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Attacks On Tamils Continue - Westminster Bridge Besieged

15-05-2009 22:09

Photo by Filkaler, originally published on London Indymedia

As attacks by the national army in Sri Lanka have intensified, so do the protests around the world. After the news of thousands of civilian deaths in Sri Lanka at the weekend, which the UN has described as ‘a bloodbath’, British Tamils began a civil disobedience protest on Monday (11.05.09) in the hope that the British government might put genuine and decisive pressure on Sri Lanka to stop the atrocities it is currently committing. Five hundred began the protest at Parliament Square early in the morning. Thousands more joined them, at which point they moved onto Westminster Bridge and closed it off to traffic. Police officers were taken by surprise. The blockade lasted until mid-afternoon, at which time police resorted to physical attacks on people in an effort to clear the bridge.

More than 300,000 Tamils are currently under siege by the Sri Lankan forces. Aerial bombardments and shelling of civilians are continuing. Children and elderly are dying as a direct result of the aerial bombardment. There has been increased violence in Sri Lanka following the capture of Tamil territory. It is estimated more than 75,000 people have already died in the conflict.

Upcoming: Tamil solidarity event this Sunday (17.05.09)

Previous features: Large Protests Erupt In Support Of Tamils | Tamil Blockade at Parliament (IMC London)

On the newswire: Estimate 1700 Tamil civilians killed 3000 injuried in 48 hrs in Sri Lanka | Civil Disobedience Protest By British Tamils Met With Police Brutality | Tamils Blockade Parliament Square Again (photos) | Tamils Blockade Parliament Sq (photos) | Bloodbath unfolding in Sri Lanka | Tamil blockade of Parliament Monday 11th May (photos) | "State terror in Sri Lanka - a Tamil perspective" today at Resonance 104.4 FM | Tamil protesters take to streets as the GENOCIDE of there people gose on | Urgent, westminster blockade happening now | Tamils genocide: More than 2,000 civilians feared slaughtered in a single night

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Mayday! Mayday!

07-05-2009 12:28

Mounted police outside McDonalds

Brighton's Mayday! Mayday! street party saw 2,000 people from all over the country gathered to protest against capitalism, war and the arms trade. It was called by Smash EDO, the movement that has been campaigning against the EDO MBM/ITT bomb component factory in Brighton for the last 5 years.

Dispatch: Indymedia - Timeline | Last Hours - Timeline

On the newswire: Mayday Mayday, Smashing EDO in pictures | Anti-War Clashes With Police | FIT shut Down in Brighton | Pics of Cops at Mayday | Businesses linked to ITT redecorated | HSBC Smashed | Photos | Video of the Day | Photos of FIT and EGT at Mayday | More Pics | Pictures and Video | Last Hours Pics | NETCU Watch Critique of the Day | Smash EDO claim Brighton demo a success (pressrelease)

Previous Features: Shut ITT - October 2008 | Carnival Against the Arms Trade - June 2008 | Freedom to Protest - June 2008

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Police told to "behave" at Mayday Street Party

30-04-2009 10:52

...and debate with the thick blue line.

Smash EDO's Mayday! Mayday! Street Party on 4th May looks set to be the next stop on the summer of rage. The mobilisation has been linked firmly to a new wave of resistance against global capital. A map has been published showing the location of EDO's key investors and business partners in Brighton. The list includes highstreet banks, BP, American Express and Mcdonalds. The message is clear, EDO cannot operate in a vacuum; it is propped up by the state and a network of global corporations.

