British government spied on allies at G20 summit

This video is called The Guardian: UK Government Spied On Allies At TWO G20 Summits In London.

From daily The Guardian in Britain:

GCHQ intercepted foreign politicians’ communications at G20 summits

Exclusive: phones were monitored and fake internet cafes set up to gather information from allies in London in 2009

Ewen MacAskill, Nick Davies, Nick Hopkins, Julian Borger and James Ball

Sunday 16 June 2013 20.46 BST

Foreign politicians and officials who took part in two G20 summit meetings in London in 2009 had their computers monitored and their phone calls intercepted on the instructions of their British government hosts, according to documents seen by the Guardian. Some delegates were tricked into using internet cafes which had been set up by British intelligence agencies to read their email traffic.

The revelation comes as Britain prepares to host another summit on Monday – for the G8 nations, all of whom attended the 2009 meetings which were the object of the systematic spying. It is likely to lead to some tension among visiting delegates who will want the prime minister to explain whether they were targets in 2009 and whether the exercise is to be repeated this week.

The disclosure raises new questions about the boundaries of surveillance by GCHQ and its American sister organisation, the National Security Agency, whose access to phone records and internet data has been defended as necessary in the fight against terrorism and serious crime. The G20 spying appears to have been organised for the more mundane purpose of securing an advantage in meetings. Named targets include long-standing allies such as South Africa and Turkey.

There have often been rumours of this kind of espionage at international conferences, but it is highly unusual for hard evidence to confirm it and spell out the detail. The evidence is contained in documents – classified as top secret – which were uncovered by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and seen by the Guardian. They reveal that during G20 meetings in April and September 2009 GCHQ used what one document calls “ground-breaking intelligence capabilities” to intercept the communications of visiting delegations.

This included:

• Setting up internet cafes where they used an email interception programme and key-logging software to spy on delegates’ use of computers;

• Penetrating the security on delegates’ BlackBerrys to monitor their email messages and phone calls;

• Supplying 45 analysts with a live round-the-clock summary of who was phoning who at the summit;

• Targeting the Turkish finance minister and possibly 15 others in his party;

• Receiving reports from an NSA attempt to eavesdrop on the Russian leader, Dmitry Medvedev, as his phone calls passed through satellite links to Moscow.

The documents suggest that the operation was sanctioned in principle at a senior level in the government of the then prime minister, Gordon Brown, and that intelligence, including briefings for visiting delegates, was passed to British ministers.

A briefing paper dated 20 January 2009 records advice given by GCHQ officials to their director, Sir Iain Lobban, who was planning to meet the then foreign secretary, David Miliband. The officials summarised Brown’s aims for the meeting of G20 heads of state due to begin on 2 April, which was attempting to deal with the economic aftermath of the 2008 banking crisis. The briefing paper added: “The GCHQ intent is to ensure that intelligence relevant to HMG‘s desired outcomes for its presidency of the G20 reaches customers at the right time and in a form which allows them to make full use of it.” Two documents explicitly refer to the intelligence product being passed to “ministers”.

Related articles

• BREAKING! UK Government Spied On Allies At TWO G20 Summits (Video) (progressivepress.net)
• BREAKING: Snowden Reveals British Government Spied On Officials’ Phone Calls, Emails During G20 Summit (mediaite.com)
• NSA, UK Spied On Politicians, Intercepted Emails, Eavesdropped On Russian President’s Phone Calls (zerohedge.com)
• GCHQ ‘spied on foreign politicians’ (standard.co.uk)
• Documents Uncovered by NSA Whistleblower Reveal that UK Spied on G20 Allies in London in 2009 (blackchristiannews.com)
• UK spies hacked diplomats’ phones, emails, Guardian reports (cbc.ca)
• GCHQ intercepted foreign politicians’ communications at G20 summits | guardian (andrewazzopardi.org)

G8 in Ireland, draconic police measures

This video says about itself:

2013 Anti G8 march takes place in Northern Ireland

June 15, 2013

Environmentalists, trade unionists and other civil society activists paraded through Belfast city centre at lunchtime for what they bill as a march and festival for a fairer world.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Belfast on Saturday to tell the G8 leaders they were not welcome in Northern Ireland for this week’s summit in Fermanagh: here.

