Actor among protesters in central London highlighting laws in 29 countries where same-sex relationships remain illegal
Ian McKellen has joined a march against the criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people in Commonwealth countries, calling it an “appalling situation”.
The Lord of the Rings star and activist joined protesters in central London on Saturday to highlight laws in 29 Commonwealth countries where same-sex relationships remain illegal.
Continue reading...More people are being jailed in England and Wales as a result of acting to prevent climate breakdown and the war in Gaza, research reveals
Britain has created a new breed of political prisoners through the systematic incarceration of people acting to prevent climate breakdown and the annihilation of Gaza, a report claims.
The research by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the protest group Defend Our Juries says that custodial sentences for acts of direct action or civil disobedience were once rare but are now being imposed with increasing length and frequency.
Continue reading...Move comes amid condemnation of Itamar Ben-Gvir after video posted showing detained protesters being taunted
Israel has said it has deported all the foreign activists it seized from a Gaza-bound flotilla, after a global outcry over their treatment in custody that led the UK to join other countries in summoning Israeli diplomats for a formal dressing down.
More than 430 activists from countries around the world had been placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea on Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory.
Continue reading...Satirical project is viral sensation and outlet for protest on social media as it taps into young people’s frustration
It began as a satirical online project after India’s chief justice compared unemployed young people to cockroaches. Now millions of young Indians are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration.
A parody political party with the insect as its symbol has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humour into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach – an insect known for its ability to survive harsh conditions – as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance.
Continue reading...Clashes between demonstrators and police in La Paz have entered second week, shaking centre-right president
Protests blocking roads across Bolivia and turning the centre of the capital, La Paz, into a battleground between demonstrators and police have entered a second week.
It is the most turbulent moment of the centre-right president Rodrigo Paz Pereira’s mere six months in office since he ended nearly two decades of rule by the leftwing Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas).
Continue reading...Retired NHS worker Nicholas Stone died after becoming unwell at protest against far-right Bristol Patriots
The police watchdog is investigating the use of force against a retired NHS worker who attended a counter-demonstration against the far right and died shortly after contact with officers there.
Nicholas Stone, 65, who lived in Bristol, died on 10 January after becoming unwell at a protest opposing the rightwing group Bristol Patriots, who were demonstrating in the city centre.
Continue reading...Commemoration of atrocity at Nova music festival confronts those who deny its gravity, says Elkana Bohbot
Two police vans waited expectantly near the front entrance. Officers patrolled the pavements while suited security men with ear pieces stood stern-faced, casting suspicious looks at those approaching. The location in east London had not been disclosed until that morning but no chances were being taken.
It was not for a visiting dignitary or even an embassy of a country in conflict that all this was deemed necessary but the Nova exhibition, a commemoration of the 378 people massacred at a music festival on 7 October along with the 44 taken as hostages and the 19 of those who died in Hamas captivity.
Continue reading...While RAF Lakenheath holds its secrets, neighbours contend with plane spotters, protesters and sonic booms
The local people know there is something going on when the internet and phone signal drops dead, they say. If the heavy bombers are flying low, the teachers will pause their school assembly until the thunderous din has passed. The parish council has been briefed on the intricacies of sonic booms. Car insurance is more expensive here as the Americans “can’t drive” and sometimes find themselves on the wrong side of the road. The base became less open to its neighbours after 9/11. But everyone knows there are secrets held beyond the barbed wire, not least that this is where the nukes are stored.
RAF Lakenheath is the largest US air force (USAF) base in Europe, part of what is known as the “tri-base area” of Suffolk, a stretch of 20 sq miles (52 sq km) of land leased to the US government around which a peculiar ecosystem has developed over the eight decades of the American presence.
Continue reading...Ahead of Nakba march, Sara Husseini says many feel they are being treated as suspects rather than victims of mass suffering
British Palestinians feel unable to speak openly about Israel’s war on Gaza, the director of the British Palestinian Committee has said, amid what campaigners believe is a growing climate of hostility around Palestinian identity and activism in the UK.
Some were afraid to wear Palestinian symbols at work or display Arabic jewellery and keffiyehs in public, Sara Husseini said.
Continue reading...Far-right Jewish marchers call for Palestinian villages to ‘burn’ as they storm through Muslim quarter of Old City
Israeli nationalists chanted “death to the Arabs”, “may your villages burn” and “Gaza is a graveyard” in a state-sponsored march through Jerusalem to mark the anniversary of the city’s capture and annexation.
The annual assertion of Jewish control over Palestinian East Jerusalem has grown more extreme in recent years, and Thursday’s event culminated with the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, unfurling an Israeli flag in front of the al-Aqsa mosque, the holiest Islamic site in the city.
Continue reading...As human rights advocate is treated in Tehran hospital after transfer from Zanjan prison, prize winners demand her freedom
More than 110 Nobel laureates have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist and Nobel peace prize laureate, after she was transferred to hospital amid concerns over her rapidly deteriorating health.
