Britain and China hail reset in ties as Starmer seeks 'sophisticated' relationship

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britains-starmer-meet-chinas-xi-bid-reset-strained-ties-2026-01-29/

BEIJING, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Britain and China hailed a reset in relations on Thursday, after Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Xi Jinping pledged greater cooperation on trade, investment and technology to the mutual benefit of both countries.
With Western leaders reeling from the unpredictability of U.S. President Donald Trump, Starmer became just the latest to head to China, where he called for a "more sophisticated relationship" with improved market access, lower tariffs and investment deals.

Hosting a British leader for the first time in eight years, Beijing agreed to 30 days' visa-free access for Britons and to halve Chinese tariffs on whisky, while UK drugmaker AstraZeneca (AZN.L)
, opens new tab announced a $15 billion investment into China.
Starmer spent around three hours with Xi at a formal summit and a lunch, during which the pair discussed trade and security, the war in Ukraine, and also soccer and Shakespeare.

That has drawn criticism from some British and U.S. politicians who accuse China of waging industrial levels of espionage and of abusing human rights.

The British premier held up a plan by AstraZeneca to pioneer new medicines by investing heavily in its Chinese operations as proof of the benefits that could flow to both countries.

But he also said the closer ties would enable Britain to engage in "frank dialogue" when there was disagreement.
"China is a vital player on the global stage, and it's vital that we build a more sophisticated relationship where we can identify opportunities to collaborate, but of course, also allow a meaningful dialogue on areas where we disagree," Starmer told Xi at the start of their meeting.

https://g1.globo.com/sc/santa-catarina/noticia/2026/01/29/adolescentes-morte-cao-orelha-brasil-viagem-eua.ghtml

People of 4chan, a tragedy occured here in Brazil, where a group of rich teenagers tortured and killed a poor homeless dog called "Orelha".
He was loved by everyone in the comunity where he lived.
The teenagers parents and also the judge who is friend of the family are protecting them and trying to cover what happened.
They are currently at Disney, all paid by their parents.

Their names are

Matheus Silva Ferreira
Igor Zampiere
Evandro Daux Boabaid
Pedro Kowalski
Enzo Sampieri

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g40k40xndo
The government of Ecuador has condemned what it described as an attempt by a US federal immigration agent to enter the Ecuadorean consulate in Minneapolis.

The agent was prevented from gaining access by consular officials, who acted "to guarantee the protection of the Ecuadoreans who were inside the consulate at the time", a statement by Ecuador's foreign ministry said.

Ecuador, whose president is an ally of Trump, has filed an official complaint.

The incident comes at a time of high tension in the US city, just days after intensive care nurse Alex Pretti was shot dead by border agents during protests against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

Ecuador's foreign ministry said in a statement that an agent of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) had "tried to enter the premises of the consulate" at 11:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

Under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, consular premises are considered "inviolable".

According to the Convention, the authorities of the country where the consulate is located "shall not enter" the parts of the consulate used for work "except with the consent of the head of the consular post".

Ecuador said that its officials had not consented to ICE entering the consulate.

While the Vienna Convention goes on to say that consent may be assumed in certain cases, they are limited to incidents where "prompt protective action" is required, such as in the case of a fire or some other disaster.

In a video shared by Ecuadorean media, which has not been independently verified by the BBC, a consular official can be seen rushing to the entrance door and telling an ICE agent "this is the consulate, you're not allowed in here".

The agent tells the official that "if you touch me, I will grab you".

U.S. consumer confidence declined sharply in January. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index cratered 9.7 points to 84.5 in January, falling below even the lowest readings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market tumbled to 65.1, well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead. It’s the 12th consecutive month that reading has come in under 80. Consumers’ assessments of their current economic situation slid by 9.9 points.

“Confidence collapsed in January, as consumer concerns about both the present situation and expectations for the future deepened,” said Dana Peterson, the Conference Board’s chief economist. ”All five components of the index deteriorated, driving the overall index to its lowest level since May 2014 — surpassing its COVID19 pandemic depths.”

Respondents’ references to inflation, including gas and grocery prices, remained elevated. Perceptions of the job market also declined this month. 20.8% of consumers said jobs were “hard to get,” up from 19.1% the month previous.

The country’s labor market has been stuck in a “low hire, low fire” state, economists say. Earlier this month, the government reported that employers added just 50,000 jobs in December, nearly unchanged from 56,000 in November. Job gains have been subdued all year, particularly after April’s “liberation day” tariff announcement by Trump. The economy gained just 584,000 jobs in 2025, sharply lower than that more than 2 million added in 2024.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/americans-confidence-us-economy-falls-sharply-january-lowest-129599380

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2026/01/24/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-protester-alex-pretti/052c7198-f965-11f0-9ceb-4c268b6e1369_story.html
Family members say the man killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who loved getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this month.

“He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He felt that doing the protesting was a way to express that, you know, his care for others.”

Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Good, court records showed he had no criminal record and his family said he had never had any interactions with law enforcement beyond a couple of traffic tickets.

In a recent conversation with their son, his parents, who live in Wisconsin, told him to be careful when protesting.

“We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically,” Michael Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew that.”

The Department of Homeland Security said that the man was shot after he “approached” U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Officials did not specify if Pretti brandished the gun, and it is not visible in bystander video of the shooting obtained by The Associated Press.

Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota. They said they had never known him to carry it.

Tim the Traitor, betrayer of the US, betrays his donors and voters; now listed as a high value target for leftist terrorists, attempts to distance himself from tRump with slogans.

Walz gives order to prepare National Guard after ICE officer fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/walz-natinal-guard-ice-officer-fatal-shooting-minneapolis/

The State Emergency Operations Center has been activated in response to the incident, and Walz has issued a warning order to prepare the National Guard.

