Judge orders bail hearing for detained student Mohsen Mahdawi next week

Palestinian green-card holder was arrested by US immigration authorities in Vermont on 14 April

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green-card holder and student at Columbia University who was detained by the Trump administration on 14 April, will have a hearing next week on his request for release on bail, a federal judge decided on Wednesday.

Judge Geoffrey W Crawford extended a temporary restraining order issued by a separate judge last week to keep Mahdawi in Vermont. Immigration authorities have sent other foreign students arrested for their pro-Palestinian views to detention centers in Louisiana and Texas, jurisdictions typically overseen by more conservative judges.

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Grassroots activists who took on corruption and corporate power share 2025 Goldman prize

Seven winners of environmental prize include Amazonian river campaigner and Tunisian who fought against organised waste trafficking

Grassroots activists who helped jail corrupt officials and obtain personhood rights for a sacred Amazonian river are among this year’s winners of the world’s most prestigious environmental prize.

The community campaigns led by the seven 2025 Goldman prize winners underscore the courage and tenacity of local activists willing to confront the toxic mix of corporate power, regulatory failures and political corruption that is fuelling biodiversity collapse, water shortages, deadly air pollution and the climate emergency.

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‘One hell of a turnout’: trans activists rally in London against gender ruling

Thousands gather in Parliament Square in a show of unity after supreme court judgment

After last week’s supreme court decision, activists had been worried that trans people might become fearful of going out in public in case they were abused.

They weren’t afraid in London on Saturday. Thousands of trans and non-binary people thronged Parliament Square, alongside families and supporters waving baby blue, white and pink flags to demonstrate their anger at the judges’ ruling.

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Trump’s second state visit to UK to be disrupted by ‘even bigger’ protests

Stop Trump coalition to dust off blimp, hoping demonstrations will surpass those during US president’s 2019 visit

Donald Trump’s second visit to the UK later this year will be disrupted by “even bigger” protests than those that coincided with his state visit in his first term, campaigners have vowed.

On Thursday Trump let slip that he expects to visit the UK in September, after Keir Starmer handed him a personal invitation from King Charles III during his visit to the White House in February.

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Ten things we learned from Anthony Albanese’s speech at the Labor party campaign launch

The PM addressed a crowd of 500 people in Perth, spruiking new policies on housing and tax deductions, celebrating WA and invoking Donald Trump. Here’s what you may have missed

Labor’s election campaign launch in Perth was headlined by a $10bn housing pledge, a vow to help first home buyers and a new $1,000 “automatic” tax deduction for all workers.

It also featured a former prime minister, gags about rugby league and more than a few digs at Peter Dutton alongside Labor’s claims that he is copying Donald Trump’s political playbook.

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Protest planned after Florida student deported following traffic stop

Politicians and student activists decry ‘outlandish’ deportation of Felipe Zapata Velázquez to Colombia

A campus protest is planned at the University of Florida on Wednesday in support of a Colombian student deported by the Trump administration following his arrest for alleged traffic violations.

The family of Felipe Zapata Velázquez, 27, said on Tuesday he was “undergoing a physical and emotional recovery process” in his home country after police arrested him in Gainesville on 28 March for offenses including having an expired tag and suspended driver’s license, then turned him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).

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Victoria police pay $90,000 to climate protester who claimed head was slammed into wall, door and ground

Exclusive: State makes no admissions as it settles case with activist who alleged police misconduct during 2019 arrest at Melbourne mining conference

A climate protester who alleged their head was repeatedly slammed by members of Victoria police’s riot squad in 2019 has reached a settlement with the state.

Timothy Buchanan, 39, alleged their head was slammed into a metal wall, the ground and a glass door that their head was then used to open, during their arrest at a protest at an international mining conference in Melbourne.

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Thousands in Spain join nationwide march to protest against housing crisis

Organisers say 150,000 joined protest in Madrid urging the government to ‘end the housing racket’ and to demand access to affordable housing

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Spain in the latest protest against housing speculation and to demand access to affordable homes.

Organisers claim that up to 150,000 joined the protest in Madrid while smaller demonstrations were held in about 40 cities across the country. Protesters from Málaga on the Costa del Sol to Vigo in the Atlantic northwest chanted “end the housing racket” and “landlords are guilty, the government is responsible”.

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‘Hands Off’ protests take off across US and Europe to oppose Trump agenda – as it happened

Protesters gather at more than a thousand events across the US and in cities abroad, such as London, Berlin and Paris. This blog is now closed.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday as part of global demonstrations against Donald Trump’s administration.

Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square with banners that read “No to Maga hate” and “Dump Trump”. The rally is one of hundreds of so-called “Hands Off” demonstrations around the world – including in cities across the US, Paris and Berlin.

We see the foundations of our society, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, the very safety nets that people have fought for, for generations, to ensure that our country lives up to its promise, are being targeted by the billionaires and the oligarchs and the corporations.

This insidious rise of authoritarianism is fueled by corrupt billionaires and mega corporations who believe that they have the right to control every aspect of our lives, our healthcare, to our schools, to our thoughts, to our very free speech under the false banner of patriotism and freedom …

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Youth Demand pro-Palestinian protest blocks traffic in London

Group plans to hold demonstrations in London against UK arms sales to Israel every Tuesday and Saturday in April

About 40 Youth Demand protesters were told to move on by the police during a pro-Palestinian rally in central London on Saturday.

