AFTER 57 DAYS, THE BUDGET IS DONE!

TAXING TRUMP’S BUCKS: Gov. Kathy Hochul believes there should be ramifications for anyone who accepts cash from President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund — and the money should go toward helping New Yorkers.

“I have no problem with there being consequences for people who accept that money,” she told reporters at an unrelated news conference.

The Democratic governor stopped short today of fully endorsing proposals germinating in the Legislature that would slap a 100 percent tax on payouts from the president’s $1.776 billion fund — a posture she takes with nearly every bill before it’s approved.

But Hochul clearly signaled she would support an arrangement in which payouts are taxed by New York.

“If there’s a tax that goes into a fund that helps New Yorkers, it might be a good way to go,” she said.

POLITICO first reported Wednesday night that New York Democratic state lawmakers are pushing for a vote by next week for a bill that would, in essence, confiscate any payments.

Deputy Senate Majority Leader Mike Gianaris is in the process of introducing a bill in his chamber. Assemblymember Alex Bores, a Democratic House candidate, initially proposed the measure.

Money from the fund is meant for people who are “victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress,” according to Trump’s acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Trump has not ruled out providing some of the money for people who were convicted of crimes in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

In remarks before signing a budget bill, Hochul called the pot of cash “a slush fund.”

“That kind of money — it’s obscene to be setting aside to award people who have committed crimes and injustices, including assaulting police officers on Jan. 6,” she said.

In Albany, lawmakers are racing to get the bill over the finish line by next week. The legislative session is scheduled to end June 4.

New York is among the blue states considering 100 percent taxes on payouts from the fund, which the president announced as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice after he sued the IRS.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week embraced fully taxing the money. Democratic state lawmakers in New Jersey and Wisconsin are also pursuing similar measures.

Some Republicans have blasted the fund, and it’s received a cool reception among the GOP in the U.S. Senate.

Republican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman, though, steered clear when asked about it this morning.

“I haven’t even focused on it,” said Blakeman, the Nassau County executive and a Trump ally. “I’m too busy focusing on state issues where I can actually make a difference in peoples’ lives.”

His response underscores the politically delicate position the fund puts Republican candidates in this election season.

Blakeman, though, insisted Democrats should be trying to spend the remaining session days addressing utility costs and public safety, not a national issue.

“Those are the things people want the Legislature and the executive branch to focus on,” he said. — Nick Reisman

From the Capitol

HOLTZMAN BACKS ANTI-TRAFFICKING BILL: Former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman worked the halls of Albany today in support of a bill that would allow Jeffrey Epstein’s victims to seek damages from his estate.

“I’ve fought for a long time in Congress and as district attorney against sexual violence against women, so it’s a subject that’s very dear to my heart,” Holtzman said.

The bill is one of several high-profile measures competing for attention in the condensed homestretch of this year’s legislative session where there’ll only be time to pass a handful of complicated bills. But the sponsors have been doing what they can to help raise its profile — state Sen. Zellnor Myrie hosted Epstein’s victims in a committee meeting earlier this month and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal joined the former representative today.

“The fact that Congresswoman Holtzman made the trip to Albany and talked to members really gives it a lot more prominence and chance of passing,” Rosenthal said. — Bill Mahoney

FROM CITY HALL

ZO TENSE: Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch agree that security must be beefed up in Manhattan during this weekend’s Israel Day Parade.

But there was no doubt about the tension bubbling just beneath the surface during a parade security briefing both of them held at NYPD headquarters today.

“It’s the mayor’s decision not to march and it is my decision to march — proudly,” Tisch, the NYPD’s first female Jewish commissioner, said when asked if she’s concerned about Mamdani opting not to join her and thousands of other New Yorkers. Mamdani’s decision to sit out the parade breaks with a long-standing tradition of mayors participating in the annual event.

Standing alongside Mamdani, Tisch said she is also “incredibly proud” that the organizer, the Jewish Community Relations Council, named her an honorary grand marshal of this year’s parade. The event’s theme is “Proud Americans, Proud Zionists.”

Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor and a longtime critic of Israel, insisted he’s committed to making the parade safe for all participants even though he won’t be at it.

