Connect with us

Published

on

Share Tweet By Billy Hallowell Editor
July 13, 2023

A prominent member of the U.K.s House of Lords is continuing to sound the alarm about the ongoing blockage in Nagorno-Karabakh, a small, landlocked region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, warning that the Armenian Christians living there lack food, resources, and other necessities.

Listen to the latest episode of CBNs Quick Start podcast ?

Baroness Caroline Cox, a longtime member of Parliament, told CBN’s Faithwire about the region’s history and why she continues to passionately advocate for those living there.

“Armenia was the first nation of the word to become Christian … back in 301 AD,” Cox said. “And the little land of Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Ancient Armenia, and Armenians have lived there for 1,700 years, and you get some of the oldest churches and stone crosses in the world in that little holy land.”

That history is threatened, according to Cox, who has been to the region around 90 times. She said the current conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has bred a “situation of tragedy and of conflict.”

After some of the latest skirmishes in 2020, Azerbaijan is now controlling a “significant proportion of the land” and, according to Cox, has reportedly destroyed “at least three churches.”

“We can’t prove that because we can’t go there to see,” the Crossbench Life peer, who has served in Parliament since 1983, added, expressing worry over the historical stone crosses and Christian monuments.

Watch Cox express her fears over the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh:

As CBN’s Faithwire has extensively reported, the most recent chaos in the region began Dec. 12, when individuals identifying as Azerbaijani protestors reportedly blocked the Lachin corridor, the only roadway into and out of Nagorno-Karabakh, effectively halting food, medicine, and essential transport.

“There’s a huge shortage of food and medicines inside … [and a] lot of suffering,” Cox said, noting Azerbaijan has also “cut off electricity supply a lot of the time.”

The lack of heat and resources created problems with warmth and even farming, making it more difficult to grow food and resources. Cox expressed dismay over the months-long blockade, claiming it’s being done “with complete impunity” and without enough counterpressure from the international community.

“That blockade of the road can … be the beginning of another genocide of people just being starved to death,” Cox said. “No one has challenged or opened up that blockade to the road and, as said, is causing enormous suffering.”

Cox said the international community should call Azerbaijan “to account for the suffering it has already caused” through the blockade.

She also said food and resources should be made available to Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Cox concluded the interview by explaining how she believes Christians should be praying for the Armenians trapped in the region.

“When we visit our Christian brothers and sisters who are suffering so horrifically, we always ask them, ‘What’s your priority?’” she said. “And if I was one of them, I’d say, ‘Food for water’ … but their priority request is always for prayer, and that [is humbling].”

Cox continued, “Prayer needs to be informed prayer. So it is important that our wonderful friends in the United States do study a little bit what is actually happening in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh so the prayer can be informed prayer.”

Read more about the history behind the situation here.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwires daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’

Published

on

By

Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it's 'an underdog just like me'

Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.

The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed the US rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.

“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.

“An underdog that bites back, just like me.

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”

Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.

Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.

More on Snoop Dogg

Read more from Sky News:
One child dies after coach crashes on way back from school trip
Antarctica’s oldest ice arrives in UK for analysis on climate shifts

The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”

Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.

Continue Reading

Politics

Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

Published

on

By

Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.

A party spokesperson confirmed the decision to Sky News but did not give a reason why.

Politics Live: The Starmtroopers are coming for the Corbynites

It comes after the veteran MP defended previous comments about racism which sparked an antisemitism row and led to a year-long suspension.

She apologised at the time and was readmitted back into the party before the 2024 general election.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”

Sky News understands that the suspension is not related to the four rebels who lost the whip on Wednesday for “repeated breaches” of party discipline, including voting against the government’s welfare cuts.

More from Politics

The action has been taken because of an interview in which she doubled down on her claim Jewish people experience racism differently to black people, which previously sparked a huge controversy.

abbott
Image:
Diane Abbott

In a letter to The Observer in 2023, Ms Abbott argued that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” and said that was different to the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Shortly after it was published, she issued a statement in which she said she wished to “wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them”.

