UK Newswire Archive
Announced inspection of Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre
26-05-2010 07:16
Hunger Strike Occupied Ireland
26-05-2010 06:06
Liam Hannaway a traditional Irish republican, from a well-known westBelfast republican family, who is a relative of Sinn Fein leader Gerry
Adams has ended his 42 day hunger strike in occupied Ireland.
Anti War Democracy Village : Serving soldiers join protest in Parliament Square
26-05-2010 03:56
David Rovics & Attila the Stockbroker Gig
26-05-2010 02:05
Political Comeback Marcos Family Alarming – Victims of Martial law
26-05-2010 01:13
update on brian haw arrest this morning
26-05-2010 00:22
brian haw and barbara tucker are still being held at belgravia police station. they have bboth been charged with 'obstructing a pc in the course of their duty' and additionally, barbara has been charged with a section 5 public order offence
during yet another tent search without warrant, police violently arrested both campaigners in parliament square this morning at around 7.30am.
they were held at belgravia police station throughout the day, and around tea time their solicitors, birnberg and peirce, were led to believe they were about to be released on bail without an interview.
during the course of the evening, supporters were concerned they had still not re-surfaced, and the belgravia custody suite telephone was left off the hook for all that time so it was difficult for supporters of solicitors to get further information.
eventually at about 9pm, the police story had changed and now the custody sergeant had refused bail and were holding them for court the next morning.
they will be taken to westminster magistrates court early in the morning which will certainly stretch to breaking point the 24-hour restriction on police detention, and will appear before a judge at some point in the morning.
a supporter is ensuring their encampment is secure overnight, but there is a call-out for help and court support in the morning. given that both brian and barbara have previously received serious injury during police detention, there is concern for their welfare as news and access have been severely restricted.
Freeconomy Wrexham at the Dark Mountain Camp
25-05-2010 23:35
Freeconomy Wrexham (in conjunction with the original 'Give and Take') has a free 'bring and take' stall there full of free stuff and with free tea and cakes. It would be lovely to see anyone who is able to drop by between now and Friday. Campers welcome too!
International Solidarity With Greece From Spain
25-05-2010 23:31
Demommissioners Finally Go On Trial
25-05-2010 21:22
Trial starts 7th of JuneFilm night at the Magpie and Peace vigil outside the trial in Hove Brighton
On wed the 26th of May we will be showing a film at the Magpie (Ashley rd entrance) 7.30pm "Fallujah's children"
See calender.
The film shows the plight of the people of Fallujah after the American bombing of the city in 2004. The film illustrates the magnitude of the aftermath of modern warfare.
Joanne Baker human rights activist, will explain the research done so far on the weapons that were used at the time.
In the early hours of the 17th of January 2009, while Gaza was being bombed to shreds 6 people entered the EDO/ITT arms factory in Brighton and decommissioned it.
The factory makes bomb release mechanism for the F16 combat aircraft, used extensively by the Israelis on Gaza and the US in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The factory also makes parts for the Paveway Bomb.
The trial starts on the 7th of June at Hove Crown court.
The decommissioners are charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage to the tune of £250,000.
Their defense is that they stopped a greater crime and that the Israeli Defense Force was engaged in war crimes.
People are welcome to vigil outside the court during the trial Bristol Stop the War and Bristol Palestine Solidarity are booking a minibus for anyone who wishes to vigil on the first day of the trial June the 7th.
Please contact bristol stop the war coalition at
bristolstopwar@hotmail.com
if you would like to book a place.
Elijah James Smith has been on remand since the 17th of Jan 2009 Please continue to support him (info on the calender article for the film "Fallujah's children") or the related link websites.
29th Day of Resistance at Telepathic Heights
25-05-2010 19:22
The longest resistance to eviction for over ten years in Bristol enters its 29th day today. Telepathic Heights opposite the former Jesters Comedy Club has been held by one man despite seven eviction attempts by police and bailiffs. Cheesy - the lone squatter- wants to buy the property and has been in contact with the landlord although the Council has issued a compulsory purchase order on the building.Today I visited Telepathic heights on Cheltenham Road opposite the former Jesters Comedy Club. This is the bizarrely decorated building covered in graffiti one of which the Evening Post last week described as a giant green rodent. After walking the plank to gain access I went up on to the roof to talk to Cheesy who has now been resisting eviction for 29 days - which is something of a record in recent squatting history. He said that the police had tried to arrest him six times on charges connected with a similar protest in London. Each time the attempts to evict him have failed although the final time resulted in serious injury to his tongue, which has fortunately healed up well. Finally the bailiffs from the county court did manage to gain entry to the building while he was out. However he was able to get back inside the house the same day and has remained there ever since.
Despite all this trauma he remains in good spirits and is determined to hold on to the property which he wants to buy from the landlord. He said that a figure of £200,000 had been agreed on and he was confident he could raise the money from wellwishers. The Council have meanwhile issued a compulsory purchase order on the premises which have lain unused for years. Cheesy says that he thinks the police have given up on trying to arrest him but he remains alert at his look out post perched high above the bus stop below him on Cheltenham Road.
Cheesy welcomes all supporters to come and see him at Telepathic Heights. Be warned the house is well named and the roof is very high off the ground!
Korean stand-off: US soft power play to maintain aggression towards Iran
25-05-2010 19:05
A measure of how determined the US is in its need to subjugate the Iranian government can be seen from its curious, cuddly bear diplomacy over conflict in Korean Peninsula. An apparent act of war by a nuclear armed state is being cynically downplayed by the US simply because it needs China to effect further aggression towards Iran – a state which has neither nuclear weapons nor at war with anyone.