“I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending the parade, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” he told reporters. “I also said on that same campaign that I would have a responsibility as the mayor of the city to ensure the safety and security of each and every New Yorker, and I don’t believe my presence as the mayor should determine whether or not a New Yorker is safe or secure.”

It would be extraordinarily fraught for Mamdani to attend the parade. His pro-Palestinian supporters would likely be outraged. And parade-goers might be inclined to boo him if he showed up.

Still, Marc Schneier, a Long Island rabbi and frequent critic of Mamdani, said the mayor is signaling by skipping the parade that “the Jewish community of New York is not a constituency he is willing to stand beside.” His takeaway: good riddance. 

“We don’t want you anyway,” Schneier said of Mamdani.

In an apparent extension of his long-running effort to troll his successor, former Mayor Eric Adams also announced yesterday that he will march in the parade.

Asked by Playbook after today’s security briefing how he feels about Adams’ parade attendance, Mamdani said: “He’s welcome to spend his time as he so chooses.” — Chris Sommerfeldt 

NOT ZO FAST: Citizens Union, a New York City-based government watchdog group, is raising concerns about Mamdani’s newly announced Commission on Government Efficiency, warning that its timeline — particularly a push to advance ballot questions this November — risks being rushed.

While calling the commission’s goals “laudable” the group cautioned that a new charter commission “will have less time to seek public input, conduct research, and deliberate than even the highly criticized, rushed commission established by Eric Adams.”

The new commission comes immediately after Mamdani dismantled Adams’ Charter Revision Commission, first reported by POLITICO. The current mayor’s commission is tasked with proposing government efficiency measures to voters this fall. Mamdani’s team says the commission will hold 10 hearings across the city in the coming months ahead of any ballot proposals.

Citizens Union pointed to the clash between the new panel and the Adams-era commission — which has signaled it may sue to continue its work — as emblematic of the use of charter commissions for political reasons. The group noted that five such bodies have been created in three years, a rate they say erodes public trust and participation.

Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokesperson for the Adams commission who served as the former mayor’s press secretary, pointed to the commission’s work to add open primaries and told Playbook “the idea of New Yorkers having a voice in the future of their city — and the right to vote in open primaries — terrifies City Hall.” The advent of open primaries, which would expand the pool of voters to more moderates, would complicate a reelection run for Mamdani in 2029.

“We are prepared to pursue all available legal remedies to protect the people’s voice,” Mamelak Altus said.

Mamdani said today the commission, known as COGE — a nod to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — is part of a “sincere commitment” to improve government.

Asked whether there’s anything he admired and is trying to emulate from Musk’s DOGE, or whether it’s just a similar name, Mamdani told reporters, “It’s just the name, and what it should have been.”

“Elon Musk took that language and used it to cut as many jobs that were as critical as possible for so many of the neediest people across the country and across the world,” he said. “Ours is going to be a focus on actually delivering efficiency.” — Gelila Negesse and Janaki Chadha

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

PAC IT UP: VoteVets is investing $1 million to boost Army veteran Cait Conley, one of five Democrats vying to take on Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.

The ad touts Conley’s military service, saying that “after the Towers fell, [she] answered the call,” and that in Congress, she’ll “take on Trump’s corruption, rein in ICE and bring down costs.”

The ad buy makes VoteVets, a Democratic group that backs veterans, the biggest spender in the primary, according to the ad tracker AdImpact. Conley and Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson have been on the air for weeks, though neither have spent close to as much as VoteVets’ $1 million.

The group also released a poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group earlier this month, showing Conley and Davidson pulling away from the pack — though more than one-third of respondents were still undecided. The survey, which polled 500 likely Democratic primary voters, had Conley with 29 percent of support, Davidson with 22 percent, Tarrytown trustee Effie Phillips-Staley with 6 percent, former TV reporter Mike Sacks with 4 percent and Air Force veteran John Cappello with 2 percent. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 4.4 percentage points.