The full cost of the G8 security operation may never be known but its presence is certainly being felt on both sides of the Irish border: here.

Government leaders attending the G8 summit in Fermanagh feign concern about global poverty and corporate tax dodging, but they are committed to a system that guarantees such phenomena: here.

By Ben Chacko in Britain:

Northern Ireland enters lockdown for G8 circus

Friday 14 June 2013

Northern Ireland went into lockdown today in preparation for the G8 jamboree of capitalist leaders.

Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said he was expecting “relatively small numbers” of protesters to target the summit – but thousands of police from Britain are being deployed in the largest ever security operation in the territory.

A “ring of steel” has been erected round the luxury Lough Erne resort in County Fermanagh where the conference will take place.

The five-star hotel is crawling with security guards, including patrols by the British army’s Gurkha units.

Public transport, schools and hospitals all face disruption – with Enniskillen’s South West Acute hospital planning to double staff numbers in case of clashes between activists and police.

An entire prison block at Maghaberry jail has been set aside for demonstrators, while 16 judges will be on standby to run extraordinary courts to “process” protesters.

The club of wealthy nations is due to discuss issues affecting the world economy – though critics say its domination by moribund Western nations and exclusion of economic powerhouses China and India make it increasingly irrelevant.

And stormy scenes are expected between Russia and the United States, which are backing different horses in Syria’s bloody civil war.

Progressive groups in Ireland are organising a Fairer World Festival this weekend as a contrast to the secretive summit being held behind steel barricades and razor wire.

Marchers will meet today at noon in Customs House Square, Belfast, for a march to City Hall where a rally will be held.

It’s backed by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions as well as the Communist Party, women’s rights groups, Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth.

Communist Party of Ireland chairwoman Lynda Walker told the Star that Northern Ireland “doesn’t want the G8.

“We’re 15 years into a tenuous peace process and British Prime Minister David Cameron is forcing us to host this capitalist circus.

“It’s bound to be provocative and will inflame sectarian tensions. It’s all right for Cameron – he doesn’t care who gets hurt.

“But we in Northern Ireland have had enough of violence.”

Related articles

• Marchers in Belfast, Northern Ireland, protest against G8 policies ahead of summit (sott.net)
• G8 Summit: Major Police Operation Under Way (news.sky.com)
• Thousands gather for anti-G8 protests in Northern Ireland (hangthebankers.com)
• G8 in Ireland, police state ‘security’ (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Thousands due at G8 events in Belfast and Fermanagh – BBC News (bbc.co.uk)
• Northern Ireland locked down for G8 summit (wsws.org)
• N Ireland all set for G8 police state (southweb.org)

Irish anti-G8 demonstrations

This video from the USA says about itself:

Camp David 2012 G8 Protesters. Ethiopian Americans from around the United States protesting today (Saturday May 19, 2012) in Thurmont, Maryland for human rights. Thurmont is located in Frederick County, Maryland and is the closest community to Camp David where the 2012 G8 Summit is being held. Critics say Meles Zenawi‘s government represses civil rights and news media. The United States is a major contributor of aid to Ethiopia.

From BreakingNews.ie in Ireland:

Protestors plan ‘alternative’ G8 in Ireland

05/04/2013 – 14:51:05

An “alternative” G8 summit is to be organised by protesters in Ireland against global austerity measures.

Trade unionists, anti-war activists, charities, anti-fracking organisations, environmentalists and pro-Palestinian lobbyists will be involved in demonstrations to be held near this summer’s conference in the North as well as in Belfast, Dublin and London, one of the organisers said.

