41 m. ago Kathy Lette looks back: ‘Older women are invisible, so I make sure to do something outrageous every day’

The author on her love for Spike Milligan, the furore over Puberty Blues, and why being middle-aged is greatBorn in 1958 in Sydney, Kathy Lette burst on to Australia’s literary scene in 1979 with Puberty Blues. Co‑written with Gabrielle Carey, the irreverent portrait of teenage girlhood became a cult classic, a film and a TV series. Relocating to London in the 1980s, Lette has worked as a columnist, television writer and campaigner, and has published a string of bestselling comic novels. She lives in London and has two children, Julius and Georgina, with her former husband, the human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson. Her latest novel, The Revenge Club, is out now.When I was 19, I was in a band called the Salami Sisters. As well as the occasional gig in a pub, we’d busk. The problem was, we kept getting arrested. I was furious. How come we were getting arrested for singing, when actual rapists were running free? My sister was a police constable at the time, so one day I bor...

Politics

9 d. ago Hungary’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ content violates human rights, says EU lawyer

ECJ advocate general condemns ‘stigmatising’ law that bars such content from schools and primetime TVEurope live – latest updatesThe Guardian view on Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ lawsA Hungarian law banning content about LGBTQ+ people from schools and primetime TV has been found to violate basic human rights and freedom of expression by a senior legal scholar at the European court of justice.The non-binding opinion from the court’s advocate general, Tamara Ćapeta, issued on Thursday, represents a comprehensive demolition of the arguments made by the Hungarian government defending its so-called childprotection law, passed in 2021. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Hungary’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ content violates human rights, says EU’s top court

ECJ advocate general condemns ‘stigmatising’ law that bars such content from schools and primetime TVEurope live – latest updatesThe Guardian view on Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ lawsA Hungarian law banning content about LGBTQ+ people from schools and primetime TV has been found to violate basic human rights and freedom of expression by a senior legal scholar at the European court of justice.The non-binding opinion from the court’s advocate general, Tamara Ćapeta, issued on Thursday, represents a comprehensive demolition of the arguments made by the Hungarian government defending its so-called childprotection law, passed in 2021. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago El Salvador human rights lawyer demands public trial as police haul her before judge

A lawyer from a prominent human rights organization who has been an outspoken critic of some of President Nayib Bukele’s policies has demanded a public trial as police brought her before a judge

Events

1 week ago The mum of an ISIS 'Beatle'. Shamima Begum. Gerry Adams. 5 Al

Liberal human rights lawyer Philippe Sands rejected the opportunity to defend the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and instead signed up to act against him on behalf of Human Rights Watch.

Events

1 week ago A lawyer's prolonged detention shows how El Salvador's gang emergency extends to common crimes

El Salvador’s arrest of an anticorruption lawyer from a well-known human rights organization last month is the latest example of how the special powers given to President Nayib Bukele to battle gangs are being applied to a host of unrelated alleged crimes

Events

2 w. ago ‘I’m open about how hard it is’: Stephanie Case breastfed her baby in 100km race and still won

Human rights lawyer returned to running at the Snowdonia ultra-trail six months after giving birthIn Chamonix Stephanie Case is swaying the sway of a new mother. Pepper, her baby, is cocooned in a sling, defying sleep and gurgling politely over the video call. They became viral sensations last month when ultrarunner Stephanie won the women’s section of the Snowdonia ultra-trail, a 100km race with 21,000ft of ascent, while stopping to breastfeed Pepper en route.It was an extraordinary achievement six months after giving birth and slots into an extraordinary life – on the one hand, a human rights lawyer, working in warzones around the world; on the other, an ultrarunner, whose charity, Free to Run, empowers young women and girls in areas of conflict. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago UK’s top lawyer attacks Badenoch over call to leave European human rights treaty

Attorney-general Richard Hermer says ‘pseudo-realist’ politicians risk providing ‘succour to Putin’

Events

2 w. ago Trump’s lawlessness is emboldening El Salvador’s brutal regime | Noah Bullock and Amrit Singh

The detention of a leading human rights lawyer is part of a wave of repression sweeping the country under Nayib BukeleThe Trump administration’s agreement with President Nayib Bukele to detain US migrants deported to El Salvador without due process seems to have emboldened Bukele’s autocratic regime. Last week, in a troubling sign of escalating repression, Salvadorian police detained Ruth López Alfaro, a prominent Salvadorian human rights lawyer at Cristosal, an organization fighting for human rights in Central America.Last year, the BBC recognized Ms López Alfaro as one of the 100 most inspiring and influential women in the world, describing her as “an outspoken critic of the country’s government and institutions” who “conducted a broad social media campaign to promote political transparency and public accountability overseen by the citizens themselves”. This year, on 18 May, Salvadorian security forces detained her at her residence on embezzlement charges and held her incommunicad...

Politics

3 w. ago Lawyer for Venezuelans deported to El Salvador prison arrested

Ruth López held without access to lawyers at secret location accused of ‘embezzlement’ a decade agoThe head lawyer of a human rights group representing the families of Venezuelan migrants imprisoned in El Salvador after being deported from the United States has been arrested.Ruth López, an outspoken critic of President Nayib Bukele, was detained late on Sunday under an order from the prosecutor’s office which accused her of “embezzlement” when she worked for an electoral court a decade ago, the human rights group Cristosal said in a statement. Continue reading...

Events