Earlier this week, two former primary contenders — tech executive and local government official Peter Chatzky and former FBI official John Sullivan — endorsed Davidson, citing her experience as a local elected official. — Madison Fernandez

IN OTHER NEWS

— A CHANGE IN TUNE: Mamdani is considering endorsing Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist, in the NY-13 race, despite committing to support incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat last year. (The New York Times)

— BUFF UP: Facing a $103 million structural deficit, Buffalo scored a $65 million aid boost in state budget deal. (Buffalo News)

— ‘THIS IS INSANE’: In a federal case brought by immigrants detained at 26 Federal Plaza, internal emails show ICE agents were aware and concerned over conditions there. (Gothamist)

Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.

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As we’ve reported, Reform’s Makerfield by-election candidate has some predictably rancid opinions. At the same time, he’s said some things which may surprise you – specifically that he voted against Brexit and backed freedom of movement.

Getting back to Reform’s comfort zone, we’ve now learned Kenyon supported Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Crimea back when it was held by Ukraine:

Reform’s Makerfield candidate under fire for resurfaced Russia Crimea commentshttps://t.co/8OskgxazIl

— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) May 28, 2026

Reform and imperialism

Kenyon made his comments in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, which was then governed by Ukraine. Although the international community mostly recognises Crimea as being part of Ukraine, it’s currently held by Russia.

Kenyon said:

I agree totally, Russia are well within their rights to do what they have done, as we did with the Falklands.

He said this in response to an online forum thread which described the invasion as “democracy in action”. This is more than a little worrying, because Kenyon is seeking to become a politician in a democracy. Should we assume this means Kenyon will support the UK annexing its neighbours?

According to a Reform spokesperson, we should not, because they told the Telegraph:

at no point did [Kenyon]… explicitly support or endorse Russia’s actions in Crimea.

For clarity, we’re going to repeat what he said in its entirety:

I agree totally, Russia are well within their rights to do what they have done, as we did with the Falklands.

Seems pretty explicit to us, if we’re being honest!

Reform also said Kenyon was:

fully opposed to Russia’s illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Do we need to repeat Kenyon’s own words again?

Reform’s ties to Russia

Reform has a pretty dodgy track record when it comes to Russian sympathies. As Skwawkbox reported for the Canary:

Former Reform UK in Wales leader Nathan Gill has today been sentenced to ten and a half years in prison after admitting taking bribes to make positive statements about Russia.

The judge in the case told Gill upon sentencing:

When you say what someone has paid you to say, you are not speaking with sincerity. If it was your genuine opinion, you would not need to be paid for saying it.

Allowing money to corrupt your moral compass constitutes a grave betrayal of the trust vested in you by the electorate.

Farage initially tried to suggest he barely knew Gill; he eventually admitted they were close. Later yet, it would turn out Farage also knew the bribers:

We know Kremlin agent of influence Nadia Sass considered Nigel Farage her ‘good friend’…because she told us.

She cultivated far right political leaders & her social media was key part of her tradecraft.

New in @thenerve_news today are the details
4/https://t.co/bDzxdxRVO6 pic.twitter.com/Yzvp7jP5uy

— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) October 18, 2025

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Geopolitics

While it’s true UK politicians use Russia as an excuse for sabre rattling, it’s also undeniable that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was an act of imperialism akin to the West’s actions in the Middle East. Another obvious fact is that Reform politicians don’t respect Vladimir Putin because they see him as a bulwark against Western hegemony; they respect him because he’s a murderous crook and bully.

Kenyon might ‘explicitly’ oppose the invasion of Ukraine now, but we’re not convinced that will remain the case should he form part of a Reform government.

Featured image via Andrew Harnik (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

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The post ‘Populism is the engine of democracy’ appeared first on spiked.

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The allegedly Labour government has issued its response to the 16,000 signature petition calling for a Media Sovereignty Act. And it shows total contempt for ordinary people alongside pathetic submission to media billionaires.

The Media Sovereignty Act’s five measures:

• Ban foreign media ownership.
• Ban the concentration of UK national media ownership by one person or corporation.
• Fund independent and local media with a Social Media Levy.
• Require national media to be under the remit of the statutory regulator.
• Require dark-money-funded thinktanks that are covered by the media to declare donations in real time.