Police in the North are mounting a massive security operation in anticipation of trouble including creating extra cells capable of holding 350 people and imposing a ring of steel around the luxury Lough Erne golf resort in Co Fermanagh where June’s meeting of world leaders is being held.

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among those expected to attend a gathering of leaders representing some of the world’s leading economies hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

People Before Profit campaigner Eamonn McCann said: “Here we have these eight people who are all in one way or another representing big power politics, they are all in one way or another involved in imposing austerity.

“They represent the 1% against the 99%.”

The PSNI is expanding custody provision at stations across the North for the summit.

Courts and prisons staff will also step up workloads in the anticipation of extra arrests. An unused 108-capacity unit at Maghaberry high security prison in Co Antrim and a former army site in Co Tyrone could house those charged.

Mr McCann accused the media of focusing on a violent minority and said past G8 demonstrators had been angered by the sight of US security forces on the streets.

“I would hope that the protests would be peaceful but you cannot rule out provocation in some form,” he said.

“The main focus of the violence in 2005 (Gleneagles) was the tactics by foreign security services. In Scotland groups of people were being confronted by American security agents who had taken over control.”

He said it was remarkable that the PSNI had been granted late-night sittings of courts to charge suspected offenders and demanded magistrates be made available on a Sunday without any opposition from local politicians.

“Where is the democratic accountability of law and order in all this?” he asked.

“Whether or not you agree that these things should be happening, they should not be happening without public debate.”

He said that besides the alternative summit several musical events were being organised to coincide with the G8 meeting.

He said plans for Co Fermanagh had not been coordinated yet but were in the process of formation by trade union organisations.

Expected participants in protests include the War on Want and Trocaire aid charities, groups concerned about fracking for gas (Fermanagh is a potential site for the mining), organisations supporting Palestinian causes and Friends of the Earth.

Issues to be highlighted include environmental protection, carbon emissions, public spending cuts and nuclear disarmament in the UK, France and Russia.

Mr McCann claimed G8 leaders did not have electoral endorsement for some of their policies.

“There is no mandate there for nuclear weapons, no mandate for the austerity measures across Europe, every public opinion poll shows that the vast majority of people are against them,” he said.

“Greece objected to them (austerity measures), Italy objected to them, the democratically elected government there was cast aside and a technocrat was installed.”

He said elected governments’ programmes were just set aside when the IMF and major financial institutions became involved in bailouts.

He added: “I believe we need Europe-wide coordinated resistance to what is happening. There is a spirit of revolt in France, a spirit of revolt in Greece and a spirit of revolt in Italy and there is a spirit of revolt on this island against what is happening. It needs to find a focus, we must all rise up together.”

Related articles

• Prison cells readied ahead of G8 summit in Co Fermanagh this summer (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
• Protesters to hold ‘alternative g8′ (morningstaronline.co.uk)
• UK under pressure to act on UK offshore havens (irishtimes.com)

Ethiopians oppose G8 support for their dictator

This video is called Ethiopian troops’ massacre of Somali civilians April 21-2108.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Ethiopians furious over PM’s invitation

Sunday 20 May 2012

More than 200 US-based Ethiopian activists packed into the town square in Thurmont, Maryland, on Saturday to protest against the east African country’s prime minister’s invitation to the G8 summit.

The flag-waving Ethiopian immigrants were protesting against the rule of Meles Zenawi, who was invited along with the heads of Benin, Ghana and Tanzania to discuss food security at Camp David.

The US is a major contributor of aid to Ethiopia, whose leader has been accused of restricting freedoms and news media.

“Shame on you!” chanted the protesters, many waving their country’s red, green and yellow flag.

Some held a banner saying: “Zenawi: brutal dictator, pathological liar, mass murderer.”

Police had restricted demonstrators to Thurmont, several miles from the presidential retreat.

A handful of demonstrators from Occupy movements in Baltimore, Washington and Connecticut, joined in.

But many had gone to Chicago to join demonstrations against the Nato meeting starting on Sunday.

