Kids can suffer tummy ache for a whole host of reasons – from anxiety, to stomach bugs, to urinary tract infections (UTIs) and constipation.

But one underlying reason which always requires medical investigation is appendicitis, which is where the appendix, which forms part of the bowel, becomes swollen and infected.

If left untreated, it can burst, which can be very painful and life-threatening.

Appearing in a segment on This Morning, Dr Ana Alcock, a paediatric emergency medicine consultant, spoke of the “really worrying [appendicitis] sign” which would require a trip to A&E.

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She said: “So, it’s normally part of three things: they normally have fever, they vomit, and they have tummy pain – and it’s often tummy pain that starts around the belly button and then moves down onto that right lower side.”

Rani Nurlaela Desandi via Getty Images

Typically this movement of pain happens over 24-48 hours. The pain “doesn’t move around, it’s not soft; it’s constant and it’s really painful”, said the expert.

If children have appendicitis, they won’t be able to jump, hop or twist as it will be too painful.

“They just want to lie still and not be touched,” she added. “So if you’re not sure whether to worry, get them to do a hop, or a jump, or a cough, because it just jiggles thing inside.”

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Per the NHS, appendicitis can also cause symptoms such as constipation, diarrhoea, feeling nauseous, loss of appetite, or peeing more than usual.

If the appendix bursts, the pain may get better for a short time before returning at extremely severe levels and spreading to the rest of the abdomen. This is a medical emergency.

If a child’s stomach pain is gradually getting worse, doesn’t go away, or moves to the lower right side of their stomach, call NHS 111.

If they have severe pain in their stomach, become confused, have blotchy or paler than usual skin, or experience difficulty breathing, call 999 or go straight to A&E.

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According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), appendicitis is one of the most common causes of acute abdominal pain in children and adults.

Around 50,000 appendicectomies (urgent surgery to remove an inflamed appendix) are performed each year in the UK.

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Next stop on President Donald Trump’s revenge tour: Kentucky.

On the heels of ousting several Indiana state lawmakers early this month and Sen. Bill Cassidy just days ago, the White House is well-positioned to remove rebellious Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky’s GOP primary on Tuesday.

It’s one of the final checkpoints in Trump’s monthlong effort to punish Republicans for bucking him. And the list of Massie’s sins is long, from his opposition to the president’s signature tax-and-spending plan to his forceful stands against the war in Iran and successfully pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

“Trump is coming in as the leader of the party and he has every right to flex his muscle,” said Shane Noem, who is neutral in the race as the chair of the Kenton County Republican Party in Massie’s district. “The question remains: Will the ‘Average Joe’ Republican lean into the party, or will they lean into an outsider who’s been in the party for 14 years?”

The Kentucky libertarian’s fate is the biggest in a slate of tests Tuesday of Trump’s grip on the GOP. In Georgia, the Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate seems likely to advance to a runoff, while Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — who refused to accept the president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results — is polling in third place. In Alabama, Trump’s endorsement of Rep. Barry Moore in the GOP Senate primary helped boost him to front-runner status.

The president’s endorsement has proven to be decisive in GOP primaries and a mobilizing force for his base. A POLITICO poll, conducted by Public First from May 9 to 11, found that nearly half of voters who plan to vote Republican in the midterms would choose a candidate officially endorsed by the president, compared with a candidate Trump hasn’t endorsed but isn’t opposed to (28 percent), or a candidate he’s actively trying to block (9 percent).

Trump and his allies have had some major recent successes in taking out the president’s foes. They spent more than $9 million to pick off five state lawmakers who opposed his redistricting push in Indiana. In Louisiana, Trump lent the influence of his social media account to boost Rep. Julia Letlow early on in the race and State Treasurer John Fleming in the final hours.

But no one has drawn the ire of Trump and his team quite like Massie. The president’s endorsement of former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein united local forces and various factions of the GOP in trying to sink the iconoclastic Kentucky conservative with a libertarian lean. Spending in the race has topped $32 million, making it the most expensive House primary in history, per tracking firm AdImpact. Trump’s political operation and pro-Israel groups who’ve long opposed the incumbent have unleashed more than $16 million against him. Trump rallied with Gallrein in March, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promoted him at an event in the district on Monday.

Polling shows a tightening race down the home stretch after Massie led earlier on, with one survey showing Massie leading Gallrein by just over 1 percentage point and two others showing him trailing by 7 and 8 points, respectively.

