South Asian Muslim and caste-oppressed Hindu community representatives accuse multiculturalism minister and department of discriminationGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Australian Human Rights Commission is investigating a complaint against the New South Wales multiculturalism minister and his department over allegations of racial discrimination against organisations representing south Asian Muslims and caste-oppressed Hindu communities.According to an email seen by Guardian Australia, the Human Rights Commission last month accepted the complaint, against Steve Kamper and his department, for investigation. Continue reading...
PM also criticises business figures and opponents of changes, many of which come into force on MondayWorkers, pensioners and children: all better off. Ignore the critics – we really are standing up for working peopleKeir Starmer has used a series of new workers rights that come into force on Monday to attack the Green party, saying a vote for Labour’s rivals puts such progress on sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts at risk.The prime minister also took a swipe at business figures and opponents of what he described as the biggest strengthening of workers’ rights in a generation, dismissing “vested interests” who had warned against them. Continue reading...
• Federal judges blocked Trump administration actions that canceled asylum appointments for hundreds of thousands of migrants and terminated temporary legal status for up to 900,000 immigrants, ruling the administration acted unlawfully.
• A federal judge threw out a Justice Department lawsuit against Denver and Colorado sanctuary laws, determining the federal government cannot override state and local decisions on resource allocation.
• Judge Leon ruled Trump cannot restructure the White House ballroom without Congressional authorization, stating the president is a "steward" of the building, not its "owner"—a decision Trump disputed on Truth Social.
Ray Blanchette admits he may be a ‘little crazy’ as he outlines chain’s hopes of building 1,000 outlets globally“I am a little crazy maybe,” admits Ray Blanchette, a former TGI Fridays kitchen manager who has taken on the revival of the bar-restaurant chain’s UK business in the face of blasting industry headwinds.Blanchette’s family investment firm, Sugarloaf, rescued the Dallas-based parent business from administration in 2025. He then went on to pick up its UK arm in January after the local franchisee got into difficulties, retaining 33 UK restaurants but closing 16, with the loss of 456 jobs. Continue reading...
Activists accuse Iran’s regime of crackdown on civil society as whereabouts of Nasrin Sotoudeh are unknownIs Iran using the war to hide a surge in executions?The prize-winning Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been arrested in Tehran, according to her family, as activists accused the regime of cracking down on civil society under cover of the war with Israel and the US.Sotoudeh’s daughter Mehraveh Khandan said her mother was taken from her home in Tehran late on Wednesday and that her whereabouts were unknown. Khandan suspected the arrest may be related to recent interviews about the war, in which Sotoudeh criticised the government. Continue reading...
• Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International released coordinated reports on Thursday documenting alleged extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and torture by Bangladeshi security forces during recent political unrest, affecting approximately 340 individuals since January 2026.
• The organizations called for immediate international investigations and threatened to recommend sanctions if Bangladesh fails to establish independent accountability mechanisms within 60 days.
• The US State Department issued a statement expressing "deep concern" and indicated potential implications for bilateral aid flows and military cooperation, affecting approximately $89 million in annual assistance.
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...
Some underscore Trump’s unprecedented court appearance as protesters defend 14th amendment rightAround 250 demonstrators packed the steps of the supreme court on Wednesday, chanting in defense of birthright citizenship as Donald Trump himself watched from the public gallery in an unprecedented appearance.Beija McCarter, an eighth grade US history teacher, and Noah Goldstein, a New Yorker who was also at last month’s trans rights rally, both arrived at the demonstration with little optimism about what the justices inside might decide. Continue reading...
Party, which has neo-Nazi roots, will hold ‘important ministerial posts within immigration’ if four-party coalition wins in SeptemberThe Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has said that he will allow the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) into government for the first time – and give its members key ministerial posts – if his coalition wins the next general election.Despite becoming Sweden’s second biggest political party after the Social Democrats in the last election, SD currently only play a supporting role in the minority-run coalition. Continue reading...
• The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Trump v. Barbara, a case challenging the constitutionality of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
• President Donald Trump attended the arguments in person, making him the first sitting president to observe Supreme Court oral arguments, according to historians cited by Politico.
• The case centers on Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship, with the Court expected to issue a ruling later in the term that could fundamentally alter citizenship eligibility in the United States.
Court case will weigh the constitutionality of his contentious bid to end birthright citizenship President Donald Trump will watch the US supreme court hear a landmark case today weighing the constitutionality of his contentious bid to end birthright citizenship – an extraordinary and possibly unprecedented move for the nation’s highest office.Trump signed an executive order on his return to the White House decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens.Trump signed an executive order seeking to restrict mail-in voting across the US with a series of new requirements, including the establishment of a national voter list.The move was unprecedented and likely unconstitutional, according to experts. The Brennan Center said in response, “He has no lawful authority to write the rules that govern our elections. He tried a year ago; we sued him; we won. A year later, he has tried again. He can expect the same result.”Several states and Democratic officials criticized the order, describing it as an illegal attack that amounted to voter suppression ahead of the midterms, and said they will take legal action to stop the president, including California.Trump continued to fume over today’s ruling from a US judge that halted the construction of his $400m White House ballroom, and sharply criticized the decision during a press briefing and on social media.Pete Hegseth lifted the suspension of the crew of the military helicopters that hovered near the home of singer Kid Rock, and said there would be no investigation. Continue reading...