Despite all this the police seem to be firmly on the back foot after the media backlash, triggered, by the killing of Ian Tomlinson, against police violence and repression at the G20. Sussex Police have been told to 'behave' by Chief Constable Richards who fears that “People’s confidence in policing has been shaken by things they have seen on their TVs and read in their newspapers". All this must be rather difficult for Sussex police as they have been gearing up for some serious repression of Smash EDO for quite sometime. Dick Barton, a Sussex Police officer seconded to the Home Office who was responsible for training Iraqi police recruits in Basra and Baghdad, has been given the dubious honour of coordinating investigations of 'crimes against EDO'. Past police tactics have included following 'organisers', supporting a dodgy injunction, engaging in ridiculous conspiracy cases, attempting to cultivate informers and attacking mass demonstrations

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Norwegian Whaling Ship Scuttled

28-04-2009 21:07

Whaling ships sunk - Sea Shepherd tally, November 2006

"We came to Henningsvaer. We saw the Skarbakk. We sank the bastard" - Agenda 21

On the evening of April 23rd, the Norwegian whaling ship The Skarbakk was scuttled by environmentalists in the Lofoten islands, Norway, using the name of a 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment. The conference detailed action proposed for a sustainable 21st century, with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society promising Norway that if they did not comply with international conservation law, then they would sink their whaling ships.

This was not an empty threat, with Captain Paul Watson supervising the sinking of two ships; the Nybraena in 1992 and the Senet in 1994. The anonymous and covert goup Agenda 21 then took over with the scuttling of the Elin-Toril in 1996. In a communique last week, the activists reported they flooded the engine room of The Skarbakk by using an adjustable spanner to open the salt-water intake valve; "to delay the killing season and to protest the continued illegal export of whale meat to Japan."

Related Features: The Whale Wars - Sea Shepherd Returns From Antarctica | Japan issues arrest warrant for Nottingham activist | Arrests As International Whaling Commission Fails To Protect Whales | Nottingham Activist Returns From Whale Saving Mission In Antartica | Sea Shepherd activists injured as Japanese military open fire | Activists Held Hostage By Japanese Whalers In Southern Ocean | Whalers use Public Relations to twist the truth

Links: United Nations Agenda 21 | Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Ocean Defence topic page

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World Day for Animals in Laboratories March

26-04-2009 20:22

www.wdail.orgOn Saturday 25th April, over two thousand anti-vivisectionists marched through London to mark World Day for Animals in Laboratories as part of a Week of Action. The day is an internationally recognised, UN sanctioned event for reflection and remembrance of the countless millions of animals that suffer and die in vivisection laboratories around the world each year in the name of science.

The march was organised to call for an end to vivisection both in the UK and elsewhere, in response to Labour's abandoned pre-election promise for an official inquiry into animal experimentation. It has been over 15 years since the anti-vivisection movement marched in London to mark World Day, successfully uniting, mobilising and attracting new activists to the movement. Campaigners in attendance included Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), SPEAK Campaigns, Stop Wickham Animal Testing (SWAT), prisoner support groups, as well as Animal Liberation Front (ALF) supporters and green anarchists.

Pictures: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Videos: 1 | 2 | Speeches: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Highlights

World Week Reports: Hull | Sheffield | Carlisle | Chile | Birmingham | Nottingham | Finland | USA: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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Mass Arrest of 114 Climate Activists in Raid

13-04-2009 12:32

114 people were arrested in a 2am police raid on a community centre and school on Sneinton Dale, Nottingham, early on Easter Monday, 13th April 2009. It is believed that a demonstration was planned at the E.On powerstation at Ratcliffe-on-Soar as a spokesperson for the company claimed that it was the "planned target of an organised protest". The Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station is the 3rd largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK and has been previously targeted by activists.

Similar to past police actions, some of the homes of those arrested have been raided while they were held in custody. It has been confirmed that at least 6 homes have been raided in Nottingham and personal paperwork and computers have been seized. A school located next to the community centre where people were arrested was also broken into and smashed up by police. Those arrested have now all been released on bail without charges and to re-appear in court in July.

Legal advice for activists: Police powers to search premises.

Meanwhile, four Dutch activists from Earth First! forced entry into E.On's head office in Rotterdam and occupied a director's office to have a 'serious chat' about the planned construction of a new coal fired power station.

