The US is riven with stark inequalities, rising white supremacist terror and large numbers who believe the election was stolen. The new administration faces a truly daunting challenge
In another age, Joe Biden’s promise to heal the nation might have been regarded as the kind of blandishment expected from any new leader taking power after the divisive cut and thrust of an American election.
Related: Biden must find words for a wounded nation in inauguration like no other
Continue reading...David Perry faces accusations of ‘making the wrong choice’ after applying despite local objections
David Perry, the British QC under fire for agreeing to prosecute pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, had to go to court himself to win permission to take the controversial case.
The nine activists facing a potential seven-year jail sentence for alleged unlawful assembly in 2019 include Jimmy Lai, the independently minded newspaper proprietor, and Martin Lee, the so-called father of Hong Kong democracy.
Continue reading...Law enforcement responses to more than 13,000 protests show a clear disparity in responses, new statistics show
Police in the United States are three times more likely to use force against leftwing protesters than rightwing protesters, according to new data from a nonprofit that monitors political violence around the world.
In the past 10 months, US law enforcement agencies have used teargas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and beatings at a much higher percentage at Black Lives Matter demonstrations than at pro-Trump or other rightwing protests.
Continue reading...Stella Nyanzi is Uganda's most outspoken, self-described radical queer feminist. She has been imprisoned for her activism and is known for her attention-grabbing naked protests and poetry. In an election campaign that has become increasingly violent, Nyanzi is standing to be the elected MP for Kampala, as part of the growing nationwide opposition to the 35-year presidency of Yoweri Museveni.
With most attention focused on Museveni's presidential challenger Bobi Wine, Nyanzi is on the streets and in the media campaigning for her own votes. She vows that, unlike other women who have been elected, she will not forget her commitment to feminism if she wins
Continue reading...Security footage shows the Republican state representative Mike Nearman leaving a door open and allowing far-right protesters into the Oregon capitol building during a special legislative session on 21 December.
As politicians discussed coronavirus-related bills, about 50 protesters briefly breached the building. The capitol has been closed to the public as part of a pandemic safety measure.
It is not immediately clear if Nearman will face consequences for his actions. He has not commented
Continue reading...The horrific visions of the Spanish painter are about to go on display at New York’s Met. Americans should flock to this timely show – because no artist better captured collective delusion and mass fanaticism
The macabre art of Francisco Goya, the first truly modern artist, is due to be exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York next month and there could hardly be a more urgent moment for Americans to look at his images. For, over 200 years ago, this Spanish artist perfectly captured the kind of collective delusion and mass fanaticism that swarmed the US Capitol last week. The mob of Trump supporters who assaulted the home of American democracy were as inflamed as the crowd who march with crazed eyes behind a manic musician in The Pilgrimage to San Isidoro, as dangerous as the hate-drunk crowd in The Second of May 1808, spellbound by their goat-headed charismatic idol.
And then there’s The Burial of the Sardine, in which a delirious crowd cavort around a huge banner of a madly grinning face. At first glance, it seems to be a joyous carnival scene, but look closer and the intensity of their rite becomes unsettling as you notice that face on the banner, their vacant lord of the dance. It has a definitive Trumpian air.
Continue reading...Pro-Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building in Washington DC on Wednesday, breaking into the debating chambers and clashing with armed police. Four people died during the unrest, three from medical emergencies and one woman was shot dead in circumstances that are unclear. The siege came on the day the electoral college votes confirming Joe Biden's victory were to be affirmed by members of the House and Senate. The chaos erupted after Trump addressed thousands of protesters near the White House, repeating false claims the election had been stolen.
Hundreds of the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol in the most dramatic challenge to US democracy since the civil war
The US Capitol, the seat of American democracy, has been stormed by a pro-Donald Trump mob, egged on by the president in a desperate and violent effort to overturn the results of the election.
Continue reading...Protesters swarmed the Capitol on Wednesday, putting it on lockdown, as Mike Pence rebuffed Donald Trump's demand to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden and the Senate's Republican leader denounced a bid in Congress to undo the election outcome.
Trump supporters overturned barriers and clashed with police on the US Capitol grounds and streamed inside the building. The demonstrations flared as lawmakers met inside to formally certify Biden's victory over Trump in November's election. Law enforcement authorities struggled to maintain order.
Biden won the election by 306-232 in the electoral college and by more than 7m ballots in the national popular vote, but Trump continues to falsely claim there was widespread fraud and that he was the victor
Continue reading...He was charged with destruction of property – related to his role in burning a Black Lives Matter banner – and a firearms offense
The leader of the Proud Boys, the violent far-right group, was arrested in Washington DC and charged with destruction of property and a firearms offense, according to local police.
