‘At 80, to be treated like a terrorist is shocking’: arrested on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action

Retired priest and former magistrate among those held after Palestine Action was banned as a terror organisation

Palestine Action’s co-founder has won a bid to bring a high court challenge over the group’s ban as a terrorist organisation, which has made membership of or support for the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

About 200 people have been arrested on suspicion of publicly protesting in support for PA since it was banned. They include:

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US placed on rights watchlist over health of its civil society under Trump

International non-profit Civicus says ‘sustained attacks on civic freedoms’ put US on par with El Salvador and Kenya

A group of global civil society organizations have placed the US on a watchlist for urgent concern over the health of its civic society, alongside Turkey, Serbia, El Salvador, Indonesia and Kenya.

On Wednesday, a new report released by the non-profit Civicus placed the US on its watchlist following “sustained attacks on civic freedoms” across the country, according to the group.

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Tens of thousands of people take to streets for London Trans+ Pride 2025

Event becomes biggest of its kind as more than 100,000 turn out to support its ‘existence and resistance’ theme

More than 100,000 people took to the streets for London Trans+ Pride 2025 on Saturday, making it the biggest such event in the world, organisers said.

The route wound through the centre of the capital’s most famous sites, taking in Regent’s Street, Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square. It concluded at Parliament Square with speakers including Heartstopper and Doctor Who actor Yasmin Finney.

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Ian Hislop calls arrest of man holding Private Eye cartoon at Gaza protest ‘mind-boggling’

Jon Farley arrested under Terrorism Act at Leeds demonstration for holding sign making joke about Palestine Action ban

The terrorism arrest of a man for holding up a Private Eye cartoon during a protest at the weekend was “mind-boggling”, the magazine’s editor, Ian Hislop, has said, as the retired teacher called for an apology from police.

Jon Farley was picked up by police at a silent demonstration in Leeds on Saturday, which he described as a “pretty terrifying and upsetting experience”, for holding a sign that made a joke about the government’s proscription of the group Palestine Action from the last issue of the fortnightly satirical magazine.

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Dover asylum protests pose danger to small boat arrivals, charities say

Home Office orders diversion from usual landing place to Ramsgate to avoid clashes with far right

Charities have warned of the increasing danger to asylum seekers posed by far-right protesters after small boat arrivals were moved from their usual landing place in Dover to further along the coast to avoid clashes.

The Guardian understands that Home Office officials received intelligence that some of those participating in what was billed the Great British National Protest in Dover on Saturday afternoon could have been planning to target Kent Intake Unit, where small boat arrivals are initially processed after being escorted to shore in Dover by the Border Force.

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UK ban on Palestine Action is an abuse of power, high court told

Intelligence assessment before proscription found that vast majority of group’s activities were lawful, court hears

An intelligence assessment before Palestine Action was banned under anti-terrorism laws found that the vast majority of its activities were lawful, a court has heard.

Raza Husain KC, appearing for Huda Ammori, a co-founder of the group, said Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe the group on 5 July was “repugnant” and an “authoritarian and blatant abuse of power”.

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Anti-AfD protesters interrupt Alice Weidel interview live on German TV

Broadcaster to take precautions in future after whistling, shouting and music leave parts of exchange inaudible

A German public broadcaster has said it is reviewing its procedures after a live interview with the leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland was interrupted by protesters.

During the television interview with ARD on Sunday, Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, appeared at times to struggle to hear the questions being asked of her as protesters gathered below the provisional stage for the interview in Berlin.

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Four arrested under Terrorism Act during Liverpool pro-Palestine protest

Merseyside police says material in support of Palestine Action was reportedly seen in possession of protesters

Four people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences during a pro-Palestine protest in Liverpool city centre on Sunday afternoon, police said.

Merseyside police said material in support of campaign group Palestine Action was reportedly seen in the possession of a small number of protesters at the regular march for Liverpool Friends of Palestine.

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Tens of thousands in US set to join ‘Good Trouble’ protests honoring John Lewis

Rallies at more than 1,500 sites nationwide planned for Thursday to protest against Trump administration

Tens of thousands of people are expected to march and rally at more than 1,500 sites across all 50 US states on Thursday to protest against the Trump administration and honor the legacy of the late congressman John Lewis, an advocate for voting rights and civil disobedience.

The “Good Trouble Lives On” day of action coincides with the fifth anniversary of Lewis’s death. Lewis was a longtime congressman from Georgia who participated in iconic civil rights actions, including the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 when police attacked Lewis and other protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

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Ministers to enshrine UK charities’ right to peaceful protest in new ‘covenant’

Agreement between government and voluntary sector aims to reset relations after erosion of trust under Tories

The right to engage in political activity and protest peacefully is to be enshrined in a new agreement between the government and UK charities and campaigners aimed in part at ending years of damaging “culture wars”.

The agreement is intended to reset relations between government and the voluntary sector after years of mutual distrust during which Conservative ministers limited public rights to protest, froze out campaigners, and targeted “woke” charities.

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Bangladesh’s ousted Sheikh Hasina charged with crimes against humanity

Former leader, who is in hiding in India, indicted over deadly crackdown on anti-government protests last year

Bangladesh’s ousted leader Sheikh Hasina has been formally charged with crimes against humanity after being accused of ordering a deadly crackdown against anti-government protests last year that left more than 1,400 people dead.

Hasina, who fled the country on 5 August last year, was charged in absentia by a three-judge panel on Thursday. She remains in hiding in neighbouring India and has ignored formal requests for her to return.

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Bob Vylan frontman warns ‘you’ll get me in trouble’ after further IDF chants

Crowd at sold-out London gig told ‘every other chant is fine’ amid police investigation into Glastonbury performance

The frontman of Bob Vylan warned his fans to stop chanting against the Israeli military during the duo’s first UK gig since the band’s Glastonbury festival performance.

Pascal Robinson-Foster, who goes by the name Bobby Vylan, told fans at a sold-out surprise gig in London on Wednesday night they could get him in “trouble” after police launched an investigation into the group over comments he made at Glastonbury.

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‘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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