Singer-songwriter Melanie has passed away, see Trina's "Melanie: Queen of the Music festivals." She performs in the video above on Johnny Cash's show that The Everly Brothers guest-hosted. Don't miss them and Melanie and Tina Turner performing "This Little Light of Mine" (that's the last song on the video above). The Everly Brothers have passed away. Tina passed last year. And Melanie passed yesterday.
The Dallas-based lawyer's surprising statement came in response to earlier posts from Robert Downen, a Texas Tribune reporter who first broke the story about the SBC's out-of-court settlement with former Pressler aide Duane Rollins back in December.
Rollins originally filed his suit in Harris County district court in 2017, which prompted Downen—then a reporter at the Houston Chronicle—to eventually publish a major investigation with his colleagues in 2019. The piece, titled "Abuse of Faith," discovered that about 380 Southern Baptist leaders had pleaded guilty or had been convicted of sexual crimes against more than 700 victims across the previous two decades.
After a seven-month investigation, Guidepost Solutions followed with a 400-page report in 2022 that found SBC leaders had "systemically ignored, belittled and intimidated survivors of sexual abuse for decades while protecting churches and harbored abusers," Downen later reported.
Continuing his coverage last week, Downen posted on social media Friday that former SBC attorney Jim Guenther wrote an email in April 2021 stating he and others "feared discovery in the Paul Pressler lawsuit would produce 'a lot of evidence' that Pressler had sexually abused Duane Rollins 'for many years.'" Downen attached an image of an email he apparently unearthed in publicly available court files for the Pressler case.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
A Louisiana man who was arrested for allegedly attacking police officers during the January 6 Capitol riot was previously convicted of manslaughter for killing a bound Iraqi civilian during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Edward Richmond Jr, 40, has been charged with felony civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding police officers, according to the Department of Justice.
He was also charged with several misdemeanours, including disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence inside a restricted building or grounds, and violent entry and disorderly conduct.
Richmond was arrested in Baton Rouge on Monday, reported WAFB.
A decade ago, Richmond faced charges that could have put him away for life, according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
In 2004, the then 20-year-old was convicted for shooting a handcuffed Iraqi civilian in the back of the head. His initial charges of unpremeditated murder would have landed him in prison for life, but the panel reduced his charge to voluntary manslaughter, according to the Associated Press.
Richmond was ultimately demoted to private, dishonourably discharged from the US Army, forced to forfeit all of his pay and allowances, and sentenced to three years in prison.
Iraqi no-frills carrier Fly Baghdad has condemned Washington's imposition of sanctions, saying the US Treasury provided no proof of its allegation the airline had assisted Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
In a statement on Monday, the US slapped sanctions on Fly Baghdad and its CEO, Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, accusing them of "providing assistance to the Quds Force", the foreign operations arm of the Revolutionary Guards, "by delivering material and personnel throughout the region" including weapons.
Responding in a statement late Monday, the airline said the US decision was "based on misleading and unreal information that cannot stand up to the law".
Fly Baghdad demanded that the US Treasury provide evidence that could "convict the company or its management".
Pope Francis has issued a new plea against all wars as he evoked the horror of the mass killing of Jews and other victims of the Nazis ahead of Saturday’s Holocaust Memorial Day, reports Reuters.
“The memory and condemnation of that horrible extermination of millions of people … may help everybody to not forget that the logic of hatred and violence can never be justified,” he said during his Wednesday weekly audience at the Vatican.
“Let us not get tired of praying for peace, for conflicts to end, for weapons to stop, for relief for exhausted populations,” Francis added. He mentioned the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the bombing of civilians in “martyred Ukraine”.
He repeated his assertion that “war is always a defeat” in which “the only winners, so to speak, are weapons manufacturers”.
People fleeing the vicinity of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis have been shot at by Israeli tanks as well as attack drones, says Al Jazeera journalist Hani Mahmoud reporting from Rafah, southern Gaza.