The campaigners began gathering at Lincoln’s Inn Fields on Saturday morning and made their way to King’s Cross station.

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Turkish opposition leader calls for weekly rallies and deeper economic boycott

Özgür Özel expanded call to boycott companies perceived as close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Turkey’s anti-government protesters are weighing their options, amid calls by the main opposition leader for weekly rallies, a growing economic boycott and a groundswell of fired-up student demonstrators determined to stay on the streets.

The leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Özgür Özel, expanded a call to boycott goods and services from companies perceived as close to the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during a rally in support of the jailed Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu.

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Le boycott: French customers shun McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Tesla to protest against Trump

France has been urged to shun Maga America as #BoycottUSA hashtag spreads, but teenagers say they can’t afford to join the action

On the rainy Grands Boulevards in Paris on Friday, the branches of McDonald’s and KFC were doing brisk business.

There was little sign of “le boycott” – a movement among French customers to reject American brands and products made in the US, in protest at Donald Trump’s trade tariffs and anti-Europe rhetoric.

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Turkish opposition rallies in defence of jailed Istanbul mayor in mass protest

Hundreds of thousands gather for Ekrem İmamoğlu outside Istanbul centre in move to keep momentum after clashes with police

Turkey’s main opposition has rallied in defence of the jailed Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, in a move to sustain the largest anti-government demonstrations in years.

Hundreds of thousands of people attended the protest called by the head of the opposition Republican People’s party (CHP) in a spot far from the Istanbul city centre. The party leader, Özgur Özel, claimed 2.2 million people attended.

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Police to block ‘intimidating’ protests near places of worship, says Home Office

Yvette Cooper says change needed in England and Wales after concerns over marches near synagogues and mosques

The government plans to give police in England and Wales powers to change the route or timing of protest marches planned outside places of worship in order to give greater protection against intimidation.

The government is to include the powers in an amendment to the crime and policing bill after concerns were raised about protests near synagogues and mosques.

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‘It’s disinformation’: Turkish state TV avoids any coverage of mass street protests

News of protests has been preserve of a few newspapers and channels outside well funded pro-government networks

At the same time as the sound of clanging pots and pans rang out through the streets of opposition strongholds in Istanbul on a recent evening, marking another mass anti-government demonstration, a different reality was being broadcast to viewers of Turkish pro-government channels.

Public television showed the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking to a gilded conference room after an iftar dinner. He boasted of his government’s achievements, of hiring new teachers and attracting youth to an aerospace and technology conference.

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Hundreds join protest against Hamas in northern Gaza

Demonstrators shout ‘Hamas out’ and carry banners saying ‘we want to live in peace’

Hundreds of Palestinians have joined protests in northern Gaza, shouting anti-Hamas slogans and calling for an end to the war with Israel, in what has been described as the largest protest against the militant group inside the territory since the 7 October attacks.

Videos and photos shared on social media late on Tuesday showed hundreds of people, mostly men, chanting “Hamas out” and “Hamas terrorists” in Beit Lahiya, where the crowd had gathered a week after the Israeli army resumed its intense bombing of Gaza after nearly two months of a truce.

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Eight journalists covering anti-government protests held in Turkey

Arrests condemned as ‘unlawful’ by press freedom groups, highlighting growing repression amid demonstrations against President Erdoğan

A prosecutor in Istanbul has remanded eight journalists in custody, reversing a decision to release them after they were arrested for covering Turkey’s largest anti-government protests in years.

The journalists were among 10 arrested in dawn raids on their homes earlier this week. An Istanbul court initially ruled the journalists should be released before reversing the decision and issuing an official arrest order, according to their lawyers and representatives.

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Calls grow in Serbia for investigation into claims ‘sound cannon’ targeted protesters

More than 500,000 people sign petition after ‘powerful sonic impact’ allegedly directed towards rally in Belgrade

More than half a million people have signed an online petition calling for an independent investigation into whether security forces in Serbia used a sonic weapon – what the petition described as a “sound cannon” – during Saturday’s huge anti-corruption rally.

Days after as many as 325,000 people took to the streets of Belgrade, rights groups and opposition parties continue to allege that protesters were targeted with some sort of auditory device that briefly sowed panic and left some with symptoms that lingered long after the rally.

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‘Not for sale’: USPS workers hold day of action to warn of Trump’s ‘illegal takeover’

Employees brace for president to transfer or privatize Postal Service, which they say will slash jobs and boost prices

US Postal Service workers and advocates are holding a day of action today in more than 150 cities as they brace for the Trump administration to launch an “illegal hostile takeover” which they warn will slash jobs, boost prices and shut down post offices.

Donald Trump’s officials are weighing plans to transfer the USPS to the Department of Commerce, stripping it of its independence. The president and his allies have also signaled they are willing to privatize the service.

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Thousands protest in Israel over ‘attack on democracy’ by Netanyahu

Protesters accuse PM of continuing Gaza war for political reasons and ignoring plight of hostages still held by Hamas

Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to call for a new ceasefire in Gaza and to protest against what they say is an attack on the country’s democracy by the rightwing governing coalition of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Key highways have been blocked and police have made at least 12 arrests amid heated scenes in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. More protests were expected in the coming days as the campaign “gathers momentum and energy”, campaigners said.

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