Top Trump figures push to direct human rights funding to rightwing causes 30. September 2026 (14:00) Support for white Afrikaners, anti-communism and others reveals how US redefining what qualifies as human rightsWith hours left before the funding expires, the Trump administration is pushing to direct more than $175m of the state department’s flagship human rights fund to a slate of awards that includes a massive $40m grant for an anti-communism fund, support for a group advancing white Afrikaner rights in South Africa, a campaign against Brazil’s supreme court, and programs that would reward ideological allies in Europe who protect “western civilisational norms”.Critics have focused on 43 awards of a combined $176.9m that will bolster rightwing and conservative causes around the world while likely angering US allies over interference in internal politics. The Guardian has seen a sample of the controversial grants, which makes up most of the $205m in funding that Congress has appropriated for the entire human rights and democracy fund (HRDF). Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK banks are Europe’s biggest coal financiers, report finds 30. September 2026 (13:58) Study says UK-based banks provided $8.3bn in coal financing in four years, with Barclays and HSBC leading riseUK banks are Europe’s biggest financial backers of the global coal industry, providing billions of pounds in funding for the climate-wrecking fossil fuel in the past four years, according to a report.The study found UK-based banks had provided $8.3bn (£6.2bn) in coal financing since Cop26 in Glasgow in 2021, when global leaders pledged to “phase down” coal use. This compared with $4.9bn from German banks and $3.4bn from French banks over the same period. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
AI tool that copied actor’s ‘lustrous’ voice violated his rights, Tokyo court rules 30. September 2026 (13:09) Kenjiro Tsuda wins case against TikTok account in landmark Japanese verdict to protect publicity rightsA court in Japan has ruled that the human voice has legal protection after a landmark case involving a well-known actor and a TikTok account that he claimed had cloned his “lustrous” baritone voice in its AI-generated videos.Tokyo district court said on Wednesday that voices should enjoy the same protection as publicity rights, at the end of a closely watched legal action brought against TikTok by Kenjiro Tsuda – best known for voicing the character Kento Nanami in the anime Jujutsu Kaisen. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Iranian singer’s 74 lashes for performing without a hijab ‘a form of torture’, say rights groups 30. September 2026 (13:09) Iranian court upholds sentence against 29-year-old star Parastoo Ahmadi and other musicians in crackdown on women flouting hijab lawAn Iranian court’s decision to uphold a sentence of 74 lashes against the popular singer Parastoo Ahmadi for performing without a hijab has sparked outrage among rights groups, who described it as “a form of torture”.In June, Ahmadi, 29, and eight members of her production team, including musicians, were sentenced by a court in the city of Qom over a concert that was streamed online in 2024, which went viral and racked up millions of views. The court said the group had violated the country’s “legal and cultural norms” and called the performance “obscene and vulgar”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
