UK
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Britain’s vote against Syrian military action provokes political crisis By Chris Marsden and Julie Hyland
Bitter recriminations have followed the parliamentary defeat of a UK government motion intended to authorize military action against Syria. Continue reading
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UK Has No Case For War On Syria
The British government is trying to construct a case to allow itself to attack Syria. To this purpose the British Joint Intelligence Organisations issued a two page paper on Syria: Reported Chemical Weapon Use (pdf). The paper cites the amount of propaganda Youtube videos of a certain incident as supporting “evidence” Continue reading
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Britain: Police justification for Taser killing in Manchester unravels By Tony Robson
Jordan Begley, a 23-year-old factory worker, was shot on July 10 at approximately 8:15 p.m. by officers from the Greater Manchester Police (GMP). The incident took place at his mother’s home where he lived in Beard Road, Gorton. Jordan died within two hours of being shot with the Taser, which carries a 50,000-volt charge. Continue reading
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“Perfidious Albion”- The View of the U.S. National Security Archive? By Felicity Arbuthnot
This week, to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the CIA-MI6 overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossaddegh, on 19th August 1953, the (US) National Security Archive has released documents confirming the details of the coup and the grubby US-UK involvement. Continue reading
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“Perfidious Albion”- The View of the U.S. National Security Archive? By Felicity Arbuthnot
This week, to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the CIA-MI6 overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossaddegh, on 19th August 1953, the (US) National Security Archive has released documents confirming the details of the coup and the grubby US-UK involvement. Continue reading
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Snowden ‘not the source’ of Middle East surveillance leak – Guardian
The Guardian insists that the latest leaks published by the Independent revealing a UK-backed internet-monitoring station in the Middle East were not from Snowden. “I have never provided any journalistic materials to the Independent,” the paper cites him. He speculated that the UK government intentionally leaked the materials to create the impression that the release… Continue reading
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David Miranda’s detention and the raid on Britain’s Guardian newspaper By Judy Hyland
Events of the last week provide chilling confirmation of the police state apparatus built up by successive British governments on the pretext of the “war on terror.” They demonstrate how invocations of “national security” are used to justify anti-democratic conspiracies against working people and intimidate and punish anyone who dares to reveal the truth. Continue reading
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Miranda detention: UK’s actions ‘incompatible’ with Human Rights Convention – Council of Europe
The Guardian’s partial legal victory over the UK government’s seizure of documents still bodes badly for press freedom and is incompatible with EU convention, Daniel Holtgen, Director of Communications at the Council of Europe told RT. Continue reading
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Guardian editor says newspaper forced to destroy hard drives By Thomas Gaist
In a comment published Monday, Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger wrote that he and other Guardian journalists were faced with unofficial threats of legal action by the British government, and therefore were forced to destroy hard drives containing material from whistle blower Edward Snowden. Continue reading
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Fracking – Britain’s Next Revolution? By Lesley Docksey
At long last Britain is discussing and objecting to fracking – or we would be if the general public had access to accurate information. As it is, Prime Minister David Cameron is going all out to promote a country-wide embrace of shale gas. Continue reading
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Without investigative journalists, the UK will move closer to a police state
Without healthy, thriving newspapers and investigative journalists prepared to ask difficult questions of security services, the UK will move closer to a bona fide police state, British journalist Tony Gosling told RT. Continue reading
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Detention of Glenn Greenwald’s partner approved at highest levels of US and UK governments By Thomas Gaist and Joseph Kishore
The detention of Miranda was a blatant act of political intimidation directed at all those who seek to reveal crimes and conspiracies against democratic rights carried out by the British and US governments, including former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Continue reading
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America’s assault on a free press moves into high gear: Detention of Greenwald Partner in London Clearly Came on US Orders By Dave Lindorff
It is becoming perfectly clear that the outrageous detention of American journalist Glenn Greenwald’s Brazilian partner David Miranda by British police during a flight transfer at London’s Heathrow Airport was, behind the scenes, the work of US intelligence authorities. Continue reading
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The Guardian: Downing St. involved in ‘Snowden materials’ destruction order
The effort to seize or destroy the Snowden-related documents held at the Guardian’s London office was handled by senior Whitehall officials, who answered directly to Number 10 Downing Street, Rusbridger said during an interview with BBC News on Tuesday. Continue reading
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Greenwald partner sues Home Office as UK defends ‘Miranda op
The UK Home Office says it has “to protect the public”, but Miranda has accused Britain of a “total abuse of power” and has said he will take legal action against the Home Office. The Guardian is “supportive” of his action. Continue reading
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More aggressive’: Greenwald vows to publish more secrets after UK detains partner
Glen Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who first published secrets leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, promised Monday to release more documents, saying the UK would be “sorry” for detaining his partner for nine hours. Continue reading
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Welcome to Heathrow
An apposite comment on the nine-hour detention of David Miranda at Heathrow Airport under the pretext of anti-terrorism laws simply because he is the partner of Glenn Greenwald by political cartoonist William Banzai. Continue reading
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The Gentification of the Left By Mike Wayne, Deidre O’Neill
The post-colonial philosopher Gayatri Spivak once famously asked: ‘Can the subaltern speak?’ Colonialism though is not just about race, it is also about that great unmentionable, class. And class colonization is one of the most central features of British social and political life. Continue reading
