Globalisation
Globalisation news.
From weapons to wars to refugees
02-12-2008 16:34
On Saturday, a lively and well attended demonstration and die in in the centre of Nottingham brought two successful local campaigns together. Shut Down H&K, campaigners against Nottingham's arms dealers joined hands with No Borders Nottingham, who fight for migrant rights, to come 'full circle'. The demonstration emphasised the links between guns sold in the UK, armed conflicts abroad and the refugees that flee these wars to come to Britain looking for asylum.
The demonstrators gave out 2000 fliers to Christmas shoppers making them aware of the whereabouts of Heckler & Koch's premises in Lenton and the death and destruction their merchandise causes. Refugees and asylum seekers from many countries ravaged by the effects of small arms were there to support the demo. Protesters held a die in on the cold pavements, undeterred by the over the top police surveillance. Many members of the public were shocked to hear about the arms dealers in their neighbourhood.
Newswire: Full Circle Demo: From weapons to wars to refugees. Market Sq. Nottingham | Next Small Word Cinema @ Sumac 10th December | FULL CIRCLE - from weapons to wars to refugees | Demos continue at Heckler & Koch weapons HQ in Nottingham
Previous Features: The Arms Trade: From Nottingham to Georgia | Protests in Nottingham as Zimbabwe Goes to the Polls | Protesters Return to Nottingham Weapons Manufacturer | Campaign Victories As Hich And Amdani Are Released On Bail
Links: Notts Antimilitarism: Heckler & Koch | No Borders Nottingham
Credit Crunch Hits Nottingham
17-10-2008 17:11
It has emerged that Nottingham City Council had £42 million invested in the Icelandic banks which last week collapsed as a result of the "credit crunch," putting this money at risk. While Nottingham was not the only council to invested in these banks, Nottingham's investments are notable when the city's population is taken into account. One commentator estimated that "the possible loss in Nottingham could be £150.69 for every woman, man and child in the city." (By comparison, the per capita figure in Kent which had around £50 million invested, is £35.85.)
There are concerns that the city council may respond to the loss through job cuts, cutting services and/or increasing council tax. Nottingham and Mansfield Trades Council organised a demo in Market Square on Monday 13th October, demanding that Gordon Brown bail the council out, rather than leaving city residents to pay the cost of their rulers' poor investments.
Newswire: Lending to Icelandic Banks | £42 million missing in Iceland | Addressing the Financial Crisis is not a distraction from Peak Oil/Climate Change
Previous Features: Local Government Workers in Notts Join National Strike | Nottingham City Council: Mired in Corruption
Capitalism isn't in crisis; capitalism IS crisis!
12-10-2008 19:47
As financial markets continue to slump around the world, several hundred people gathered in the City of London on Friday 10th to voice their anger over the British governments plan to commit over 50 billion GBP of public funds to shore up 'confidence' in British markets.
Following a series of calls [1 | 2] that had been circulated in different websites and forums, angry students and activists meet in the late afternoon outside Bank tube station at the heart of the City of London. The demonstrators soon moved on to the prestige shopping centre (The Royal Exchange) which they attempted to storm, and then moved towards the Bank of England but were quickly repulsed by police. They then went on a tour of nearby streets, often pushing through police lines that seemed to be quite unprepared for the unfolding protest. Eventually there was a sit-down as the protesters reached Bishopsgate, and finally a short rally with speeches on the corner of London Wall and Bishopsgate, after which the demonstrators slowly dispersed. At the same time, a group of clowns also toured The City with placards such as "There's no business like no business".
Newswire Reports: City of London clashes, Pictures | Anti-Capitalist Demonstration at Bank | Stopping the city | Video
A similar demonstration has now been called in Edinburgh on the 24th of October.
Activists Take Over Incinerator Site
28-07-2008 17:21
Activists took over the site of the proposed new incinerator plant in Newhaven. They entered the premises under the cover of darkness last night in an organised attempt at non-violent direct action, after resistance through democratic means failed them. Several protestors formed a barricade by superglue-ing themselves to the road in an attempt to prevent vehicle access, whilst on the site itself, other members of the group 'locked-on' to machinery in order to halt further activity. They claim to be exercising their democratic right to protest non-violently in a last-ditch attempt to promote their concerns about the consequences of incinerators on public health and safety.