The government stuck two fingers up at all five of the measures in the proposed Act. Instead it:

• Rejected any restrictions on foreign billionaires buying up all of the UK’s media.
• Refused to back reform of the current massive concentration of UK media ownership in a tiny group of largely offshore-based media billionaires.
• Refused to back a Social Media Levy, as they have in Australia. This would recoup some of the £10s of billions being siphoned abroad from UK news producers’ former advertising revenues by the three US social media tech corporations and use the proceeds to fund UK local and independent media.
• Backed the current ludicrous system whereby these foreign media billionaires ‘self-regulate’ their UK media corporations, rather than requiring them to join the post-Leveson press regulator Impress.
• Rejected the proposal to ban foreign oil corporations and billionaires from secretly funding dark-money-funded UK thinktanks that corrupt the UK government’s policy-making process.

The Media Sovereignty Act campaign director, Donnachadh McCarthy, said:

It has been one of Britain’s worst-kept secrets that the Labour and Tory Parties place the wishes of the UK’s media billionaires over the wishes of the people.

But it is hugely important that our petition has finally forced the Labour government to admit as much.

Co-director Caspar Hughes said:

You cannot have a free and fair democracy if almost all our media is dominated by the tiny 0.01%. This response means that ending media billionaireism must be a top issue in the coming Makerfield bye-election.

We need a free and fair press in the UK, free from billionaire capture.

He added:

This extraordinary admission by the Labour government that they are on the side of the media billionaires trashing our democracy spurs us to move forward with the campaign.

We will press on to get the 100,000 signatures that will finally trigger a parliamentary debate on the biggest political issue of our time.

We will now take the campaign out to the country, asking trade unions, NGO’s, student unions, branches of political parties, etc., to endorse this crucial campaign to rescue our broken democracy from the media billionaires destroying it.

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Featured image via Getty Images

By The Canary

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A group of 26 Labour MPs — along with Diane Abbott, now an independent — have reported Reform UK for breaching the 2010 Equality Act through their repeated Islamophobia.

Predictably, Islamophobic Reform chief whip Lee Anderson, whom the complaint named specifically, responded with:

Guess what? There is no such thing as Islamaphobia. [sic]

‘Growing Islamophobia problem’

Afzal Khan, the MP leading the complaint, said that:

Reform UK have consistently failed to tackle their growing Islamophobia problem.

The 26 politicians who joined Khan in his letter to the Equalities and Human Rights Council (EHRC) included Clive Lewis, Ian Byrne and Bell Ribeiro-Addy. The complaint stated that:

Over the last few years, we have seen a number of Reform UK politicians and members make comments that are clearly racist and discriminate against ethnic minorities, and in particular, Muslims.

Of course, the group also had plenty of examples to choose from in order to back up their claim. In particular, they cited party leader Nigel Farage’s nakedly Islamophobic call to ban groups of Muslims from praying in public. His comments followed London mayor Sadiq Khan attending an Iftar event in Trafalgar Square.

The letter also added that:

The prevalence of racism within Reform UK does not exist in a vacuum and has real-world consequences for the millions of British Muslims in our country.

Farage & co.

Along with Farage, the letter also mentioned Reform MPs Sarah Pochin, Suella Braverman, and Lee Anderson. For a start, Pochin used parliamentary questions to call for a ban on the burqa. Meanwhile, in an article for the Telegraph, Braverman claimed that:

The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now.

Reacting to that same article on GB News, Anderson said:

I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London, and they’ve got control of Starmer as well.

Anderson also added that:

People are just turning up in their thousands, and doing anything they want, and they are laughing at our police. This stems with Khan, he’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.

So yes, those three seem pretty unambiguously Islamophobic to us — and that’s naming just one example each.

‘It’s a made up word’

Of course, you can never point out a right-winger’s racism without them doubling down. In response to the complaint, Anderson posted:

I’m named in this letter.

I stand by every word.

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Guess what? There is no such thing as Islamaphobia. [sic]

It’s a made up word spouted out by educated idiots in Parliament who are scared of losing their seats.

Which is odd, because just two years ago, following his suspension from the Tory party for his Islamophobic comments on GB News, Anderson posted:

I will continue to support the Government’s efforts to call out extremism in all its forms – be that anti-semitism or islamophobia. [sic]

So, just about the only consistent things about Anderson are his refusal to learn how to spell ‘Islamophobia,’ and his bigotry. You see, the Reform chief whip is a rare and remarkable figure. He’s actually been suspended for racism from not just the Tories but also Labour.