“Entire families are being surrounded by Israeli military tanks and armoured vehicles. They are ordered to evacuate from their homes and to get outside. Women are separated from the men with their hands on top of their heads,” writes Mahmoud. He adds that civil defence crews “are trying to collect the bodies and identify the dead”.
Al Jazeera is one of the few news organisations with a functioning bureau in Gaza
Mahmoud also reports that there has been a “surge” in aerial attacks and artillery shelling in the western part of Khan Younis, while the compound of al-Aqsa University, where thousands of people have been sheltering, is “effectively under military siege”.
“No one can get out of that area,” writes Mahmoud. “Anyone who tries to leave risks losing their life as there is constant shelling and attacks by land and by air.”
In one video, an Israeli soldier dressed in a dinosaur costume loads artillery shells into a tank and dances as the shells are fired in the direction of Gaza. In another video, a soldier is filmed dedicating an explosion to his two-year-old daughter for her birthday. Seconds later, a Palestinian residential building behind him is blown up. Other videos show Israeli soldiers setting alight Palestinian food supplies during a starvation campaign and mocking stripped, rounded-up and blindfolded Palestinian civilians.
There has been shock and outrage over the videos on social media platforms by Palestinians and their allies with many noting that the videos should be used as evidence in the case against the Israeli regime for genocide before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Indeed, this latest aggression on Gaza has been one of the most visually documented atrocities in history. And genocidal intent has never been so blatantly expressed by both soldiers and political leaders.
Even those who support the Israeli regime seem to be shocked at the brazenness with which Israeli soldiers are sharing these videos. British broadcaster Piers Morgan, for example, asked on X, formerly Twitter: “Why do Israeli soldiers keep filming themselves doing this kind of crass, insensitive thing? Why don’t their commanders stop them? Makes them look callous when so many children in Gaza are being killed.” For Morgan, it seems, the problem is not what the soldiers are doing but rather that they are filming themselves doing it.
People less informed on the context might find it strange that these soldiers are implicating themselves in such horrific crimes without a second thought. But those with deeper knowledge of the Zionist settler colonial project in Palestine know that decades of impunity not only for the Israeli regime but also for Israeli individuals guilty of war crimes has led us to this point.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Israel intends to fully demolish all buildings in a 1,000-meter “buffer zone” along Gaza’s border with Israel, citing Israeli officials.
The move, which is a war crime under international law, would significantly reduce the size of the Gaza Strip.
The plan came to light after 24 Israeli soldiers were killed Monday as they were laying explosives in a building in the area to be demolished. As the soldiers were laying the explosives, they were attacked by Hamas fighters, leading the explosives to go off during the firefight.
The Times reported that “Israel wants to demolish many of the Palestinian buildings close to the border in order to create what they describe as a ‘security zone,’ according to the three officials.”
The Times also reported that “Two of the officials said that Israel’s goal was to create a buffer of up to roughly six-tenths of a mile along the entire length of Israel’s roughly 36-mile border with Gaza. At its narrowest point, the territory is less than four miles wide.”
In a news conference, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that Israel was seeking to “create the security conditions for the return of the residents of the south to their homes.”
The vast majority of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed since Israel launched its assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 25,000 Gazans and left over 7,000 missing.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
We turn now to the acclaimed Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. In November, he had an exhibit in London canceled after he wrote a social media post where he criticized the United States for its longtime financial support of Israel. Ai Weiwei has previously expressed support for Palestinians. He made a 2016 documentary, that includes Gaza in the global refugee crisis, called Human Flow.
Ai Weiwei is one of the world’s most acclaimed artists. In 2011, he was arrested at the Beijing airport, held for 81 days without charge. He’s been living in exile since 2015. He’s joining us here in New York City ahead of his event tonight at Town Hall that’s part of PEN America’s PEN Out Loud series, when he’ll discuss his new graphic memoir, Zodiac.
