‘One too many’: rapper’s arrest sparks protests against Togo’s ruling dynasty

At least 10 people killed and 100 young people arrested since protests began in west African country in June

On the night last month that he and 34 other young people were arrested in the Togolese capital, Lomé, for coordinating an anti-government demonstration, Bertin Bandiangou said gendarmes beat him with ropes and slapped him. The next morning he was tortured while a commanding officer filmed proceedings.

He was lucky to get out alive: at least 10 people have been killed by security officials since protests began in June calling for the resignation of the small west African country’s president, Faure Gnassingbé.

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‘Shoot them in the leg’: Kenyan president’s anti-protest rhetoric hardens as death toll rises

William Ruto accuses protesters of terrorism and violence two days after 31 people killed in anti-government demonstrations

Kenya’s president, William Ruto, has ordered police to shoot protesters targeting businesses in the legs, in a sharp intensification of his rhetoric days after 31 people were killed in nationwide anti-government demonstrations.

“They shouldn’t kill them but they should shoot their legs so they break and they can go to hospital on their way to court,” Ruto said in the capital, Nairobi.

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Pressure grows on Yvette Cooper to abandon plans to ban Palestine Action

UN experts and hundreds of lawyers warn that proscribing group would conflate protest and terrorism

The home secretary is coming under increasing pressure to abandon plans to ban Palestine Action, as UN experts and hundreds of lawyers warned that proscribing the group would conflate protest and terrorism.

In two separate letters to Yvette Cooper, the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) lawyers’ group and the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers said that proscribing the group would set a dangerous precedent.

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Australia news live: some Central Coast residents told ‘evacuate now’ amid coastal erosion threat; children’s commissioner says child safety ‘not a priority in this country’

NSW braces for damaging winds and heavy rain from coastal low. Follow the latest updates live

Gas market review will ‘drive efficiencies in the system’, King says

The resources minister, Madeleine King, says a review into gas market regulations will drive efficiencies into the system.

Our existing policy has made sure that that gas is available. So that’s that combination of existing policies brings in that extra 600 petajoules. So indeed, that work is already happening.

What we’re trying to do and will endeavour to do, and the industry is very supportive of, is to make that more coherent, and how we can make sure we learn from the whole system, reduce duplication in some of the regulation, some of the reporting factors, simply how we can make it work better for consumers, for industrial users, and for the Gas industry itself. And that drives efficiencies in the system, which we expect will help with pricing.

We were honest with the public from day one: the toll situation would get worse before it got better. That’s the reality of the infrastructure pipeline locked in by our predecessors.

And now, the most recent NSW Budget reflects that – with toll revenue projected to rise from $180m to $283m in the 2028–29 financial year.

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Monday briefing: How Budapest Pride became a huge show of anti-Orbán defiance

In today’s newsletter: Hungary has relentlessly cracked down on LGBTQ+ rights – but banning Pride proved a step too far, as European politicians joined its biggest ever crowd

Good morning. In 1997, Budapest became the first capital in central and eastern Europe to hold a Pride parade. Three decades later, the march is firmly established as Hungary’s biggest LGBTQ+ event, and, in the words of one opposition MP, “a vital expression of joy, resistance and visibility”.

On Saturday, Budapest Pride took on the illiberal ambitions of Viktor Orbán and, rainbow flags flying high under a cloudless blue sky, as many as 200,000 marchers from 30 countries – the biggest turnout ever – were there to say it won. At least, for the time being.

Welfare |Vicky Foxcroft, the Labour whip who resigned in protest against disability benefit cuts, has said Keir Starmer’s concessions do not yet go far enough to win her over, as No 10 launched a fresh attempt to stem the revolt against its welfare bill.

NHS | Britain’s health service is estimated to be spending £50m a year on the effects of poverty and deprivation. One senior NHS figure said there were “medieval” levels of illnesses among poorer communities

Glastonbury | The organisers of Glastonbury have said they are “appalled” by comments made by Bob Vylan after the punk duo appeared to incite violence, something the festival said went against its ethos of “hope, unity, peace and love”.

Environment | Wildlife activists who exposed horrific conditions at Scottish salmon farms were subjected to surveillance by private spies-for-hire, including being followed and photographed, the Guardian can reveal.

Weather | Today’s temperature in the UK is expected to rise to 34C, just short of the record for the hottest ever June day, 35.6C, recorded in Southampton in 1976.

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Lesotho activist arrested after video on unemployment rates angers prime minister

Tšolo Thakeli had long campaigned on youth joblessness, but a post questioning Sam Maketane’s promises on work creation landed him in prison

It took a single video complaining about Lesotho’s unemployment rate to turn Tšolo Thakeli into the prime minister’s enemy. Within a day of posting there were armed police at his door.

