3 h. ago Brexit didn’t solve Britain’s woes, but no matter: leaving the ECHR definitely will. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? | Polly Toynbee

As Reform gathers for its conference, momentum builds for ditching the European convention on human rights. It would be a disasterSign up for our new weekly newsletter Matters of Opinion, where our columnists and writers will reflect on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading and moreThere will be fireworks and celebration at Nigel Farage’s party conference this weekend. Burgeoning membership and council seats as Reform UK tops 30% in the polls. Immigration is the boat that sailed him here: the more small boats arriving, the broader his wolfish grin. Prime inflamer of foreigner hatred that he is, black and brown people report what they call the Farage effect in a wave of attacks: Mothin Ali, new deputy head of the Greens and a Leeds councillor, was attacked with bottles while with his family last week on Cromer beach in Norfolk, and racist abuse was hurled at them. He said that Reform rhetoric was causing people to blame immigrants and non-white people for Britain’s prob...

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40 h. ago Impatience in Madrid as Pedro Sánchez puts Europe’s inaction on Gaza in the spotlight

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Spain’s prime minister admitted that the EU’s refusal to hold Israel to account amounts to failure. Plus, Russia’s ‘undeniable interference’Against the scale of civilian slaughter, famine and mounting evidence of war crimes in Gaza, Europe’s political leaders have been passive to the point of complicity, argue many human rights advocates and even former high-ranking EU officials.Now the Spanish prime minister has come close to acknowledging as much. In an interview with the Guardian, Pedro Sánchez characterised Europe’s refusal to act against the Israeli government as a moral and political failure that would damage its global credibility for years to come. Sánchez warned that Europe’s response to “one of the darkest episodes of the 21st century” has been “a failure, absolutely”. Continue reading...

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42 h. ago ‘I told my family, I’ll probably die’: US immigration sends Russian asylum seekers back to Moscow

Russian national who applied for asylum on political grounds describes inhumane treatment while in US custodyUS immigration authorities have deported dozens of Russian asylum seekers to Moscow, including a serviceman wanted for desertion who has since been detained, the Guardian can reveal.At least two deportation flights operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) departed from the agency’s major detention hub in Alexandria, Louisiana and landed in Cairo, Egypt, where the asylum seekers were transferred to flights bound for Moscow with the cooperation of Egyptian and Russian authorities, according to interviews with passengers and human rights campaigners. Continue reading...

Events

43 h. ago Trump’s aid cuts in east Africa led to unwanted abortion and babies being born with HIV – report

Doctors, nurses, patients and other experts describe the loss of decades of progress in beating the virus in 100 days after Pepfar was disruptedAid cuts in east Africa have led to cases of babies being born with HIV because mothers could not get medication, a rise in life-threatening infections, and at least one woman having an unwanted abortion, according to interviews with medical staff, patients and experts.A report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) sets out dozens of examples of the impact of disruption to Pepfar – the president’s emergency plan for aids relief – in Tanzania and Uganda. Continue reading...

Politics

43 h. ago It would be ‘a profound mistake’ to leave human rights treaty – Keir Starmer

Ministers plan to tighten the use of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Politics

51 h. ago Finance for transition mineral mining is driving destruction and abuse, says report

Hundreds of billions of dollars invested in extractive mining for green transition with few safeguards, research findsThe financing of transition mineral mining is driving widespread environmental destruction and human rights abuses, according to a report.Banks and investors have ploughed hundreds of billions of dollars into companies mining for minerals for the manufacture of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, energy grids and electric vehicles in the past decade, according to the research. Continue reading...

Events

2 d. ago UN expresses concern over crackdown on Indonesian student protests after 20 reported missing

A human rights group has warned that 20 people remain missing

Events

3 d. ago Tiny African country detaining five deported US migrants asked Trump team for $500 million: report

Activists challenge secret agreement between US and Eswatini as human rights groups warn against lack of due process

Politics

3 d. ago RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Don't trust Labour. Young male migrants will not be moved to detention centres or deported

Tony Blair hailed the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into British law as his 'proudest moment in politics'.

