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UK Newswire Archive

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Occupy Exeter!!

14-11-2011 19:32

camp set up in the city!
some photos from around town.

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Greece, 11.Sep.2011 Photoreporter under (state) attack, photos

14-11-2011 19:02

On September 11th 2001, whilst covering a Greek demonstration, photojournalist Yannis Behrakis experienced a live stun/flash grenade.

Police violence against against demonstrators and the general public has increased dramatically that it's hardly worth reporting.

The stun/flash grenade was launched directly at him, and follow similar attacks on other individuals.

Fortunately Behrakis was unharmed, although his clothes were burnt. Others have not been do fortunate, suffering burns, deafness and other injuries.

Photographs by Ken Cedeno

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Mic checked - How Occupy Wall St Occupies Your Heart (good read)

14-11-2011 17:53

First, you tried drinking a lot, in bars, with your friends, or people who seemed like they could be your friends. But it was expensive, and you kept getting up late for work. So you tried online dating, and went to wine bar after wine bar, tapas restaurants and gallery openings, until finally you found someone to bunker down with for awhile. That ended, or perhaps never really began, and next you tried reading critical theory at night, a glass of wine by your side.

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(Italy) From the occupied Faculty of Humanities, Bologna

14-11-2011 17:12

The communiqué was originally released on November 11 by the public assembly held in the Faculty straight after the occupation.

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Occupy Bath status

14-11-2011 16:55


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AR: Day of action against SRCL in Leeds, 4 arrests.

14-11-2011 15:56

Animal activists staged a day of protest against SRCL in Leeds today (clinical and specialist waste management) SRCL is the company that transports the dead bodies away of animals that are bred for vivisection at Harlan interfauna UK. Many of these dead animals are merely excess 'stock' which cannot be sold, others bitches and studs worn out following years of intensive breeding.

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Italy and the end of representative democracy

14-11-2011 14:53

One thing the papers seem to be as one refusing to comment on or even report, is the fact that an unelected group has been handed control of the country. Economist and new ruler of Italy Mario Monti has not been elected to rule and the Italian public has in no way endorsed the technocratic model, Monti, or his cronies.

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Matthew Gould and the Plot to Attack Iran

14-11-2011 14:28

Matthew Gould photo
This is an article from craigmurray.org.uk, analysing the Fox/Werrity saga further than the MSM have been prepared to, in connection with drumming up support for military action against Iran. It was offered as a paid article to a number of newspapers but appears to have been too hot for them to touch. As some readers will know, Craig was the only diplomat to have fallen out with the FCO (Foreign Office) over the policy of extraordinary rendition and torture-tainted intelligence. Permission has been given to re-publish/re-tweet this article anywhere - please do so!

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Heroin Adverts in Spanish Newspapers BAYER ad images from 1912

14-11-2011 14:28

In the spring of 1912 the company BAYER started an advertising campaign for heroin in Spanish newspapers. Several of the ad images have now been found again. The corporation launched the “well tolerated cough remedy” in 1898 together with the pain relief Aspirin.

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11/11/11. Report and photos: Alternative Armistice Day Event, London

14-11-2011 14:17

Sue and Ciaron reading the names of the military and civilian dead
Catholic Workers and Veterans for Peace held an alternative Armistice Day event on Friday 11 November starting at the Occupy LSX site at St Paul's Cathedral and concluding at the Bank of England. The ceremony outside the bank included naming the war dead in Afghanistan both civilian and military, anti-war ballads, reflections on war and its links with finance and bankers, reflections from the scriptures on nonviolent resistance, thoughts on the victims of war including the war vets who are abandoned on their return to civilian life and those who are targeted for speaking out against the wars.

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Occupy Cardiff 11.11.11. What happened?!

14-11-2011 13:19

11.11.11

Time for Occupy Cardiff to show solidarity with all the other Occupy movements across the globe. I got there a bit late so I missed the initial gathering at the Aneurin Bevan statue, but I soon noticed that they had set up camp outside the castle. Everyone was in good spirits, there was plenty of tents, and it was a buzzing hive of activity. There was a stock pile of donated food building up with more donations coming in at a steady pace, and a good community spirit at the heart of it.

One member of the public who was passing by struck up a conversation with me, saying how great it was that this is happening here now, and that he supports it 100%. Cars were honking their horns as they went past as well, which was good to hear, but the police presence was steadily growing in numbers which was a little irritating. They were getting more involved than was necessary for the situation. It seemed very odd because a similar protest camp had been set up on the same grounds earlier this year without any initial police interest whatsoever. The other Occupy camps all across the UK have all been relatively free from police interference too, so I was wondering what was going on.

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8 December, Liverpool: Another Census Refuser's Court Hearing

14-11-2011 12:46

Lockheed Martin F-16s used by Israel to bomb Gaza
Sarah Ledsom, 56, of Bromborough, Wirral, a grandmother who suffers with a disabling chronic condition, is due to appear at the Magistrates Court in Liverpool on Thursday 8 December to answer a charge of failing to complete the 2011 Census form. Sarah's objections to completing the census relate to the contract with arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin for processing census data. Sarah refers in particular to the use by Israel of deadly Lockheed Martin weaponry on the people of Palestine.

