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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, Reform UK has been urged to cut ties with Howard Raymond Din, one of its local election candidates in West London, over a series of Islamophobic and ableist posts on his social media accounts including one that called for a mass shooting of Muslims, meanwhile in Algeria, Pope Leo paid homage to his spiritual roots on Tuesday, traveling to the ancient birthplace in Algeria of St. Augustine of Hippo, who first inspired him to become a priest, and lastly in Denmark, while addressing anti-Semitism and Greenlanders’ rights, analysts say that the country’s newly released “National Action Plan Against Racism” lacks targeted measures against anti-Muslim discrimination. Our recommended read of the day is by Debasish Roy Chowdhury for Toda Peace Institute, on his new report, which examines how transnational far-right alliances are “exacerbating existing challenges to democracy by creating a networked infrastructure that amplifies extremist ideologies”. This and more below:
International
A White Supremacist’s Passage to Modi’s India | Recommended Read
This report examines transnational far-right alliances which are exacerbating existing challenges to democracy by creating a networked infrastructure that amplifies extremist ideologies, creates replicable authoritarian playbooks, and normalizes democratic erosion and hateful rhetoric. The report focuses on celebrity MAGA influencer and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer who, despite issuing slurs and rants against India and Indians on social media, has masterfully recast herself as an advocate for “Hindu people” against the “brutalities of Islam.” Prominent right-wing personalities like Loomer with proximity to power increasingly provide new connections of parallel diplomacy—geopolitical pathways that are seldom studied or discussed by think-tanks and foreign policy pundits. read the complete article
Israel’s ‘rock’ in Europe, anti-Muslim far-right leader Viktor Orbán, defeated in landmark election
Israel has suffered a major political setback in Europe after Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, conceded defeat in a landmark election that ended his 16-year rule and handed a crushing victory to the opposition Tisza party led by Péter Magyar. Tisza won 138 of 199 parliamentary seats, giving it a two-thirds majority and the power to begin dismantling much of Orbán’s entrenched political system. Orbán’s defeat followed years of economic stagnation, corruption scandals and growing public anger at his authoritarian style of government. The result is being viewed not only as a domestic political earthquake in Hungary, but also as a wider repudiation of the far-right axis associated with Orbán, US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Orbán had become one of the most prominent international allies of both men, with Trump publicly endorsing him and US Vice President JD Vance travelling to Budapest days before the vote to campaign on his behalf. read the complete article
Pope Leo in Algeria: ‘The future belongs to men and women of peace’
“The future belongs to men and women of peace,” Pope Leo told Algerians and the wider world as he stood at the Maqam Echahid Martyrs’ Monument for those who died in the struggle for independence from France. He spoke after praying at the monument and laying a wreath in memory of the dead. He began by wishing peace to his “dear Algerian brothers and sisters,” in both English and Arabic, in his first speech soon after landing in this predominantly Muslim country of 48 million people, the largest country in Africa, which lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert. He praised Algeria as “a great country, with a long history, rich in traditions dating back to the time of St. Augustine and well before.” But, he recalled, “it is also a painful history, marked by periods of violence,” and yet thanks to their “nobility of spirit,” the people have been able to overcome those trials, alluding to the country’s war of independence (1954-62) and civil war (1992-2002). “God desires peace for every nation: a peace that is not merely an absence of conflict, but one that is an expression of justice and dignity,” the pope said. “This peace, which allows us to face the future with a reconciled spirit, is possible only through forgiveness.” read the complete article
Pope Leo honours St. Augustine in Algeria, seizes on anti-war legacy
Pope Leo paid homage to his spiritual roots on Tuesday, travelling to the ancient birthplace in Algeria of St. Augustine of Hippo, who inspired him to become a priest. The first American pope has drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump after sharply criticising the Iran war. In honouring Augustine, Leo was highlighting a personal connection to a major figure of the early Church who first proposed criteria to evaluate whether wars could be considered just. Augustine, who died in the year 430, said wars should only be waged in order to defend against aggression or protect the innocent, with the intention of restoring a state of peace and never out of a desire for cruelty. Those criteria, with updates, remain Catholic doctrine. They have been invoked by some critics of the Iran war to argue that the conflict, started by surprise US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran on February 28, is unjust. Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy is among those critics. He said on Sunday that the war was “morally illegitimate”, citing Augustine’s principles. read the complete article
United Kingdom
Ex-Tory councillor speaks after judge finds colleagues discriminated against him
A former Conservative Muslim councillor has urged the party to tackle Islamophobia and “stand up to discrimination” after a judge ruled that he had been discriminated against and victimised because of his Pakistani heritage and religious beliefs by members of his local Tory association. Mohammed Arif, who was a councillor for the St Matthew’s ward in Walsall in the West Midlands, took members of the Walsall Conservative Federation — now the Walsall and Bloxwich Association — to court over claims members of the local party had discriminated against him and blocked him from standing for re-election in 2015. Following an eight-day trial in Birmingham County Court in December 2025, judge James Tindal ruled on 2 April that Arif’s Muslim faith had been “weaponised” against him in a decision not to select him as a candidate for the local election. The judge also ruled that Arif had been discriminated against or victimised in 13 different instances between 2015 and 2018, including being described by a fellow councillor as being part of a “Pakistani Islamic clique” after the federation saw a rapid increase in members who had joined — in the judge’s words — in an “unorthodox way, overwhelmingly from the local Muslim community”. read the complete article