It was Father’s Day, and the 31-year-old father of two was in his pyjamas when they arrived. He had no idea his post would land him in trouble; after all, he had campaigned for a long time, under different governments, for action on jobs for young people.

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‘We won’t let them get away with this’: activists to sue Tanzania’s government over ‘sexual torture’

Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire vow to hold authorities accountable as repression intensifies before October elections

Two east African activists say they plan to sue Tanzania’s government for illegal detention and torture over their treatment during a visit in support of an opposition politician in May.

Boniface Mwangi, from Kenya, and Agather Atuhaire, a Ugandan, sent shock waves around the region earlier this month when they gave an emotional press conference in which they alleged they had been sexually assaulted and, in Atuhaire’s case, smeared in excrement after their detention in Dar es Salaam. “[The authorities] take you through sexual torture,” Mwangi said at the time.

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Kneecap to take to Glastonbury stage in what could be festival

Music executives have condemned Irish rappers and Keir Starmer says appearance is not ‘appropriate’, but 100 musicians have signed letter in support

Kneecap will be taking to the Glastonbury stage on Saturday afternoon in front of a packed crowd eagerly anticipating what could be one of the most controversial sets in the festival’s history.

The Irish rap group are performing at 4pm on the West Holts stage, amid criticism from music industry executives and from the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who said it was not “appropriate” for the band to perform.

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At least 16 people killed and 400 injured in Kenyan protests

Police clashed with people marching in Nairobi and other areas to honour those killed in protests last year

At least 16 people have been killed and 400 injured in Kenya as a nationwide demonstration to honour those killed during last year’s anti-government protests turned chaotic, with police clashing with protesters in different parts of the country.

Amnesty Kenya’s executive director, Irũngũ Houghton, said the death toll had been verified by the government-funded Kenya national commission on human rights. “Most were killed by police,” he said.

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Suspect in ‘No Kings’ rally shooting death in Utah released from jail

Police say Arturo Gamboa was carrying a rifle when safety volunteer fired on him and accidentally killed bystander

A man jailed on suspicion of murder for allegedly brandishing a rifle at a “No Kings” rally in Utah before an armed safety volunteer fired and inadvertently killed a protester has been released from custody.

Local district attorney Sim Gill’s office said on Friday that it was unable to make a decision on charges against Arturo Gamboa after the 14 June shooting that killed demonstrator Arthur Folasa Ah Loo – but that the investigation into the slaying continues.

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Palestine Action expected to be banned after vandalism of planes at RAF base

Home secretary plans to proscribe group that broke into Brize Norton, effectively branding it a terrorist organisation

The pro-Palestine group that broke into RAF Brize Norton sparking a major security review is expected to be banned by the government next week in a move which will anger campaigners.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is planning to proscribe Palestine Action, effectively branding it a terrorist organisation.

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Protest at Sydney synagogue wasn’t targeting ‘religious event’ but Israel Defense Forces speaker, court told

NSW Labor’s anti-protest laws protecting places of worship have ‘chilling effect’ on democracy, Palestine Action Group barrister tells supreme court

A protest outside a Sydney synagogue – which was the “catalyst” for the New South Wales government introducing anti-protest laws designed to curb antisemitism – was targeting an event where a member of the Israel Defense Forces was speaking, a court has been told during a constitutional challenge.

The Palestine Action Group is challenging in the NSW supreme court the Minns Labor government’s controversial laws giving police broad powers to restrict protests.

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English universities barred from enforcing blanket bans on student protests

Office for Students guidance urges ‘very strong’ approach to permitting lawful speech on campus

Universities in England will no longer be able to enforce blanket bans on student protests under sweeping new guidance that urges a “very strong” approach to permitting lawful speech on campus.

The detailed regulations set out for the first time how universities should deal with inflammatory disputes, such as those between the University of Cambridge and students over the war in Gaza, and rows over academics who hold controversial but legal opinions, such as the gender-critical professor Kathleen Stock.

The guidance issued by the Office for Students (OfS) will make it harder for universities to penalise students and staff for anything other than unlawful speech or harassment.

Academics should not be pressed to support particular views.

Protests should not be restricted for supporting legal viewpoints.

Students or staff should not be “encouraged to report others” for lawful speech.

Universities must “secure freedom of speech” for visiting speakers.

