Force admits use of undercover officers was ‘indefensible’ and had ‘corrosive effect’ on public trust, inquiry hears
The Metropolitan police have issued a series of wide-ranging apologies to campaigners for the “indefensible” use of undercover officers to spy on them, a public inquiry has heard.
The Met admitted to “serious failings and wrongdoing” by some of the undercover officers, conceding there was a “general failure” by senior managers to supervise them properly.
Continue reading...The Guardian used public records and open source materials to identify Daniel Linden of the Shirion Collective
A prime mover behind the Shirion Collective, a conspiracy-minded, pro-Israel disinformation network seeking to shape public opinion about the Gaza conflict in the US, Australia and the UK, is a tech entrepreneur named Daniel Linden living in Florida who co-wrote a guidebook for OnlyFans users, the Guardian can reveal.
Shirion has harassed pro-Palestinian activists, including many Jews, offered bounties for the identity of pro-Palestinian protesters, spread conspiracy narratives centered on figures like George Soros, and boasted of an AI-surveillance platform but offered few concrete details of how the technology functions.
Continue reading...President’s decision to drop finance bill after deadly violence leaves protesters divided over how to achieve broader goals
Kenya’s youth-driven, leaderless protest movement finds itself at a crossroads this weekend, buoyed up by President William Ruto’s surprise decision on Wednesday to abandon a finance bill containing planned tax rises even as it mourns those killed in deadly violence the day before.
The movement that brought thousands of people out on to the streets in recent weeks, against the backdrop of a cost of a living crisis that has left many young people feeling hopeless, has little precedence in Kenya where protests are traditionally elite-led.
Continue reading...University sought order after students slept in building for more than a month in response to report about LSE’s Gaza-linked investments
The London School of Economics has been granted a court order indefinitely barring encampments in one of its buildings after students slept in its atrium for more than a month in support of Palestine.
Several students set up the camp in the atrium of the ground floor of the Marshall Building in central London on 14 May, vowing to remain there until LSE met its demands.
Continue reading...Youth groups from Serbia and Kosovo who organise the Mirëdita Dobar Dan cultural event accuse Serbia’s interior ministry of failing to protect them from intimidation
Organisers of a festival designed to promote cultural exchange between Kosovo and Serbia say Belgrade authorities have caved in to pressure from hooligan groups by banning this year’s event.
In a statement released on Thursday afternoon, Belgrade police cited security concerns as the reason to cancel the event Mirëdita Dobar Dan (meaning “Good day” in Albanian and Serbian), which was due to start in the Serbian capital yesterday.
Continue reading...Pro-Palestinian protesters accuse companies of trying to sell stolen land in the West Bank, and question legality
Efforts to market homes in Israel and stolen land in West Bank to Jewish Americans are continuing to spark protests across North America, with the latest angry confrontations happening outside a synagogue in one of Los Angeles’s most prominent Jewish neighborhoods.
The volatile protest and counter-protest outside a real estate event at the Adas Torah synagogue on Sunday prompted denunciations from Democratic politicians, including Joe Biden, who said protests targeting a house of worship were antisemitic and unacceptable.
Continue reading...William Ruto says he has listened to the people of Kenya, who gathered across the country to oppose the law
The Kenyan president, William Ruto, has withdrawn a bill to raise taxes a day after violent protests erupted around the country following its approval by parliament.
Ruto’s surprise decision not to sign the finance bill came after violent clashes between police and protesters at the Kenyan assembly and across the country left at least 23 people dead and scores wounded, according to medics.
Continue reading...At least five people reportedly shot dead at rally against legislation to raise taxes during cost of living crisis
Police have opened fire on protesters outside the Kenyan parliament as they attempted to storm the building in Nairobi while MPs inside passed legislation to raise taxes.
At least five people were shot dead, according to Reuters, amid chaotic scenes in which police started shooting after teargas and water cannon failed to disperse a crowd of thousands who had overwhelmed officers. Flames could be seen coming from inside the building.
Continue reading...German chancellor holds unusually short meeting in Berlin with the controversial populist leader
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has welcomed Argentina’s populist president, Javier Milei, for a controversial and unusually short meeting in Berlin after the divisive leader accepted an award from a German foundation with links to the far right.
Protesters, some holding placards reading “No trade with despots”, jeered from beyond the gates of Scholz’s chancellery as the self-described anarcho-capitalist emerged from his limousine on his first visit to Germany as president.
Continue reading...Musician, 33, faces retrial after being sentenced to death for ‘corruption on Earth’
Iran’s supreme court has overturned the death sentence imposed on the rapper Toomaj Salehi, his lawyer said.
The decision comes in the middle of Iran’s presidential election campaign but seems unrelated to the fierce public debates under way about Iran’s future direction, including the rights of women not to wear the hijab if they wish.
