UK Newswire Archive
English Defence League links to UK Independence Party [UKIP].
19-07-2010 19:55
Omar Deghayes Complains About "Highly Selective" Disclosure of Documents
19-07-2010 18:56
Last week, when the High Court ordered the release of documents relating to alleged British complicity in the torture and ill-treatment of British nationals in US custody, as part of a civil claim for damages filed by six former Guantánamo prisoners, 16 pages of those documents related to interrogations by British agents of one of the six, Omar Deghayes, who was released from Guantánamo in December 2007.
Calling All Future-Eaters
19-07-2010 18:46
The human species during its brief time on Earth has exhibited a remarkable capacity to kill itself off. The Cro-Magnons dispatched the gentler Neanderthals. The conquistadors, with the help of smallpox, decimated the native populations in the Americas. Modern industrial warfare in the 20th century took at least 100 million lives, most of them civilians. And now we sit passive and dumb as corporations and the leaders of industrialized nations ensure that climate change will accelerate to levels that could mean the extinction of our species. Homo sapiens, as the biologist Tim Flannery points out, are the "future-eaters."
Stop the Deportation of Lem Lem Hussein Abdu
19-07-2010 18:29
Demonstration for Lem Lem Hussein Abdu's right to stayTuesday 20th 3-5pm outside Vulcan House UKBA HQ, 2 Millsands S3 8DT (over the road from Howell's by the river)
Story in Star tonight
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Last-minute-bid-against-deportation.6426651.jp
Early release for Israeli soldier who killed British peace activist
19-07-2010 17:58
A military committee accepted Taysir Hayb’s appeal, and he will be free in one month, the Israeli news site Ynet reported Monday. Hayb shot Tom Hurndall, who died aged 22, during an incident on Gaza’s southern border.
Civil War and Revolution: Anarchism in Spain
19-07-2010 17:24
On Sunday July 18th, the Anarchist Federation's Nottingham group hosted an event at the Sparrow's Nest entitled "Civil War and Revolution: Anarchism in Spain". The event came the day after the re-dedication of the memorial to the International Brigades at County Hall, West Bridgford.
The event was an opportunity for the Nest to display its extensive archive of materials about the Spanish Civil War. This includes famous titles like George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" and Anthony Beevor's "The Battle for Spain," but also includes many other less well-known works. Among these is "The Shallow Grave" written by Walter Gregory a member of the Communist Party in Nottingham who travelled to Spain and survived despite being shot and later captured. The Nest also has a wide array of anarchist books on the struggle against Franco including memoirs, biographies and analyses, among them Emma Goldman's "Vision on Fire" and Antonio Tellez's "Sabate: Guerilla Extrodinaire".
The books were supplemented by reproductions of posters from the war, alongside images of the memorial at County Hall and a letter written by an International Brigade volunteers from Nottingham. The posters demonstrated the surprisingly diverse iconography used by Republican and anarchist propagandists. Posters varied from bare-chested men wielding rifles to almost Pre-Raphelite images of naked people presumably enjoying a fascist-free future.
Aside from the displays, the Anarchist Federation had invited two speakers from the Solidarity Federation. Solfed, as it is known, is a national anarcho-syndicalist group, affiliated internationally to the International Workers' Association (formerly the International Workingmen's Association). The Spanish section of the IWA is the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), the anarcho-syndicalist union which came to prominence during the civil war.
The talk was split into two halves, one focusing on the war itself and the anarchist revolution which took place in the anarchist controlled areas and the second on aftermath of the war, the role of the CNT and the international growth of the IWA. The speakers discussed the history of the CNT, how it had survived repression prior to the civil war and how, having predicted Franco's coup in July 1936, they had been ready to resist and been able to do so successfully in Barcelona and areas where they were strong, unlike areas where the socialist where more influential which had wavered, waiting for government instructions and fallen to the fascists.
The CNT had organised collectives, which the speakers argued had been hugely successful feeding the population, providing free health care which had never existed before, improving safety on the trams and building an arms industry from nothing. At their height, millions of people had been involved in the collectives which were ultimately put down through military force by the Republican army.
