Archived version

A Christian pastor from California has been freed from China after nearly 20 years behind bars and is back home in the U.S., the State Department said Monday.

David Lin, 68, was detained after he entered China in 2006, later convicted of contract fraud and sentenced to life in prison, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and advocacy groups.

[...]

The Biden administration has been working on David Lin’s case and those of other wrongly detained Americans in China for years and have raised them at every meeting with senior Chinese officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting this summer with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Laos.

[...]

Lin was formally arrested in 2009 on suspicion of contract fraud and, after a court review, was sentenced to life in prison, China Aid said.

The charge is frequently used against leaders of churches that operate outside state-sponsored faith groups, and it is a crime that Lin denied, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a humanitarian group that advocates for prisoners in China. The commission on religious freedom says those leading and taking part in churches not sanctioned by the Chinese government “often face intimidation, harassment, arrest and harsh sentences.”

In China, all Christian churches must pledge loyalty to the ruling Communist Party and register with the government. Any unregistered congregation is considered an underground church whose activities are illegal in China. Beijing has always cracked down on “unlawful preaching,” and efforts have only intensified in the past decade.

[...]

Other Americans known to remain detained in China include Kai Li, a businessman who is being held on espionage-related charges that his family says are bogus, and Mark Swidan, who was sentenced on drug charges. The State Department’s office of the special presidential envoy on hostage affairs has designated the two as “wrongful detainees,” a label given to Americans jailed in foreign countries for what the U.S. government considers legally specious allegations or for improper motivations.

Archived version

A Christian pastor from California has been freed from China after nearly 20 years behind bars and is back home in the U.S., the State Department said Monday.

David Lin, 68, was detained after he entered China in 2006, later convicted of contract fraud and sentenced to life in prison, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and advocacy groups.

[...]

The Biden administration has been working on David Lin’s case and those of other wrongly detained Americans in China for years and have raised them at every meeting with senior Chinese officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting this summer with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Laos.

[...]

Lin was formally arrested in 2009 on suspicion of contract fraud and, after a court review, was sentenced to life in prison, China Aid said.

The charge is frequently used against leaders of churches that operate outside state-sponsored faith groups, and it is a crime that Lin denied, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a humanitarian group that advocates for prisoners in China. The commission on religious freedom says those leading and taking part in churches not sanctioned by the Chinese government “often face intimidation, harassment, arrest and harsh sentences.”

In China, all Christian churches must pledge loyalty to the ruling Communist Party and register with the government. Any unregistered congregation is considered an underground church whose activities are illegal in China. Beijing has always cracked down on “unlawful preaching,” and efforts have only intensified in the past decade.

[...]

Other Americans known to remain detained in China include Kai Li, a businessman who is being held on espionage-related charges that his family says are bogus, and Mark Swidan, who was sentenced on drug charges. The State Department’s office of the special presidential envoy on hostage affairs has designated the two as “wrongful detainees,” a label given to Americans jailed in foreign countries for what the U.S. government considers legally specious allegations or for improper motivations.

[Edit typo.]

What if citizens were called to policymaking duty the way they are called to jury duty?

All over the world, ordinary people are finding out what that’s like when they’re selected by civic lottery to participate in a citizens’ assembly, a democracy innovation that may just be the antidote to the polarization of the world we need.

[...]

According to the OECD database, environment and other long-term policy issues are the most popular topics addressed by citizens’ assemblies, and local governments are the most frequent users of these methods.

[...]

In citizens’ assemblies, there are teenagers and octogenarians, business people and activists, people of all genders, races and abilities, individuals who have been regulars at city council and those who have never engaged in local democracy before. Inevitably there is a wide range of political leanings, lots of passion and some trepidation.

[...]

The challenges range from giving everyone a base of technical knowledge to effectively participate in discussions — a component often missing in public consultations — to ensuring complex accessibility needs are met, something required to address the gap in effective involvement of people with disabilities in decision-making.

[...]

The OECD estimates that roughly half of the recommendations of deliberative processes are implemented. We’ve also found that the side benefits of citizens’ assemblies, such as increased community cohesion and a sense of hope, are substantial.

[...]

Building trust with government may be another important outcome. Research shows trust in government is significantly higher among Canadians who feel they have a say in what the government does (79 per cent compared to 21 per cent who do not).

[...]

What if citizens were called to policymaking duty the way they are called to jury duty?

All over the world, ordinary people are finding out what that’s like when they’re selected by civic lottery to participate in a citizens’ assembly, a democracy innovation that may just be the antidote to the polarization of the world we need.

[...]

According to the OECD database, environment and other long-term policy issues are the most popular topics addressed by citizens’ assemblies, and local governments are the most frequent users of these methods.

[...]

In citizens’ assemblies, there are teenagers and octogenarians, business people and activists, people of all genders, races and abilities, individuals who have been regulars at city council and those who have never engaged in local democracy before. Inevitably there is a wide range of political leanings, lots of passion and some trepidation.

[...]

