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Three human rights groups are seeking to subpoena permit documents from Richard MarlesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA trio of Palestinian human rights groups have launched a legal bid to force Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, to shed light on whether the government has approved Israel-bound export permits, which could violate international law.The groups – the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights – will attempt to subpoena arms export documents after filing an affidavit in the federal court last week. Continue reading...

Lafarge fined more than €1m and its former boss jailed for paying nearly €5.6m to groups including Islamic State A French court has fined the cement group Lafarge more than €1m (£870,000) and sentenced its former boss to six years in prison for paying protection money to Islamic State and other terror groups to maintain its business in war-torn Syria from 2013 to 2014.The ruling follows a 2022 case in the United States in which the French firm pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to US-designated “terrorist” organisations and agreed to pay a $778m fine (£580m) – the first time a company had faced the charge. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Dozens of organizations write to Congress after general announced plan to ‘deal with’ those fleeing any humanitarian crisis on the islandDozens of US and international human rights organizations are decrying the Trump administration’s plans to establish a migrant “camp” for fleeing Cubans at the Guantánamo Bay military base if the island nation’s crisis worsens under pressure from the US, according to a letter to members of Congress on Friday.The 85 groups plan to submit the joint letter, exclusively shared with the Guardian, to US senators and House representatives, expressing their “profound concern” with comments made last month by a top Department of Defense commander, and describing any prospect of further migrant detention at the base as “deeply troubling and unacceptable”. Continue reading...

New study describes what may be the first case of a unified community of chimps, in Uganda, turning on itselfOn a June day in 2015, primatologist Aaron Sandel was quietly observing a small cluster of the Ngogo chimpanzee group in Uganda’s Kibale national park when he noticed something strange. As other members of the chimpanzees’ wider group moved closer through the forest, the chimpanzees in front of him began to display nervous behaviour. They grimaced and touched each other for reassurance, acting more like they were about to meet strangers than close companions.In hindsight, Sandel said, that moment was the first sign of what would become a years-long bloody conflict between a once close-knit group of chimps. Continue reading...

The coalition of organizations says Trump’s executive order restricting who can receive mail ballots is unconstitutional Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA coalition of civil rights groups sued the Trump administration on Thursday, saying that a new executive order to limit mail-in voting is unconstitutional.The order, which Trump signed on Tuesday, instructs the federal government to come up with a list of eligible citizens who can vote in each state. It also instructs the US Postal Service to only transmit mail-in ballots to people on that list. Continue reading...

Louis Mosley says government should resist calls to trigger break clause in £330m deal with US analytics companyUK politics live – latest updatesPalantir’s UK boss has urged the government not to give in to “ideologically motivated campaigners” as government ministers explore a way out of a £330m NHS contract with the tech company.Ministers have sought advice on triggering a break clause in Palantir’s deal to deliver the Federated Data Platform (FDP), amid questions over the company’s presence in the public sector. Continue reading...

Advocates say Lee Zeldin’s EPA has rolled back protections and cut staff and funding, putting health at riskSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxMore than 160 environmental and public health organizations on Tuesday called for Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, to resign or be fired.“No [EPA] administrator in history – Democratic or Republican – has so brazenly betrayed the agency’s core mission,” the groups wrote in an open letter. “EPA’s foremost purpose is to protect human health and the environment. With Administrator Lee Zeldin at the helm, EPA has abandoned its mission, creating damage that will take decades to address.” Continue reading...

US-based Zubeyda Muzeyyen, AKA DJ Haram, claimed a ‘Zio-Australian-Epstein empire’ was responsible for silencing dissentersFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe premier of New South Wales has ruled out cutting funding for Sydney’s Biennale arts festival after Jewish groups condemned language used by US artist DJ Haram at an opening night event at the White Bay Power Station in Sydney.At the centre of the controversy was the artist’s claim during her set that a “Zio-Australian-Epstein empire” was responsible for silencing dissenters. The words appear to link Israel to the convicted sex offender and New York financier Jeffrey Epstein and, critics say, feed into longstanding antisemitic tropes. Continue reading...