Iran Urges West to Accept Enrichment Deal
25-05-2010 17:32
"The deal is materially the same one the Obama Administration endorsed just a few months ago and was demanding that Iran agree to as recently as last month, but the US has condemned the deal, demanding Iran submit the offer formally for consideration by the IAEA, which they did today.But diplomats familiar with the situation say that the prospect of a deal is very unlikely, particularly as the Obama Administration moves forward with plans to sanction Iran which were nominally designed to punish them for not agreeing to the deal in the first place."
Full article | 1 addition | 2 comments
pics from democracy village today
25-05-2010 17:22
as parliament was state-opened today, the democracy village carried on with its main campaign to bring the troops home from afghanistan. the papers have gone apoplectic saying there should be no "permament" protest, but as the camp is clearly a protest about an admittedly long, but ongoing issue, there is no reason for the camp to remain indefinitely. with more and more troops coming out and agreeing with the majority of the british people that this war is a nonsense, the solution is obvious
the day started with a police search of all the tents in the square. some of the campers passively resisted the searches, but avid readers will know of brian haw's doubts that the searches are legal. in fact it is quite telling that although his supporter barbara tucker has been arrested many times for "obstructing the police in the course of their duty" over this very issue, the cases are all yet to be heard in court, where she will argue that the searches are in fact unlawful, and are meant to cause maximum harrassment.
once again, police took brian and barbara's objections as an excuse to violently assult/arrest them and took them to belgravia police station before 8am this morning. even the right-wing 'evening standard' described the arrest - "carried off by four officers with his whole body weight on his forward soldiers". other witnesses described the arrest as unnecessary and heavy-handed.
the rest of the morning passed pretty much without incident. policing was of course impenetrable, but in a public relations sort of way, police mingled with campers in a 'community policing' style approach giving the square the appearance of a festival.
there was a slightly silly 'alternative queen's speech' pantomime going on, and there were various groups present including guantanamo protestors, but aside from the huge 'troops home' banners, there actually wasn't much in the way of shouting as the elite and powerful rolled past.
brian's arrest has provoked some media coverage, and channel 4 did an interview with one of the camp's spokespeople that might appear on C4 news later if not edited out
the camp itself is intent on remaining until the troops are withdrawn. eviction will be resisted both physically (there is already a permamently manned tripod on site) and in the courts.
they are becoming better organised everyday, but need regular reports, are screaming out for tech help (as they have a partially constructed and functional comms tent which could do with extra 'leisure batteries' and techy knowledge), and could of course use donations of time, skills or money to keep going.
each day sees open meetings, and there will be more direct actions coming like the ones we have already seen reported here.
for more info and news, check out their blogspot - http://democracyvillage.blogspot.com/
International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos
25-05-2010 17:22
Demo at Noah's Ark Zoo FarmPlease join us for a protest outside Noah's Ark Zoo Farm - exposed last year for animal cruelty and the illegal burial of a dead tiger - now they plan to take on elephants!
Demo from 10am at the zoo entrance. Please get in touch if you need transport from Bristol, collection from Temple Meads station will be about 9:15am.
more info here:
www.helpelephants.com/idaez.html
and here:
www.closenaz.wordpress.com
Supplanting the United States Constitution: War, National Emergency and "Continu
25-05-2010 16:48
Clearly 9/11 met the conditions for the imposition of COG measures, and we know for certain that COG planning was instituted on that day in 2001, before the last plane had crashed in Pennsylvania.
It is also clear that the planning by Cheney, Rumsfeld and others in the last two decades was not confined to an immediate response to 9/11.
What few have recognized is that nearly a decade after 9/11, COG plans are still authorized by a proclamation of national emergency that has been extended each year by presidential authority, most recently by President Obama in September 2009.
BNP's Red White and Blue Festival Cancelled.
25-05-2010 16:19
According to Leicestershire BNP Regional Meeting Minutes.JB SPRAY Squat, Nottingham Under Threat of Eviction
25-05-2010 14:50
Palestine Today 05 25 2010
25-05-2010 14:33
Avonmouth Biofuel Power Station - carry on fighting the plans
25-05-2010 14:22
Developer has appealed against Bristol Council's refusal to grant planning permissionW4B Energy intend to build a 50MW power station in Avonmouth Docks. It will burn 90,000 tonnes of palm oil per year to generate so-called renewable electricity. Bristol Council refused planning permission in February agreeing with campaigners that fuel imported from Asia and South America cannot be sustainable - particularly when industrial scale palm oil plantations are one of the major causes of deforestation and habitat destruction.
W4B has appealed the refusal and a planning inspector will now make the final decision. A public inquiry later this year - date to be announced - will hear arguments from both sides. Written comments are now being taken, with a closing date of 2 June.
Although Bristol Council refused permission because they view this use of biofuel as unsustainable, there are other valid reasons for refusing permission, including local air quality impacts. It is important that these other reasons are put forward in objections sent to the Planning Inspector.
W4B have tried to head off concerns about their proposed development by suggesting that they will only use palm oil for a short period until jatropha oil is available in commercial quantities. Currently palm oil is considerably cheaper than jatropha, and Biofuelwatch see no reason to think that jatropha will ever be competitive on the global markets. Jatropha grown on an industrial scale has many adverse social and environmental impacts and uses even more land area than palm oil.
The Biofuelwatch website (www.biofuelwatch.org.uk) has more background and details on how to submit comments to the planning inspector.
THE DEADLINE IS 2 JUNE
If you have any questions regarding responses to the appeal or if you want to do more to help us fight the appeal, please email us at info@biofuelwatch.org.uk.