The arrest of Enrique Tarrio on Monday comes ahead of pro-Donald Trump protests in Washington planned for Tuesday and Wednesday to coincide with the US Congress’ vote on Wednesday affirming Joe Biden’s election victory.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Reggae singer turned opposition leader tells of how he fears for his life
Bobi Wine, the former reggae singer turned Ugandan opposition leader, has spoken about his country’s bitter and violent presidential election campaign as it moves into its final two weeks.
“The campaign is crazy. It’s like a war and a battlefield,” Wine said in an interview conducted before he was detained for a third time in two months on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Students among those who could face long sentences under sweeping lese-majesty law
Thailand’s authorities must stop targeting pro-democracy protesters with draconian legal action and instead enter into dialogue, according to the UN’s special rapporteur for freedom of assembly, who warned the country risks sliding into violence.
Clément Voule said he had written to the Thai government to express alarm at the use of the fierce lese-majesty law against dozens of protesters, including students as young as 16.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Law said he chose UK in hope of ‘sounding an alarm’ over threats to democracy in Europe from China
Opinion: I left for London so I could tell Britain truth about China
The Hong Kong activist Nathan Law has applied for asylum in the UK, six months after fleeing his home on the eve of the national security law coming into force.
Law revealed in an opinion article for the Guardian on Monday that he had submitted a refugee claim to the UK government. He said he had chosen Britain in the hope he could “sound an alarm” over threats to democracy in Europe from the Chinese Communist party.
Continue reading...Judges’ decision appeared to rely on government accounts of violence at protest rallies in 2019
Hong Kong’s court of final appeal has reinstated a full ban on wearing masks at public gatherings, ruling in favour the government’s use of colonial-era laws.
The decision overturns the ruling by an appeal court in April, which found the ban, made unilaterally by the city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, at the peak of 2019’s protests, was partly unconstitutional in that it could not be declared for lawful public gatherings. It also upheld the constitutionality of using the colonial-era ordinances for the first time in half a century.
Continue reading...Lessons have been learned about how to convert the forces that demand equality into those that deliver it
At the end of 2010, I was en route to Sudan for Christmas, scouring Arabic social media in search of scraps of information about a story unfolding in Tunisia; a story the Arab media was censoring and the western media was still ignoring. A street trader, Mohammed Bouazizi, had set himself on fire in protest at the government in the city of Sidi Bouzid, sparking demonstrations that spread across the country.
Weeks before the protests toppled Tunisia’s president-for-life, you could see that something about this uprising was different. There was something about the way the protests resonated in households around the Arab world, the intensity of the moral outrage and the force of the momentum that felt new and exciting.
Continue reading...Far-right groups, including Proud Boys, clashed with counter-protesters after a largely peaceful march against US president-elect Joe Biden’s election victory on Saturday.
Donald Trump made three passes over the cheering protesters in the Marine One helicopter on his way to the New York annual Army-Navy football game before the violence began.
Trump supporters are alleging widespread voter fraud during the 3 November election without evidence.
Continue reading...Police say six people were injured when a car plowed into Black Lives Matter demonstrators in Manhattan
One woman was arrested after allegedly driving her car into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters in Manhattan Friday afternoon, injuring six, the New York police department (NYPD) said.
Continue reading...Footage shows a vehicle driving into a crowd of about 50 people at a protest on Friday afternoon in the middle of Manhattan, injuring multiple people. The incident happened after 4pm at the corner of 39th Street and Third Avenue in midtown east, police said, adding that the woman behind the wheel of the BMW sedan who drove into the crowd was detained for questioning by law enforcement.
Continue reading...Survey finds more than 600,000 may want to move to Britain, many within two years of January start date
Hong Kong residents are likely to move to the UK faster than the British government has anticipated, and more should be done to prepare for their arrival, a new advocacy group has said.
HongKongers in Britain (HKB) surveyed city residents hoping to emigrate under a new British government scheme that opens in January, allowing those with colonial-era British National Overseas (BNO) status to obtain visas and pursue a “path to citizenship”.
Continue reading...Six people were taken by ambulance to local hospitals, the New York fire department said
A vehicle plowed into a crowd of about 50 people at a protest on Friday afternoon in the middle of Manhattan, injuring multiple people, the New York City police department said.
The incident happened after 4pm at the corner of 39th Street and Third Avenue in midtown east, police said, adding that the woman behind the wheel of the BMW sedan who drove into the crowd was detained for questioning by law enforcement.
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