After the end of the war Republicans and anarchists felt the full force of fascist repression. Hundreds of thousands were killed, imprisoned or forced to flee. Many of those who did escape ended up in horrific detention facilities in France. Some returned to Spain, but others stuck it out only to find their situation deteriorate further once the Germans invaded. Some were sent back to Franco while others ended up in German concentration camps.
Resistance to Franco would continue into the fifties, but the West came to see Franco as an ally against Communism, even after the war against German and Italian fascism. Even after Franco died, much of his regime remained in power and anarchists were deliberately excluded from the political process, even as the Communists were actively brought into the mainstream. The CNT fought on despite these restrictions and ongoing repression. The resurgence of the CNT fuelled the growth of the IWA and while it has a fraction of the members it had at its height in the 1930s, it has sections across the world.
The talks fuelled a wide-ranging discussion which took in the applicability of the Spanish model in a post-industrial society like the UK today, the comparisons between the collectives and the transition movement and the weaknesses of mainstream unions.
Inevitably the event overran, but this does not detract from what was a very successful meeting. Although not huge, the event was well attended and people seemed interested and engaged in the talks. Attendees were plied with food and sangria which went down well and to top it off, the weather was nice enough to sit in the gardens during the breaks. While we aren't really any closer to a revolution of our own the organisers have good reason to be pleased with themselves.
Nottingham remembers Spanish Civil War
19-07-2010 16:24
On Saturday July 17th Nottingham and Mansfield Trades Council organised a re-dedication of the memorial to the International Brigades at County Hall, West Bridgford. This event is accompanied by a series of Spanish Civil War related events in Nottingham including a discussion on Anarchism in Spain at the Sparrow’s Nest, an exhibition in the Council House and a showing of Ken Loach’s Land and Freedom at the Broadway.
On the newswire: Clarion Choir At Memorial Re Dedication | Re-dedication of Notts Spanish Civil War memorial | Before removal of Internation Brigades’ Memorial | ¡Alerta Antifascista! War and Revolution in Spain | Civil War and Revolution: Anarchism in Spain | Notts County Council rewriting history?
Links: International Brigades Memorial Trust
The re-dedication was a response to the decision by Leader of the Council Kay Cutts to have the memorial rearranged and the information board removed. This was one of the first things Cutts did after taking power in last year’s council elections. It was controversial at the time and anger has persisted. The re-dedication took place on the 74th anniversary of the fascist coup which instigated the war.
British Aerospace, Plowshares, Drones and the Celtic "God of Thunder"
19-07-2010 16:05
It was over a decade since Chris Cole and I had been at the gates of British Aerospace (BAE) Warton in Lancashire, England. That was back in the day when BAE were making their money from butchering East Timorese.Parliament Square Declaration of Non-Cooperation
19-07-2010 15:41
Declaration of Non-CooperationParliament Square Gardens
Saturday 17th July 2010
Democracy Village
Police discover Cannabis Growing Operation, again
19-07-2010 15:24
4.00pm Sunday 18th July 2010
Police discover Cannabis Growing Operations near Woodborough Road, Nottingham
Police discover Cannabis Growing Operations near Woodborough Road, Nottingham
Having been out on Sunday afternoon, I return home to find this operation going on in my street!!
To start with, I wasn't aware what it was all about. Initially the officers 'couldn't say' what was happening .... but after a cooling fan, assorted wiring, lighting and switches. Together with various air ducting and incubators .... the officer said it wasn't rocket science to conclude!
During the removal of this paraphernalia, there was all the usual discussion about who I was, why I was taking pictures, and where they were going to be published. To be fair, this time, the assembled officers listened to my case, and the initial aggravation melted and they turned out to be fairly easy-going and helpful in letting me do some close-ups and 'still lifes'.