More coverage: on Nottinghamshire Indymedia

Photos: [ 1 | 2 ]

On the newswire: Statement of solidarity with the Nottingham 114 | Climate Action 114 Media Blog | A Conspiracy too far? | Solidarity for the Coal Conspiracy 114 | Bristol Rising Tide and Westside Statement of Solidarity for the Ratcliffe 114 | Climate activist searches (raids?) still happening | Mass arrests for thought crime | Nottingham's Climate Criminals | 100+ people arrested in Notts for conspiracy this morning | Climate Protest Busted!? | Mass arrests in Nottingham on Easter Monday

Related previous coverage: No case to answer after Notts E.On protest | Police Searches Houses After Arrests At E.On Blockade | Fossil Fools Take On E.On In Nottingham | Convictions For Activists - Climate Criminals Walk Free | 'Clean' Coal On Trial | Climate Activists Bring Powerstation Operations To A Halt | Spring Into Action Now!

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Large Protests Erupt In Support Of Tamils

09-04-2009 10:56

Spontaneous protests have erupted in London as a result of the ongoing state violence in Sri Lanka. On Monday, over 300 Tamil youths blockaded Westminster Bridge, which remained closed overnight. On Tuesday and Wednesday large numbers gathered outside parliament and had reached at its peak up to 3000 to call on Gordon Brown to 'open his eyes' and work towards securing an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Under the banner 'Stop the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka' over 150.000 people marched in Central London on Saturday 11th April. Further demonstrations happened in Oslo, Paris and Copenhagen. Reports: [1] [2] [photos 1] [photos 2] [video]

Earlier on in the week police tactics were violent, with unprovoked attacks on demonstrators. On Wednesday morning Tamil flags were being confiscated under the Terrorism act. Demonstrators reported that police used truncheons and dragged protesters across the ground. A three-year-old's leg was reportedly broken in the process. Seven people have been arrested, two under the terrorism act on suspicion of carrying articles supporting proscribed literature. Two people started a hunger strike earlier in the week, of which one was still fasting on Saturday 11th April.

More than 300,000 Tamils are currently under siege by the Sri Lankan forces. Aerial bombardments and shelling of civilians are continuing. Children and elderly are dying as a direct result of the aerial bombardment. There has been increased violence in Sri Lanka following the capture of Tamil territory. It is estimated more than 70,000 people have already died in the conflict.

On the newswire: Fast unto last breathe (day 13) | Video of the Tamil protests | Massive Tamil Protest Against Sri Lankan Genocide | Tamil Hunger Strike, London - pictures (day 6) | Stop the Genocide in Sril Lanka Protest - London April 11 2009 | Tamil protest (day 6) | Tamil Demo in Central London | Emergency Protest In London 11th April Please Come | Supporting the Tamil protests, SOCPA arrest | parliment square still going strong (day 4) | Tamil Protest in Parliament Square: Students on Hunger Strike to the Death (day 4) | Tamil protest still going strong / 8th April 3pm (day 3) | Tamils protest against chemical attacks | Tamil protest amid more police violence (day 3) | A lively night in Parliament Square (day 2) | Tamil protest still going strong /continues (day 2) | Tamil Protest still going strong | Tamil Protest on Westminster Bridge (day 1) | Sri Lanka: Killings, Concentration Camps and International Silence | Students on Hunger Strike | Tamilgotcha! Westminster Bridge occupied for 3 hours - Sat 31st Jan

Around the world: Netherlands | South Africa | New Zealand | Scotland

Links: British Tamils Forum | Online appeal | Wikipedia on Tamil people

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Campaigning against Heckler & Koch Weapons in Germany and the UK

05-04-2009 22:07

Last month, some members of the 'Notts Shut Down Heckler & Koch Campaign' travelled to Germany. Together with German Peace Groups, we wished to pre-empt the company’s 60th birthday celebrations.