Anderson started his political career as a Labour councillor for the Ashfield district in 2015. However, in 2018 he was suspended by the local Labour branch for using boulders to block a Traveller group from setting up a camp.

He then defected to the Tories, before being kicked out of the party for his Islamophobia. However, following his defection to Reform, Anderson has maintained the line that “Islamophobia is a made-up word”.

Discrimination? Never heard of it…

Responding to the Khan and co’s complaint, a Reform UK spokesperson said:

We stand by our comments. We will not be intimidated.

Of course they won’t be intimidated. These bigots fully believe that they have the right to say whatever vile thing they want – and especially about Muslims.

Anderson demonstrated, in perfect microcosm, his party’s attitude towards all forms of discrimination. Islamophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism etc. are the far-right party’s raison d’etre – because those words help to call them out on their bigotry, they instead attempt to define and censor them away.

In fact, Braverman’s first act as Reform’s play-pretend ‘shadow cabinet’ education, skills and equalities spokesperson was to announce that she’d rip up the 2010 Equality Act. The Tory dropout claimed that she wanted to get rid of the:

divisive notion of protected characteristics.

Ingenious – Reform can’t be punished for its naked discrimination if it eliminates the laws against discrimination. These people are dangers to Muslims, they’re dangers to any minoritised individual, and they’re dangers to the very concept of our shared human rights.

Best of luck and more power to Afzal Khan and his complaint. It’s long past time Reform MPs faced any consequence for their hate speech.

Featured image via Leon Neal / Getty Images

By Alex/Rose Cocker

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On 27 May, 140,000 Muslims performed Eid prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site. However, celebrations were cut short after  Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) began arresting and attacking worshippers and journalists.

Eid prayer attacks

In one instance captured on film, members of the IOF violently assaulted a Palestinian woman, as she made her way to the mosque. She was beaten, her hijab was violently torn off, and she was subsequently arrested.

Two Palestinian journalists were also detained. Freelance video journalist Saif al-Qawasmi was arrested inside the mosque before being handed a one-week ban from entering Al-Aqsa. Meanwhile, Jerusalemite journalist and spokesperson for the Islamic Waqf Department, Firas al-Dibs, was also arrested in the mosque courtyard during sermons.

Qawasmi has told Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he has been banned six times since 2021. Qawasmi is best known for documenting Israeli crimes across occupied East Jerusalem. He has been arrested and interrogated countless times for reporting on Israel’s Al-Aqsa raids.

In 2024, he was violently assaulted by Israeli settlers at the Jerusalem Day ‘Flag March,’ while visibly wearing a press vest. His camera and footage were confiscated and he later received a four-month ban from entering the Al-Aqsa compound.

Al Dibs is also a political commentator who has spoken out about Israeli violence at one of Islam’s holiest sites. He also documents these developments in his capacity as a journalist. In 2025 and 2016, Israeli authorities banned him from entering the mosque compound citing “security reasons.” He believes he has been unjustly targeted for merely carrying out his duties as a Waqf media official

Arbitrary ban orders

Over the last few months, Israel occupation authorities have issued more than 10 arbitrary ban orders denying Palestinian journalists and photographers access to cultural and religious sites. Many have been prevented from entering Al Aqsa Mosque compound, and from reporting on-the-ground. Some of these ban orders can last for up to six months, while others are repeatedly renewed.

In February, defense minister Israel Katz, outlawed five Palestinian media outlets which report exclusively on Jerusalem, by misapplying the country’s anti-terror laws. Nothing new there.

Al-Aqsa Mosque was the first direction of prayer, and is also deeply connected to the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey and ascension to heaven. Because of this, the compound holds immense religious and symbolic importance for Muslims around the world.

For Israelis and “birth right” tourists, the same area — which they call the Temple Mount — is regarded as the holiest place in Judaism, believed to be the location of the ancient First and Second Temples. Torah law states that, because it is so sacred, entering the area is strictly forbidden.

In 2023, Israeli occupation minister, illegal settler and criminal, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was the first senior cabinet minister to visit the site since 2000. But Israeli settlers now often storm the Al-Aqsa compound, always under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.

