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Accord comes as Mark Carney seeks shift in Ottawa’s relationship with New Delhi after long diplomatic spat

CanadaandIndiaplan to share intelligence in an effort to combat the rising threat of international crime and extremism, according to a new report from Bloomberg, days before a meeting between the two countries’ leaders.

Canadian officials declined to comment on the report, which, if confirmed, would represent a dramatic shift in relations between the two countries which for nearly two years have been locked in a bitter diplomatic spat after Canada’s federal police agency concluded that Indiaplanned and ordered the murder a prominent Sikh activist on Canadian soil.

Under the intelligence-sharing deal, which is expected to be announced during the G7 summit inCanadalater this week, police from both countries will increase cooperation on transnational crime, terrorism and extremist activities. Canada has reportedly pushed for more work on investigations into extrajudicial killings.

Earlier this month, Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, was forced to defend his decision to invite the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, to the G7 summit in Alberta after Canada’s federal police said the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar wasorchestrated by the “highest levels” of the Indian government.

Carney said there was a “legal process that is literally under way and quite advanced inCanada”, following questions over his decision to invite Modi. Four Indian nationals living in Canada have been charged with Nijjar’s murder.

Carney also cited India’s status as the “fifth largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains”. But the decision did not sit well with lawmakers from British Columbia. A member of Carney’s Liberal caucus, Sukh Dhaliwal, met with the prime minister earlier this the week to express concern over the invitation.

“We as Canadians take pride to be a champion on human rights. We are the country of law and justice,” Dhaliwal, who represents the electoral district where Nijjar was killed, told the Canadian Press. “When it comes to protecting fundamental rights and serving justice for the victim, it is non-negotiable.”

Dhaliwal said that the prime minister was “alarmed about the issue” and would be “very strong in dealing” with the issue when speaking to his Indian counterpart.

Ever since former prime minister Justin Trudeau accused India of orchestrating the high-profile assassination of Nijjar, Ottawa and New Delhi have been locked in a worsening feud over the issue.

India temporarily stopped issuing in visas in Canada and, soon after, Canada expelled six senior diplomats, including the high commissioner, Sanjay Verma. India retaliated by ordering the expulsion of six high-ranking Canadian diplomats, including the acting high commissioner.

“The Indian government made a horrific mistake in thinking that they could interfere as aggressively as they did in the safety and sovereignty of Canada,” Trudeau told a public inquiry into foreign interference, adding that Canada had not wanted to “blow up” its valuable relationship with India. But he said afterNijjarwas killed, “we had clear and certainly now ever clearer indications that India had violated Canada’s sovereignty”.

The Bloomberg report, which underscores Carney’s attempts to mend relations with powerful nations, follows revelations that a suspected Indian government agent was surveilling former New Democratic party leader Jagmeet Singh as part of its network of coercion and intimidation.

According to Global News, the person, with suspected ties to both the Indian government andthe Lawrence Bishnoi gang implicated in Nijjar’s death, knew Singh’s daily routines, travel plans and family. When the RCMP realized there was a credible thread to this life, they placed the federal party leader under police protection.

“India targeted a Canadian politician on Canadian soil. That’s absolutely unprecedented. As far as we’re concerned, that’s an act of war,” Balpreet Singh, a spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization, said after of the Global News report. “If Jagmeet Singh isn’t safe … what does it mean for the rest of us?”

Florence in Italy could hit 39C as hot weather sweeps continent, while parts of South Africa brace for snow

The severe thunderstorms that have been lashing parts ofEuropeover recent days are expected to give way to high temperatures this week. Several regions could climb to 10C (50F) above seasonal norms, with Italy braced for the full force of the heat. Florence in Tuscany is forecast to soar to a sweltering 39C on Thursday and across the weekend.

Germany, France andBelgiumwill also face hot weather from Wednesday, with widespread highs at least 9C above the June average. Many other parts of Europe are forecast to experience temperatures 5-7C above normal. This is the result of a high-pressure system creating a heat dome over the region, whereby sinking air compresses and warms as it descends, trapping heat near the surface.

Meanwhile,South Africais in the grip of a powerful storm system that has triggered alerts for severe weather nationwide. Over the weekend, Western Cape and Northern Cape bore the brunt of the system. As the week progresses, the storm is likely to intensify and move eastwards, bringing extreme weather to central and eastern regions.

The conditions are driving a significant drop in temperature, with daytime highs in some areas plummeting to more than 7C below the seasonal average. Gusty winds are making it feel even more frigid.

