Met police brace for ‘busy weekend’ of major London protests

Dance music acts along with anti-lockdown, anti-austerity and climate activists will all converge on capital

Some of the UK’s leading dance music acts are expected to join a protest march in London calling for the government to scrap Covid restrictions on nightclubs, as the capital gears up for a weekend of mass demonstrations.

Anti-lockdown protesters, anti-austerity campaigners and environmentalists will also stage protests in London on Saturday and Sunday, and the Metropolitan police said they were preparing for “a busy weekend”.

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Hungary’s LGBT protests and Juneteenth Day: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms from China to Colombia

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United Nations condemns coup in Myanmar and calls for arms embargo

Rare move by general assembly demonstrates widespread global opposition to military junta

In a rare move, the UN general assembly has condemned Myanmar’s military coup and called for an arms embargo against the country in a resolution demonstrating widespread global opposition to the junta and demanding the restoration of the country’s democratic transition.

Related: Trial of Aung San Suu Kyi begins in closed courtoom in Myanmar

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‘They beat him’: fear and anger at latest police killing in Tunis

Protests erupt again in Tunisian capital after man ‘beaten to death’ amid claims of police impunity

Almost everyone in the streets around Ahmed Ben Ammar’s house in the Tunis district of Sidi Hassine claims to have known him or his family. Nearly everyone also has a slightly different account of his death in police custody on Tuesday. Details vary but all agree that the 32-year-old was beaten to death by police this week.

Sidi Hassine is to the west of Tunisia’s capital, on the far side of the Sebkha Sijoumi wetlands and the hulking landfill at Borj Chakir, already years past its scheduled closure date. The smell and the mosquitoes fill the air. At one end of the road is a thriving market, at the other – near where Ben Ammar lived – cafes and shops line the dusty street.

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Why brutal protests have been sweeping across Colombia – video explainer

From the Amazon to the Caribbean coast, several weeks of protests have swept Colombia – dozens have died as demonstrators have faced sometimes deadly retaliation from police. 

The catalyst was a proposed tax hike, since withdrawn, in response to the coronavirus crisis. Demands expanded to calls to end inequality, economic disparity and police violence in Colombia – in almost two months, demonstrations have caused food and goods shortages.

Protest leaders have temporarily suspended in-person demonstrations due to a rise in Covid cases, but Joe Parkin Daniels, reporting for the Guardian, explains why this widespread discontent is unlikely to end


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Greenpeace Euro 2020 parachutist lucky not to be shot down, says politician

Bavarian minister says activist could have ‘paid with life’ for stunt before Germany v France game in Munich

A Greenpeace protester who parachuted into the stadium before Germany’s Euro 2020 match against France in Munich was lucky not to have been shot down by anti-terror marksmen enforcing a no-fly zone, a state minister has said.

Two people were injured when the activist lost control of his powered paraglider, which had a motor attached to his back, and hit overhead camera wires attached to the stadium roof. Fans ducked as he careered towards the spectator area, narrowly missing the stands and demolishing technical equipment before crashing in front of the German penalty area.

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‘Where should we go?’: thousands left homeless as Karachi clears waterways

As Pakistan’s supreme court backs bulldozing of homes blamed for floods, critics say government has no proper plans for residents

Maqsooda Bibi, 62, did not know the house she had lived in all her life would be demolished, forcing her whole family to become homeless. But on Monday, Pakistan’s supreme court backed the Sindh government in bulldozing her home and hundreds of others, legalising the eviction of thousands who live along narrow waterways – nullahs – that crisscross Karachi.

The verdict came as Bibi and hundreds of others held a protest outside the court. “We hoped that the court would ask the government not to make us homeless, but it did the opposite. Our children also protested on Sunday and urged the supreme court to stop demolition. It seems no one here cares for the future of the poor.”

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Protests in Tunisia: share your experiences

We’d like to hear from those living and working in Tunisia about their views and experiences of the protests

A week of protests has taken place in Tunis after the death of a man in police custody and footage of another man being beaten and stripped by officers went viral. We’d like to speak to those caught up in the events about their experiences.

What are your views about the protests? Why are you taking part?

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Protests over police violence spread through Tunisian capital

Demonstrators angry over footage showing officers stripping and beating man and death of another in custody

Tunisia’s capital has been rocked by a week of protests against police violence that began after the death of a man in police custody and footage that went viral of officers stripping and beating another man.

Six nights of demonstrations that began in the working-class districts of Sidi Hassine and Séjoumi in Tunis spread to other neighbourhoods on Monday night.

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What’s behind the mass protests in Colombia?