In a statement released on Tuesday, 112 Nobel laureates urged the Iranian authorities and the international community to act “without delay” to secure Mohammadi’s release and ensure her continued access to medical treatment.
Continue reading...Palestinian activist is awaiting another legal decision on a separate track in a narrowing effort to stay in the US
A lawyer for Mahmoud Khalil, the first noncitizen activist arrested in the Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian speech, called his client’s immigration proceedings “preordained and a complete sham” after it was revealed that the case was prioritized to be fast-tracked.
“These revelations make clear that this case has been controlled from day one by higher-ups in the administration,” said Marc Van Der Hout, an attorney on Khalil’s legal team, in a statement. “The immigration judge was hand-picked and the Board of Immigration Appeals decision was predetermined. We will continue to fight for Mahmoud in every court we can.”
Continue reading...Casting director urges Keir Starmer to intervene in case of Paata Burchuladze, 71, jailed for seven years after singing at anti-regime demonstrations
The Royal Opera House in London has urged Keir Starmer to intervene in the case of Paata Burchuladze, a world-renowned bass singer who has been imprisoned in Georgia since October on a charge of leading a coup against the country’s authoritarian leader.
The 71-year-old has performed at the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and collaborated with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. He was arrested after joining a protest outside the presidential palace in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Last week he was given a seven-year jail sentence which Burchuladze suggested to the court was equivalent to a life sentence given his age.
Continue reading...Writing by Narges Mohammadi, arrested 14 times for activism, offers a disturbing insight into treatment
In an exclusive extract of writing smuggled from prison in Iran, the Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has described the “torture” of solitary confinement, and her systematic medical neglect by the prison system.
The writing from the past decade will be part of a soon to be published memoir that gives a rare and alarming insight into the treatment of Mohammadi, who is in critical condition. It details beatings, constant interrogations, deprivation of medical care and long stretches in solitary confinement during her numerous imprisonments.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Jordan Devlin, who was acquitted at trial where four co-defendants were convicted, says he was saving lives
A Palestine Action activist who was acquitted over a protest at an Israeli arms manufacturer’s UK site has said he and his five co-defendants “did the right thing”.
Four of those who stood trial with Jordan Devlin were convicted of criminal damage in relation to the direct action protest at the Elbit Systems UK site near Bristol on 6 August 2024, but he said they had been acting to save Palestinian lives.
Continue reading...Law says conviction of two men for spying raises serious concerns about how they accessed sensitive information
Nathan Law, an exiled leader of the Hong Kong student protest who lives with a £100,000 bounty on his head from the Chinese authorities, was not surprised to discover a spy ring had photographed him entering the Oxford Union for an evening debate in November 2023.
The conviction at the Old Bailey of Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, 38, and Chung Biu “Bill” Yuen, 65, for assisting a foreign intelligence service, was a sobering first – no Chinese spies had been convicted in British criminal history before Thursday – but the details that came out in the nine-week trial mainly served to confirm his suspicions.
Continue reading...Hangings are latest in wave of near-daily killings as authorities seek to instil fear amid war with US and Israel
Iran has executed three men charged in connection with political protests this January, authorities have said, the latest in a wave of hangings against the backdrop of the war against the US and Israel.
Iranian authorities have carried out executions on a near-daily basis in recent weeks in what activists have denounced as a bid to instil fear in society at a time of international and domestic tension.
Continue reading...PM worried about ‘cumulative’ effect of marches, as Met chief says Jewish communities facing biggest threat
Some pro-Palestinian demonstrations could be stopped, the prime minister has warned, as the UK’s most senior police officer said the threat to the Jewish community was greater than it had ever been.
Keir Starmer indicated he wanted the language expressed on some protest marches to be subjected to “tougher action” as he sought to allay the fears of British Jews after a series of attacks on their communities in recent weeks.
Continue reading...Families say ‘Ulm 5’ have been detained under extreme prison conditions since arrest last September
Five pro-Palestinian activists have appeared in court over an attack on an Israeli arms company in Germany, charged with causing approximately €1m of damage.
Prosecutors say the defendants, aged 25 to 40, trespassed and yelled pro-Palestinian statements as they destroyed office equipment, sensitive measuring devices and smashed windows at a site linked to Elbit Systems in the southern city of Ulm.
Continue reading...Jubilation is turning to disenchantment as young activists arrested after protest calling for election date to be set
The arrest of several protesters in Madagascar has increased fears among young people that the military regime that took power last year after huge Gen Z demonstrations will be no better than the government it overthrew.
Four Gen Z activists, Herizo Andriamanantena, Miora Rakotomalala, Dina Randrianarisoa and Nomena Ratsihorimanana, were arrested on 12 April, one of their lawyers said, two days after taking part in a protest calling for an election date to be set.
Continue reading...