Stripping Al- Aqsa stripped of its Muslim identity

For more than 100 years, the site has been administered internally by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf under Jordanian custodianship. The Israeli occupation authorities oversee security and external access. Under the long-standing status quo, Muslims should be able to pray freely at the compound. Non-Muslims, including Jewish visitors, may enter during limited hours and are not officially permitted to pray there.

In recent years, far-right Israeli activists and politicians have increasingly challenged these arrangements. They have advocated greater Jewish access and prayer rights at the site.  Palestinians view these organised incursions as an attempt to alter the historic status quo and undermine the Islamic identity and sovereignty of Al-Aqsa mosque.

The Israeli occupation and the US are now reportedly planning a new arrangement for the mosque complex, which would strip Jordan of Al-Aqsa custodianship. US officials have told Middle East Eye that Trump wants to see al Aqsa Mosque stripped of its Muslim identity. If implemented, this plan would see the holy site turned into a “multi-faith centre.” It would facilitate large group prayers and give Jews “equal access” to the Muslim site. The Israeli occupation would also play a major role in appointing Muslim religious officials and approving the content of Friday sermons.

The plan has triggered fierce backlash from Arab nations, Palestinian officials, and international bodies. They warn that it threatens to destabilise the region.

Jordan also claims custodial responsibilities over major Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. As yet, their fate is unknown under this new plan.

Featured image via Faiz Abu Rmeleh / Getty Images

By Charlie Jaay

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Palestine Solidarity Campaign Cymru (PSC Cymru) is today calling on the Hay Festival, one of the world’s most celebrated literary gatherings, to immediately end its sponsorship partnership with Airbnb.

This comes amid growing international condemnation of the company’s role in profiting from illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

The call arrives as the Hay Festival’s own partnership is already unravelling. UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, and forensic architect Professor Eyal Weizman (Goldsmiths, University of London) have both withdrawn from this year’s festival in direct protest at the Airbnb sponsorship.

Albanese described Airbnb as profiting from:

an economic system that supports occupation, annexation, and forced displacement.

The United Nations has formally named Airbnb in its database of companies implicated in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied West Bank. The International Court of Justice has ruled these settlements unlawful.

Hay Festival and Airbnb launch unintentionally ironic award

Airbnb has partnered with the Hay Festival to launch a writing award called “Room to Write”. This claims to champion:

creativity and the importance of place and space in storytelling.

PSC Cymru says the irony could not be more stark. Airbnb is simultaneously listing properties on land from which Palestinians have been violently displaced and stripped of the right to tell their own story.

Hay Festival is not the first cultural institution to face this reckoning. When Airbnb sponsored Vivid Sydney, multiple artists withdrew from the festival, refusing to allow their work:

to be used to legitimise or sanitise unethical corporate relationships.

They cited Airbnb’s documented history of listing properties in illegal Israeli settlements. Vivid Sydney subsequently dropped Airbnb as a sponsor.

The message from the cultural world is becoming impossible to ignore. Airbnb’s settlement listings are incompatible with the values of any festival that champions ideas, human rights, free expression, and the power of storytelling.

PSC Cymru co-chair Bethan Sayed said:

It is deeply shocking, and bitterly ironic, that the Hay Festival has taken money from Airbnb to promote ‘the importance of place and space in storytelling’, while Airbnb profits from the violent erasure and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Airbnb is complicit in a war crime. Its settlement listings help fuel the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes and land, propping up Israel’s system of apartheid, and forcing Palestinians into isolated enclaves, subjected to violent settler attacks, cut off from their families, their communities, and their cultural and historic space.

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By accepting Airbnb’s sponsorship, the Hay Festival is sending a clear message that Palestinian lives are not important, that stolen land is acceptable, and that war crimes are acceptable. Is it content to accept that the destruction of an entire people’s home, story, and identity is someone else’s problem?

We say: it is not. The Hay Festival would not platform a plagiarist, and it must not platform land theft. Close the book on Airbnb. End the sponsorship now.

PSC Cymru is calling on:

• The Hay Festival to terminate its partnership with Airbnb without delay.
• Authors, speakers, and literary figures to publicly condemn the sponsorship.
• Festival-goers to sign our e-action and demand Hay Festival ends its sponsorship deal with Airbnb.

