear development – as incomplete and biased. The report, circulated among US lawmakers and intelligence officials, concluded that the damage inflicted was significantly less than what Trump’s administration had publicly claimed.

France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece are among the nations experiencing the most severe conditions, as meteorologists warn that Europe can expect more and hotter heat waves in the future because of climate change.

At a panel hosted by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) in London on Saturday, experts accused mainstream Western media of contributing to the denial and distortion of atrocities unfolding in Gaza.

Omar al-Ghazzi, Associate Professor of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, called the trend “a war on history.” He warned that the use of media narratives as future historical sources could shape how upcoming generations understand the events in Gaza.

The panel also pointed to specific language patterns in coverage. Hanif noted that the term “massacre” appeared 18 times more often when referring to Hamas attacks than to Israeli attacks on Palestinians. He said this imbalance reflected a wider rhetorical bias and an uncritical acceptance of Israeli government claims—particularly those targeting local journalists in Gaza.

British-Israeli journalist Rachel Shabi said Israel has consistently framed its ban on international reporters entering Gaza as a safety measure, while accusing Palestinian journalists of links to Hamas. She criticised international media outlets for accepting these narratives without challenge. Historian Avi Shlaim described Israel’s media strategy as an aggressive propaganda campaign designed to suppress criticism by labelling opponents as antisemitic.

They said waste, containing cyanide, arsenic, mercury, would be stored there for 30 years while new methods were developed to clean it. Now, it's clear it's here to stay, in a crumbling mine, beneath an aquifer - drinking water source for millions of people.

30 years of broken promises now poisoning future generations.

Recently, Canadian politicians in a province called Alberta have complained loudly about environmental laws. Another Canadian province called Ontario passed a law allowing mining companies to bypass environmental rules. My message to Canadians is simple. Don't make the same mistake.

The clock is ticking for roughly 12,000 Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, who have until Monday to prove they've given up their household registration in China.

Failure to meet the deadline could mean losing residency rights, according to Taiwan's government — and possible deportation.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council announced the June 30 deadline in April amid a wave of national security measures after President Lai Ching-te labeled China a "hostile foreign force." Lai's administration wants to strengthen defenses against Chinese influence, but many immigrants worry it could come at a personal cost.

For the first time, Israel has set up a special wing for spies, mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, accused of espionage and ties to Iranian intelligence. The prosecution says it won't seek the death penalty but has rejected proposals for plea bargains. Defense lawyers argue that their clients were merely tempted by easy money for taking a few photographs and are not ‘master spies.’ While the courts deliberate, a special Shin Bet unit (General Security Service) is working to stem the tide – including a youth outreach campaign. A special Shomrim report: Behind the scenes of Iranian espionage in Israel.

Tuvalu, one of the countries at greatest risk from climate change, which experts say is boosting sea levels, has a population of 11,000 on its nine atolls scattered across the Pacific.

More than one-third of the people in the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu, which scientists predict will be submerged by rising seas, have applied for a landmark climate visa to migrate to Australia, according to official figures.

Tuvalu’s ambassador to the United Nations, Tapugao Falefou, told Reuters on Sunday he was “startled by the huge number of people vying for this opportunity”, and the small community was interested to learn who the first lot of climate migrants would be.

Tuvalu, one of the countries at greatest risk from climate change, which experts say is boosting sea levels, has a population of 11,000 on its nine atolls scattered across the Pacific between Australia and Hawaii.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/32448865

Miranda Bryant in Thisted
Sun 29 Jun 2025 07.00 EDT

Referred to among his supporters as a "king in exile", Reza Pahlavi, 64, is the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the late shah of Iran, who was toppled during the 1977-1979 popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Islamic Republic as we now know it.

As a staunch defender of a US-backed monarchy that he hopes to bring back to Iran, he has made several visits to Israel, taken photographs with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and cast himself as the only viable leader of a modern Iran if the Islamic Republic collapses.

On 16 June, during the recent hostilities between Israel and Iran, Pahlavi said that "the root cause of the problem has been the regime and its nature, and the only solution, ultimately, that will benefit both the Iranian people as well as the free world is for this regime to no longer be there".

Responding to Pahlavi's comments, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif made headlines by calling the shah's son a "bloody parasitical imperial whore".