Ai Weiwei, welcome back to Democracy Now! Let’s start with that canceled London exhibit. What happened?
AI WEIWEI: Well, after I post, you know, a single line on Twitter, I never noticed people really become so sensitive or so crazy about my posts. Basically, post described the situation about the Israelis’ relations with U.S., and which is very, very — you know, it’s very subjective. It’s not from my point of view, but it’s really general facts.
So, then, you know, the galleries— actually, not one gallery, but galleries in Paris and in London — they got very worried. And I still don’t know exactly the reason why they have to worry about an artist’s single line, you know, but, rather, they said they want to avoid this kind of argument, and they’re trying to protect my interest, so they postponed my shows — not one, but altogether four shows.
So, I guess that proved what I’m saying on Twitter is correct, because there is all over the world, you know, this strong censorship about different voices towards these kind of conflicts, and the conflict continues getting so massive and also seems it’s not going to stop. So, by doing that, yes, many of my shows have been canceled, so…
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Were you surprised by the reaction, given that you’ve been — not only are you one of the most celebrated artists from China in the West, but also you’ve been a vocal supporter of the Palestinians for years?
AI WEIWEI: I am surprised. I think we are — should live in a more free society and which carry a lot of different opinions and voice. But to have this kind of devastating case in dealing with the art community, not only art community, but also films or literature, I think it shows a really very bad and a backwards in terms of freedom of expression, human rights and, you know, all those issues.
AMY GOODMAN: You know, there are not many Chinese artists as celebrated and embraced by the West as you are, Ai Weiwei. Were you surprised by the swift retaliation against your position, which is really critiquing the West, in London, Britain and the U.S., when it comes to supporting the Israeli government, when it comes to the assault on Gaza?
AI WEIWEI: I think maybe I was celebrated for the wrong reason. But still, as the artist, I have to fight for the human dignity and also basic human rights, freedom of speech. And that’s why I’m here, so…
AMY GOODMAN: Can I ask about your graphic novel, Ai Weiwei? Talk about Zodiac and the message you’re conveying in this graphic memoir.
AI WEIWEI: Well, thanks for asking that. I came to New York to be part of this graphic novel — how do you say? — the promotion. And the novel take us about two, three years, with two other persons involved. And so, we made the drawing and the storyline, and, you know, it’s very — I think it’s pretty unique and also charming in telling my personal stories in relating to Chinese classic stories, but also in relating to current events both in China and in the West. So, it’s very detailed and, you know, very visual narratives about the stories.
AMY GOODMAN: Ai Weiwei, your message to the world right now? You are a dissident when it comes to China. You cannot live inside China. You’re in exile. And now, when you come and are embraced by the West, you find yourself canceled again and again. Your thoughts?
AI WEIWEI: Well, I think we are living in a very crucial time globally. We have to rethink about our values or what we are really defending for. It’s not only a challenge for individual artists, but also for the states. And we are gradually losing the ground of democracy or personal freedom, or even we are still facing crisis — economic crisis, immigration crisis. Also, we are possibly at the edge of the World War III. You know, this is not an exaggeration. It can happen. And I’m afraid this is the facts. But that would calling for every individual to defend the humanity and human rights.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you so much for being with us, Ai Weiwei, world-renowned Chinese artist and activist, has a new graphic memoir called Zodiac. He’ll be speaking tonight at Town Hall in New York.
Anne Hathaway walked out of a Vanity Fair photo shoot Tuesday morning in support of the Condé Nast Union walk out.
Nearly 400 union members who work at Condé Nast are currently holding a 24-hour work stoppage to protest negotiation practices they claim are unlawful.
Hathaway was unaware of the work stoppage when she arrived at the New York City photo shoot. She was still in hair and makeup when her team was notified by a staffer from SAG-AFTRA to advise Hathaway to support the work stoppage.
“They hadn’t even started taking photos yet,” a source tells Variety. “Once Anne was made aware of what was going on, she just got up from hair and makeup and left.”
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