Heavy rain has also been hammering Eastern Cape, with coastal areas expected to be hit by more than 100mm on Monday, potentially causing floods. Strong winds sweeping across the region are expected to strengthen to about 60mph (100km/h) on Monday, exacerbating the impact of the storm. Snowfall is also expected, with significant accumulations likely to cause widespread travel disruption and infrastructure challenges.

The intense weather is the result of a strong cut-off low system, which occurs when a low-pressure area becomes detached from the main jet stream. This allows cold, dry air to descend from higher altitudes and combine with moisture at the surface to produce the volatile mix of rain, wind and snow that has been battering swaths of the country.

South African authorities are urging residents to stay alert, limit travel and monitor official weather updates over the coming days.

Who is Alaa Abd el-Fattah and why are British diplomats trying to obtain his release? Patrick Wintour reports

Laila Soueif, 69, has been on hunger strike in London for more than 250 days in an effort to secure the release of her son, the activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, from jail inEgypt. As diplomatic pressure mounts, she is now in a critical condition.

Alaa’s sisterMona Seifdescribes toMichael Safithe toll that imprisonment has taken on her brother, her mother’s determination to do whatever she can to secure his release, and the difficulty of coming to terms with her mother’s decision to risk her life.

The Guardian’s diplomatic editor,Patrick Wintour, describes meeting Soueif and says she and her British-Egyptian family have a long history of activism. This includes a reported past incident between her husband, Ahmed Seif, and the Egyptian president,Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, that many believe may be influencing Alaa’s potentially indefinite detention.

The two discuss the attempts made by different British governments to secure her son’s release, the Foreign Office’s strategic considerations, and possible diplomatic options.

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As Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s mother remains on hunger strike, supporters say activist’s continued detention is campaign of vengeance by Egypt’s president

Family, friends and supporters of the jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah have spoken about the conditions of his long imprisonment as his mother,Laila Soueif, remains in a London hospital in declining health on a hunger strike to secure his release.

Amid a mounting campaign to put pressure on British ministers to intervene more forcefully on Abd el-Fattah’s behalf, supporters say his continued detention is part of a campaign of vengeance motivated by the personal animus of the Egyptian president,Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, towards him.

The activist, who came to prominence during Egypt’s 2011 Tahrir Square protests, has been jailed twice, the second time months after his release from prison in 2019, and continues to be imprisoned despite completing his five-year sentence last autumn.

Abd el-Fattah’s first period in prison – from 2015 to 2019 – and part of his second was spent in the Tora maximum-security prison, a place designed to hold violent jihadists, but since 2022 he has been held in Wadi al-Natrun in Beheira province in the Nile delta.

With the harshest conditions in Tora – where Abd el-Fattah was beaten – his regime was also designed deliberately to isolate and demoralise him, say supporters, depriving him for three years of books and limiting his contact with other prisoners.

Between September 2019 to May 2022 he was held in a small, poorly ventilated cell, denied a bed and mattress as well as reading materials and exercise. “The idea was to crush his spirit,” says Mona Seif, his sister, who has visited her brother in jail. “I think after so many trials and attempts to break him, the regime has realised that the way crush to him is to isolate him from the world and render him mute. That’s been the tactic since his second period in jail beginning in 2019.”

What has become clear to Seif, and others campaigning to release him, is that the treatment of her brother is being driven by a very personal animosity directed at Abd el-Fattah and his family by Egypt’s president.

“It seems very personal,” says Seif. “Since 2019 the unofficial messages we have been getting from different Egyptian institutions is that our file is with Sisi.”

Abd el-Fattah was a familiar and always approachable figure in Tahrir Square during the 2011 mass protests that led to the fall of the government of Hosni Mubarak. Articulate, passionate and thoughtful, his great skill was seen in bringing different groups together.

Sentenced to jail for organising a political protest without permission in 2015, Abd el-Fattah was briefly released in March 2019 but was rearrested months later and charged with spreading “fake news undermining national security” for a retweet.

One person with a personal insight into what Abd el-Fattah has been through is the activist and poet Ahmed Douma, who was imprisoned during his first spell in jail in Tora, where for 10 months the two men were in separate, solitary cells facing each other, until the authorities decided their proximity was a problem.

Unlike Abd el-Fattah, Douma was pardoned and released by Sisi in 2023. January 2011 – when 18 days of mass protests led to the resignation of the then president, Hosni Mubarak – “was, still is, and will forever remain a personal enemy to Sisi. And Alaa was one of the symbols of that period,” Douma told the Guardian.

“At the same time, he’s an activist who has audience and influence – a thinker with his own philosophy and interest in how political movements develop, how people move, how they understand things.

“And of course, he also became a symbol of the stupidity of the authorities.