Hydroponics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics
Cannabis cultivation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_cultivation
Release is the national centre of expertise on drugs and drugs law - providing free and confidential specialist advice to the public and professionals.
http://www.release.org.uk
Legalise Cannabis Alliance UK
http://www.lca-uk.org
since the recording deals with a photographs rights and responsibilities, I thought it helpful to link to a recent guides around these issues:
Nottinghamshire Police Media Guidelines
http://notts.indymedia.org.uk/articles/187
ACPO Police-Media Guidelines
http://www.epuk.org/Resources/819/acpo-police-media-guidelines
Editorial Photographers UK - Police, photographers and the Law
http://www.epuk.org/Resources/958/police-photographers-and-the-law
____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email: tash@indymedia.org
Web: http://digitaljournalist.eu
Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
___________________________________________
<ends>
Dozens dead after nuclear waste train explosion
19-07-2010 15:22
Dozens died immediately and thousands more have been exposed to dangerous levels of cancer-causing radiation after a train carrying high level nuclear waste exploded as it passed through the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London this afternoon. The public is being warned to steer well clear of the area as the radioactive plume makes its way across the capital and the southern half of England.
The risk of just such a scenario, whether caused by an accident or terrorist attack, prompted the Nuclear Trains Action Group to organise a die-in in front of Stratford station in east London as part of a demonstration on Saturday, 10 July 2010 against nuclear waste being transported by rail through the Olympic Park and densely populated areas of north London.
The protest started with a rally in Victoria Park, led by Kate Hudson, chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). Other speakers included London Green Party MEP Jean Lambert, and Dan Viesnik and Mell Harrison from the Stop Nuclear Power Network (SNPN).
Around 70 protesters then marched for around three miles around the perimeter of the site for the London 2012 Olympics, along a canal, accompanied by a significant police presence. Carrying placards, and banners from the Nuclear Trains Action Group, local CND groups, the Green Party, SNPN and Action East End.
Upon arrival at Stratford station, the marchers proceeded to "die" in front of the entrance (although it was difficult to tell whether they had not in fact fainted from the exhaustion of walking in the sweltering heat). Some of those who remained on their feet, seemingly impervious to the pervasive radiation, handed out hundreds of leaflets to curious passers by, whilst others chalked around the outlines of the corpses.
After around half an hour of this carnage, the corpses transformed into zombies, rising to their feet and promptly moving off to quench their terrible thirst.
Images are Copyright (c) 2010 D. Viesnik, but may be reproduced free of charge for non-commercial use if credited. For high resolution versions / commercial use, please e-mail.
More images from the demo:
http://tinyurl.com/nuketrainsdemopics10July2010
Related articles:
Olympics nuclear waste trains are potential terrorist target, warns London MEP
http://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2010/07/16/olympics-nuclear-waste-trains-are-potential-terrorist-target-warns-london-mep/
Transcript of Jean Lambert MEP's speech
http://www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk/news_detail.php?id=576
Tonnes of radioactive waste casts doubt over London's Olympic stadium legacy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/20/radioactive-waste-olympic-site
'Radioactive waste threat' to future of Stratford site
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23847172-radioactive-waste-threat-to-future-of-stratford-site.do
'Terror risk' over nuclear cargo
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5202024.stm
Links:
Nuclear Trains Action Group
http://www.nonucleartrains.org.uk
Stop Nuclear Power Network
http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net
Action East End
http://actioneastend.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/on-the-wrong-track
Palestine Today 07 19 2010
19-07-2010 14:35
Nottinghamshire Police Media Guidelines
19-07-2010 14:24
Years after their issue to all serving police officers in Nottinghamshire, I am still finding that most officers don't know of their provison or of the nature of agreements already made with police management.
Guidelines were needed because of the routine obstruction by police that many of us were subjected to in practicing photography in a public place. This of course is a lawful activity.
Although they were negotiated locally by the National Union of Journalists NUJ, this work in Nottinghamshire was used as a template for the 2006 Metropolitan Police guidelines on these issues. Rather than then have each force produce its own, they were later adopted by all police forces in Britain, signed off by the Association of Chief Police Officers ACPO in April 2007.
These are written for journalist & police relations of course. But, it is important to note that journalist do not enjoy a 'special status' in law of any kind. Thus, much of this guidance does apply to anyone with a camera in a public place and you should not be obstructed. I continue to 'stand up' for these agreements and to promote there use, since I believe with the lack of a 'special status' a photo-journalist has, that rights won here will be of use to all others.
Since the police are avid readers of this newswire, I thought I'd reproduce them again here, for their continued education on these matters. A task that should have been untaken by Nottinghamshire Police Management themselves by now.