The challenges range from giving everyone a base of technical knowledge to effectively participate in discussions — a component often missing in public consultations — to ensuring complex accessibility needs are met, something required to address the gap in effective involvement of people with disabilities in decision-making.

[...]

The OECD estimates that roughly half of the recommendations of deliberative processes are implemented. We’ve also found that the side benefits of citizens’ assemblies, such as increased community cohesion and a sense of hope, are substantial.

[...]

Building trust with government may be another important outcome. Research shows trust in government is significantly higher among Canadians who feel they have a say in what the government does (79 per cent compared to 21 per cent who do not).

[...]

Archived version

The Kremlin is working to systematically instill “patriotic” values in children and teenagers through a Soviet-style propaganda campaign as it looks toward preparing the next generation for a life shaped by conflict with Ukraine and the West.

“We need warriors, gunmen, stormtroopers — those who, at the president’s first call, will rush to the military enlistment offices , not Verkhny Lars,” a Russian government official said, referring to the Russian-Georgian border crossing where tens of thousands of Russians fled the country during the fall 2022 “partial” mobilization for the war.

“And there's nothing to be embarrassed about,” he said.

[...]

"Our Fatherland is in danger, threatened by the West and the United States. We no longer need hipsters, rappers, or lovers of Western culture — only Navalny supporters come from them,” he said.

Winning the hearts and minds of young people has been one of the Kremlin’s main domestic policy priorities since 2000, when Putin first became president. Putin’s early presidency saw the creation of state-funded youth movements championed by Kremlin ideologists such as admitted Western culture lover Vladislav Surkov and Vyacheslav Volodin.

[...]

The Kremlin is now transforming Rosmolodyozh, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, into a vast new ideological body tasked with systematizing and unifying all youth ideological education initiatives, from kindergarten to higher education.

According to Russian media reports, the agency will receive a significant funding boost in the coming year, along with new leadership.

[...]

Archived version

In a strategic move to bolster its international propaganda on Tibet, the Chinese government has launched the ‘Tibet International Communication Center’ on September 2, coinciding with Tibetan Democracy Day. This initiative is part of China’s broader strategy to control and shape the global narrative on Tibet, presenting it from a perspective aligned with its political agenda.

The establishment of the latest propaganda center was made during a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee in May 2021. On September 2nd, a meeting was held in Lhasa, attended by representatives from the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region’s Propaganda Department and China Foreign Language Bureau related to Tibet. During this round-table conference, which focused on how to build effective international communication for Tibet, the “Tibet International Communication Center” was officially established.

[...]

According to Chinese state media, Wang Junzheng, Communist Party Secretary of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region, highlighted at the meeting the critical importance of external propaganda as a key directive of the Communist Party and the state. He reiterated the need to uphold and implement President Xi Jinping’s ideology on Tibet.

[...]

The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), a U.S.-based advocacy group, reported on this development, expressing concern over China’s expanding efforts to dominate the global narrative on Tibet.

[...]

The ICT warned that China’s propaganda efforts concerning Tibet are likely to intensify, potentially through increased collaboration with state-controlled media and the China Tibetology Research Center, expanded use of social media platforms to promote pro-China propaganda, and pressure on international organisations to adopt China’s stance on Tibet. The group expressed concern that, as China’s propaganda machine strengthens, the voices of Tibetans will be further marginalised on the global stage, and reports of repression within Tibet may increasingly go unheard.

Archived version

In a strategic move to bolster its international propaganda on Tibet, the Chinese government has launched the ‘Tibet International Communication Center’ on September 2, coinciding with Tibetan Democracy Day. This initiative is part of China’s broader strategy to control and shape the global narrative on Tibet, presenting it from a perspective aligned with its political agenda.

The establishment of the latest propaganda center was made during a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee in May 2021. On September 2nd, a meeting was held in Lhasa, attended by representatives from the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region’s Propaganda Department and China Foreign Language Bureau related to Tibet. During this round-table conference, which focused on how to build effective international communication for Tibet, the “Tibet International Communication Center” was officially established.

[...]

According to Chinese state media, Wang Junzheng, Communist Party Secretary of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region, highlighted at the meeting the critical importance of external propaganda as a key directive of the Communist Party and the state. He reiterated the need to uphold and implement President Xi Jinping’s ideology on Tibet.

[...]

The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), a U.S.-based advocacy group, reported on this development, expressing concern over China’s expanding efforts to dominate the global narrative on Tibet.

[...]

The ICT warned that China’s propaganda efforts concerning Tibet are likely to intensify, potentially through increased collaboration with state-controlled media and the China Tibetology Research Center, expanded use of social media platforms to promote pro-China propaganda, and pressure on international organisations to adopt China’s stance on Tibet. The group expressed concern that, as China’s propaganda machine strengthens, the voices of Tibetans will be further marginalised on the global stage, and reports of repression within Tibet may increasingly go unheard.

The body of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, the 26-year-old Turkish American activist who was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, has arrived in Turkey ahead of her funeral. On Thursday, Ayşenur’s father, Mehmet Suat Eygi, praised Turkey for investigating the killing and called on the U.S. to do the same.