“The truth is that even one hour in prison inevitably leaves an impact, and it’s not trivial,” adds Douma, who spent more than 10 years in prison. “There’s depression from what happened in prison, whether things that happened to you directly or which you witnessed. Torture, assault and so on.

“It’s not just the impact on the body, but on the mind. At some point, you realise that you’ve been in solitary confinement for days, months, days or years, with no communication. I haven’t even begun the journey of recovery from the effects of those 10 years.”

Aida Seif El-Dawla, a psychiatrist, human rights defender and co-founder of El Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, says: “Look, in Egypt, detention is a psychological torture. I don’t know what those people are punished for except that they expressed an opinion. And to put people in prison because they expressed an opinion, that’s not a legal punishment. But apparently, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi thinks otherwise.

“This is the punishment of the saddest father who tortures his children for non-obedience.”

What is clear is that the Egyptian authorities regard Abd el-Fattah’s detention as open ended, holding him beyond his originally scheduled release date and also holding another potential prosecution over him.

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Mahmoud Shalaby, a researcher at Amnesty International who deals with Egypt, says: “The whole thing is about making an example of him. He’s already been brutally punished. He has spent almost 10 years in prison solely for practising his human rights. Alaa’s case is extremely extraordinary, especially as Egypt has a history of releasing dual nationals who are arbitrarily detained.

“I think the fear is that if he was released, he would go abroad and criticise the government from there. But that’s not a reason to keep him arbitrarily in prison.”

His lawyer, Khaled Ali, says: “Alaa should have been released on 28 September last year.” Instead, the courts have declined to include his period of pretrial detention, prior to ratification of the sentence, meaning he will not be released until 2027 – if then.

Ali says: “He was sentenced to five years in prison and he has been detained since 28 September 2019. His sentence should have ended on 28 September 2024.”

After a hunger strike in 2022, Abd el-Fattah has been allowed access to books and now a television in Wadi al-Natrun, from where he is able to write and receive letters from his family.

“Alaa and my mum are both big science fiction fans and so he reads a massive amount,” says Seif. “Science fiction, graphic novels and anything to do with science. Now he is allowed a television, he follows tournaments. He’ll treat a tournament as a whole project. If Wimbledon is on, he will follow for the day.

“But because of the way the prison was constructed, the exercise area is a big hole with concrete walls and no ceiling. He hasn’t walked in sun for over five years.”

The family are able to monitor his mood via his response to the cats that have sought shelter in the prison and whom he has adopted. “If his mood is good he shares lots of pictures of the cats.” His mood in recent months as his release date has come and gone has not been good.

Attempts by successive British governments and EU officials – among others – to intervene behind the scenes have been a failure as Egypt has faced no consequences for its human rights abuses. Lacking interlocutors with influence within Sisi’s immediate circle, Abd el-Fattah’s case is stuck, even as his mother’s health inLondonhas dangerously worsened.

One person who has been involved in advocacy for Abd el-Fattah says: “The policy of private engagement has been going on for over 10 years. You only see movement on human rights issues in Egypt where there is the threat of action.”

Seif says: “They just want his absolute surrender and Alaa completely broken and mimicking the regime’s narrative. Even the slightest indication of independence they see as defiance. The whole thing is a senseless act of pure vengeance that leaves us to keep guessing, what is it for, and when will be enough.”

Ahmed Douma adds: “If I could send him a message and tell him anything, I would tell him that we are with him. And that his freedom and Laila’s life are our personal battle.”

Olorato Mongale, allegedly killed by man she went on date with, is latest victim of violence against women

A wave of anger and frustration has grippedSouth Africaafter the murder of 30-year-old Olorato Mongale, allegedly by a man she went on a date with. It is the latest in a series of high-profile cases of violence against women and children in the country.

Friends of Mongale, a former journalist who had been studying for a master’s degree in ICT policy, raised the alarm when she stopped checking in with them while on a date in Johannesburg on 25 May. Her body was found that day.

The main suspect, Philangenkosi Makhanya, was killed in a shootout with police five days later, while another suspect, Bongani Mthimkhulu, remains on the run. South African police said more than 20 women had come forward to claim the two men had kidnapped and robbed them after masquerading as suitors at malls across SouthAfrica, in what police called a “romance dating scam”.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of femicide in the world, according to available data. In the year to 31 March 2024, more than 27,600 people were murdered, 5,578 of them women and 1,656 children, according to South African policedata.

Globally, in 2023, approximately 1.3 women per 100,000 were killed by an intimate partner or relative,according tothe United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) found that during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemicthe rate was 5.5.

