From a retired British colonel to a Catholic priest, half of the 532 people arrested in Parliament Square were 60 or older. Many believe they had a greater share of responsibility to take in defending the right to free speech

Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories have consequences for the environment as well as humans, Graham Usher finds

Former PM says schools ‘deserve same moral status as hospitals’ after 168 schoolgirls killed in US-Israel war on Iran * Gordon Brown: ‘Children killed, a school turned into a graveyard: even in wartime, we can’t accept this’ * A school turned into a graveyard * Minab school bombing: a visual guide Gordon Brown has called for the creation of an international criminal court for crimes against children, saying “no child should ever become collateral damage in a conflict”. Writing for the Guardian, the former prime minister drew on the tomahawk missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school at the start of the Iran conflict, which killed 168 schoolgirls, to argue that “schools deserve the same moral status as hospitals – protected places – and the same protection under international law”. Continue reading...

Wildlife smuggling is serious organised crime that ‘fuels corruption and drives species to extinction’, Home Office says More than 250 endangered species and illegal wildlife products were seized at the UK border in a single month, new figures have revealed, including spiders, snakes and birds. The illicit cargo was uncovered as part of an annual crackdown on wildlife smuggling known as Operation Thunder, which is led by Interpol and the World Customs Organisation. Continue reading...

Area’s MP says it would cost more than local council’s annual budget to remove the 10-metre high pile of waste Fly-tippers have dumped a “mountain of illegal waste” in Oxfordshire so large that removing it could cost more than the local council’s annual budget, the area’s MP has said. Hundreds of tonnes of waste, stacked 10 metres high, appeared in a field between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington. One charity called the huge dump of rubbish “an environmental catastrophe unfolding in plain sight”. Continue reading...

Armed forces and settlers used bombs, dogs, poison and machinery to attack people and infrastructure at key sites Israeli armed forces and settlers have attacked Palestinian water sources more than 250 times in the past five years, amounting to the most sustained assault on civilian water supplies in recent years, new research reveals. Bombs, dogs, poison and heavy machinery were among the weapons used to attack Palestinians and their infrastructure at drinking water, irrigation and sanitation sites in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on at least 90 occasions between January 2024 and mid-2025, according to the Pacific Institute, a California-based nonpartisan thinktank tracking water conflicts. Continue reading...

The massacres carried out by the RSF in El Fasher, Darfur, with the support of its UAE sponsors, will only stop when the international community acts, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

Peers say ‘woeful’ record on prosecutions has led to a ‘low-risk, high-reward’ criminal culture Organised crime groups in the UK are making millions every year from illegally dumping and burning rubbish, peers have told ministers, after an inquiry found a lack of enforcement made it a “low-risk, high-reward” criminal enterprise. “Criminality is endemic in the waste sector,” a Lords committee told the government on Tuesday, after it found at least 38m tonnes of waste was illegally managed every year, “leading to serious environmental, economic and social consequences”. Continue reading...

Civil liberties groups say swathes of new rules, including for swearing and wild swimming, criminalise normal behaviour Shouting, leaving your spectacles in the sun and stroking a pony are among the rural activities outlawed by councils under the banner of managing antisocial behaviour this summer, according to campaigners. The Manifesto Club, a leading civil liberties group, said swathes of new public spaces protection orders (PSPOs) have been introduced or extended by local authorities, criminalising activities and behaviours under the banner of managing antisocial behaviour or environmental harm. Continue reading...

Hundreds could join weekend rally in support of proscribed group as 300 UK Jewish figures urge PM to lift ban * How are police likely to respond to the rally against Palestine Action ban? The controversy over the ban applied to Palestine Action deepened on Monday, with police warning of mass detentions if a demonstration goes ahead this weekend that could see more than 1,000 people carrying placards and posters expressing support for the group. The Metropolitan police made clear it would arrest anyone breaking terrorism laws, as Downing Street urged people not to attend any protest. Continue reading...

Joe Outlaw, who climbed on to a prison roof, is using the mental toll of indeterminate detention as a legal defence The trial of an alleged escapee who spent hours on the roof of a high-security prison in his underpants is set to be the first time the stress caused by indeterminate sentences can be used as a legal defence. Joe Outlaw is due to stand trial on Monday for climbing on to the roof of HMP Frankland in Durham in June 2023 in protest at the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence he and others are serving. Continue reading...

People’s fears of crime are shaped by the political context in which they grew up.

Over the past week there has been considerable discussion in the media about rates of crime and the reliability of crime data in England and Wales. Given the societal importance of crime, it is vital ...

Prime minister over 2006-09 and former Likud member says Palestinian victims are at ‘monstrous proportions’ The former prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, has said that Israel is “committing war crimes” in Gaza, saying “thousands of innocent Palestinians are being killed, as well as many Israeli soldiers”. Olmert, who served as the 12th prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, wrote in an opinion piece for the Israeli newspaper and website Haaretz that “the government of Israel is currently waging a war without purpose, without goals or clear planning and with no chances of success”. Continue reading...

People who opt for disruptive protests are not acting out of desperation according to a new study.