Continue reading...Campaign groups write to 20 firms warning of potential war crimes for roles in production of F-35 fighter jets
Campaigners have written to the directors of 20 arms manufacturers based in the UK saying they may face criminal liability for failing to prevent war crimes if their companies continue to sell military equipment to Israel.
Four groups, including the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), have written to directors of arms companies that contribute parts or elements of the F-35 fighter jets used by Israel’s air force as part of the bombing of Gaza.
Continue reading...Two Just Stop Oil activists broke into private airfield at Stansted airport on Thursday before targeting jets
Just Stop Oil activists have sprayed orange paint over private jets at Stansted airport on the airfield where Taylor Swift’s plane is stationed, the environmental group has said.
Two activists, Jennifer Kowalski, 28, a former sustainability manager from Dumbarton, and Cole Macdonald, 22, from Brighton, broke into a private airfield in Stansted at 5am on Thursday before targeting the jet.
Continue reading...Sophia Huang Xueqin, who reported on #MeToo movement and Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, sentenced along with labour activist Wang Jianbing
A Chinese court has sentenced the prominent #MeToo journalist Sophia Huang Xueqin to five years in jail and the labour activist Wang Jianbing to three and a half years, almost 1,000 days after they were detained on allegations of inciting state subversion, according to supporters.
On Friday, supporters of the pair said the court had found them guilty and given Huang the maximum sentence. The jail terms would take into account the time they had already spent in detention. A copy of the verdict said Huang was also deprived of political rights for four years and fined $100,000 RMB (£10,800). Wang faced three years of deprivation of political rights and was fined $50,000 RMB.
Continue reading...Stephen Kwikiriza is one of 11 campaigners against EACOP targeted by authorities in past two weeks, rights group says
A man campaigning against the controversial $5bn (£4bn) east African crude oil pipeline (EACOP) is recovering in hospital after an alleged beating by the Ugandan armed forces in the latest incident in what has been called an “alarming crackdown” on the country’s environmentalists.
Stephen Kwikiriza, who works for Uganda’s Environment Governance Institute (EGI), a non-profit organisation, was abducted in Kampala on 4 June, according to his employer. He was beaten, questioned and then abandoned hundreds of miles from the capital on Sunday evening.
Continue reading...Groups issue call to next government amid criticism of online fashion retailer’s labour practices and accusations of copying
Workers rights campaigners have called for the UK’s next government to oppose the online fashion business Shein joining the FTSE, arguing that a London listing would be “yet another betrayal to working people everywhere and the planet”.
Alena Ivanova, campaigns lead at Labour Behind the Label, said it had heard the news of senior British politicians courting Shein’s £50bn listing “with dismay” given what she claimed was a lack of transparency about its supply chain and ethical concerns.
Continue reading...Riot police use teargas to disperse demonstrators at site of A-69 near Puylaurens in southern France
Police and masked activists clashed at a protest over a motorway project in southern France on Saturday, leaving five people hurt, local officials said.
Thousands of demonstrators ignored a ban on the gathering to turn out for the protest at the site of the A-69 motorway between Castres and Toulouse in the south-west.
Continue reading...Police use pepper spray as demonstrators unfurl red banner to symbolize Joe Biden’s response to Israel’s war on Gaza
Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the White House on Saturday to protest Joe Biden’s response to Israel’s ongoing military strikes on Gaza.
Footage posted to social media showed police using pepper spray on protesters, who faced arrest at the mass demonstration.
Continue reading...Sanmu Chen appeared to write the date of massacre in the air as anniversary becomes increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong
Hong Kong police detained an artist on Monday night after he appeared to write “8964” in the air with his hand, a reference to the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre, hours before Tuesday’s 35th anniversary.
Public acknowledgment of the events of 4 June 1989, when Chinese soldiers shut down a weeks-long peaceful protest with violence, killing anything from several hundred to several thousand people – is banned in mainland China and increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong.
Continue reading...Events marking 35 years since troops ended peaceful protest with deadly violence are banned in China and Hong Kong
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have arrested or put under surveillance several dissidents before the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre this week, according to human rights groups.
On 4 June it will be 35 years since Chinese soldiers shut down a weeks-long peaceful protest with violence, killing anything from several hundred to several thousand people.
Continue reading...Woman from Riposte Alimentaire arrested after sticking poster on impressionist painter’s Coquelicots
A climate activist has been arrested for sticking an adhesive poster on a Monet painting at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris to draw attention to global heating, a police source said.
The action by the woman, a member of Riposte Alimentaire (Food Response) – a group of environmental activists and defenders of sustainable food production – was seen in a video posted on X, placing a blood-red poster over Coquelicots (Poppies) by the French impressionist painter Claude Monet.
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