New York, Chicago against war

This video says about itself:

The high numbers of civilians killed in Afghanistan is a grim reminder that the war in Afghanistan continues.

The Pledge of Resistance Could Change the Game Against a War With Iran. Robert Naiman, Just Foreign Policy, in the USA: “If people were convinced that there were a 90% chance of war in the next three months … many people would be in the streets…. By inaction on the threat of war with Iran, people are effectively saying: ‘so we’re on a slow path? Give me a call when we’re on a fast path. I have other demands on my time.’ The problem with this is that by the time we are on a fast path to war, our political leverage to stop the war will be very small – much smaller than it is today”: here.

From the United National Antiwar Coalition in the USA, about their New York City conference:

(Please forward widely)

Register Now! Extremely Reasonable Air Fare & Hotel Rooms Now Available!

United National Antiwar Coalition National Conference

March 23-25, 2012 at the Stamford CT Hilton (one stop from Harlem/125th St. on Metro North commuter line)

Say No to the NATO/G8 Wars & Poverty Agenda

A Conference to Challenge the Wars of the 1% Against the 99% at Home and Abroad

The U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance will meet in Chicago, Sunday May 20 and Monday May 21, to plan their financial and military strategies for the coming period.

These NATO and G8 elites, who serve the 1% at home and abroad, impose austerity–often by the use of drones, armies, and the police–on the 99% to expand their profits.

Originally, both NATO and the G8 planned to have their conferences in Chicago. However, now only NATO will meet there.

The G8 has ran away from Chicago, because:

Amid concerns over thousands of protestors descending on Chicago, Illinois for the G-8 Summit this spring, the event has been moved to the presidential compound at Camp David, Maryland, around an hour outside of Washington.

Leaders from the United States, Russia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and European Union were expected to arrive in Chicago this May for the annual meeting of the world’s largest economies. Protesters also had plans for the Windy City, however, and demonstration groups including Occupy Wall Street offshoots had begun orchestrating events to coincide with the meeting. Now barely two months before the event is slated to occur, the G-8 Summit is being moved outside of Chicago to Camp David, a suburban city outside of the US capital that serves as a historic retreat locale for America’s commander-in-chief.

“In May, the United States looks forward to hosting the G-8 and NATO Summits. To facilitate a free-flowing discussion with our close G-8 partners, the president is inviting his fellow G-8 leaders to Camp David on May 18-19 for the G-8 Summit, which will address a broad range of economic, political and security issues,” reads a statement released Monday by the White House.

After the G-8 Summit, the NATO meeting is expected to continue as planned in Chicago on May 20 through 21.

In the past, these high-profile meetings of the minds have attracted massive demonstrations, with the 2010 G-20 Summit in Toronto resulting in the largest mass arrest in the history of the entire country of Canada. In recent weeks, the Apartment Building Owners and Managers’ Association of Chicago began a series of presentations in which it explained how building managers could effectively handle riots, protests, tear gas and bomb threats.

Camp David has served as a retreat for every president since Franklin Roosevelt went into office in the 1940s and has hosted foreign dignitaries such as Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Anwar al-Sadat. Come this spring, however, it will serve as a meeting place for more than just a few heads of state. Obama, Cameron, Merkel and Sarkozy are just a few of the names that are expected on this year’s guest list — and don’t expect there to be many more. Camp David is normally subjected to heightened security standards, and this spring’s G8 Summit won’t come as any exception. For protesters hoping to picket outside the grounds — a mass demonstration would be unlikely.

Coincidently, a new bill drafted by Congress, HR 347, will make it a federal offense to trespass on the grounds of any place granted Secret Service. If approved, the NATO Summit in Chicago will fall into this jurisdiction, as will the presidential retreat at Camp David. What does that mean for protesters? Even if you’re in the proximity of the premises, you could be considered a criminal for engaging in any activity that disrupts a governmental event.

