Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks at four school strikes in a week – video

Sixteen-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has criss-crossed the continent speaking at rallies in four countries in just eight days in a bid to spur politicians into action. She also made a brief stop at the European parliament in Brussels to address EU leaders. The Swede has become a social media sensation this year with her campaign of school strikes sweeping across dozens of countries and tens of thousands of teenagers participating

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Thousands march in France against rise in antisemitism – video report

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across France in protest against an increase in the number of antisemitic attacks in the country. Recent incidents have included a Jewish cemetery being desecrated with swastikas and the philosopher Alain Finkielkraut being subjected to a torrent of hate speech on the fringe of a gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protest in Paris

Thousands take to streets of France after antisemitic attacks

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Green MEPs held after anti-nuclear protest at Belgian military base

UK’s Molly Scott Cato among those held after action over stockpiling of US nuclear bombs

Three Green MEPs – including one from the UK – have been arrested after breaking into a Belgian military airbase to protest against its stockpiling of American B61 nuclear bombs.

The MEPs – Molly Scott Cato, Michèle Rivasi and Tilly Metz – unfurled a banner on a runway for F-16 fighter jets at the Kleine Brogel base in the east of the country calling for a nuclear-free Europe, before being taken into custody.

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Thousands take to streets of France after antisemitic attacks

Surge in ‘poisonous’ acts includes Jewish cemetery desecrated with swastikas

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across France to protest against a recent rise in antisemitic attacks.

The prime minister, Édouard Philippe, was expected to attend the march in the capital along with ministers and lawmakers, while the president, Emmanuel Macron, will hold a moment’s silence at the city’s Holocaust memorial.

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Swedish student fined for plane protest against Afghan’s deportation

Elin Ersson received a £250 fine for refusing to take her seat on a plane in Sweden last year

A Swedish student who livestreamed her protest against the deportation of an Afghan asylum seeker last year has been found guilty of violating Sweden’s aviation laws and fined £250.

Elin Ersson, 22, avoided a prison sentence at the Gothenburg district court, where she was sentenced to a fine of 3,000 Swedish krona.

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Protests erupt in Brazil after death of black teenager who was restrained

Campaigners say Black Lives Matter movement is emerging after action in five major cities

Brazilian activists have taken to the streets in five major cities after the death of a young black man who was restrained by a supermarket security guard.

Campaigners said the protests are feeding a nascent Black Lives Matter movement in Brazil, where nearly three-quarters of all homicide victims are black.

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Colin Kaepernick reaches settlement with NFL over kneeling protest fallout

  • Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid settle collusion grievance with NFL
  • Parties have resolved grievances subject to confidentiality pact

The NFL and attorneys for Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid jointly announced on Friday afternoon they have settled a complaint of collusion by the players, who claimed the league’s owners blackballed them because they had protested by kneeling during the pre-game playing of the national anthem.

Related: Did the NFL manage to silence Colin Kaepernick's protest at the Super Bowl?

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‘It is our future’: children call time on climate inaction in UK

Thousands of young people take time out of school to join protests across the country

Some wore school uniform, with ties askew in St Trinian’s fashion, others donned face paint, sparkly jackets and DM boots. The youngest clutched a parent’s hand as people gathered in the sunshine in Parliament Square in London, a few metres from the politicians they say are letting down a generation.

They carried homemade placards, with slogans full of humour, passion and hope that the voices of thousands of children and young people would be heard.

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The Breadmaker: on the frontline of Venezuela’s bakery wars – video

In the midst of Venezuela’s spiralling economic crisis, Natalia and fellow members of a Chavista collective have stepped in to take over production at a local bakery, La Minka. Authorities had suspended operations when the owners were accused of overpricing their loaves and hoarding flour. In March 2017, with the tacit support of the government, the collective began selling affordable bread. This is the story of their fight to safeguard the bakery’s future and keep the Chavista dream alive

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‘The beginning of great change’: Greta Thunberg hails school climate strikes

The 16-year-old’s lone protest last summer has morphed into a powerful global movement challenging politicians to act

Greta Thunberg is hopeful the student climate strike on Friday can bring about positive change, as young people in more and more countries join the protest movement she started last summer as a lone campaigner outside the Swedish parliament.

Related: Teenage activist takes School Strikes 4 Climate Action to Davos

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Parkland one year on: what victories have gun control advocates seen?

From the March for Our Lives to a background check bill, activists have seen success in preventative measures since the shooting

A year after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school on 14 February 2018 sparked a national youth protest movement, gun violence remains an American crisis.