Trump issued executive order in January 2025 that seeks to undo birthright citizenship, overriding the constitutionSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe US supreme court will hear arguments on Wednesday over whether Trump can reverse generations of precedent and deny birthright citizenship to babies born on US soil, which would impact hundreds of thousands of children annually.On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order that sought to undo birthright citizenship, overriding the US constitution – or, as his administration has argued, interpret the constitution correctly, in defiance of supreme court precedent. Continue reading...
• The U.S. Supreme Court will argue Barbara v. United States on April 1, directly challenging President Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship.
• The Trump administration has secured victories in most immigration-related lawsuits reaching the court, including last summer's birthright citizenship dispute.
• Legal experts note that these immigration wins do not guarantee success in the citizenship case, as it tests the 14th Amendment's core protections.
New York-based Gao Zhen was detained in 2024 during a family visit to China and then tried for ‘defaming national heroes’ The Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen, known for making satirical sculptures of China’s former leader Mao Zedong, has been tried over accusations of “defaming national heroes and martyrs”, his wife and a rights group have said.Gao, 69, who was detained in 2024 during a visit to China from the US, faces a maximum three-year prison sentence, his wife, Zhao Yaliang, and Shane Yi, a researcher at the Chinese human rights defenders group, said. Continue reading...
More than 100 charities, campaign groups and trade unions marched in a show of unity against far right politicsTogether Alliance march – live updatesTens of thousands of people have gathered in London to march against the far right in the biggest multicultural demonstration in UK history.Organisers claimed half a million people have travelled to the capital for the Together Alliance march. Police estimated the turnout closer to 50,000, although they admitted it was difficult to judge due to how spread out the crowd was. Continue reading...
Together Alliance march begins in central London at midday; a separate event organised by the Palestine Coalition is also taking placeThe Metropolitan police have said there will be a “significant policing presence” in Westminster on Saturday with a number of large protests expected.In addition to the marches organised by the Together Alliance and the Palestine Coalition, a number of protests against the Iranian regime – both static assemblies and marches – are due to take place in the Westminster area on both Saturday and Sunday. Continue reading...
Musician urges public to send clear message at what is expected to be UK’s biggest ever multicultural rallyBilly Bragg has encouraged people to send a clear message to those seeking to divide the country by turning out to support what is expected to be the biggest multicultural march in UK history on Saturday.Speaking to the Guardian before the Together Alliance’s march against the far right in central London, the musician and political activist said participants hoped to “send out a message to our fellow citizens that we are willing to take a stand against [the politics of hate] being imported into the UK”. Continue reading...
• A March 26 SCOTUSblog outside opinion by Neil Weare examines a Supreme Court ruling that permitted a president to redefine birthright citizenship, highlighting judicial deference in constitutional matters.
• The piece critiques the court's approach to executive overreach on a core 14th Amendment right, drawing parallels to historical citizenship disputes.
• It argues the decision sets a precedent for future policy changes via executive action without robust judicial checks.
European parliament votes in favour of sending refused asylum seekers to offshore hubs, in ‘historic setback for refugee rights’People with no right to stay in the EU could be detained for up to two years or sent to offshore centres described by experts as possible “human rights black holes” under plans voted for by the European parliament on Thursday.An alliance of mostly centre-right and far-right lawmakers voted for a proposal to increase returns of undocumented migrants to their home countries, in a further sign of strain on the grand coalition of centrist political forces that has traditionally driven EU lawmaking. Continue reading...
France’s National Rally missed key targets in local elections ahead of next year’s seismic presidential vote – and the mainstream is doing OK elsewhere, too• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThe Rassemblement National is not invincible. A year out from a make-or-break presidential vote, that might be the main lesson (though there are others, which may prove more significant) from last weekend’s local elections in France. What’s more, news elsewhere – Giorgia Meloni’s referendum defeat in Italy, Janez Janša beaten in Slovenia, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán in trouble, the left bloc largest in Denmark – might suggest the rest of Europe’s far right are not having it all their own way, either.But let’s focus first on France – if only because while local elections are rarely a wholly accurate guide to future national outcomes, these ones seem to provide some pointers – and the stakes in the country’s next major election are vertiginously high. Continue reading...