Trump’s allies are growing bullish after his romps through other red states: “Got another one coming Tuesday,” Chris LaCivita, Trump’s former campaign manager who is running the anti-Massie super PAC MAGA KY, recently posted on X. in response to a meme of the president knocking out Cassidy with a golf ball.

Asked for comment, the White House pointed to Trump’s recent Truth Social post praising Gallrein as a “WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN” and calling Massie “a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly.”

Massie is a tougher target than some of Trump’s other foes. His libertarian-conservative politics mirror those of his northern Kentucky district where many voters cheer his contrarian stances as principled stands. He has allies in some of the America First movement’s loudest voices, like Tucker Carlson, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who rallied with Massie over the weekend — and even drew a threat of a primary challenge from Trump over that decision, though the filing period has closed.

Massie is not only clear-eyed about the threat he faces, but leaning into the challenge. He has projected confidence down the home stretch, even as Trump’s foes continue to fall.

“I’m glad he’s in with both feet,” Massie told POLITICO on Friday as he left the Capitol for the campaign trail. “This will be his biggest loss ever as far as endorsements go.”

After felling Cassidy, Trump took to Truth Social to label Massie the“worst Republican Congressman in History.” Massie responded on ABC that he was leading and his foes were “desperate.”

In a race that revolves around Trump, Massie has been trying to make the case to voters that they can back him and back the president. He’s attempted to thread the needle on his dissent by arguing he’s with the president “nearly all of the time.” The times when he’s not — the Epstein files, spending, foreign interventions — he says, are because the administration has shifted on its core values, not him.

“Massie’s sitting to the right of Trump and Trump’s never really tried to take out somebody who’s to the right of him before,” said Tres Watson, a Kentucky-based GOP strategist who is not working for either campaign.

Massie’s opposition to Trump’s interventions in Iran and longstanding opposition to U.S. aid to Israel have turned the race into a tussle over the definition of “America First” and the base’s adherence to it as some Republicans, particularly younger ones, splinter over the wars in the Middle East.

“This is a congressional race, but it’s also somewhat of a national movement, and it would be bad for Republicans’ prospects in the midterms if I lose,” Massie said. “Not just because they’ve wasted $10 million of Republican mega donor money on a seat that’s going to be red anyway. It’s going to be because those people will be like ‘why am I even voting Republican?’ … they’ll stay home.”

A win on Tuesday, Massie said, gives him “antibodies” against the president and his political machine. In proving it is possible to withstand Trump’s wrath, it could provide a model for other Republicans who break with the president, though vanishingly few remain in Congress.

A Massie defeat — especially on the heels of Cassidy’s Louisiana loss — would signal a larger reality facing the GOP: There’s little room within the party anymore for politicians who disagree with Trump, even as he enters the back half of his presidency.

“There used to be room for effective, mild-mannered wonkish types because they got stuff done and industry and voters appreciated it,” said one Republican strategist working on the Alabama Senate race on behalf of a Moore opponent, granted anonymity to speak freely without fear of retribution. “Now it’s just different.”

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A powerful new feature film aims to expose the sinister way ‘trans panic’ has been used across the US as a legal defence to justify the murder of transgender people.

Highlighting the long history of activism, resistance and solidarity within the trans community, the film, Trans Panic, follows two trans elders who fought back against deadly stigma and helped organise the first Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Nancy Nangeroni and Gordene Mackenzie played a vital role in securing long-overdue rights for trans people. This achievement came after a wave of hate crimes saw attackers — and murderers — receive lighter sentences by claiming ‘trans panic’ somehow excused or diminished their violent intent.

Now, as Trump fuels renewed hostility towards trans people, they are speaking out once again to remind the public that hate-fuelled violence can never be framed as “self-defence”. Horrifyingly, this defence continues to be available in most US jurisdictions.

But to help ensure this horrific chapter of history is neither forgotten nor repeated, they need public support to raise £15,000 to turn the project into a full feature film.

Trans Panic hopes to inspire generations of activists

Originally, the filmmakers planned to create a short film about the experiences of these two principled and inspiring trans elders. But after a successful fundraising campaign, they have now set their sights on turning it into a full feature film, giving this harrowing yet hopeful story the depth it deserves.