Reform UK urged to cut ties with West London candidate over Islamophobic social media posts
Reform UK has been urged to cut ties with one of its local election candidates in West London over a series of Islamophobic and ableist posts on his social media accounts including one that called for a mass shooting of Muslims. Hillingdon Conservatives have called on Reform to withdraw support for candidate Howard Raymond Dini, who is standing in the Ickenham and South Harefield ward for Hillingdon Council on May 7. A series of posts and comments on Facebook and Threads in which his account either shared offensive content from other accounts or directly posted, includes a reshare of a post by someone else declaring "I'm a proud ISLAMAPHOBE". A comment posted from Mr Dini's account in response to someone else made reference to celebrating "when every f*****g Palestinian is dead". In a direct threat of violence towards Muslims, one post from Mr Dini's own account in December 2025 read: "It is time to return the gun fire when the Islamists gather on their festival we should go and shoot them and as many as possible it is called an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth." read the complete article
Here’s what experts say should be in midwives’ new anti-racism training
New anti-racism training for midwives must be implemented into “every single aspect” of learning and teach students to confront their own biases if it is to be effective, experts have warned. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which approves and oversees midwifery programmes across the UK, announced last week that it would be working with universities to introduce anti-racism and bias awareness to the midwifery curriculum. The training is currently being created and will be published later in 2026, with all universities to implement it at the start of the next academic year. Figures released by MBRRACE-UK, which investigates deaths of women or babies who die during or shortly after pregnancy, show that Black women are three times as likely to die during pregnancy or in the postnatal period. In Asian women, mortality rates are 1.3 times what they are for white women. Black babies are also twice as likely to be stillborn, while Asian babies are 50% more likely to be stillborn. The maternity charity Birthrights found that racist attitudes and behaviours, such as assigning stereotypes to ethnic groups, microaggressions and assumptions about risk based on race, were significant factors in poor maternity experiences in Black and Brown women. read the complete article
United States
Brookfield alder resigns after anti-Muslim posts uncovered
Kris Seals, a Brookfield alderman, has resigned following public outcry over anti-Muslim social media posts he made. Though Seals initially resisted calls for his resignation, he has since backpedaled and apologized for his comments, which discussed violence against Muslims. “I would like to apologize to the Muslim community for my insensitive and inappropriate statements I made online,” Seals said in an emailed statement which was shared by Brookfield City Attorney Jenna Merten, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Shortly after Seals was reelected in an uncontested race on April 7, Fox 6 Milwaukee reported on numerous posts the alder made on LinkedIn. “They will take over your country with out (sic) one shot,” read one of Seals’ posts. “They will out vote you in less then (sic) 30 years and then you will be living under Sharia Law.” “They are a sick religion,” Seals wrote in another post. “This must stop. deport them all.” In yet another post Seals wrote “It’s time to wipe out the immigrants from Britain and all of the EU.” Another of his posts referred to shooting Muslims and Somalis with “bacon rapped (sic) bullets,” topped off with laughing emojis. read the complete article
India
‘Pig politicisation isn’t unique to Delhi’s Tri Nagar. It’s a worldwide anti-Muslim strategy’
Religion, politics and pigs all came together in a Delhi neighbourhood recently, such that it would leave one scratching their head. According to the report, Hindu families in Tri Nagar—home to over 70 Muslim households—were worshipping pigs, often caged, alongside images of Varaha, the boar-headed Hindu deity.The funniest part about pig politicisation is that it is based on ignorance. Hindus and Christians can eat all the pork they want and keep pigs as pets—that does not bother Muslims. Watch this week's column for ThePrint by Amana Begam Ansari. read the complete article
Australia
Shocking racist incidents strip Australians of humanity
Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and Jewish Australians have shared harrowing experiences of racism, and the ongoing US-Iran-Israel conflict could unleash another wave. A Palestinian community member labelled a "Hamas sympathiser" and told to "go die in Gaza", a Jewish student met with classroom desks formed into a swastika on Year 12 muck-up day, a Muslim girl bullied for wearing a hijab to school: these are among examples shared with the Australian Human Rights Commission in its report investigating racism in the aftermath of October 7, 2023. Anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia have surged in Australia since Hamas's attack on Israel, and the bombardment and starvation of Gaza in response. Though each form of racism is unique, every group experienced common themes of dehumanisation, isolation and homogenisation, Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said. read the complete article
Denmark
Denmark’s anti-racism action plan falls short due to Islamophobia exclusion
Denmark’s 2025 National Action Plan Against Racism remains flawed by its exclusion of Islamophobia. While addressing anti-Semitism and Greenlanders' rights, it lacks targeted measures against anti-Muslim discrimination, creating a dangerous hierarchy of protection. As Denmark prepares for its 2026 Universal Periodic Review, this article criticizes the selective approach as a democratic failure. It urges European policymakers to demand explicit recognition of Islamophobia and inclusive strategies to ensure genuine equality and uphold human rights credibility. read the complete article