Here in Nottingham, the campaign holds regular monthly demonstrations outside their offices at Easter Park, Lenton Lane, Nottingham NG7 PX. These will continue with a picket on Tuesday April 14th and a special campaign anniversary demo on Monday May 11th [with a mystery guest!]. Heckler & Koch's UK office is NSAF Ltd, Unit 3, Easter Park, Lenton Lane, Nottingham NG7 2PX. Map | Google 'Street View'.

Newswire: Demos continue at Heckler & Koch weapons HQ: [July 2007] | [May 2008] | Surveillance at H&K HQ [May 2008] | [July 2008] | Pix 1 [Oct 2008] | Pix 2 [Oct 2008] | Surveillance at H&K HQ [Nov 2008] | Full Circle: From weapons to wars to refugees. Market Sq. Nottingham [Dec 2008] | [Dec 2008] | [Jan 2009] | German Indymedia: Weitere Proteste gegen Heckler & Koch | Demo about H&K weapons activities, Market Square [Jan 2009] | [Feb 2009] | Nottingham Campaigners to Visit Germany German Trip: Nottingham Campaigners to Visit Germany, press release in PDF | 1 Freiburg Peace Group | 2 Rottweil Peace Meeting | 3 Oberndorf Demo | 4 Oberndorf Demo | 5 KTS Social Centre Freiburg | 6 Misc pictures of German visit

Previous Feature: Protesters Target Nottingham Weapons Manufacturers

Links: Notts Shut Down Heckler & Koch Campaign | Notts Anti-Militarism | Nottingham Stop The War | Nottingham Student Peace Movement | RüstungsInformationsBüro RIB | Ohne Rüstung Leben | Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft - Vereinigte KriegsdienstgegnerInnen DFG-VK | Notts Indymedia (anti-militarism) Audio: H&K German Mission [Speech at Rottweil] Flyer: Poster / Flyer PDF of H&K leaflet

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G20 policing caused man's death: police coverup and media lies

02-04-2009 09:29

See Indymedia London for G20 reports, timelines and features.

On Wednesday 1st April during a demonstration against the G20 in London, thousands of protestors were trapped inside a police cordon (kettled) where they were baton charged and crushed by the police. Ian Tomlinson, who appears to have been a passer-by, died during this demonstration outside the Bank of England. The police started a coverup immediately, claiming police and medics had been prevented from attending to him, although eyewitnesses reported seeing Ian Tomlinson being attacked by police shortly before his death. The corporate media parroted these police lies even though eyewitness accounts contradicted this [statement | video]. Now a video has surfaced clearly showing Ian was viciously assaulted by riot police from behind and violently pushed to the ground. Riot police and members of the Forward Intelligence Team looked on as a protestor attended to him. Minutes after moving away, Mr. Tomlinson collapsed in a nearby alley and died shortly afterwards.

An assembly and a procession has been called for this Saturday 11th April assembling at Bethnal Green Police Station at 11:30 am to demand a public enquiry. A procession will move off at midday to arrive at the Bank of England around 1 pm. Another protest has also been called for Saturday 18th April at 12 noon in Redditch, the Home Secretary's constituency town. A demonstration calling for an end to state murders has been called in Edinburgh

Anyone with information they believe may help clarify the circumstances surrounding his death should, as soon as possible, write a full statement and contact the Climate Camp Legal Team: legal [at] climatecamp [dot] org [dot] uk

N.B. If you have previously left any important legal information on an answering machine or sent to a different email address and nobody got back to you, please try again using the email address above

Eyewitness accounts: Witnesses Statement: Death at G20 | Video: Interview with two Eyewitnesses of G20 Death

Reports: IMC - about the death | Death At The Hands Of Capital | G20 protests video shows perfect example of police tactics

Solidarity and Remembrance: New Zealand Solidarity Demo Against Police Brutality | Helsinki is supporting NO G20 | Vigil today ongoing at Bank of England | G20 Protest London - Memorial for the Dead | Photos - 2nd April memorial demo London