The film explores the painful experiences faced not only by partners Nancy and Gordene, but by the wider trans community, in the hope it can inspire a new generation of activism and stop history from repeating itself. As has happened time and time again, reactionary forces are already trying to roll back hard-won rights, leaving an already embattled community vulnerable to renewed hostility and violence.

Importantly, the film also challenges the false idea that trans rights are somehow new or “woke”. In reality, trans people have fought for dignity, safety and recognition for generations. Their struggle forms part of a much longer history of civil rights movements fighting for freedom and bodily autonomy.

It also reminds us never to take rights for granted. The far right actively works to erode the freedoms of LGBTQ+ people wherever it can, which means people must constantly defend those rights. Feminists should take notice too: attacks on bodily autonomy never stop with one group.

When reactionary movements target reproductive rights, trans rights, or queer rights, they attack the broader principle that people deserve control over their own bodies and lives.

We all deserve autonomy. None of us are truly free until all of us are free from that sinister oppression.

‘Trans panic’ as a legal defence

On their Kickstarter campaign, director Hester Morris spoke of the history which inspired this feature film.

She explained:

The term ‘Trans Panic’ is a legal defence that has been used all over the US to justify the brutal murders of many transgender people over the decades.

The idea is that perpetrators claim to be in such a state of shock after discovering their victims are transgender that their motivation towards extreme violence is somehow akin to self defence.

This legal argument meant that many people received minimal sentences for what were blatantly hate-filled killings.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the media and wider society failed to show outrage or even compassion for these victims.

As I’m sure many will agree, this sentiment is coming back with a vengeance across the West as the trans community face bigoted, derogatory attacks through the duplicitous veil of ‘women’s safety’. In reality, history proves that the rights of both groups are very much intertwined and face the same threats in our societies.

The film will consider the world-changing activism of the 90s, which fought back against the stigma endangering their lives, whilst seeking justice for their trans siblings.

The far right is actively eroding hard-fought civil rights

Speaking from their home in New Mexico, Nancy and Gordene recount “their story of love and struggle”. Sharing their memories and rarely seen archival footage, this film makes clear how the personal and political intersect.

Like protests for civil rights and freedoms today, the 90s saw TV appearances, street protests and legal battles to give rise to “the world’s first movement towards respect and rights for gender non-conforming people”.

Whilst many are aware of this day of remembrance, not many are aware of the personal stories behind it and the very people that had an instructive role in making it happen. An ignorance that this film seeks to redress as it refuses to allow trans people to live in that same horrifying fear for their own safety.

Battles for civil rights have always intersected across race, gender and sexuality, and they defined this era of history.

How can you continue this tradition of solidarity?

The film’s creators wish to revive this “fundamental moment in trans history” through documenting these activists’ achievements to help inspire more activism today. With history clearly in the throes of repeating itself, trans and queer people need strong allies.

On the Kickstarter campaign, they write:

We hope that the work of Nancy, Gordene and many others will provide guidance and inspiration for those brave enough to fight back against the transphobic, homophobic, racist regimes, growing in strength all over the world – but we need your help.

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We at the Canary hope our readers get behind this fundraising campaign and share it with their friends and family. History shows that when the establishment and far right target one marginalised group, others are never far behind.

That is why civil rights movements so often stand together and intersect with one another because when they come for one community, they eventually come for us all.

Featured image via Trans Panic Kickstarter

By Maddison Wheeldon

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AI firms are pushing hard for a bigger and bigger slice of the UK war machine, namely Palantir. Watchdog Drone Wars’ new briefing paper sheds light on how these powerful tech companies, often led by far-right bosses, have inserted themselves into the UK military.

The new report is titled ‘The Datafication of War‘. It is the first part of a series of briefing called ‘Killing By Code: New Briefing and Dataset on UK Military AI Programme‘. The NGO also published a breakdown of key military projects currently working to integrate AI.

Drone Wars warned of a revolutionary shift in warfare:

Today, with the rise in geopolitical uncertainty and intense competition for military technological supremacy; private technology companies working alongside states, are pushing towards a new technological transformation on the battlefield: the development of military AI and Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems that promise to reshape the methods of war.

As private firms start to work closely with states on AI, and:

With algorithms, Large Language Models, and autonomous systems permeating throughout the military domain, modern warfare is becoming increasingly reliant on data sets.

This first briefing “explores Palantir and their algorithmic and data systems”:

It examines the company’s origin and leadership; their footprint in different institutions within the UK and elsewhere; its key software and data analytic platforms and ends by looking at their involvement with the Israeli and Ukrainian governments during times of profound violence and war.