Polling for anti-immigration DPP is relatively low, but many feel its ideas have been co-opted by Mette Frederiksen’s Social DemocratsMayasa Mandia, a recent graduate living in the small Danish town of Kokkedal, will be voting for the left in Tuesday’s general election – but it won’t be for Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats.The 23-year-old, a practising Muslim, says that under Frederiksen’s government far-right commentary has become normalised in the Danish mainstream. She has seen this, she says, at her own university, where there were discussions about banning prayers. Continue reading...
France’s Marine Le Pen and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders among speakers praising prime minister at Budapest eventMarine Le Pen has called Viktor Orbán “an exceptional leader” and Geert Wilders hailed “a lion on a continent led by sheep” as Europe’s far-right figureheads rallied round Hungary’s prime minister before an election that polls suggest he may lose.“Hungary has become a symbol in Europe of a proud and sovereign people’s resistance against oppression,” Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of France’s National Rally (RN), told a gathering of EU-sceptical leaders in Budapest on Monday. Continue reading...
Handful of billionaires gave huge sums in particular to media organisations that boosted rightwing politicians, says Liam Byrne MPMore than £170m was given to MPs, political parties, media organisations and thinktanks aligned with the UK’s populist right over the past five years, new research from the Labour MP Liam Byrne has found.Byrne, a former cabinet minister who chairs parliament’s business committee, said he had identified a “media-political complex” funded largely by a handful of billionaires. Continue reading...
US president’s backing comes as Hungary’s PM faces toughest election campaign of 16 years in officeDonald Trump has endorsed Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who faces his toughest electoral challenge next month since taking power 16 years ago, as Europe’s far-right leaders gather for a “grand assembly” in Budapest.In a video message, the US president told the national-conservative Cpac Hungary conference in the capital on Saturday that Orbàn, who has been trailing in the polls behind a centre-right rival for more than a year, was a “fantastic guy”. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Rebecca Harris promotes latest Crewkerne Gazette skit, created by Joshua Bonehill-Paine who says he is a member of Tory partyThe Conservative party’s chief whip has been condemned for promoting AI-generated footage created by a notorious far-right figure jailed for hate crimes against Jewish people.Rebecca Harris reposted the latest skit by the Crewkerne Gazette, which depicts Kemi Badenoch and her shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, as characters in the gangster film Scarface. Continue reading...
Reform, Tory and some media rhetoric runs contrary to poll showing far more voters for net zero than against itPolitical elites are out of step with the public appetite for net zero, according to analysis that identifies rightwing media narratives as fuelling a false backlash against climate action.Media coverage of net zero is more than twice as likely to be negative than public attitudes and is driving a false perception that net zero policies are unpopular with voters, the analysis found. Continue reading...
Ireland’s former taoiseach warns of conservative Russian influence and says US is now ‘off the pitch’ under TrumpLGBTQ+ rights in Europe are caught in a “chill wind” from east and west as Vladimir Putin’s Russia exports its conservative agenda and the “Americans are off the pitch” under Donald Trump, Ireland’s former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.Varadkar, who in 2017 became Ireland’s first out gay prime minister, said Europe needed to “step up” to avoid the continent becoming further squeezed by global forces seeking to chip away at recent progress. Continue reading...
Long-awaited Alexa+ aims to get Britons re-engaging with their devices – but it may have its work cut out“Commiserations, mate, Chelsea lost 3-0 in the Champions League last night against Paris Saint-Germain,” says Alexa as it attempts to break the news gently to an awaiting Blues fan. Such is the injection of personality and understanding that Amazon hopes will lead to Britons re-engaging with their millions of Alexa devices, restoring it to the cutting edge of voice assistants rather than resigned to being a glorified egg timer.After its early access launch last year in the US, the long-awaited generative AI upgrade Alexa+ is finally making its debut in the UK, supporting eight years of existing devices strewn through more than half of UK households. With the UK being Amazon’s most engaged market and more than 40 accents to contend with across the UK and Ireland, the “next-generation ambient AI assistant” has its work cut out for it. Continue reading...
• Pophouse Entertainment, co-founded by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus, acquired Tina Turner's name, image, likeness rights and majority music catalog from BMG, announced March 19, 2026.
• CEO Jessica Koravos highlighted Turner's visual presence and stage energy for projects recreating her legacy, comparing her to Elvis and Marilyn Monroe.
• Plans include announcements within six months, potentially featuring digital avatars like ABBA Voyage created with Industrial Light & Magic.
Iran war has split some Maga conservatives from Trump and alienated young voters. What will it mean in the midterms?This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland; sign up to receive it in your inbox every WednesdayThe American right wing has forgiven Donald Trump for his affairs, impeachments, mass deportations and the platforming of JD Vance.But having stuck with him through all that unpleasantness, it seems that we may have discovered the one thing that is capable of splitting some Maga conservatives from Trump: all it took was him starting a war in the Middle East. Continue reading...