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Indymedia G20 Reporting

01-04-2009 22:16

For G20 feature coverage and reporting timeline of events see:

G20 Direct Action: April 1st

G20 April 2nd: Raids and Remembrance

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March 28th: 40,000 on Put People First March

29-03-2009 15:11

A march for Jobs, Justice and Climate headed across London on Saturday 28th as part of a global campaign to challenge the G20 ahead of the summit taking place on April 2nd. About 40,000 people braved the cold weather from 11am until 5pm and marched from Victoria Embankment via Westminster to Hyde Park for a rally.

Timeline of march (and international reports)

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Video | Audio |
YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Anarchist Rally Speeches |
Flickr: [pool] 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Report your news about the G20 and help Indymedia to cover the event.
Dispatch: 07588 479 039 also see: list of G20 protests

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Days of Action: G20 London Summit

25-03-2009 15:11

We are your crisis!

The G20 group (or G22) will be meeting at the Excel Center, London, on April 2nd 2009. The main aim of this summit is to discuss how to re-build confidence in the financial markets and “re-stabilise” the world economy given the current financial crisis. The meeting will be composed of finance ministers from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and the World Bank.

Callouts: Reclaim The Streets | Climate Camp | Summer Of Rage | Bristol Dissent | Fossil Fools Day | G20 maps (easily printable versions)

Links: G20 Meltdown | Climate Camp G20 | Manchester G20 | Put People First | We Won't Pay For Their Crisis | Stop the War Coalition | Palestine Solidarity Campaign | The British Muslim Initiative | Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament | What is the G20? | Indymedia UK G20 topic page

G20 Melbourne Summit 2006: A first communiqué from two uncitizens of Arterial Bloc (Video) | Payback: 100 Melbourne Police violently attack | V for victory | Photos

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Parliamentary scrutiny of political policing

24-03-2009 11:46

Police display a warning before attacking protesters (Photo: Tash [alan lodge])

With only ten days to go before the massive protests against the G20 summit taking place in London, the Parliament's Joint Select Committee on Human Rights accused British police of being heavy-handed, misusing counter-terrorism laws and anti-social behavior legislation when dealing with demonstrators.

"The right to protest is a fundamental democratic right and one that the state and police have a duty to protect and facilitate," said Andrew Dismore, Labour MP for Hendon and chair of the committee.

After a year of inquiry, the seventy-page report raised serious concerns about the police forces ability to distinguish appropriate use of the powers they are given. The committee complained that police have been routinely using "legal powers not designed to deal with protests such as anti-social behaviour legislation and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997."

The report was particularly damning regarding the police's abuse of stop-and-search powers to intimidate, unjustifiable seizures of personal property, and improper detention and containment of protesters. The committee's chairman said: "The state must not impose restrictions unless it is necessary, and proportionate, to do so. That is a high threshold. The presumption is in favour of protest without state interference."

Related Indymedia Posts: Police 'turn themselves in' over abuse of power claims | Report into police tactics at Kingsnorth released | Video of police tactics at Kingsnorth | Summer of rage? It's a figment of febrile imaginations | Senior police officer warns of “summer of rage” | Protest against police state | Britain 2009 (are we in a police state?) | Climate Camp Cops feel the heat | Over Policing | Police maintaining special database | Whole TV series on this issue

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Anti-deportation campaigners blockade Tinsley House immigration prison

20-03-2009 00:00

hands superglued to the gate

Early in the morning of 17th March, about 20 anti-deportation campaigners blockaded Tinsley House detention centre at Gatwick airport, where some Iraqi refugees due for deportation were being held. Using D-locks and superglue, the aim of the protest was to try and prevent the deportees being taken from the detention centre to Stanstead airport, where a special charter flight to Iraqi Kurdistan was scheduled that afternoon. The blockade was violently removed by police after about 6 hours and Tinsley deportees, along with some 50 others brought from Campsfield and Dover detention centres, were put on the flight, which landed in Sulaimaniyya around 10pm. Nine protesters, including the six locked and glued to the gate, were arrested under Section 69 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (failure to leave land after a warning) and taken to Crawley police station. They were released on conditional bail later that night and are due in court on 30th March.