Palantir: far-right AI bosses

The report captures the worldviews which drive Palantir’s leadership in the US and UK. It describes how founders Peter Thiel and Alex Karp:

co-founded Palantir in the aftermath of 9/11, partly using funding from Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA.

The name, Palantir, is a reference to the all-seeing orbs in the Lord of the Rings books and movies. The leadership:

openly embraces the language of warfare, crisis and existential threat to frame the company’s public image.

Thiel is described as a ‘techno-libertarian’:

with a strong aversion to progressive politics and a pronounced scepticism of democracy.

While Karp’s politics speak to a hard-right, ‘civilisational’ worldview, which:

argues for the abandonment of ‘frivolous’ consumer products in the pursuit of ‘national projects’ that strengthen ‘Western civilization’ to the detriment of its perceived enemies.

UK boss Louis Mosley – the hyper-privileged grandson of aristocratic fascist Oswald Mosley – is described as:

descended from a highly politicised, aristocratic lineage whose legacy has played a visible role in Anglo-American history. It seems he will go onto to have greater influence albeit a very different role in shaping the country’s future trajectory.

And Drone Wars points out:

His relationships with the higher echelons of the labour government are clear.

Palantir’s footprint in the UK

Palantir are active in the US, Canada, Australia, Israel and Ukraine. And the firm is increasingly powerful here at home:

According to MoD figures, in the financial years of 2020/21 – 2024/2025, Palantir’s UK subsidiary received £190m from the Ministry of Defence. Within this range one of their most lucrative contracts worth £75m was an ‘Enterprise Agreement’ which integrated ‘Palantir[‘s] software tool-set to accommodate…
MoD demand’

Typically:

these operations are shielded by national security exemptions and so are opaque to the outsider – most of the details of these contracts are not in public view or incredibly vague.

Thiel is a major donor to US president Donald Trump, which means that the UK taxpayer is helping fund a far-right presidency with violent global ambitions.

In this way, the British taxpayer is helping to support an administration that makes Britain less secure – antithetical to the very reasons used to justify the British state’s relationship with Palantir.

A movement that under Trump has threatened Denmark over Greenland, struck Iran de-stabilising a region and the wider global economy with a complete disregard for international law, and norms.

As Drone Wars also point out, Palantir has interests in the National Health Service, UK police and even the HS2 rail project. Their project isn’t just about war – it is about governance and state power.

Palantir’s hunger for war

Drone Wars surveyed the Palantir systems currently in use in the UK. These include military targeting  systems like Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP),Gotham, Foundry, MetaConstellation and Palantir Edge AI. Palantir’s ideology and business model hunger for war and crisis. But the firm also views wars as a laboratory to sharpen and develop their for-profit killing technology.

Drone Wars said that Ukraine and Israel are two of the prime examples:

For companies like Palantir, armed conflicts are prime opportunities to test their technologies under real-life conditions. This dynamic is acutely visible in the war in Ukraine and Israel’s ongoing wars in the middle eastern regions where Palantir has embedded itself within state and military institutions.

Adding:

In both conflicts, the company uses warzones as laboratories for refining their data analytics, surveillance and AI-driven decision-making systems.

A new way of war

Drone Wars’ conclusion paints a chilling picture of a rapidly emerging shift away from even basic accountability in warfare:

Palantir’s ascendence illustrates the value of data, algorithms and software not just in the governance of everyday life, but as a core foundation of contemporary military and social power.

The NGO said that Keir Starmer’s government:

is courting the company guided by the notion that they can deliver AI innovation and institutional regeneration.

This is a naive, technocratic approach – because Palantir promises something much darker than simple efficiency. The end result of reducing populations into “statistical trends” is profound dehumanisation, and:

in the case of war, to reduce combatants to data points does not recognise their humanity, it is a form of abstraction that lowers the threshold of violence; they are no longer persons but numbers to be killed.

The new way of war isn’t just coming, it is here. But Palantir’s vision is much broader than simply speeding up targeting processes. Palantir is driven by a far-right worldview in which democracy is a threat. Its leaders think ‘Western’ civilisation is under under threat and only profound, often racialised violence, authoritarianism and surveillance can rescue it. The firm’s increasing influence over British politics must be opposed tooth and nail.

Featured image via Getty/Eugene Gologursky

By Joe Glenton

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