***
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE POLICE
GUIDELINES FOR THE POLICE AND MEDIA AT INCIDENTS
1. The media has a legitimate role to play in informing the public and they will attend the scene of incidents. The presence of a photographer or reporter at an incident does not of itself constitute any unlawful obstruction or interference.
2. Journalists need to collect information about an incident as quickly as possible. Some of this information may seem irrelevant, unimportant or improper to an officer. However, as long as the journalist does not break the law, or interfere with an investigation, or cross a cordon, the police officer should not impede the reporter. Journalists who break the law will be dealt with in the same manner as any other offender.
3. A crime scene remains closed to the media whilst evidence is being gathered and detailed forensic examinations take place. The reasons for denial of access should be explained to the journalist and access granted as soon as possible with permission from the Senior Investigating Officer.
4. Journalists have the right to photograph and report events that occur on public property. The police may invite journalists on to private property where an event of public interest has occurred and they have the permission of the owner. They should enter peacefully and not cause any physical damage or attempt to alter any details for photographic purposes. The rights of an owner of private property should be respected and may lead to journalists being asked to leave. If the owner of the property does not give permission then any attempt to gain access would be trespass.
5. Any journalist should be able to show relevant media identification if asked. At the scene of an incident this identification should be visible at all times.
6. Police officers should not restrict journalists from taking pictures or asking questions of other parties, even though the officer may disagree with the journalist’s purpose. It is not a police officer’s role to be the arbiter of good taste and decency. It is an editor’s role to decide what to use.
7. Police officers do not have the authority to prevent a person taking a photograph or to confiscate cameras or film, and such conduct could result in criminal, civil or disciplinary action.
8. In the event of a distressed or bereaved individual making a specific request for the media to leave them in peace the officer should pass this information on to the journalist. However, this is advice on which journalists and their editors must base their own decisions. If the situation becomes an identifiable Breach of the Peace then journalists, as any other citizen, have a duty to disperse if asked to do so.
9. Journalists should not park their vehicles in a way that will obstruct other traffic or hamper emergency vehicles or officers carrying out their lawful duty.
These guidelines have been sanctioned by the Chief Constable and the National Union of Journalists.
If you would like more information or advice on a specific issue please call Nottinghamshire Police Corporate Communications on 0115 967 2080
***
Please do also read these links, which are even more helpful. Thank you.
ACPO Police-Media Guidelines
http://www.epuk.org/Resources/819/acpo-police-media-guidelines
Editorial Photographers UK - Police, photographers and the Law
http://www.epuk.org/Resources/958/police-photographers-and-the-law
____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email: tash@indymedia.org
Web: http://digitaljournalist.eu
Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
___________________________________________
<ends>
The new scramble for Afrika
19-07-2010 13:49
what the western media does not inform thier people is that Afrika is the place that the West depends on for thier survival as Afrika is home to the vast majority of the world's mineral resources which the Westneedsfor its industries. Afrika is NOT the basket case that many White people and others have been conditioned to beleive. This article proves that access to Afrika's rich materials by the West and now Asia is the cause of of Afrika;s wars and instability.Who owns Ghana's oil?
19-07-2010 13:39
Many Ghanaioans think that with the discovery of oil on its shores, the people and the Ghanaian economy will benefit. Hoever what this article seeks to do is to inform Ghanaians, Afrikans and other people that the imperialists in the form of British, American and possibly Chinese oil companieswill loot the lions share of this Black Gold leaving Ghana and its people further impoverished.Spanish Civil War - photos of anarchist exhibition
19-07-2010 12:24
A few photographs of the books, pamphlets, posters and badges on display at the Civil War and Revolution: Anarchism in Spain event that took place on Sunday July 18th at The Sparrows' Nest, before the people arrived!
For leaflets that accompany the event, just visit the Sparrows' Nest website (link below). Also visit the website for opening times of the reference library and for future events (or join mailing list).
