Human rights official urges UK to review laws after Palestine Action placard arrests

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Counter-terror laws must not place unnecessary limits on ‘fundamental rights’, Michael O’Flaherty tells Shabana Mahmood

Europe’s most senior human rights official has called on Shabana Mahmood to review UK protest laws after mass arrests over the ban on Palestine Action.

Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, said that the current legal framework allows UK authorities to “impose excessive limits on freedom of assembly and expression, and risk overpolicing” in a letter sent to the home secretary.

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Why no hair and an ‘extremely small’ crown? Trump slams Time cover – politico.eu

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  1. Why no hair and an ‘extremely small’ crown? Trump slams Time cover  politico.eu
  2. Trump knocks Time over ‘super bad’ photo with ‘relatively good story about me’  The Hill
  3. President Trump accuses Time magazine of deliberately using the worst photo 'of all time' on a cover praising his peace deal  New York Post
  4. Trump Fumes at Time Magazine’s ‘Super Bad’ New Cover Celebrating His Gaza Peace Deal ‘Triumph’: ‘They Disappeared My Hair!’  Yahoo
  5. ‘Worst of all time’: Trump complains about ‘super bad photo’ on Time Magazine cover  The Independent
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Sydney nightclub named after lesbian artist’s song changes name after ‘preferred clientele’ revealed to be men

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Pink Pony Club, a song by Chappell Roan inspired by The Abbey gay bar in West Hollywood, was the inspiration for new Oxford Street club

A Sydney nightclub whose name was inspired by a lesbian artist despite “predominantly” targeting gay men has been forced to change its name after attracting a swift and “passionate” backlash.

Pink Pony was set to open on Oxford Street in Sydney’s LGBTQ+ heartland in early December. Kevin Du-Val, the owner of Palms on Oxford nightclub, and its manager, Michael Lewis, announced via social media their new venture was “unashamedly inspired by its namesake song that resonates so profoundly within our community”.

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Prosecution of South Sudan’s vice-president raises fears of return to full-scale civil war

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Observers and opposition says prosecution of Riek Machar for crimes in relation to attack by rebel militia puts peace deal at risk

South Sudan’s opposition and observers have warned that the prosecution of the country’s suspended vice-president, Riek Machar, risks jeopardising a peace agreement that ended a devastating civil war and plunging the country into full-scale conflict once again.

On 11 September, Machar was charged with murder, treason, crimes against humanity and other serious crimes in connection with a deadly attack by the White Army rebel group on a government army garrison in Nasir county in the country’s north-east. President Salva Kiir then suspended him from his post.

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Right to protest is under sustained attack in the west, report finds

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Counter-terror laws being ‘weaponised’ against pro-Palestine groups in UK, US, France and Germany, says FIDH

The right to protest has come under sustained attack in the west, according to a report highlighting the growing criminalisation of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

The study by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) pays particular attention to the UK, the US, France and Germany, where it says governments have “weaponised” counter-terrorism legislation as well as the fight against antisemitism to suppress dissent and support for Palestinian rights in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

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AFP promises ‘swift action’ after Albanese, Ley and Morrison’s private phone numbers exposed online

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Richard Marles says investigation under way into how the prime minister and other senior government staff’s phone numbers appeared in databases

Federal police are scrambling to assist politicians after the private phone numbers of Anthony Albanese, Sussan Ley, Scott Morrison and senior government staff were discovered to be freely available in large contact databases published by American marketing companies.

The Australian federal police is seeking to have prime minister Albanese’s number removed from such databases, where it is available to users free of charge, and to assist other federal parliamentarians who have been similarly exposed. Police have warned that harassment by phone or carriage service is illegal, and promised “swift action” against those breaching such laws.

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Human rights groups call for France to suspend ‘one in, one out’ treaty with UK

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UK and French organisations file legal challenge against July agreement to swap asylum seekers

Fifteen French and UK human rights organisations are calling for the suspension of the controversial “one in, one out” treaty in a legal challenge that has been launched in France.

The deal, signed by the UK and France in July, involves one asylum seeker who arrives in the UK from France in a small boat being sent back there in exchange for another selected in France to come to the UK.

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African football’s general secretary accused of creating toxic culture of fear

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  • Mosengo-Omba said to run CAF as a ‘proprietorship’

  • Employee: ‘Anyone who dares speak up is terminated’

The Confederation of African Football’s general secretary, Véron Mosengo-Omba, has been accused of running the organisation as his “proprietorship” and creating a toxic culture of fear where employees are fired for speaking out against him.

Several former and current members of staff have told the Guardian there is an atmosphere of intimidation and paranoia at the Caf headquarters in Cairo, where Mosengo-Omba is accused of sidelining colleagues and silencing whistleblowers.

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