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Genuine request:

Can anyone share links to credible articles that argue that Maduro *won* the 2024 presidential election?

Trying to get my head round the arguments. Plenty of articles stating he lost the 2024 election, but struggling to find reliable sources suggesting he won

They’re not though, are they

Begum tries again Former ISIS bride says she may have been victim of traffickers

Useful analysis by @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social on the history and legal issues around Shamima Begum’s latest attempt to challenge the removal of her British citizenship

open.substack.com/pub/rozenber...

Hope for Shamima Begum as ECHR questions removal of citizenship Strasbourg court asks government to explain whether it acted unlawfully in removing British citizenship from woman who joined Isis as a teenager

www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...

As her lawyer, Gareth Pierce, points out:

“It is impossible to dispute that a 15-year-old British child was lured and deceived for the purposes of sexual exploitation... It is equally impossible not to acknowledge the catalogue of failures to protect a child known to be at risk”

Good to see reports that the European Court of Human Rights is pressing the UK government to justify whether it acted lawfully in stripping Shamima Begum of her British citizenship

That we seem to be collectively losing our minds over the granting of citizenship, several years ago, to someone who expressed some awful views on social media more than a decade ago, says something about the state we are in, I think

If you can’t string together a coherent argument without degenerating into childish insults and name-calling, your argument isn’t up to much

The shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, describing a British citizen as a “despicable scumbag” is something of a new low for British politics

UN experts raise ‘grave concern’ over treatment of Palestine Action-linked hunger strikers Special rapporteurs say handling of prisoners raises questions over UK’s obligations under human rights laws

“These reports raise serious questions about compliance with international human rights law and standards, including obligations to protect life and prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment... Preventable deaths in custody are never acceptable”

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

A heavy moral burden as Palestine Action hunger strikers risk death | Letters Letters: Dr David Nicholl and Dr John Kalk discuss medical ethics in relation to the care of prisoners on hunger strike, and Dr Jonathan Fluxman calls on Labour to act now before the worst happens

“The moral burden on healthcare staff should not be underestimated. Following the death of the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in 1981, his doctor later took his own life”

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Greta Thunberg arrested in London over ‘Palestine Action prisoners’ placard Two other people held on suspicion of criminal damage after protest at insurance company’s offices

What does this kind of stunt achieve, apart from adding to the already long list of pointless arrests, prosecutions and potential imprisonment?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Third Palestine Action hunger striker on remand ends protest A third individual on remand for alleged offences relating to the Palestine Action group has ended a hunger strike after 49 days.

Good news, if confirmed, that one of the six hunger strikers has ended her strike

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

PCS statement on treatment of hunger strikers on remand PCS is deeply concerned about the developing situation facing eight pro-Palestinian prisoners on remand who are currently on hunger strike.

Statement from the PCS Union on the hunger strikers, urging the Justice Secretary, David Lammy, “to meet with their legal representatives at the earliest opportunity to discuss matters”

www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/...

Prison appoints underage girl to officer post A 17-year-old girl was hired by the Ministry of Justice to work as a prison officer at HMP Erlestoke – despite a rule saying that no-one under 18 can do the job. The recruitment of officers is hand…

“She says she dealt with serious criminals including drug dealers and terrorists in her day-to-day duties... She says the job ruined her life as she was traumatised by it, ‘not so much from the prisoners but from the other staff, who were vile’.”

insidetime.org/newsround/pr...

‘It feels like being suffocated’: Palestine Action activist in HMP Peterborough vows to continue hunger strike Teuta Hoxha says she remains determined despite growing fears for her health and five other prisoners staging protest

“Nobody wins in this. Individuals cannot use blackmail to compel democratically elected government …[but] in this case humanitarian grounds trump a kind of bloody-minded decision to keep these people remanded in custody”

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Live: Palestine Action hunger strikers - family members of prisoners hold press conference YouTube video by The Independent

What happens to the body when a prisoner is on hunger strike, and needs to be done to prevent an avoidable tragedy?

Here's Dr James Smith, an accident and emergency physician, speaking at the press conference earlier this week

www.youtube.com/live/czGxW-r...

The Guardian view on the Palestine Action hunger strikers: the government is trying to ignore this protest | Editorial Editorial: Doctors have warned that the lives of these prisoners are now in danger. Pretending this is not happening is not good enough

“The government must... examine the arguments for bail and the questions around prison communication. At present it looks dangerously complacent, given the prisoners’ rapidly deteriorating health”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This feels like one of those moments where we risk passing the point of no return, not only for the six prisoners, but for what it says about how the state exercises its power when life is at risk

If ministers do not act, it will be difficult to avoid the conclusion that they just do not care, or that they care more about gaining clout points for appearing tough, than about demonstrating what a compassionate and empathetic politics looks like

At such times, there is a vital, and honourable, role for the state to intervene

This is particularly the case when an individual is detained and has little or no say over what happens to them

There will be those who argue that the solution is easy: the hunger strikers can start eating again

And while there is reason in this view, there are many situations where the weight of circumstances can leave individuals feeling overwhelmed and in despair

The rights or wrongs of the alleged offences, are not the issue here

The question is: are MPs and the public prepared to allows ministers to continue to avoid taking even the most minimal steps to establish what options there may be to resolve the situation before someone dies

Ministers have repeatedly refused to meet with MPs, lawyers of family members to discuss the situation

Indeed earlier this month David Lammy gave the impression that he was unaware that the hunger strike was taking place

Yet while staff are required to make every effort to understand why prisoners are refusing food, those in a position to act – notably those in the Ministry of Justice and Downing Street – have shown a complete lack of curiosity

Prison Service policy emphasises that staff “must make every effort to try and find out why the prisoner is refusing food and/or fluids and address the reasons for their refusal”

The letter goes on to argue that the Justice Secretary is “uniquely placed” to “bring about a resolution of the situation, such that the increasing deterioration of our clients’ health does not lead to their death”

In a letter to the Justice Secretary, David Lammy, lawyers for the hunger strikers warned that their deaths were “increasingly more than a mere possibility. It is a likelihood”

All six, ranging in age from 20 to 31 years old have been, at the time of writing, on hunger strike for between 13 and 47 days