Protesters in Kenya have seized the parliament’s ceremonial Mace after hundreds stormed the parliament buildings as protests over the Finance Bill have shaken the country.

The Kenyan governmental website describes the ceremonial Mace as “a highly ornamented staff of metal, wood or other materials, carried by a Mace-bearer or placed before a sovereign or other high officials; in civic ceremonies or before a revered gathering to symbolize authority.”

According to Kenyan parliamentary tradition, the Mace is an essential part of parliamentary regalia, giving credence and legality to the assembly of national and local politicians. No formal business can be transacted in the absence of the Mace. As such, the protester’s seizure of the Mace represents another act of rebellion against the ruling order.

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The Kenyan people have risen up. Storming the streets and parliament, they spoiled the plans of Kenya’s ruling class and their imperialist puppeteers to quietly drive more and more of the masses into crippling poverty and misery.

In response, the military has been called in and police have been murdering and abducting those who have taken to the streets. Here’s a roundup of the latest:

🟡 At least 10 people have been murdered by Kenyan police at today’s protests

🟡 Kenyans overwhelmed police to storm the parliament, where politicians passed austerity legislation and sent it to the President for final approval

🟡 Politicians fled the scene through tunnels while protesters allowed legislators who voted against the bill to leave the besieged building

🟡 Troops in military vehicles were seen rolling into Nairobi to quell the uprising

🟡 The Kenya Law Society President Faith Odhiambo said 50 Kenyans, including her personal assistant, had been kidnapped by Kenyan police

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Swiss Song of the Day 🇨🇭🌍: https://open.spotify.com/track/0HxBcYVceoxAuWCj0vCWTD

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On this day, 25 June 1978, the rainbow LGBT+ flag was first flown at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day march. The flag was designed by gay artist and army veteran Gilbert Baker (pictured in 2003), and the two flags flown were hand-dyed and stitched by 30 volunteers. The original design included eight coloured stripes: pink for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for peace and purple for spirit. More recently, many rainbow flags have added brown and black stripes, reflecting the particular oppression faced by Black and other LGBT+ people of colour. Others have added a triangle including blue, pink and white stripes to stress the inclusion of trans people, amidst efforts by the far right, supported by a small minority of the left (especially in Britain) to attack the rights won by trans people over decades of struggle.This Pride month learn more LGBT+ history in our podcast series. In particular we've got episodes about the Stonewall rebellion and the first ever Pride the following year, about LGBT+ support for the UK miners' strike in the 1980s, and an interview with queer sex workers who organised their workplace in the 1990s and 2000s: https://workingclasshistory.com/tag/lgbtq/To access this hyperlink, click our link bio then click this photo

International scheme to tax billionaires’ wealth technically feasible, study finds https://www.theguardian.com/news/article/2024/jun/25/international-scheme-to-tax-billionaires-wealth-technically-feasible-study-finds

Immer abgehobener, immer entgrenzter: Das Parlament lieferte zuletzt eine blamable Leistung ab. https://www.woz.ch/!SRCXRH7J50QN

Während das Rassemblement National in Frankreich auf einen Sieg bei den Parlamentswahlen zusteuert, verbündet sich die Linke in Rekordzeit. Die Soziologin Safia Dahani erklärt das politische Erdbeben. https://www.woz.ch/!TG0NMKF9D1DW

Surplus Value
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Cops clearing a pro-Palestine camp in front of the German parliament, which was set up by activists demanding the government stop arms exports to Israel and an end to the criminalization of the Palestinian solidarity movementm

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On this day, 26 June 1952, Black feminist and squatting activist, Olive Morris was born in Harewood, Jamaica. Moving to London with her family, she became a founding member of the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD), established the Brixton Black Women's Group, was a member of the British Black Panther Movement, and helped found the Manchester Black Women's Cooperative and Manchester Black Women's Mutual Aid Group. Morris was one of the first to squat at 121 Railton Road, Brixton London, an address which subsequently housed a range of community and political groups until the 1990s. She also wrote many articles, about topics like Black and Asian workers' struggles, and critiques of strains of anti-fascism which ignored institutional, state and police racism.In one speech, she declared that "the Black women's movement is part of the world struggle for national liberation and the destruction of capitalism. Only when this is achieved can we ensure that our liberation as Black women is genuine, total and irreversible."Morris was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and died shortly after in 1979, aged just 27. Emma Allotey later recalled: "Her premature death was a shock to the community. A Lambeth council building, 18 Brixton Hill, was named after her in March 1986. There is a community garden and play area named after her in the Myatt’s Fields area. In 2009, Olive was chosen by popular vote as one of the historical figures to feature on a local currency, the Brixton Pound."Learn more about black British working class history in this book: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/black-history/products/the-making-of-the-black-working-class-in-britain-ron-ramdin To access this hyperlink, click our link bio then click this photo

Former Swiss Minister Alain Berset Elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe 🇪🇺🇨🇭

Big news for Switzerland! Swiss politician Alain Berset is set to become the next head of the Council of Europe.

With 114 votes after the second round of voting in Strasbourg, Berset is the first Swiss to nab the post and he will take office on September 18.

The Strasbourg-based body – not to be confused with the European Union (EU), of which Switzerland is not a member – is a 46-state international organisation, founded in 1949 to promote and safeguard democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

Take a look at this article to learn more about Berset and what he's got planned for his five-year term. 👉 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/democracy/a-swiss-at-the-top-of-the-council-of-europe/81366532?utm_campaign=messenger&utm_medium=social&utm_source=telegram&utm_content=o

TIL Kendrick Lamar is the only musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music [source, comments]

The fragrance of the day? Tear gas! – Watch this protester in Nairobi, Kenya, use typical Kenyan cheeky humor to criticize the police crackdown on anti-government protests.

The Gen Z-driven uprisings erupted after President William Ruto pushed for IMF-backed crippling tax reforms that targeted the working class.

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Song of the Day 💃🏾🕺🏻: https://youtu.be/5JUjFN9AuFU