2 h. ago Adeel Akhtar: ‘It seemed late in the day to start noticing Asian actors we’ve been here a really long time’

He’s had supporting roles in almost every big TV show of the past few years, but now the man nicknamed Ideal Actor is taking the lead on stage, playing a top politician. He talks about challenging perceptions, being detained by the FBI and ‘redefining the idea of the everyman’A decade ago, it would have been rare to have an Asian actor playing the British prime minister or leader of the opposition. But in the space of a couple of years, Adeel Akhtar has done both. He was the PM in the Netflix drama Black Doves, which took the world by storm last year, and now he’s stepping into the shoes of a man vying to be leader of the opposition at London’s National Theatre.For Akhtar, who has been working as an actor for more than two decades, there has been an undeniable shift in the kind of roles he’s been offered in recent years. The British Asian experience is no longer a niche subject. Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago Starmer welcomes release of Belarusian opposition leader’s husband

Siarhei Tsikhanouski is a key dissident figure and the husband of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

Politics

19 h. ago Lukashenko frees Belarusian opposition leader after meeting Trump envoy

Sergei Tsikhanouski was jailed for 18 years after challenging Alexander Lukashenko for the presidency

Politics

20 h. ago Belarus opposition leader freed after nearly five years in jail

Syarhei Tsikhanouski arrested shortly after announcing candidacy in rigged 2020 election won by LukashenkoOne of the leaders of Belarus’s opposition movement, Syarhei Tsikhanouski, has been released from jail after being pardoned following almost five years behind bars.His wife, the exiled politician Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, who took over the opposition cause after his jailing, on Saturday shared a video of him smiling and embracing her after his release. Continue reading...

Politics

20 h. ago ‘My husband is free!’ Belarus opposition leader freed after nearly five years in jail

Syarhei Tsikhanouski arrested shortly after announcing candidacy in rigged 2020 election won by LukashenkoOne of the leaders of Belarus’s opposition movement, Syarhei Tsikhanouski, has been released from jail after being pardoned after almost five years behind bars.His wife, the exiled politician Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, who took over the opposition cause after his jailing, on Saturday shared a video of him smiling and embracing her after his release. Continue reading...

Politics

21 h. ago Badenoch says BBC would be ‘rewarding extremism’ with Kneecap Glastonbury coverage

The Tory leader of the Opposition has previously called for the group to be banned from Glastonbury

Events

66 h. ago "What does this have to do with Bolton?": Council opposition leader gets death threats

Coun Nadim Muslim has slammed other councillors for bringing issues for debate at the council that 'are not related to anything Bolton has control over'

Events

5 d. ago Israeli opposition leader rallies behind Netanyahu's Iran operation, suspending months of criticism

Israel's opposition leader pushed just days ago to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government

Politics

6 d. ago Opposition to Cosmeston aqua park dismissed as 'malicious tripe'

Vale of Glamorgan Council leader Liz Burnett has hit back at opposition to the controversial water park which has seen protestors gather to voice their concerns

Politics

8 d. ago How would recent events in America appear if they happened elsewhere? | Moira Donegan

Imagining how the media would cover the troops in Los Angeles or the detention of a sitting senator is a useful exerciseAt times the gesture can seem like a cliche, but I like to imagine, for the sake of perspective, how political developments in the United States would be covered by the media if they were happening in any other country. I imagine that Thursday’s events in Los Angeles might be spoken of like this:A prominent opposition leader was attacked by regime security forces on Thursday in the presence of the national security tsar, as he voiced opposition to the federal military occupation of the US’s second-largest city following street demonstrations against the regime’s mass deportation efforts. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Once again, British politicians want to ‘ban the burqa’. But this time, I’ve never felt so afraid | Nadeine Asbali

Since the riots last summer British Muslims have felt a deep unease in our own countryHere we are again, debating the right of Muslim women to wear what they want. Last week, the Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin asked the prime minister, Keir Starmer, if he planned to follow other European countries and prohibit burqas.Then the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, called for bosses to be able to ban the burqa in the workplace. Following the example of the former Labour minister Jack Straw, who in 2006 sparked the first burqa debate by asking constituents at his surgeries to remove their face coverings, she stated that she does not see constituents at her surgeries if they have their faces covered, “whether it’s a burqa or a balaclava”.Nadeine Asbali is a secondary school teacher in London and the author of Veiled Threat: On Being Visibly Muslim in Britain Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Kemi Badenoch admits she is still learning how to lead the Tories: ‘It takes a while’

The Tory leader likens herself to Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron as she said it ‘takes quite a while’ to get to grips with being leader of the opposition

Politics

2 w. ago Netanyahu confirms Israel arming Gaza clans to undermine Hamas

Prime minister’s comments come after opposition leader claims country is sending weapons to ‘criminals and felons’

Politics

2 w. ago Voices: I went on hunger strike to save my wife – why won’t Starmer help Laila Soueif like he helped us?

While Richard was sitting hungry and cold on the London pavement, he had a visit from Keir Starmer, then leader of the opposition. Days later, he called Nazanin – on house arrest in Tehran – and committed to do what he could to help get her home, recall Richard Ratcliffe and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Events

2 w. ago Orbán and Le Pen cheer Karol Nawrocki’s election as Polish president

Far-right leaders congratulate nationalist candidate as result deals blow to Donald Tusk’s pro-EU agendaEurope live – latest updatesFar-right leaders in Europe have welcomed the victory of the nationalist opposition candidate, Karol Nawrocki, in Poland’s presidential elections, a result that deals a huge blow to the centre-right prime minister Donald Tusk’s reform and pro-EU agenda.Nawrocki, a conservative historian and former amateur boxer, won Sunday’s election with 50.89% of the vote, final figures showed on Monday, ahead of his rival, Rafał Trzaskowski, the liberal Warsaw mayor and an ally of Tusk, who secured 49.11%. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Georgia detains second opposition leader within days as ruling party faces more protests

Georgian police have detained a second top opposition leader within days, as protests continue in the South Caucasus country against the ruling Georgian Dream party

Politics

3 w. ago ‘Nothing will be the same again’: Portugal’s Chega may be spot on

The far-right party is now the main opposition – proof that the country’s era of political exceptionalism is overAs a former football pundit, columnist, seminarian and novelist, André Ventura is not a man given to understatement. But as the final results of Portugal’s snap general election confirmed that his far-right Chega party had leapfrogged the socialists to become the second biggest party in parliament, his words may have been spot on.“Nothing will be the same again,” the newly minted leader of the opposition promised after Wednesday’s tally. Ventura also told the Portuguese people that Chega would not be seeking to emulate the centre-left Socialist party (PS) or the centre-right Social Democratic party (PSD) which have, between them, governed the country since its return to democracy after the Salazar dictatorship. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Belarus' democratic opposition leader goes missing after 'honeytrap sex scandal' involving 'spy married to a seduction coach'

Anzhalika Melnikava, 37, once a prominent and outspoken critic of Alexander Lukashenko 's regime, mysteriously vanished from her home in Poland earlier this year.

Politics