Sign the e-action: No Room for Apartheid at Hay Festival. Close the Book on Airbnb.

Featured image via Getty Images

By The Canary

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Actor and LGBTQ+ rights campaigner Ian McKellen will launch a march in central London on Saturday 30 May. It will protest against the criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people in 29 Commonwealth member states under colonial-era laws originally imposed by the UK.

The march starts at 12 noon, outside the Nigerian High Commission, 9 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5BX.

LGBTQ+ people still at risk in Commonwealth

Six Commonwealth countries have a maximum sentence of life in prison. In Uganda, Brunei and northern Nigerian states, same-sex relations can carry the death penalty.

Many of those attending the protest are LGBTQ+ refugees who have fled persecution in Commonwealth nations.

For 77 years, the two-yearly Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting has refused to recognise LGBTQ+ human rights, or even allow a discussion of the issue.

Campaigners say millions of LGBTQ+ people across the Commonwealth continue to face arrest, imprisonment, violence and discrimination, solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

It is organised by the Peter Tatchell Foundation alongside Out and Proud Africa LGBTI, Let Voice be Heard (Bangladesh), Gay Indian Network (GIN) and the African Equality Foundation.

The ‘Commonwealth Walk of Shame’ will begin with a speech by Ian McKellen to send off marchers to protest outside eight Commonwealth High Commissions that criminalise LGBTQ+ people: Nigeria, Uganda, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad & Tobago, Ghana, Jamaica, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The march comes as the Commonwealth seeks to project itself as a modern organisation committed to democracy, equality and human rights.

Deborah Birunji Nabisere of Out and Proud Africa LGBTI, a lesbian who has fled persecution in Uganda, said:

I know what it means to live under laws designed to erase your humanity. We are marching because silence has protected persecution for far too long. Commonwealth leaders cannot celebrate unity while millions of LGBT+ citizens live in fear.

For many LGBT+ people across Africa and the Commonwealth, these laws are not abstract. They shape every part of daily life: whether you can speak openly, whether you can find work, whether you are safe walking home.

McKellen said:

No one should face prison, violence or death simply for being themselves and loving another person. Yet across most of the Commonwealth, LGBT+ people are still treated as criminals.

Many of these laws are relics of the British Empire. The least we in Britain can do is stand in solidarity with those fighting to overturn criminalisation. I am proud to support this march and the brave activists leading the struggle for LGBT+ equality.

Peter Tatchell said:

For decades, Commonwealth leaders have failed to end the persecution of LGBT+ people. We urge the new Commonwealth secretary-general, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey of Ghana, to begin her tenure by making clear that anti-LGBT+ victimisation is incompatible with Commonwealth values.

29 Commonwealth countries still criminalise homosexuality, mostly under British colonial-era laws, in direct violation of the Commonwealth Charter’s commitment to equality and non-discrimination.

Across the Commonwealth, millions of LGBT+ people continue to face arrest, imprisonment, violence and discrimination in employment, housing, education and healthcare.

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Event details

‘Commonwealth Walk of Shame’ Against Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws

Date: Saturday 30 May 2026

Time: 12 noon

Location: Nigerian High Commission, 9 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5BX

Organisers:

• Peter Tatchell Foundation.
• Out and Proud Africa LGBTI.
• Let Voice be Heard (Bangladesh).
• Gay Indian Network (GIN).
• African Equality Foundation.

Featured image via Jeff Spicer / Getty Images for BFI

By The Canary

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Former special forces soldier-turned-defence minister Alistair Carns boasted on Wednesday that drones were the “most effective killing weapons” at a summit in Riga, Latvia.

Thousands of miles away, the Ministry of Defence posted a video of Carns on Wednesday that showed him “droning about drones” on the RFA Lyme Bay, which they said had left Gibraltar for a mine-hunting mission in the Strait of Hormuz.