Worldwide Protests Against the G8 Summit 2008
11-07-2008 09:00
The G8 2008 took place in Hokkaido, Japan, from July 7th to July 9th. As in the past years, people from all over the world protested against this summit and the capitalist system it represents [Pics] both in Japan and in many places around the globe.
On Saturday the 5th of July, the International Day of Action Against the G8, there were protests worldwide against this year's G8 Summit. In Japan, around 5000 people took to the streets in Sapporo despite ongoing police repression [Photos | Videos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4] whilst hundreds of people had previously taken to the streets in Tokyo and Kyoto. International solidarity actions also took place in several cities, including Bilbao, Stuttgart [Video], Dordrecht, Nijmegen, Paris, Singapore, Berlin, Reykjavik and Lisbon.
Closer to home, a picket outside the Japanese embassy in London took place on Friday the 4th, and for Saturday the 5th, and despite previous harassment by the Metropolitan police, a London Fete Against the G8 was called by London No Borders and other groups to demonstrate in solidarity with the protests in Japan, for the Freedom of Movement, and against Fortress Europe. The Day of Action around the UK Borders Agency started with a Critical Mass bike ride from Brixton to Croydon, the nerve centre of the Home Office's UK Border Agency, where several protests unfolded [Report | Photos 1 | 2 | Video]
From Monday 7th to Wednesday 9th, further days of action and blockades continued around the Summit location next to the Lake Toya in Hokkaido [Videos 1 | 2 | 3] A final statement by international activists was issued on Wednesday 9th after hundreds of activists joined a march called by the Hokkaido's Ainu indigenous communities. This was the concluding event of ten days of anti-G8 protests in Japan. The Japanese 'No! G8 Legal Team' issued an international call for further solidarity actions during the week of blockades [Second Call]. In London, a daily NO!G8 cafe was organised at the Bowl Court Social Centre to coincide with the G8 mobilisations, showing daily footage from Japan, screening films, presentations and discussions.
Check the Ticker, the G8MediaNetworkTV and IMC-Japan [Timeline (Eng)] for updates of worldwide actions and protests.
Related Newswire Posts: End G8 Domination! | Challenge to the G8 Governments | G8 summit marked by impotence and division | James Hansen's Appeal to the G8 on Climate Change | No! G8 Japan Info Tour Comes to UK | An update on Japan G8 repression - 40 people arrested! | Repression and Revolt in the run up to G8 Japan | Interview with Japanese anti-G8 activist | Preparation for the Japanese anti-G8 movements in 2008 | Japanese Government to Keep ‘Hooligans’ Away from Summit
Related Sites: No G8! Japan | G8 Action Network | Gipfelsoli.org | Debito.org | WATCH (Watch Human Rights on Summit) |
Japanese G8 Info Tour Comes to UK
19-02-2008 18:37
The next G8 2008 summit will take place from the 7th to the 9th of July in Hokkaido, Japan. The heads of the world's more powerful states will gather at Toya Lake in the nothern Japanese island, to push further an agenda of world-wide neo-liberal reforms that result in spreading poverty, violence, hatred, segregation, as well as social and environmental destruction across the globe.
The Japanese based network of anti-authoritarians and anarchists No! G8 Action was formed in May 2007, right before the G8 summit 2007 in northern Germany. Japanese activists got involved in the protests with the intention to network with and learn from the experiences of the European anti-G8 movement. As a result they began to prepare their own projects "hoping to bring Japanese and East Asian impetus into the stage of the global anti-capitalist struggle."
Now, the 'No! G8 Action' network, in collaboration with the German Dissent! info group, and together with groups and activists across Europe, have organised an european wide tour that will stop in over 30 cities in 14 different countries, including the UK. From the 22nd to the 28th of February, Japanese activists will visit Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Nottingham and London [See tour dates and locations]
Related links: Call for Anti-G8 Action July 2008 | Statement of the Anti-G8 Summit Hokkaido | G8 2008: Latest Info-Tour and Planning Updates | Japanese Government to Keep 'Hooligans' Away from Summit | Anti-repression Protest at the Italian Embassy in Tokyo | A short history of the G8... | The G8: A Study in Power (or why people should protest)
See also: NO! G8 Action | Japan G8 Media Network | IMC-Japan | G8 Action Network (jp) | Hokkaido G8 Summit Citizen Forum (jp) | Japan G8 Summit NGO Forum
Full article | 6 additions | 7 comments
Protest against secret Nato summit on Afghanistan
12-12-2007 22:05
About thirty committed activists protested against the NATO meeting at the Craigiehall Army Barracks near South Queensferry in Edinburgh. The demonstrators blocked the main road to the meeting, which is attended by defence ministers from eight NATO countries, and other senior political and military officials who discuss the current situation in Afghanistan.