Tinsley House IRC blockaded by protesters | Tinsley House blockade ends with arrests and deportees taken to airport | pix | video

Update: Seven of those arrested pleaded guilty to the charge of 'aggravated trespass' on 30 March 2009. The other two pleaded not guilty and are due in court again soon.

Links: Stop Deportation Network

Related: Flying people to torture and death | Hunger strike in Campsfield as deportee takes his own life in Iraq | Dozens of Iraqi Kurds deported.. again | No Deportations to Unsafe Iraq

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Abolish All Immigration Prisons

17-03-2009 21:17

phil woolas change of heart
Last Friday evening, two dozen activists entered the offices of Minister for Immigration and Borders Phil Woolas in Oldham, ‘detaining’ him for about 30 minutes. The campaigners included members of No Borders Manchester, No One Is Illegal and the Anarchist Federation . The action intended to mirror the government’s practice of detaining migrants in ‘immigration removal centres’ without trial or sentencing, for indefinite periods of time. This was the second time since his appointment last year that the immigration minister has become the target of an action by No Borders, after a member of the group pushed a custard pie in his face last October .

On Tuesday morning, 20 anti-deportation campaigners blocked access to the Tinsley House immigration detention centre near Gatwick airport. Activists used d-locks and superglue to blockade the entrance gate for several hours. The action aimed to prevent the forced deportation on a charter flight of approximately 50 Iraqi refugees from the UK.

Groups affiliated to the UK No Borders network are now calling for demonstrations against immigration detention on Saturday 21st March. A protest march will lead from Bedford to the Yarl’s Wood detention centre, which was half destroyed by fire in 2002, following an uprising ignited by the ill-treatment of a sick woman by guards. Transport is available from London. Solidarity demonstrations are planned in Manchester and Edinburgh. The demonstration in Manchester will be going to the newly-expanded ‘Pennine House’ detention facility at the airport. The campaign to close this prison has achieved a high profile recently after the invasion of Phil Woolas’s offices and an intervention during a speech by Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese. In Edinburgh, campaigners will picket the private security company G4S. G4S profits from running immigration prisons in the UK, including Brook House, Dungavel near Glasgow and Pennine House.

Links: Tinsley House blockade | Photos 1 | Phil Woolas Detention | Custard Pie

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Storm the Banks

06-03-2009 12:55

Climate Rush activists gathered outside RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), Thursday 5th March to protest the incredible multi million pound pay out to Fred (the shred) Goodwin, former RBS Chief Executive, and more importantly, the banks continuing role in funding the climate changing industries of coal, gas and oil. Posting the largest losses in British corporate history, RBS lost £24.1 billion in 2008 and has since had billions of pounds of taxpayers' money pumped into it. Already the largest bailout to date, the government has agreed to inject a further £13 billion on top of the £20 billion already given, and to make a further £6 billion available. While the tax payer now owns at least 70% of its shares, the bank continues to operate as a private company,

On the same day as the Climate Rush demo outside RBS, the Bank of England reduced the base interest rate to 0.5% and announced the printing of £100 billion pounds of new cash to inject into the stalled economy. Next month, the G20 leaders (G22 to be more precise) will arrive in London to discuss further ways to get the poor to bail out the rich. Various groups are mobilizing to protest against the summit which the police are co-promoting as part of a 'summer of rage'.