The post said:

RFA Lyme Bay has left Gibraltar, carrying underwater drones and cutting-edge minehunting kit, ahead of a potential deployment to safeguard navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Alistair Carns explains why this autonomous tech is so vital as part of a Hybrid Navy

RFA Lyme Bay has left Gibraltar, carrying underwater drones and cutting-edge minehunting kit, ahead of a potential deployment to safeguard navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
@AlistairCarns explains why this autonomous tech is so vital as part of a Hybrid Navy pic.twitter.com/mDNbfGWmeU

— Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) May 27, 2026

In Riga, Carns spoke of drones as the dominant weapon of modern warfare, emphasising their lethality and urging NATO to “redesign, restructure” around them. Carns sure loves to drone on about the future of killing.

Carns’ “Defensive” action

UK’s involvement in the US and Israel’s war of choice and aggression on Iran is “defensive” only in words.

On April 17th, Starmer, along with France’s Macron, announced a multinational mission to protect commercial shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz and called it “strictly peaceful and defensive” in London.

Starmer also said it would only begin once fighting ends.

However, American forces conducted what a U.S. official said on Wednesday were “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran for the second time in three days.

Real. pic.twitter.com/RJDJCDzRMo

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 27, 2026

At the same time, the White House posted a clownish meme mocking Iran’s navy on the “bottom of the ocean.” The National reported a surge in US military flights from the publicly owned UK’s Prestwick Airport before the latest Iran strikes,

Does all this point to America’s willingness to end its illegal war? Starmer is misleading us again and again.

Carns boasts about the lethality of drones in Riga. Amid all this, the same drones leave Gibraltar for Hormuz. So, which is it — a defensive mine hunter or a killing weapon?

Featured image via Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

By The Canary

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Academy Award-winning actor Javier Bardem and Children’s and Family Emmy Award-nominated actress Yasmin Finney star in SLAPP Suit.

It’s a new short film released globally by Greenpeace International on 28 May. SLAPP Suit dramatises the threat of, and resistance to, abusive SLAPP lawsuits. You can watch the film here.

Billionaire bullies and corporate polluters use Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) to bury activists, journalists, whistleblowers, and non-profit organisations in legal fees, drain their time and resources, and ultimately make the cost of dissent too high.

Greenpeace targeted by SLAPPs

US-based fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer has been waging back-to-back abusive SLAPP lawsuits against Greenpeace in the US and Greenpeace International for nearly a decade. It’s a blatant attempt to silence free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Academy Award-winning actor and activist Javier Bardem said:

I made this film with Greenpeace because they’re fighting a monumental legal battle about free speech, but really it’s about something much bigger: widespread attempts to silence activism.

The type of lawsuits used by pipeline company Energy Transfer are also being used to silence journalists, artists and ordinary people who care about their communities.

The question is not why to speak out. But how could we not, if we want to have the same freedom in the future?

The threat of corporate intimidation tactics like SLAPP lawsuits is far bigger than Greenpeace. Corporate polluters and greedy oligarchs know protest works. That’s why they’re trying to make the stakes so high no one will be willing to take the risk to defend people or the planet.

Children’s and Family Emmy Award-nominated UK actress Yasmin Finney said:

The right to protest in the UK is a huge battle. People demanding better is what built our country, but increasingly it’s becoming criminalised.

Not enough people believe or see that our rights are really under threat, and that’s why we made this film: Greenpeace’s legal fight against Energy Transfer is one example of resistance, but there are many more.

Bullies respond to strength and togetherness, and that’s what we need more of right now.

Big Oil companies Shell, Total, and ENI have also filed SLAPPs against Greenpeace entities in recent years. A couple of these cases have been successfully stopped in their tracks.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace organisations in the US and Greenpeace International continue the legal fight against the US$345 million judgment in Energy Transfer’s abusive lawsuit in North Dakota.

In Europe, Netherlands-based Greenpeace International is pursuing justice with a landmark anti-SLAPP case. It aims to hold Energy Transfer accountable for its back-to-back abusive lawsuits under Dutch law and the EU’s new anti-SLAPP directive.

Susannah Compton of Greenpeace International said:

The global threat of corporate intimidation tactics such as SLAPP lawsuits is an existential crisis for freedom of speech and protest for everyone who dares speak out against the powerful – whether Greenpeace would agree with them or not.

If we do not defend our right to resist, we surrender the future to a few oligarchs who see power as a tool for empire rather than a shared responsibility.

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Featured image via Greenpeace

By The Canary

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