Nearly 1,200 American children and teenagers have been killed with guns in the past 12 months, a number that does not take into account an additional 900 to 1,000 youth gun suicides.

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‘Venezuela doesn’t want you’: protesters intensify mutiny against Maduro

Thousands of demonstrators marched across the country as rebellion enters its fourth week and Maduro clings to power

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have poured back on to the streets of Caracas and towns and cities across Venezuela to intensify their mutiny against Nicolás Maduro.

Related: ‘Maduro, our amigo’: loyalists in Venezuela cling to their man

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More violence in Paris as gilet jaunes protests enter 13th weekend

Scuffles break out as protesters march on National Assembly and Senate in Paris

Thousands of French gilets jaunes (yellow vests) demonstrators marched on Saturdayin what was their 13th weekend of action. There were scuffles in Paris and a demonstrator’s hand was mangled by a small explosive.

There was also an overnight arson attack on the Brittany residence of the National Assembly head, Richard Ferrand, though no immediate link was made to the actions against President Emmanuel Macron.

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Tens of thousands protest in Venezuela to urge Nicolás Maduro to resign – video

Opposition supporters held a nationwide protest on Saturday in a bid to keep up the pressure on president Nicolás Maduro after the international community widely recognised self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president.

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‘We are very close’: Tens of thousands in Venezuela demand Maduro’s exit

Protests take place in cities across the country amid optimism from the opposition, as president speaks to rival march

Tens of thousands of Venezuelan protesters streamed on to the streets of the capital on Saturday for what they described as the final push to force Nicolás Maduro from power.

“I believe [the end] is coming very soon – this week,” said Barbara Angarita, 49, as she and thousands of other demonstrators poured down the Avenida Principal de las Mercedes in Caracas. “We must have a free country, free for all Venezuelans and for our descendants.”

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Cardi B ‘stands behind’ Colin Kaepernick in refusing Super Bowl show

  • Rapper ‘got to sacrifice a lot of money’ by not playing halftime
  • Grammy nominee will perform in Atlanta on Saturday

Cardi B turned down an offer to perform at the Super Bowl, she said, in order to “stand behind” the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who “stood up” for minorities by kneeling down during playings of the pre-game anthem.

Related: Super Bowl half-time show won’t reflect Atlanta’s music industry

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New York prisoners’ protest at no heating heard from outside – video

Prisoners at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York have been banging on the walls and windows of their cells to get attention from people on the street in protest against conditions inside. The facility has not had any heating in the last week despite the freezing temperatures

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Stansted 15 activist: ‘Jail separation from my baby would be horrific’

Emma Hughes tells of her fears as group await sentence for halting deportation flight

One of the 15 activists convicted of a terrorism offence for blocking the takeoff of a deportation charter flight from Stansted has spoken of her anguish before the group’s sentencing this week, saying she fears a “horrific” separation from her newborn son.

The Stansted 15, who were convicted at Chelmsford crown court in December of endangering the safety of an aerodrome, hope they will be given non-custodial sentences, though the offence carries a maximum of life imprisonment. Their convictions under the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990, were condemned as a “crushing blow for human rights” by Amnesty International. Their lawyers have lodged an appeal.

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Mass protests to sweep across Venezuela as Maduro clings on

Street demonstrations designed to drive Maduro out of office will be held on Saturday as he insists ‘we are indestructible’

Mass street protests designed to drive Nicolás Maduro out of office and into exile will sweep cities across Venezuela again on Saturday as Hugo Chávez’s successor fights for his political life and the future of their leftist Bolivarian revolution.

Maduro, who was first elected after Chávez’s death in 2013 and returned to office last year in a vote widely regarded as manipulated, has overseen a ruinous slide in the South American country’s fortunes.

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French police weapons under scrutiny after gilets jaunes injuries

Government facing calls to ban riot police’s use of explosives

The French government is under growing pressure to review police use of explosive weapons against civilians after serious injuries were reported during gilets jaunes street demonstrations, including people alleged to have lost eyes and to have had their hands and feet mutilated.

France’s legal advisory body, the council of state, will on Wednesday examine an urgent request by the French Human Rights League and the CGT trade union to ban police from using a form of rubber-bullet launcher in which ball-shaped projectiles are shot out of specialised handheld launchers. France’s rights ombudsman has long warned they are dangerous and carry “disproportionate risk”.

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