Cameron Kasambala, the community manager at the advocacy groupWomenFor Change, said: “Women die no matter what they do. They’ve been stabbed while they sleep, shot in broad daylight and had their houses burned down by former partners.”

She pointed to the violent repression of South Africa’s black majority by the white minority during apartheid, which ended more than three decades ago. “Men compensate by becoming hypermasculine, by being violent and aggressive … It’s rooted in our violent history and exacerbated by poverty and substance abuse,” said Kasambala.

Other high-profile cases have included Racquel “Kelly” Smithselling her six-year-old daughter Joshlin, and that of Uyinene Mrwetyana, a student whose rape and murder in 2019 sparked huge protests. However, activists emphasise that thousands more go unnoticed every year.

In April, Women For Change handed over apetitionwith 150,000 signatures demanding that the government declare “gender-based violence and femicide” (GBVF) to be a national disaster. Kasambala said: “This stance will then filter down to the police, the courts and hospitals.”

Sindisiwe Chikunga, the minister for women, youth and persons with disabilities, replied in aletter: “The government remains fully committed to a whole-of-society, multi-sectoral response to the GBVF crisis.” She did not mention the national disaster demand.

Naeemah Abrahams, who leads the SAMRC’s femicide research, said: “When we try and solve it, it’s not going to be just the law. We’ve got great laws.”

Social norms around men being financial providers fuel violence, Abrahams said, with many believing, “if women step out of these societal expectations, she should be corrected for it”.

Mongale’s loved ones were incredibly proud of her achievements, said Criselda Kananda, the best friend of Mongale’s mother, Keabetswe. These included teaching English in South Korea and buying a flat in her home city of Bloemfontein.

Kananda said: “Olorato was such a bubbly ball of energy, who just lit up any space that she entered, who never took no for an answer.”

On Monday, Mongale’s mother went to her only child’s apartment for the first time since her death and found baking ingredients ready to make a cake. Kananda said: “We really are struggling … It’s things like these that are now painting a reality that she is no more.”

James Mukhwana detained over death of Albert Ojwang, who was arrested after criticising police official online

A Kenyan police officer has appeared in court in connection with the death of a teacher in police custody in a case that has caused outrage and protests and brought renewed scrutiny on the country’s security forces.

Constable James Mukhwana is the first police officer to be arrested over the death of Albert Ojwang, a secondary school teacher who was arrested on 6 June in Homa Bay county, western Kenya, after criticising a senior police official on social media. After his arrest, Ojwang was driven about 200 miles (350km) to Nairobi, where he died two days later.

Mukhwana was the cell sentry officer on duty the night Ojwang, 31, was brought to the central police station in Nairobi, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) told a court in the capital on Friday.

Presenting Mukhwana in court, the IPOA sought permission to detain him for 21 days in order to carry out investigations. The court will deliver its ruling on 20 June.

Mukhwana’s court appearance is the latest development in what has become a fast-moving case.

Police originally said Ojwang had died “after hitting his head against a cell wall”, but an autopsy showed that his wounds – including a head injury, neck compression and several soft tissue injuries – were likely to have been the result of assault. “These were injuries that were externally inflicted,” said Dr Bernard Midia, who led a team of pathologists for the postmortem examination.

On Wednesday, Douglas Kanja, the inspector general of police, apologised on behalf of the police for suggesting Ojwang had died after hitting his head against a wall, saying that had been “misinformation”.

The IPOA launched an investigation that encompasses the actions of the officers who arrested Ojwang in Homa Bay county and took him to Nairobi. On Tuesday, the police spokesperson Michael Muchiri said five officers had been removed from active duty to “allow for transparent investigations”.

Ojwang’s death caused outrage online and protests in Nairobi as people demanded accountability and called for the resignation of the deputy inspector general, Eliud Kipkoech Lagat, who was the subject of Ojwang’s comments.

Police fired teargas on Monday to disperse protesters as they marched to the central police station, then again on Thursday as protesters set vehicles ablaze.

Ojwang’s death rekindled persistent public anger about police brutality and other high-handedness in Kenya, where officers are rarely convicted. It came nearly a year afterunprecedented proteststhat led to the killings of dozens of protesters and thedisappearancesand abductions of many more.

Kenya’s president, William Ruto, said this week that Ojwang had died “at the hands of the police” and ordered the National Police Service to cooperate with the IPOA investigation. He said Ojwang’s death was “heartbreaking and unacceptable”, adding: “I strongly condemn the actions and omissions, including any negligence or outright criminality, that may have contributed to his untimely death.”

Ruto has previously promised to stop extrajudicial killings by members of the law enforcement, but activists and rights groups have criticised his administration for failing to stop it and even accused it of concealing the crimes.