Mehmet Suat Eygi: “America is a different country. When there is injustice or torment toward its citizens or they are killed in any country in the world, it lands on that country like the eagle on its emblem. But when the subject is Israel, there is more of an effort to dodge it. But I want to believe that people will listen to their conscience.”

Earlier this week, The Washington Post published an investigation corroborating eyewitness accounts that the protests Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi had been taking part in were already over when Israeli soldiers opened fire and killed her.

Meanwhile, three top Democrats from Ayşenur’s home state of Washington — Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray and Congressmember Pramila Jayapal — called on the Biden administration to investigate her killing. On Wednesday, hundreds of people gathered at a Seattle beach for a vigil honoring the recent University of Washington graduate.

Archived version

"As young people, we’re poised to inherit a world that needs thoughtful, informed leadership more than ever. But if we’re not even willing to watch a debate, how can we expect to take on that responsibility? We owe it to ourselves — and to one another — to do better, to look beyond influencers and viral videos, and to engage deeply with the issues that truly matter. Even Taylor Swift, in her endorsement, urged us to “do your research.” If we don’t, we risk becoming not just uninformed voters, but a generation that’s lost sight of what it truly means to be part of a democracy."

Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set ablaze by her former boyfriend and later died has been buried in her father's homestead in eastern Uganda.

As she was also a member of Uganda's armed forces, soldiers carried the coffin and she was given a three-volley salute.

Dickson Ndiema attacked Cheptegei with petrol just under a fortnight ago outside her home in neighbouring north-west Kenya, close to where she trained.

The 33-year-old's killing, and its brutal nature, left her family distraught and shocked many others across the world.

It underscored the high levels of violence against women in Kenya and the fact that several female athletes have been victims in recent years.

Among those at the sombre and emotional funeral ceremony in a school field in Bukwo, Cheptegei's home district, were fellow athletes wearing black T-shirts with the slogan "say no to gender-based violence".

"We are guilty as [a] government, but also the community is guilty," Kenya's Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Kipchumba Murkomen told mourners.

Archived version

U.S.: A Project 2025 adviser mockingly asked someone to ‘track down’ victims of abortion bans — his social media post received response from 17,000 women who have suffered since end of Roe v Wade

A former Trump administration staffer, now a senior adviser in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 team, accidentally made a case for abortion rights in a failed attempt to undermine an answer by Kamala Harris during Tuesday’s presidential debate.

John McEntee, who served as Donald Trump’s director of White House personnel, is one of the founders of The Right Stuff, a right-wing dating site, and has a large following on TikTok.

His posts feature him sitting at a table, eating, across from the camera, presumably to mimic a date-like setting, while he makes a glib and offensive right-wing talking point, often misogynistic or racist.

In a post this week, which has 1.8 million views on TikTok, he says: “Can someone track down the women Kamala Harris says are bleeding out in parking lots because Roe v Wade was overturned?”

“Don’t hold your breath,” he adds, flippantly.

Well, he could have held his breath because the replies came in thick and fast.

The post now has more than 17,000 comments and they are almost all women sharing their stories of being turned away from emergency rooms in agony, bleeding out in parking lots, at home, in public bathrooms, and sometimes for months afterward.

Others talk about miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, losing their ability to have children, and driving across multiple states to get treatment where it was still legal — often while hemorrhaging. Most of the stories appear to involve wanted or planned pregnancies.

[...]

The Chinese company nearly doubled its emissions in 2023, according to its own report, making it the biggest polluter in the industry.

In 2023, the fast fashion giant Shein was everywhere. Crisscrossing the globe, airplanes ferried small packages of its ultra-cheap clothing from thousands of suppliers to tens of millions of customer mailboxes in 150 countries. Influencers’ “#sheinhaul” videos advertised the company’s trendy styles on social media, garnering billions of views.

At every step, data was created, collected, and analyzed. To manage all this information, the fast fashion industry has begun embracing emerging AI technologies. Shein uses proprietary machine-learning applications — essentially, pattern-identification algorithms — to measure customer preferences in real time and predict demand, which it then services with an ultra-fast supply chain.

As AI makes the business of churning out affordable, on-trend clothing faster than ever, Shein is among the brands under increasing pressure to become more sustainable, too. The company has pledged to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions no later than 2050.

But climate advocates and researchers say the company’s lightning-fast manufacturing practices and online-only business model are inherently emissions-heavy — and that the use of AI software to catalyze these operations could be cranking up its emissions. Those concerns were amplified by Shein’s third annual sustainability report, released late last month, which showed the company nearly doubled its carbon dioxide emissions between 2022 and 2023.

“AI enables fast fashion to become the ultra-fast fashion industry, Shein and Temu being the fore-leaders of this,” said Sage Lenier, the executive director of Sustainable and Just Future, a climate nonprofit. “They quite literally could not exist without AI.” (Temu is a rapidly rising e-commerce titan, with a marketplace of goods that rival Shein’s in variety, price, and sales.)

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