Protest:
[ report of early morning actions | report and pics | leaflets in NATO hotel | Indymedia Scotland feature | details of protest | announcing article ]
Background links:
[ The Senlis Council | RAWA on US worsening human rights situation | Taliban control more than half of Afghanistan: IMC Germany | Womankind: Taking Stock | Canadian Peace Alliance | Imc Germany: There is no end to Afghanistan | Le Monde Diplomatique french/german/english | icasualties | Why are we in Afghanistan? | Just Foreign Policy]
Starbucks Not Welcome At University
21-11-2007 14:54
Nottingham university students have been campaigning tirelessly over the last few weeks to get their University to get Starbucks off campus, and stop them selling their unethical beverages in the Hallward Library. Students were shocked when, a few weeks ago, their café in the main library on campus suddenly started serving Starbucks coffee. In a move that has upset a large part of the student body the university decided to change coffee supplier without any sort of student consultation and now the students are up in arms.
For the last two weeks students have manned an ‘anti-Starbucks’ stall outside the Hallward Library where the Starbucks coffee is being served (at nearly double its pre-Starbucks price). The movement against the corporatisation of our educational facilities has been swift; nearly 700 people have joined the Facebook group against Starbucks, hundreds of people have signed the petition and loads of cups of tea and coffee have been sold from a makehift stall outside the library to students who don’t want to pay £1.45 for a coffee.
Notts: Telling Starbucks to 'Buck Off' at Nottingham Uni. | Amnesty Protest in Nottingham City Centre - Close Guantanamo Bay [Please] | Starbucks national day of action, 18th August
UK: Whitechapel Knees Up against Starbucks | Sheffield IWW - Starbucks skanked to death | Anti-Starbucks picket in Cardiff | Chiapas Solidarity picket of Starbuck, Edinburgh
Links: IWW Starbucks Workers Union | Boycott Starbucks | Starbucks continues to Greenwash with Weak Environmental Policy | Starbucks Social Responsibility Newsletter
Keep Tesco off Mill Road, Cambridge
25-09-2007 13:10
Tesco hope to move into Mill Road, Cambridge. The over whelming majority of residents and local traders absolutely do not want this to happen. Already posters are appearing in many of the shops on Mill Road, and campaigners spent Saturday spreading the word and drumming up support for the campaign.
An open organising meeting has been called to start planning a campaign against Tesco. It will be held on Thursday 27th September at 7 pm in Libra Aries bookshop (9 The Broadway, Mill Road). (The bookshop has been graffitied in the run up to the meeting).
http://www.nomillroadtesco.org/ | Main campaign post with many useful links | Tescopoly site
Nottingham G8 Delegates Report From Germany
06-06-2007 20:31
From June 6th to 8th the "representatives" of eight of the most powerful states from the global north are planning to meet in Heiligendamm near Rostock in Germany. Without any legitimacy to decide about global politics they will coordinate their decisions and therefore stand for the continuation of the state the world which for the majority means hunger, misery, war, and exclusion. Despite police repression and political propaganda, the summit will face one of the biggest mobilisations ever to shut down the G8.
People from Nottingham report:
Nottingham folk report from G8 in Germany #1
Nottingham folk report from G8 in Germany #2
Nottingham folk report from G8 in Germany #3
Recent news: Reports of over 10,000 people involved in blockades of the summit yesterday. Pics 1, 2, 3, 4
Indymedia: IMC Timeline of Events (eng) | Indymedia Germany in English | UK Indymedia feature
Links: Dissent! (Germany, in English) | Dissent! (UK) | G8-TV | Anti-G8 Action Faction