Events

3 d. ago Report that rejects claim NI peace deal stops UK leaving ECHR sparks debate

Amnesty has said for the UK to repudiate the European Convention on Human Rights would be a ‘serious breach of international law’.

Economics

3 d. ago Human rights group Amnesty International backs former Humza Yousaf's calls for Palestine Action exemption

Humza Yousaf’s intervention comes after senior prosecutor chides ‘unhelpful’ politicians calling for law not to be enforced

Politics

3 d. ago Peer who fled Nazis as child warns summer 'disaster' for human rights amid asylum row

Lord Alf Dubs, who fled Prague in 1939 as part of the Kindertransport, said many of the people fleeing for safety in the UK are 'escaping the most terrible of situations'

Events

3 d. ago UK Government to address the nation after weekend of fury across country

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will address MPs this afternoon about Labour's plans to deal with immigration as one minister hinted at reforming the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

Politics

4 d. ago Angela Rayner is warned her plan to hand trade unions more power 'violates human rights'

As part of her reforms to employment rights, the party's deputy leader (pictured) is scrapping a Tory-era requirement for union members to opt in if they want to contribute towards political funds.

Events

4 d. ago Claims NI peace deal stops UK leaving ECHR ‘entirely groundless’ – think tank

The Policy Exchange claims public debate on human rights law reform had been ‘distorted’.

Economics

4 d. ago The Guardian view on the killing of Gaza’s journalists: Israel wants to stop the world from seeing what it’s doing | Editorial

This is the most lethal war for the media in recent times. A generation of journalists is being wiped outDay by day, the death toll rises, the war crimes mount, and the outrage grows. Last Wednesday, the pope demanded that Israel stop its “collective punishment” of Gaza’s population. A day later, António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, warned that “the levels of death and destruction are without parallel in recent times”. More than 500 UN staff have pressed the human rights chief, Volker Türk, to call it genocide. Half of registered voters in the US have already concluded that that is what Israel is doing in Gaza.The agony is deepening. On Friday, the Israeli military declared famine-hit Gaza City to be a combat zone, intensifying its assault and ending “tactical pauses” that allowed limited – if utterly inadequate – food delivery. Many inhabitants are physically incapable of fleeing again, and fear that they would be no s...

Events

4 d. ago Yvette Cooper ordered to end detention of asylum seeker with schizophrenia

Home secretary could face legal action over decision to keep 25-year-old man from Nigeria in prisonYvette Cooper could face legal action over the decision to keep an asylum seeker with schizophrenia in prison.The high court has ordered the home secretary to release the 25-year-old man by 8 September, and the Home Office may have to pay him damages for breaching his human rights. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago How do you legally claim asylum in the UK? For most refugees, it's impossible

Asylum is a legal right, a human right, but without safe routes it is a hollow promise, writes Robina Qureshi. Ukrainians were welcomed; Palestinians — like so many others — are caught in a bureaucratic siege of red tape and bombardment.

Events

5 d. ago DANIEL HANNAN: We don't need the European human rights brigade telling our tolerant and liberal nation how to deal with the migrant crisis

Britain's departure from the European Convention on Human Rights is starting to feel inevitable, triggered by immigration policy failures. But remember, a human rights lawyer is in No 10...

Events

5 d. ago The moment I knew: stuck in Chile in the early days of Covid, he brought me out of my anxiety loop

When Sashi Perera and her boyfriend Charlie were marooned in a hotel room in Punta Arenas, she realised they balanced each other out perfectlyFind more stories from The moment I knew seriesIn May 2018, I was scrolling through prospective dates on Bumble when I saw Charlie’s profile. I could tell we had a lot of immediate connections. He had worked for human rights organisations, travelled a lot and even had interesting profile pictures. I swiped right.Later that day, we met at a small bar close to my work in Melbourne for a drink. Even though it was a good first date, I decided I didn’t have the energy for more dates straight away and cancelled our second one. I think he thought I was a bit of a time waster. Continue reading...

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