"I remind you, a warning order is a heads-up for folks, and these National Guard troops are our National Guard troops," Walz said.

The shooting comes amid the announced deployment of 2,000 federal law enforcement members in the Twin Cities metro area, who are expected to probe alleged cases of fraud, building on last month's inspection of dozens of sites in the Minneapolis area.

"We've been warning for weeks that the Trump administration's dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety and that someone was going to get hurt," Walz said.

President Trump said on social media Monday afternoon that the incident was "a horrible thing to watch."

"The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense," Mr. Trump said on Truth Social.

Witnesses say they saw a Honda Pilot blocked by multiple federal agents, and an agent tried to open the driver's side door. The motorist then put her vehicle into reverse, then into drive. Witnesses said they then heard three shots fired. The Honda traveled another several feet before crashing into another car. Videos posted on social media corroborate their accounts.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15505629/Convicted-terrorist-bomb-British-consulate-Abu-Hamza-Birmingham.html

A convicted terrorist who was jailed for plotting to blow up the British embassy and had links to hook-handed hate preacher Abu Hamza intends to stand as a candidate in Birmingham's local elections.

Shahid Butt, 60, said he wants to 'unify the people' and push back against the far right when he stands for election in Sparkhill, in the upcoming Birmingham City Council elections, which will be held in May.

However his candidacy is marred by controversy.

Butt was convicted by a court in Yemen in 1999 after prosecutors said he was part of a militant group planning attacks on Western targets, including the British consulate in Aden, an Anglican church, and a Swiss-owned hotel.

The then 33-year-old - who was born in Pakistan before moving to Birmingham at an early age with his parents - was sentenced to five years in prison for associating with armed groups, 'plotting murder and destruction', and possessing weapons.

The case involved eight Britons and two Algerians and was linked to Islamist militants operating in the Middle Eastern country.

During proceedings, it was heard that Butt and the group had been sent to Yemen by Abu Hamza, the hook-handed and one-eyed British hate preacher who is now serving a life sentence in the USA after being extradited in 2012 on terrorism charges.
The defendants were said to have trained at a militant camp run by national Zein al-Abidine al-Mihdar, who was later sentenced to death for his role in the 1998 kidnapping of 16 Western tourists.

Four hostages - three Britons and one Australian - were killed during a rescue attempt by Yemeni security forces.

During Butt's trial, the defendants claimed they had been tortured into confessing.

But the court rejected the claims, ruling there was no link between the torture allegations and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution.

> 1/6/2026
“Mad Men”
Colombia’s President taunts Trump into getting proactive on him and his nation. (Red Text)
> https://www.the-express.com/news/195133
He’s ready to take up arms! (Red Text)
> https://www.barrons.com/news/colombian-president-ready-to-take-up-arms-in-face-of-trump-threats-22ef27c9
Mexico says USA is destabilizing the hemisphere.
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ar-AA1TCJVD
Not like W. Bush…:Trump’s plan makes Chevron the big winner…
> https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/05/market-sees-chevron-the-big-venezuela-winner-but-oil-majors-face-a-long-road.html
The f*** around and find out presidency!
> https://archive.is/YnQdt
Allies & adversaries are united in their hate for this action in Venezuela.
> https://apnews.com/1433e10bbb800fb41b21a70c7501ad88
“Tyrant” captured by “Lunatic”
> https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/five-countries-donald-trump-could-36500854
Boo!: Taxpayers to reimburse oil companies. (Red Text)
> https://www.nbcnews.com/business/energy/trump-venezuela-oil-companies-reimburse-rcna252434
Greenland says USA attacking NATO would be end of everything…
> https://www.barrons.com/news/greenland-us-attacking-nato-ally-would-be-end-of-everything-says-danish-pm-3a95deb9
Thanks RFKJr!: 30 States in the running to lose their CDC flu free statuses!
> https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/flu-cdc-tracker-h3n2-subclade-k-variant-symptoms-b2894927.html
Chaotic Neutral…: 92 year old judge of Maduro doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him.
> https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/05/venezuela-maduro-judge-hellerstein-00710894
Reassuring! - - Not…: Men with guns the one who will be in power in Venezuela after Maduro.
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/international-relations/ar-AA1TB0Aa
Bondi accused of Epstein cover up after blowing deadline.
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bondi-accused-of-epstein-files-cover-up-after-blowing-off-deadlines/ar-AA1TDbNB

Bondi!!!

> Thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSL6KqWKFvo

> Signal leaks: https://x.com/camhigby/status/2015093523733733474

> https://www.foxnews.com/politics/far-left-network-helped-put-alex-pretti-harms-way-made-him-martyr

The skirmish that led to Saturday's fatal shooting of an agitator by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis and the response that followed were driven by a complex network of far-left organizations with a wide range of causes, a Fox News Digital investigation found.

A coordinated web of encrypted chats, street alerts and tracking of ICE "Abductors" in a sophisticated database reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that agitators were already mobilized at the scene where 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed minutes before any shots were fired.

ICE and Border Patrol agents were there to arrest an illegal immigrant criminal, and Pretti and others were there, outside a donut shop, to meet them as part of a strategic pattern of organized interference with law enforcement operations.

Over the following hours, a national network of socialist, communist and Marxist-Leninist cells in the United States leveraged the tragic fatality into a nationwide protest operation. While grief and outrage over Pretti's death is genuine, the network's real-time rapid response, using short sensational video clips and emojis as weapons of propaganda, offers a window into the disciplined logistics, messaging and coordination of far-left warriors fomenting insurgency-like confrontation with authorities.

"This level of engineered chaos is unique to Minneapolis. It is the direct consequence of far left agitators, working with local authorities," Vice President JD Vance observed in a Sunday post on X.