A demonstration against tax rises has morphed into a mass movement against the government, says Joe Parkin Daniels in Bogotá

An attempt by the Colombian government to introduce sweeping tax changes in response to the coronavirus crisis was met earlier this year by angry protests. Thousands of people flooded on to the streets throughout the country for four consecutive days. It was enough to prompt President Iván Duque to withdraw his tax plans, but by then it was too late to stop the protests.

Ever since, more and more Colombians have been coming out to protest. Joe Parkin Daniels, who has been reporting on the demonstrations for the Guardian for weeks, tells Rachel Humphreys that they now encompass people from all sections of Colombian society, with a multitude of causes. One thing ever present is a fury at the growing inequality that has been exacerbated by the Covid crisis. As police have cracked down hard on the protesters, more than 50 people have died, with no end to the protests in sight.

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Minneapolis: woman killed and three injured after car drives into protesters

Driver arrested after being treated at an area hospital while police haven’t confirmed a motive for the attack

A woman is dead and three others injured after a car was driven into a crowd of anti-police brutality protesters in Minneapolis on Sunday night, Minneapolis police confirmed on Twitter.

The driver was arrested and is in police custody after being treated at an area hospital, according to police. The police have not confirmed a motive for the attack.

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Agnes Chow: activist leaves jail as China says Hong Kong ‘pawn in geopolitics’

Key figure in 2019 anti-government protests was imprisoned for more than six months under national security law imposed by mainland China

The Hong Kong democracy activist Agnes Chow has been released from jail after serving more than six months for taking part in unauthorised assemblies during 2019 anti-government protests that triggered a crackdown on dissent by mainland China.

Chow, 24, was greeted by a crowd of journalists as she left the Tai Lam women’s prison on Saturday. She got out of a prison van and into a private car without making any remarks.

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Pikachus, politicians and pollution art: how activists are protesting at the G7 summit – video

As world leaders flocked to the G7 summit at Carbis Bay in Cornwall to discuss the Covid pandemic recovery and the climate emergency, activists have also taken the chance to demonstrate to the leaders of seven of the wealthiest global democracies.

From a swarm of 300 drones creating 3D images of endangered species to protesters running around in Pikachu costumes, demonstrators have got creative to get the attention of politicians and the press. Here are some of the most impressive stunts

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Russian court outlaws Alexei Navalny’s organisation

Court has in effect liquidated the opposition politician’s movement by classifying it as ‘extremist’

A Russian court has outlawed opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s nationwide political organisation on the grounds it is “extremist”, in a landmark step forward for Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on political dissent.

The highly anticipated court decision in effect liquidates Navalny’s non-violent opposition movement and bars his allies from running for office for years, as the Kremlin seeks to erase the jailed opposition leader from Russian political life.

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‘This is a revolution’: the faces of Colombia’s protests

Fifty-eight people have died in six weeks of unrest, but demonstrators say they are more determined than ever to fight for change

Protests in Colombia that began in late April over a proposed tax hike have morphed into a generational outcry over the country’s deep-rooted inequalities.

Related: ‘They can’t take it any more’: pandemic and poverty brew violent storm in Colombia

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Myanmar school strikes and a plane diverted to Minsk: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Colombia to China

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EU bans Belarus planes from its airspace over activist arrest

Move follows forced landing of Ryanair flight and detention of Raman Pratasevich last month

The EU has banned Belarusian carriers from its airspace and airports over the forced landing of Ryanair flight FR4978 and arrest of the opposition activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich.

EU ambassadors agreed during a meeting on Friday to require member states to deny the country’s carriers landing and taking off rights and forbid them from overflying the territory of the 27 member states from Saturday.

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Belarusian activist stabs himself in court

Stsiapan Latypau carried out unconscious after claiming he was pressured to plead guilty

A Belarusian opposition activist stabbed himself in the throat with a pen during a court hearing after claiming investigators had pressured him to plead guilty or face his family and friends being arrested.

Footage from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty showed Stsiapan Latypau, who has organised protests against the country’s authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, lying inside a defendant’s cage as witnesses screamed in a courtroom in Minsk.

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Man in Black at 50: Johnny Cash’s empathy is needed more than ever

The country star is not always remembered for his politics, but his about-face to withdraw support for Nixon and the Vietnam war may be his finest moment

“I speak my mind in a lot of these songs,” Johnny Cash wrote in the liner notes to the album Man in Black, released 50 years ago today. He might be better known now for the outlaw songs of his youth or the reckonings with death in his final recordings, but Cash used his 1971 album to set out his less-discussed political vision: long on feeling and empathy, and short on ideology and partisanship. The United States seemed hopelessly polarised, and Cash confronted that division head-on, demanding more of his fellow citizens and Christians amid the apparently endless war in Vietnam.

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