World Globalisation Newswire Archive

The protests included large "banner drops" in multiple cities, protests of coal and oil companies, and rallies at the U.S. embassy in London and the Washington, DC home of U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman. On Friday, protestors showed up at Bodman's home, demanding that the United States and the G8 abandon the focus on nuclear, coal, and on oil wars as "energy security." They chanted "No Coal, No Nukes, G-8 shut it down!" No arrests took place.

Translated and posted by the "G8 2006 Info and Press Group", Berlin.

Hizbollah took two Israeli soldiers prisoner in Lebannon, a legitmate act of state protection as these were military personel from a hostile state on Lebanese territory.
This security precaution is not kidnapping the term used to describe the operation in the world's media, Israeli soldiers are legal combatants and can therefore be taken as prisoners of war as sanctioned under the third Geneva convention, See below :

The question of when global production of oil will reach it's maximum and start begin it's inevitable decline has not been the only question being asked at the 5th International Workshop on Oil and Gas Depletion which has been taking place is Italy this week. Amoung the doom and gloom inplicit the facts and conclusions being presented, there also appears to be scope for hope and optimism.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday announced the dates of the 2007 G8 Summit which her government will be hosting.

The following press release was issued today by the Berlin-based "G8 2006 Info and Press Group"

Updates and more info:  http://presse.gipfelsoli.org

The following is a report about actions this morning (16/07/06) in St. Petersberg.

Solidarity actions requested!

Today, around 300 people took part in a demonstration in Berlin against the G8 and the system it represents, and demanded a release of those arrested in St. Petersberg taking part in protests against this year's summit.

Today in the morning around 30 people who are involved in the Network Against G8 (NAG8) blockaded the entrance of a hotel which is used by participants of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg. They blockaded the street for a while, carried banners, distributed leaflets against the policy of G8 and made noise with a trumpet and by shouting slogans like “No G8 anywhere” and “it is the end of G8 as we know it” in Russian and English.

The first days of action were halted by police before any demonstrations could begin.

The following is a press release issued by the Berlin-based G8 2006 Info and Press Group. For more information, check out our website. Also see: www.agp.org

The following is a report from an action outside the Swedish embassy in Gothenberg against the G8 and in solidarity with the protests in Russia.

More information about actions around the world:  http://presse.gipfelsoli.org

Plav

Plav is a small town in the north east of Montenegro. The 10.000 inhabitants form a mixed community of Montenegrians, Serbs and Albanians. 80% is muslim, 14% orthodox, 2% catholic. Among the Montenegrians there are both muslims and orthodox, among the Albanians both muslims and katholics. Part of the population are refugees from the Bosnian war (1992-1995) and the Kosovo war (1998-1999). The town is very isolated, surrounded by mountains and six hours away from the capital Podgorica. In autumn last year, a small group of people set up an NGO, Plagus_M, with the aim to activate the local community and the youth culture.

Interview with Merlinda Djesevic from Plagus_M:

Around 1,500 demonstrated yesterday (Thursday 13 July, 2006) against German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Bush's meeting in Stralsund, on the Baltic coast in north-eastern Germany.

Around 70 people today (Friday 14 July, 2006) took part in a spontaneously organised demonstration outside the Russian embassy on Unter den Linden in Berlin. The protest was against the G8 meeting in St. Petersberg, and in solidarity with those protesting against the summit and the world it represents all over the world.

Deregulation of finance markets leads to a concentration of power in the hands of a few banks and investment funds.. The privatization wave and bio-piracy by western corporations are the clearest examples of that expansion. Social rights gained by struggle are already sacrificed on the altar of the market.

From the official G8 press office on an island off the coast of St. Petersburg.
Don't ask me how I got in here, I'm still questioning that myself. Must be the pink Hawiian shirt and the everlasting grin.

The time for rhetoric is long since past. The G8 must comply with years of obligations and commitments made to “Common Security” – peace, human rights, environment and social justice. The Following is a proposed Alternative G8 St Petersburg Declaration of Common Security

The protests against the G8 in Russia have already started ahead of the Summit which takes place this weekend in St. Petersburg. Repression of political activists taking to the streets, and arriving at the Russian borders, is on the increase. More than 200 people have already been arrested in different Russian cities. Even though people are determined to make their voices heard. Demos and activist gatherings have already taken place in Moscow, and a cycle caravan has already arrived to St. Petersburg from Berlin.

See the latest updates below, from well before the mobilisations against this year's G8 summit begin in earnest, until Wedensday 12th. Today, Thrusday 13th, most activists from different parts of Russia are making their way (or trying to) St.Petersburg where the main mobilisations start tomorrow Friday 14th.

See the main IMC UK feature which is constantly udpdated with the latest reports - click at the 'Full article' link for the latest updates. Also check out the IMC-Russia (multilingual) website for news and reports.

Since the heads of government of the US, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Japan met in 1975 for a “fireplace discussion” in Rambouillet, outside of Paris, the annual summit—called the G8 summit with the addition of Canada and Russia—has grown into a major international affair. The summit is surrounded by a range of meetings between various ministers and is planned and prepared months in advance by an army of officials.