Category Archives: Protest

Campaigners in Italy urge pope to stop ‘sacrifice’ of 200-year-old tree for Xmas

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Twenty-nine-metre tall fir destined to be chopped down and transported to St Peter’s Square in the Vatican

Environmental campaigners in Italy’s northern Trentino province have started a campaign to stop the felling of a 200-year-old fir tree intended to form the centrepiece of the Vatican’s Christmas decorations.

The so-called “Green Giant” is 29 metres tall and is due to be chopped down next week in a forest in the Ledro valley before being transported to the Vatican and positioned in St Peter’s Square, where it will be unveiled on 9 December.

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Anti-Trump protests erupt across US from New York City to Seattle

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Thousands of people take to streets to protest threats to reproductive rights and pledges of mass deportations

Protests against Donald Trump erupted in the US on Saturday as people on both coasts took to the streets in frustration about his re-election.

Thousands of people in major cities including New York City and Seattle demonstrated against the former president and now president-elect amid his threats against reproductive rights and pledges to carry out mass deportations at the start of his upcoming presidency.

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Thousands call for Valencia’s leader to resign over deadly floods response

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About 130,000 Spaniards protest against perceived failings by Carlos Mazón’s regional government

Spaniards have taken to the streets of Valencia to demand the resignation of the regional president who led the emergency response to the recent catastrophic floods that killed more than 200 people.

Floods that began on the night of 29 October have left 220 dead and nearly 80 people still missing.

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Thousands of women rally nationwide for abortion rights and feminist causes

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Demonstrators from Texas to Connecticut and Washington DC carried signs and chanted: ‘We won’t go back!’

Thousands of women rallied Saturday in the nation’s capital and elsewhere in support of abortion rights and other feminist causes ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Demonstrators carried posters and signs through city streets, chanting slogans such as: “We won’t go back!” Some men joined with them. Speakers urged people to vote in the election – not only for president but also on down-ballot issues such as abortion-rights amendments that are going before voters in various states.

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NSW police fight to stop Newcastle port ‘protestival’ in second court challenge to protests in a month

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Rising Tide event would involve thousands of paddling climate activists blocking coal exports

The New South Wales police force is challenging a planned protest through the supreme court for the second time this month – this time an event in Newcastle calling for climate action.

The November protest is organised by Rising Tide and known as the “People’s Blockade of the World’s Largest Coal Port”. It would involve thousands of activists paddling into the Port of Newcastle on kayaks and rafts to stop coal exports from leaving Newcastle for 50 hours.

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Sydney restaurateur Alan Yazbek pleads guilty after displaying Nazi symbol at pro-Palestine rally

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Co-owner of Nomad held sign mirroring Israeli flag but with swastika in place of Star of David and the words ‘Stop Nazi Israel’

The prominent Sydney restaurateur Alan Yazbek has pleaded guilty to displaying a Nazi swastika at a pro-Palestine rally.

Yazbek appeared at Downing Centre local court on Thursday where his lawyer said he was pleading guilty to the charge.

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Thousands greet royals at opera house – as it happened

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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has been speaking with ABC RN about a range of issues – including Lidia Thorpe’s actions at King Charles’ parliamentary reception yesterday.

Dutton argued that “sometimes people make it all about themselves, and I think that’s what yesterday was.” He said it “didn’t advance anyone’s cause” and “add[s] to the self promotion … that she seeks.”

The vast majority of people have been very welcoming the king’s visit, and I think it’s been an opportunity to underscore the stability in our democracy, our rule of law, separation of powers, all of those institutions that we inherited from our British heritage.

That’s part of the success story of our country, and it’s a good reminder during his visit [that] if we change it, I think we want to be very careful about the system we’re changing to and whether or not we would be a safer, more secure, community and environment for decades to come or not.

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British Academy to pay tribute to Benjamin Zephaniah at live event

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Poetry in protest event on 30 October will showcase how political change can be brought about through verse

The British Academy is to pay tribute to the late poet Benjamin Zephaniah next week as part of a night of discussion and performance.

The award-winning poet Jackie Kay is among guest speakers at the first Poetry in protest event on 30 October, which explores how political change can be brought about through verse.

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Environmentalists acquitted after contentious murder trial in El Salvador

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Former guerillas were accused of 1989 killing, but supporters say government wants to intimidate activists

Six former guerrillas, whose trial for a civil war-era murder was criticised by fellow environmentalists as politicised, have been acquitted by a court in El Salvador.

Prosecutors had sought up to 36 years in prison for the former rebels of the hard-left Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front.

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Mother of 16-year-old girl allegedly killed by Iran’s security forces arrested

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Regime is punishing families of Woman, Life, Freedom protesters who died at hands of security forces, say activists

The mother of a 16-year-old Iranian girl who became one of the faces of the unprecedented nationwide protests against the regime has reportedly been arrested.

Nasrin Shakarami, the grieving mother of Nika Shakarami, who was allegedly killed by the security forces in September 2022, had been outspoken in her criticism of the regime over the death of her daughter.

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Iranian journalists who covered Mahsa Amini’s death face five years in prison

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Hopes of pardon dashed for Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who were cleared of collaboration with US

Two young female journalists who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini have been cleared of charges of collaborating with the United States government but will still spend up to five more years behind bars, the Iranian authorities have announced.

Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were arrested in 2022 after reporting on the death and funeral of Amini, the young Kurdish woman who died in police custody in 2022, sparking the nationwide Women, Life, Freedom protests.

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Alexei Navalny believed he would die in prison, memoir reveals

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In secret journal, Putin’s fiercest critic writes: ‘If your convictions mean something, you must be prepared to stand up for them’

The late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny believed he would die in prison, excerpts from his memoir reveal.

Navalny was the most prominent foe of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and relentlessly campaigned against official corruption in Russia. He died in a remote Arctic prison in February while serving a 19-year sentence on several charges, including running an extremist group, which he said were politically motivated.

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NSW police union pushes back at premier’s suggestion pro-Palestine protests divert resources from crime

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Police association boss says vast majority of officers at weekend rally were ‘doing user-pay or cancelled rest day’ shifts

The head of the New South Wales police union has denied any suggestion that patrolling weekly pro-Palestine protests is making it difficult to respond to or investigate crime across the state.

Kevin Morton’s comments came as the premier, Chris Minns, was forced to deny he had lost control of the Labor caucus after several of his MPs expressed alarm at his statement that police should be able to reject a protest permit based on the cost of patrolling it.

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Spanish couple detained in Singapore over protest against Valencia owner

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Police say pair ‘assisting with investigations’ after Dani Cuesta posted photo of himself with ‘Lim go home’ sign

A Spanish couple have been detained after the man held a banner to protest against Peter Lim, the billionaire Singaporean owner of Valencia football club.

Dani Cuesta had shared photos on social media of himself holding a sign that said “Lim go home” at various locations in Singapore, including the residences where Lim reportedly lives and the tourist landmark Merlion Park.

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Australian politicians mark 7 October anniversary – as it happened

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904 Australians and their immediate family members have now left Lebanon on assisted-departure flights – in addition to those who left on partner and commercial flights.

407 Australians left on 5 October, and 448 on 6 October.

Why so silent, Mark? This, I have been asked a lot. I have thought about it a lot too. I have said little in public about the Hamas-Israel war because I am not the foreign affairs minister. I am Australia’s first law officer. A minister, not a commentator. Just because I’m not talking doesn’t mean I don’t understand.

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US cities and campuses on high alert over 7 October anniversary events

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Rallies and vigils planned across the country to mark Hamas attacks on Israel and ensuing war in Gaza

Demonstrations and memorials marking the anniversary of the 7 October attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza are to take place around the US, with cities and campuses on high alert for any unrest as the threat of a full-scale war in the Middle East looms.

Dozens of rallies, marches and other events are planned on Monday in protest against the Israeli offensive, which was sparked by the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and resulted in another 250 being taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory war has killed more than 41,000 people in the besieged territory.

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UK Palestinians on the nightmare of watching war unfold from afar

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One year on, we speak to those who have lost more than 50 relatives and who call some ministers’ support for the Israeli government ‘shameful’

In September 2023, 45-year-old Mohammed Ghalayini travelled to Gaza from Manchester, where he had lived since 2004, to visit family. He was still there on 7 October when Hamas’s attack on Israel killed 1,200 people. In Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza – which to date has killed more than 41,000 people – he and his family were displaced multiple times, faced shortages of food and water, and endured the relentless sound of drones.

Ghalayini is now back in the north of England, but nearly a year into Israel’s war in Gaza, he says every day still brings bad news – whether from family members in WhatsApp messages, or in updates on Facebook, which has become like an “obituary page”. Ghalayini said he feels helpless.

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Activists say they have proof ministers tried to influence police over Israeli arms firm protests

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Palestine Action says papers show ministers attempted to sway police and prosecutors to crack down on protesters

Internal government documents show that Home Office ministers and staff tried to influence police and prosecutors to crack down on activists targeting the UK factories of an Israeli arms manufacturer, campaigners have claimed.

Briefing notes, obtained through freedom of information (FoI) requests by Palestine Action, show details of government meetings, predating the 7 October Hamas attacks and Israel’s response in Gaza, intended to “reassure” Elbit Systems UK, an Israeli arms manufacturer, which is subject to a direct action campaign by the campaign group.

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Victoria police identify six possible criminal incidents after Hezbollah flags seen at weekend protests

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Federal government warns against importing ‘radical ideologies of conflict’ and threatens to cancel visa of anyone inciting ‘discord’

Victoria police say they have identified six possible criminal incidents relating to weekend protests in Melbourne against Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, after initial suggestions that no offences had been committed.

The AFP confirmed on Monday that it was expecting at least six reports of alleged crimes from their Victorian counterparts involving symbols and chants which are prohibited under federal hate speech law. It also said it would be writing to major news outlets asking for video footage of the protests which could assist in investigations.

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Kyle Rittenhouse texts pledging to ‘murder’ shoplifters disillusion his ex-spokesperson

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‘I believed things he told me that I now understand to be … lies,’ Dave Hancock says in new Rittenhouse documentary

A former spokesperson for Kyle Rittenhouse says he became disillusioned with his ex-client after learning that he had sent text messages pledging to “fucking murder” shoplifters outside a pharmacy before later shooting two people to death during racial justice protests in Wisconsin in 2020.

Dave Hancock made that remark about Rittenhouse – for whom he also worked as a security guard – on a Law & Crime documentary that premiered on Friday. The show explored the unsuccessful criminal prosecution of Rittenhouse, who killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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