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LATEST NEWS
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On December 23rd, 4 out of 5 activists on trial at Winchester Crown Court were found guilty of 'Conspiracy to Blackmail' at Winchester Crown Court after a 3 and a half month long show trial. The world's media, prompted by police press officers, were quick to condemn activists by pointing to harassment against the employees of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) and their customers, shareholders and investors. Actions against HLS, not linked to those convicted, such as hoax bombs, letters alleging paedophilia, and threats were pointed to as evidence of the defendants' extremism. Police spokesmen and the National Extremist Coordination Unit (NETCU), the branch of the police set up to deal with the AR movement and other expressions of the public's dissent, hailed the convictions as a victory. (For more information on NETCU see here and here
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A refurbished and expanded detention facility to hold people arrested on arrival or due to be deported from the country was reopened at Manchester airport earlier this month. Having added the new centre to their "city of shame" map, Manchester No Borders declared: "No immigration detention centres anywhere!" |
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Corporate Watch has learned that the Director of ITT Defence International has applied to the UK government for the right not to file his details with Companies House. Bruce K. Scott, an American citizen, made the application 10 months ago, when ITT took over EDO MBM in Brighton. EDO MBM has been the subject of a concerted direct action campaign over the last four and a half years due to their manufacture and supply of weapons used by the US and UK military in Iraq and Afghanistan and by the Israeli army in Palestine (see here, for example). |
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An appeal against the government's controversial move to allow the merger of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) and Lloyds TSB without referring it to the Competition Commission has been dismissed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). The legal challenge was mounted last month by a group of Scottish businessmen, shareholders and customers calling themselves the Merger Action Group (MAG), which argued that the decision by Business Secretary Peter Mandelson to ignore competition law and allow Lloyds TSB to buy HBOS was "unlawful" and would "be bad" for Scotland's economy. |
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An occupation of the roof of the Raytheon offices in Bristol has reached its second week despite sub-zero temperatures. The direct action began in protest at Raytheon's supply of weapons used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. Anti-militarist activists have been targeting Raytheon since October and have formed the Smash Raytheon campaign. |
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You would have thought that the last thing Brighton needs is another Starbucks. Four new branches of the American multinational coffeehouse chain have opened in Brighton in the last few years at the expense of local businesses. But that didn't stop Starbucks opening a sixth store last May in St James Street, Kemptown, despite vociferous local opposition. |
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Flights from London's Stansted airport were halted for four hours in the early hours of Monday, 8th December, as 57 environmental protestors 'camped' on the runway and surrounded themselves with fortified security fencing. The action by Plane Stupid was in response to the government's approval of expanding capacity at the airport by 10 million passengers a year. In October this year, following an appeal by operator BAA, the government overturned a refusal by Stansted's local planning authority to allow the expansion of the airport. |
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Saturday, 20 December 2008: Solidarity demonstration for the ongoing Raytheon rooftop protest in Bristol. Anti-militarist protestors have been on the roof of Raytheon since the 9th of December and don't intend to leave "till Raytheon leave or they starve." For more details, see http://raytheonout.wordpress.com. |
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