The G20 Meltdown group say they're going to reclaim the City, 'thrusting into the very belly of the beast', with a four pronged assault on the Bank of England at noon on 1st April. That afternoon, as part of a series of actions leading up to the COP15 climate summit in Copenhagen, the Camp for Climate Action aim to expose how the discredited market mechanisms are being sold as a solution to climate change and are planning a climate camp in the city close the the Carbon Trading Exchange.

Links : Climate Rush target RBS Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | LCAP occupies RBS | Quantitive Easing | Corporate Undead | Image From The Future | Bristol Dissent g20 Call Out | Climate Camp hits the city | Press Complaint over G20 article | RBS boss pension | Arrogance of Capitalism | Environmental silver lining? | Climate chaos meets economic chaos | Bash a Billionaire | Doubt of global financial crisis? | Origins of the Credit Crunch | Summer of rage? | Demand for energy falling | Climate Crimes Delayed | Dissident Island Economic Special | "Pro-Capitalist" Mobilisation Video

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Aviation expansion grounded

04-03-2009 12:07

UPDATE: Lord Peter Mandelson, the unelected Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and key player in the Heathrow expansion plan, attacked with green custard.

Plane Stupid Scotland activists shut down Aberdeen airport by setting up a golf course on the taxiway and surrounding themselves with security fencing whilst another group occupied the roof of the terminal with a banner reading, “Nae Trump Games with Climate Change”. The 3am action prevented the scheduled reopening of the runway at 5am. After almost six hours the protesters voluntarily unlocked themselves when police claimed the taxiway was needed by an emergency helicopter. Eleven people, including local residents, were arrested.

Donald Trump backs Aberdeen airports expansion (where his super-rich pals will arrive to play golf on his controversial golf course). BAA obviously welcome Trump's involvement and need powerful friends right now. They are under presure from the Competition Commision and a down turn in the aviation industry is threatening expansion plans. Plans for a new runway at Stansted (blockaded by Plane Stupid last December) now looks likely to be postponed for at least two years and the airport will be put on the market without planning permission in place.

Despite government rhetoric about cutting CO2 emissions, there are expansion plans for 34 regional airports in the UK. Last month Plane Stupid activists interrupted a public meeting during a speech by Ed Miliband the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, unveiling a banner highlighting the hypocritical actions of the government in relation to aviation and climate change. Back in January Plane Stupid activists chained themselves to the entrance of Southampton airport and erected tents at the main entrance in a bid turn the regional airport into a climate refugee camp (they were in court yesterday and fined between £175 and £600 each).

Links: Greening of Mandelson | Aberdeen action 1 2 | Plane Stupid actions last month Southampton, Brighton | Stansted blockade 2008 | aviation and recession | airport expansion 1 2 | Stansted rumors | previous feature

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Home Secretary Blatantly Ignores Unfavorable Court Decision

04-03-2009 11:28

What is the Home Secretary thinking?

The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, appears to have declared war on the government’s own secret terror court, overruling decisions made by judges in the Special Immigration Appeals Court (SIAC). In what can only be described as an act of executive fiat, two men who attended a hearing at the SIAC were driven away from the court, expecting to return home, as ordered by the SIAC judges, but were, instead, delivered to Belmarsh prison, where they were joined by three other men, who had been seized in raids on their homes.

Journalist and author Andy Worthington notes that the whole operation was clearly planned by the Home Secretary in advance. "Even though she had informed neither the men’s lawyers nor the SIAC judges." The first the lawyers heard about it was when one of the men’s wives rang, inquiring why he had not yet returned home. He adds; "the Home Secretary has acted in a manner that would have pleased King John, in those days before England's nobles forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, establishing for the first time that the king had no right to imprison his subjects except upon the lawful judgment of his peers or the law of the land."