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Radical Routes Success!

14-11-2011 12:28

Radical Routes Success at Sumac....

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No Evictions campaign targets council leader

14-11-2011 10:55

Nottingham City Council leader Jon Collins was targeted by anti-evictions campaigners who demonstrated outside his home on Hucknall Road yesterday. Collins was singled out as having made threats to evict the families of those found to be involved in the August riots. Campaigners have also leafleted affected families offering practical support. They call the moves to evict council tenants “spiteful” and say they should be fought.

Newswire: No Evictions campaign targets Jon Collins | No Riot Evictions | Stop Jon Collins’ vindictive evictions

Previous feature: Post-riot repression hits Nottingham

Following the August disturbances Collins and Nottingham City Homes Chief Executive, Chris Langstaff, released a statement that “Any council tenants involved in recent violence across Nottingham could face eviction from their homes.” Collins was quoted specifically targeting the parents of youths involved in “violence”.

Parents have a responsibility to control the young people living in their home. If young people living in your home have been involved in the violence over the past few days, they are putting your tenancy at risk.

Campaigners against the evictions have highlighted what they call the “hypocrisy” of Collins’ crackdown on council tenants who have not been involved in wrongdoing, whilst his council dropped any investigation into the Nottingham City Homes (NCH) scandal of corrupt reallocation of housing earlier this year. NCH was found to have “wrongly given homes to some employees, their relatives, partners and friends” in an Audit Commission report published in 2009. One such house was inadvertently occupied by squatters in 2006. They were illegally and violently evicted by NCH workers, with the support of the police.

At the time the scandal broke, Jon Collins said he was “appalled” and that he would “not hesitate” to take disciplinary action against staff found to have been involved in the corruption. However, in January this year the investigation was dropped with only one member of staff being given a “final written warning” and one agency worker being fired. None of the homes were ever repossessed and the full scale of the scandal remains unknown. The City Council have refused to involve the police in the matter.

In June, evidence of Collins’ own involvement was unearthed by the Nottingham Post: "Jon Collins’ secretary asked a housing officer for “a favour” to help one of council leader’s constituents gain a place on the waiting list for a new home" during 2005. Collins denied that he was personally involved.

Other members of the council were also called into question, notably Councillor Brian Grocock, the former Lord Mayor, who claimed an applicant was his grandson in order to get him a house sooner than he should have. The council’s monitoring officer defended Grocock because “he did not believe Mr Grocock’s actions in 2005 had broken the councillors’ code of conduct”.

The threat of riot evictions is not unique. The City Council has a policy of evicting the families of tenants who are deemed to be anti-social. In justification, Councillor Alex Norris, portfolio holder for area working, cleansing and community safety, echoed David Cameron’s mantra that “Social housing is a privilege, not a right.” This is disputed by the No Evictions campaign:

Council house tenants are merely paying a reasonable rent for their home to the local authority, unlike a private tenant who is paying an unreasonable rent to a private landlord. Who is subsidising who?

The No Evictions leaflet concludes:

If the council continues in its efforts to make families and children homeless in order to look tough on crime they can be assured that there are members of the public in Nottingham who will respond and make their disgust felt.

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Leeds is Occupied

14-11-2011 00:55

Inspired by occupations of Wall Street in the US and London a group has set up camp in the City Square in Leeds.  On Friday the 11th the tents were erected and by Saturday night there were around 10.  In the short space of time they had banners, a kitchen and most importantly a presence in Leeds which is causing interest. Anther article about the Occupy Camp (including a camp wish list) [1].

People walking through Leeds are interested and, at times, confused as to why there are people camping in City Square and this very quickly ends up with a discussion on politics.  There is obvious disgust at the current situation and the occupiers hopes to be a focus of this and build a movement to challenge the current status quo.  Translating this disgust into action is a hard task but the occupiers have decided to make a start in building an alternative.

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More photos from Friday's Census court hearing and Remembrance

13-11-2011 23:19

CSOs
Some photos and a short report from Wrexham, where anti-war and anti-Lockheed Martin conscientious census objector Judith Sambrook appeared in court on 11/11/11.

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Italy: The fall of the empire

13-11-2011 20:33

Out of date!
Last night a huge crowd gathered outside the Quirinale where Berlusconi was giving his resignation to President Napolitano. Berlusconi was welcomed by shouts of “buffoon”, “mafioso” and Resistance songs. At 21.42pm, when the news was officially announced, wild partying began, and quickly spread to other areas of the city centre.

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News from Calais: week of evictions, dozens out in the street again

13-11-2011 20:01

Wednesday saw the eviction of the latest Africa House, an industrial complex right next door to a previous Africa House that had been evicted and demolished in 2010.