Western media coverage of China's hosting of the Olympics was at best disingenuous and seemed more like propaganda than news most of the time read full story / add a comment

Longtime Indymedia activist detained in Beijing for journalism read full story / add a comment

As part of Amnesty International’s global celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Amnesty is hosting a wide range of exciting activities and events at this year’s Electric Picnic.
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Despite all odds, with scrambled radio and jammed phones courtesy of dirty tricks, a seasick passenger, in rough waves with a storm brewing, the small boats, the SS Free Gaza and the SS Liberty, successfully landed in Gaza early yesterday evening, breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.They left Cyprus on Thursday morning, sailing over 350 kilometers through choppy seas. They made the journey despite threats that the Israeli government would use force to stop them. They continued sailing although they lost almost all communications and navigation systems due to outside jamming by some unknown party. They arrived in Gaza to the cheers and joyful tears of hundreds of Palestinians who came out to the beaches to welcome them. read full story / add a comment

As Tibet solidarity and other human rights activists are rounded up i Beijing, a designated protest pen is transformed into a trap from where people disappear (77 applications were made to enter this "protest pen" - all have been withdrawn, suspended or rejected!), a Chinese girl is ditched from the Olympic Opening Ceremony for not having "the look" to go with the voice, the Party promotes, the corporates profit and prima don athletes are expected to keep a housebroken silence - one's mind is cast back to an iconic image from Mexico '68.
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More the decks of a Noah's ark than a cobblestoned trading emporium, Free Palestine Campaign activists took to rain deluged Shop Street last Saturday in solidarity with the brave women and men who presently will be sailing from Cyprus in two boats to break the medieval siege of Gaza and on what Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairead Maguire, calls a "pilgrimage of justice and peace."

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DUBLIN, Ireland — On Saturday, August 16th, the collective known as Anonymous will again stage a protest against the Church of Scientology's corruption, and its abuse of its members and critics. This will be Anonymous' seventh global protest since the inception of its campaign in January. From 11am (local time) onwards, Anonymous will take to the streets in peaceful protest at over 130 Church of Scientology centres around the globe, including the Mission of Dublin Ltd on 62/63 Middle Abbey Street. read full story / add a comment

British paratrooper Lee Clegg was convicted of the 1990 murder of West Belfast teenager Karen Reilly, an incident that also claimed the life of Martin Peake and the wounding of a teenage girl -Markievitz Gorman - when a joint British army RUC patrol fired upon a car the three were travelling in read full story / add a comment

A black woman was handcuffed and arrested at Longford Railway Station yesterday evening at about 6 pm for not paying her fare on a bus or train. read full story / add a comment

RSF/RPAG have condemned the sentencing of a Republican prisoner to solitary confinement in Maghaberry Gaol. read full story / add a comment

I was on my way to the printers (to get photos printed for anti war exhibition) yesterday (Fri. Aug.8th) and came across this protest/vigil that was organised by the 'Burma Action Ireland' group.
I was surprised to see this, as I had heard or read nothing about it, I was even more surprised, given the important significance of the date, 8-8-88, that it wasn't advertised in the events section on indymedia.

I have my own ideas why this was, but would any of you care to comment?

While I am here, I will post some of the text from the press release. read full story / add a comment

Idealists and utopians would claim that this phenomenon is the beginning of the disentanglement of the public sphere and political debate from the traditional dominance of political parties, big business, corporate media and vested interests who dictate what can and cannot be discussed, what is relevant and what is news-worthy. The political participation of the ordinary citizen could eventually be conducted entirely through electronic means. Instead of representative government it is suggested in the future technology will enable all citizens to engage in the ongoing political debate. The pattern whereby citizens vote at the end of each government term with paper ballots could be replaced with a form of direct democracy. History would have turned full circle as a global village like the ancient Greek city states would decide its priorities bypassing the traditional power structure of wealth and power.

But is this realistic? read full story / add a comment

It's been reported that the gardaí have spent 11,000,000 euro on policing the protests against the Shell scheme to install a production pipeline and refinery in Kilcommon County Mayo.

The amount is more than half of what is being spent on fighting organised crime (€20M) and the Irish Independent newspaper reports that Garda sources are concerned that policing the protests is draining overtime budgets.

In May this year the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission recommended that there should be a general review of the way public protests are policed, in the light of more than 70 complaints received about the Corrib protests. GSOC wrote to Minister for Justice proposing that it carry out an examination of management of crowd protests and civil disobedience. However, the minister turned down the proposal, as he “did not feel that it was appropriate at that time”.
http://www.corribsos.com/index.php?id=1774 read full story / add a comment

The NGO Peace alliance is joined woth the International Committee of Human rights -Swiss section to encourage people who do not wish to be represented by their governmwent represenratives to use their own personal initiative and join up and register with with www.boycottceremony.com read full story / add a comment

In view of the historical juncture where as our Palestinian people are facing a vicious campaign by the Israeli occupation army who continue to tighten the siege of the Gaza Strip and dismembering the West Bank, as well as the continuous deterioration of living, health and social conditions of our people, and witnessing state instability of security in the bombing of public places and lately the horrendous crime took place on the Gaza Seaside. read full story / add a comment

Stephen Lendman in a Znet article http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/18348 succinctly puts the moral imperatives behind the Free Gaza Movement's brave sailings to the Israeli besieged Gaza Strip: "After Hamas' January 25, 2006 electoral victory, Israel targeted Gaza oppressively. All outside aid was cut off. Sanctions and an economic embargo were imposed, and the democratically elected government was falsely called a terrorist organization and isolated. Stepped up repression followed along with repeated IDF incursions, attacks, killings, targeted assassinations, arrests, destruction of property and more in a pattern all too familiar to Palestinians for over six decades. Gazans are imprisoned in their own land and have been traumatized for months. In June 2007, things got worse after Israel placed the Territory under siege - described by some as medieval because of its extreme harshness". read full story / add a comment

Published: 29 July, 2008

Sinn Féin Environment and Natural Resources Spokesperson Martin Ferris TD has severely criticised a decision by the Department of the Environment to grant planning permission without approval from An Bord Pleanála to Shell E&P Limited for a key section of the Corrib onshore pipeline at Glengad in County Mayo.

Planning permission was granted via the controversial Strategic Infrastructure Act.

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37 years ago, the doors of working class nationalist homes across the Six Counties came crashing down as the British government's armed thugs went on the offensive in defence of the Stormont junta. read full story / add a comment

The Belfast Pride Festival begins this Saturday 26 July, lasting a week and culminating with a huge march through Belfast City Centre on Saturday 2 August, assembling at Customs House Square @ 12noon.

The march attracted record numbers last year with over 6500 in attendance, each participant supporting the rights of the local gay community and the core premises of the international gay pride movement.

Other highlights of the festival include the Amnesty International lecture by human rights and gay rights activist Peter Thatchell, and a ‘Pride Talks Back’. All events and further information can be viewed at http://www.belfastpride.com/.
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News comming in of 10 to 12 arrests in Glengad

including Willie Corduff read full story / add a comment