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Australian deported from US says he was ‘targeted’ due to writing on pro-Palestine student protests

Alistair Kitchen says he was detained and questioned about views on Israel and Palestine before being deported from LA to Melbourne

An Australian man who was detained upon arrival at Los Angeles airport and deported back to Melbourne says United States border officials told him it was due to his writing on pro-Palestine protests by university students.

Alistair Kitchen said he left Melbourne on Thursday bound for New York and was detained for 12 hours and interrogated by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials during the stopover in Los Angeles.

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‘Venice is worn out’: locals see Jeff Bezos wedding as symbol of city’s ills

City leaders claim days-long event will bring in riches but opponents say it will not benefit ordinary Venetians

Marta Sottoriva, a teacher in Venice, has tirelessly campaigned for various causes in her cherished lagoon city, from railing against giant cruise ships to battling soaring rents. Now she is busy preparing banners, handing out flyers and shouting through megaphones in squares as she joins dozens of activists in whipping up resistance to the “umpteenth gigantic event” she says that risks turning the world heritage site – which has long suffered from the effects of excessive tourism – into a playground for the rich.

Sottoriva is referring to the star-studded nuptials between the billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, and Lauren Sánchez, a former TV journalist. The days-long shindig, expected to begin from 24 June, will be the biggest wedding held in Venice since George Clooney married Amal Alamuddin in 2014.

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‘No Kings’ protests across US loom over Trump’s military parade

Millions of people expected for potentially biggest day of demonstrations since president’s second term began

As tanks and soldiers parade through the streets of Washington on Saturday, millions of people around the country are expected to turn out in their communities to speak out against the excesses of Donald Trump’s administration in what’s expected to be the biggest day of protest since his second term began.

The protests, dubbed “No Kings”, are set to take place throughout Saturday in about 2,000 sites nationwide, from big cities to small towns. A coalition of more than 100 groups have joined to plan the protests, which are committed to a principle of nonviolence.

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Detainees at New Jersey immigration center revolt as chaos unravels

Four people escaped after group held at Delaney Hall Ice facility pushed down wall amid police and protester clashes

Unrest and protests have erupted in and around a controversial immigration detention center in New Jersey, with police and federal officials clashing with protesters after detainees reportedly pushed down a wall in revolt at the conditions they are being held in.

About 50 detainees pushed down a wall in the dormitory room of the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday night, according to an immigration lawyer representing one of the men held there.

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LA police announce ‘mass arrests’ as Newsom intensifies criticism of Trump | First Thing

Protesters defy overnight curfew as California governor issues searing rebuke of administration. Plus, who is behind the hedonistic party palaces of New York’s Fire Island?

Good morning.

Los Angeles police have announced they are making “mass arrests” in the city’s downtown area, as people gathered in defiance of an overnight curfew imposed after days of protests against Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and military deployment.

What has Newsom said? Trump’s decision to deploy the national guard in LA was “a brazen abuse of power”, that has “inflamed a combustible situation”, Newsom said in a searing rebuke of the administration.

What about Trump? In an address to troops at the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina yesterday, Trump spread conspiracy theories, maligned California’s Democratic leaders and misleadingly portrayed protesters as part of a “foreign invasion”.

Were they really armed by Israel? Yes. Israeli defence officials acknowledged last week that they had been arming the group, with the aim of undermining Hamas. Aid workers said the group had a long history of looting from UN trucks.

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LA cleans up and protests some more after weekend of defiance against Trump

Cleaners remove graffiti and burned cars after mostly peaceful protests that saw some vandalism and violence

Outside the federal courthouse complex in downtown Los Angeles on Monday morning, two cleaners carrying bins on wheels looked uncertainly at the daunting task in front of them – long walls in several directions covered in spray-painted graffiti after a weekend of vigorous street protest.

They donned black plastic gloves and reached for spray bottles and rolls of paper towels, but these seemed hardly adequate even for the black marble plinth bearing the name “Edward R Roybal Center and Federal Building” where they began. Indeed, the rest of the official writing on the plinth was illegible, defaced by three separate graffiti reading “Fuck Ice” and another saying “Dead Cops”.

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Glendale ends ‘divisive’ Ice detention contract amid California protests

Decision comes as federal action to enforce US immigration laws inspired three days of protests in the LA area

The California city of Glendale has terminated a contract to house federal immigration detainees, with local officials saying the arrangement had become increasingly “divisive” within the community.

The decision by the Los Angeles county municipality to sever ties with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) comes after three days of protests in other parts of the LA area. That included Sunday near the Metropolitan Detention Center, about nine miles from Glendale, where cars were set alight as anti-Ice protesters clashed with law enforcement officers, including the national guard.

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