On The Newswire: Jacqui Smith versus Justice Mitting | Home Secretary ignores Court decision, kidnaps bailed men and imprisons them in Belmarsh | Revealed: flawed intelligence exposes the scandal of Belmarsh detainees | Invisible Barriers: Detention without Trial/Social Housing Policy in the UK Today

Previous Features: Hundreds Join Demo for Academic Freedom and Against Deportation | Anger Over "Terror Arrests" at Nottingham University | The Global War of Terror | The Racist 'War on Terror' | Terror profiling nets innocents

Links: National Guantanamo Coalition | Cageprisoners | 100 Days to Close Guantánamo and End Torture | The Campaign against Criminalising Communities | Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC) | Reprieve | Andy Worthington | Indymedia Topic Pages: Terror War | Guantanamo

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New Coal Digs In

02-03-2009 12:46

Rush stages sit down inside hotel (c) http://www.ameliasmagazine.com/

Climate Rush tackled more climate criminals last week when the UK coal industry got together for their annual 'coal awards'. In a protest timed to coincide with the UK Coal hosted awards, around 15 climate activists paid a visit to their Doncaster headquarters, dressed in Edwardian style complete with red sashes with the words 'No New Coal' written across them. A banner reading 'Leave it in the Ground' was suspended across the entrance.

In London, the dirty coal pushers shied away from confrontation with the modern day climate suffregette movement, abandoning their booking at the plush Landmark Hotel and scuttling off to Lords cricket grounds instead. At the hotel, around a hundred activists rushed inside through a fire exit and began an alternative awards ceremony to highlight the ecological damage that the coal industry is inflicting on the environment. After being ejected from the hotel, a couple more attempts were made to gain entry and one arrest was made before the alternate awards continued outside. The Landmark hotel management were less than happy about the righteous fury brought down on them by the climate criminals promised not to accept bookings from such damaging industries again.

Coal represent 50% of the electricity production in the UK and its greatest contribution to CO2 emissions so the coal industry has seen increasing attention from activists in the UK (and beyond). Last month activists and local resident disrupted work at the Rosewell open-cast coal mine in Midlothian, operated by Scottish Coal , and another protest stopped work at UK Coal owned Shipley open cast coal mine in Derbyshire. In the US capitol on Monday, 2,500 protesters blockaded the gates of a coal fired power plant for almost five hours.

Campaigns : Climate Rush | Coal Action Edinburgh | No New Coal | Capitol Climate Action | Coal Caravan
Newswire reports : Coal Rush 1 | 2 | 3 | Doncaster 1 2 | Rosewell | Shipley | USA 1 2
Previous Climate Rush actions : 'climate suffragettes' smash gov windows | chained to parliament | Heathrow 1 2 | Manchester 1 2 | Parliament 1 2

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SHAC Shakedown City Investors

01-03-2009 22:25

On Friday 27th February around 300 campaigners from around the country, and from around the world, traveled for a loud and vibrant march and demonstration in the capital against the financial supporters of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), the largest and most exposed vivisection laboratory in Europe.

With HLS’ share price now the lowest in four years, the unjust incarceration of SHAC campaigners and the latest footage of monkeys being abused inside HLS’ labs, angry, passionate and determined campaigners gathered at the Bank of England – the only bank in the world providing HLS with banking facilities. The day of action aimed to publicly show financial investors that anti-vivisectionists will not tolerate puppies being thrown around, monkeys being cut open alive and other innocent animals suffering in silence. The protest was part of a global week of action organised by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), with actions so far reported in London (1 | 2 | 3), Somerset, Cambridge, Netherlands, Italy, Chile, Sweden, Poland, (1 | 2) France and Russia (Videos: 1 | 2).

First stop was HLS’ largest shareholder Barclays, which saw an impromptu banner drop from the bridge directly above the bank. Activists then moved onto more HLS and NYSE Euronext shareholders (1 | 2), the only stock exchange in the world listing the company after dropping them in 2000 and postponing their listing in 2005. Huntingdon are currently $83 million dollars in debt, without a commercial bank or insurance company in the world prepared to deal with them.

Photos: 1 | 2 | Video

Indymedia SHAC topic pages: UK | London