However in a new interview with BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme this week, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret.

Ms Abbott said: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.

“But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re black. They are different types of racism.”

She added: “I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

“I don’t know why people would say that.”

Commenting on the suspension, Ms Abbott told Sky News: “It’s obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept.”

The clip of the interview was re-posted by Brian Leishman, one of the MPs suspended on Wednesday, who said: “Diane Abbott has fought against racism her entire life.”

Bell Riberio-Addy, who lost her role as trade envoy in yesterday’s purge, also came to Ms Abbott’s defence, saying: “Before condemning her based on headlines, I would listen to her clip and note she discussed the different forms that racism takes and condemned all forms of racism.”

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell made similar comments, saying that in the interview his colleague “forthrightly condemns antisemitism & discusses the different forms of racism”.

But Labour MP David Taylor told Sky News he has “long thought Diane Abbott shouldn’t be a member of our party due to her appalling positions on everything from Bosnia to Syria”.

He added: “As the Jewish Labour Movement have said, antisemitism targets Jews regardless of how they look, and many in the community are visibly Jewish and suffer racism for it.”

In the interview, Ms Abbott said she “of course” condemns antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would condemn racist behaviour because of the colour of someone’s skin, adding: “I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I spent a lifetime facing racism of all kinds.”

Ms Abbott made history when she was elected as Britain’s first black female MP for Labour in 1987.

She is the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, giving her the title “Mother of the House”.

As an MP on the left of the party she has often clashed with the leadership throughout her career – bar her time serving in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

Read more from Sky News:
Sixteen and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in next general election
Five reasons to be confused by Starmer’s MP suspensions

Many MPs rallied in support of Ms Abbott last year when it was not clear if she would be reinstated in time for the general election, or allowed to stand.

She went on to retain her seat of Hackney North and Stoke Newington with a majority of over 15,000.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner hinted action could be taken against Ms Abbott when she told The Guardian earlier on Thursday that she was “disappointed” in her colleague’s remarks.

“There’s no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party, and obviously the Labour Party has processes for that,” she said.

A source close to the decision to suspend her told Sky News there is a “very slim chance” she will be allowed back in, given she did antisemitism training and apologised last time.

It raises questions about whether Ms Abbott could join the new party being formed by Mr Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

For the time being, Ms Abbott will sit in the Commons as an independent MP.

Adnan Hussain, who was elected as the independent MP for Blackburn last year, said on X: “We’d be honoured to have a giant like Diane join us, she [should] come to the side that would really appreciate her for the legend she is.”

Continue Reading

UK

Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

Published

on

By

Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

The child who died in a school coach crash in Somerset on Thursday was a 10-year-old boy, Avon and Somerset Police have said.

A specially trained officer is supporting the child’s family, the force said, adding that two children taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children by air ambulance remain there as of Friday.

Four children and three adults also remain in hospital in Somerset.

There were between 60 to 70 people on board when the incident happened near Minehead, just before 3pm on Thursday.

The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School when it crashed on the A396 between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe.

Flowers outside school
Image:
Pic: PA

Police said that 21 people were taken to hospital, including two children who were taken via air ambulance.

Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.

Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said the road where it happened is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.

“You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side,” she told Sky’s Anna Botting.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Tearful MP reacts to coach crash

It comes after a teacher at Minehead Middle School praised the “incredibly brave” pupils for supporting each other after the coach crash.

Read more on Sky News:
Amber warning for thunderstorms for southeast England
No further action over Kneecap at Glastonbury, police say

“You have looked after each [other] in what was a life-changing event, we will get through this together,” they wrote on Facebook.

“I feel so lucky to be your teacher. I am so grateful to my wonderful colleagues during this time who were also fighting to help as many people as we could.”

Continue Reading

Trending