Biofuel Protest
19-07-2010 12:22
Banner Protest Against Biofuel Power Station:Bristol City Council, The Council House, College Green. 9-10 am, 10th August
Earlier this year Bristol City’s Planning Committee res biofuel power station at Avonmouth. There is cross-party support within the Council and local parliamentary candidates for rejecting this development. This is backed up by a local petition with
over a 1000 signatures on it. The developer (W4B) has appealed the decision. A coalition of local
and national groups are opposing this appeal and wish to demonstrate the strength of local and
national feelings against the proposed development when the appeal inquiry starts on 10th August.
The power station will more than likely be powered by palm oil. Demand for palm oil leads to
rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia, West Papua, Papua New Guinea, Colombia,
Ecuador, Cameroon and Uganda. Palm oil plantations are also linked to the displacement of
communities, including indigenous peoples, the destruction of their livelihoods and very often
to human rights abuses. The W4B power station would require 22,000 hectares of new oil palm
plantations if crude palm oil was used.
This power station will add to the degradation of local air quality that will be caused by
proposed biomass power stations and incinerators in Avonmouth. It will also have an adverse
affect on nature reserves in the Severn Estuary.
Existing planning guidance and procedures do not allow issues of sustainability to be
considered in this case, even though it will exacerbate climate change and biodiversity loss. The
concerns of Bristol people, indigenous people and animals like the orang-utan are effectively
being censored because of out of date planning procedure.
Some possible themes for those attending:
Censorship – gaffer tape over mouths, blacked out text on placards etc.
Air quality – gas masks/ builders masks
Rainforest destruction – stuffed parrots, toucans, jaguar, orang-utan etc.
Human rights abuses – wear red to signify bloodshed
Food security and sovereignty
Finally, if anyone can take a banner to each day (8 days in all) of the inquiry to remind the
Planning Inspector how important their decision is, that would be fantastic.
Many thanks from the coalition of groups against Biofuel power station in Bristol.
Film Night: El Sistema
19-07-2010 12:22
El Sistema is the Venezuelan project that for 35 years has been proving the power of music to redeem young lives. The 2009 documentary, to be screened at the Pierian Centre on Sunday 25th July, shows how it has rescued hundreds of thousands of young people from poverty, drugs and crime.El Sistema is a network of orchestras and workshops which is currently teaching more than 250,000 young people to play an instrument – 90% of them from poor backgrounds. The approach seems simple – but the results are profound. In 2007 the Inter-American Development Bank studied the 2 million people who had trained with El Sistema, and concluded that the decline in school truancy and delinquency meant that every $1 invested was producing $1.68 in social dividends. As a result the Bank granted El Sistema a loan of $150 million to build seven more centres.
The vision behind El Sistema is both ambitiously utopian and endearingly practical. To its founder, José Antonio Abreu, an orchestra is a model of the ideal society. By becoming members of it, children learn lessons of sociability and self-confidence that help them become active citizens in wider society. Using delight and discipline, the system unlocks individual expressiveness and the ability to work creatively with others.
El Sistema’s fame has begun to spread beyond the borders of Venezuela. The rise to stardom of graduates like Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra has brought its ideas to a wider audience. Hugo Chavez’s regime has backed it enthusiastically, but every Venezuelan government has seen its value and supported it. A similar project has now been launched in Scotland – and we will hear on Sunday of Fidelis Mherembi’s plans for schools in Zimbabwe.
Paul Smaczny & Maria Stodtmeier’s documentary El Sistema was hailed as “riveting” by the BBC Music Magazine when it was released in 2009. The Star wrote that “This is one of the most inspirational documentaries on music or social change you are ever likely to see!” We hope to be joined on Sunday by Chloe Goodchild of The Naked Voice to share chant and song inspired by El Sistema.
Our screening is by kind permission of EuroArts. It takes place at the Pierian Centre, 27 Portland Square, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8SA. The Bar opens at 7pm – and the screening starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £5 – with special rates for Friends of the Pierian Centre and concessions. Booking is essential on 0117 924 4512 or info@pieriancentre.com
Dissident Island Radio - listen to the show!
19-07-2010 10:39
Guerrillas Of Love to ambush Peace News Gathering
19-07-2010 09:25
Ambush Peace news Gathering and surrounding areas the Guerrillas Of Love wil be armed to the teeth with ammunition and exploding love all over the site!!