The United National Antiwar Coalition continues:

Join activists from the antiwar, occupy, environmental, immigrant rights, labor, and other movements at a conference from March 23-25, 2012 to learn more, to plan a major “No to NATO” demonstration in Chicago, and to democratically develop a program of action for the months to follow.

Special guest speakers include:

–Xiomara de Zelaya is currently a presidential candidate in Honduras and the partner of Manuel de Zelaya, the former president displaced by a U.S.-backed coup in 2009.

–Bill McKibben is the founder of the grassroots global warming group 350.org and the architect of the successful campaign to defeat the XL pipeline.

–Glen Ford is the executive editor of Black Agenda Report, a ground breaking site that covers U.S. wars abroad and wars at home from the perspective of the African American community.

–Richard Wolff is the author Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It

–Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid is the founder of the Muslim Peace Coalition

–Vijay Prashad is the author of The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World

–Andrew Murray is a member of the UK Trades Union Congress General Council and head of UK Stop the War coalition from 2001-2011

–Col. Ann Wright was a central Gaza Boat organizer and the editor of Dissent: Voices of Conscience

–Medea Benjamin is the founder of Code Pink

–Jared Ball is the author of I Mix What I Like

–Clarence Thomas is an Oakland ILWU activist with Longview WA Longshore fight

–Scott Olsen is an Iraq war veteran and Occupy victim of Oakland police violence

–David Swanson is author and editor of War is a Crime.org

–Pat Hunt is a founding member of the Coalition Against NATO/G8 Wars & Poverty Agenda

–Fignole St. Cyr is a leader of the Haitian Autonomous Workers Confederation

∞

How to Register?—Where to Stay?—Transportation?—Submitting Resolutions?

Visit www.UNACPEACE.org and click on UNAC conference.

Email: UNACpeace@gmail.com Phone: 518- 227-6947.

∞

We urge attendees to take advantage of the double rooms (2 double beds) at the convention site that are now only $119 a night. There is nothing less expensive in the tri-state area and we had to guarantee the hotel room reservations in return for the use of space for the convention. By staying at the hotel, you are contributing to the overall success of the conference.

Also, registration covers two Saturday meals, and there will be key plenary panels going on in the dining room during these meals.

∞

Conference Schedule and Workshops

Conference Schedule

Friday Night, March 23, 2012

4:30 p.m. Registration Opens

8:00 pm–Opening Panel: Shifting Strategies of Empire: Analyzing the Military and Economic Plans of the 1%.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

7:00 am Registration Opens

8:30 am—Plenary

10:45 am Workshop Series One

12: 30 pm. Lunch with Panel: The War at Home on the Black Community: Mass Incarceration, Unemployment, Stop and Frisk

1:45 pm Plenary

4:00 pm Workshop Series Two

5:45 pm Workshop Series Three

7: 30 pm Dinner with Panel: Islamophobia, the Attack on Civil Liberties, & the War on Workers

Sunday, March 25, 2012

9:00 am Plenary

Noon Plenary Panel: Global Economic Meltdown, Warming, and War: Why the 1% Will Not Retreat without a Fight and the Kind of Fight It Must Be.

1: 30 pm Workshop Series Four

3:00-4:30 pm NATO/G8 Protest Organizing Session & Closing Remarks

————-

Workshops-in formation

US Geopolitical Strategy and Intervention in the Asia-Pacific Region. Bernadette Ellorin, Juyeon Rhee.

End the Occupation of Haiti! Ray Laforest & Kim Ives.

Haiti: Analysis from Trade Unionists on the Ground. Fignole St. Cyr & others.

Egypt: Will the People Rule? Ayman El Sawa, Ahmed Shawki, others

Law as a weapon of war. Steve Downs, Marlene Jenkins, Shamshad Ahmad, Kathy Manley

Defeating AFRICOM & NATO: Bldg Solidarity with Africa in the Struggle Against Imperialism. Abayomi Azikiwe In formation.

Targeting Iran: The Truth Behind the Hype: Ana Edwards, Sara Flounders, Ken Stone, Mansoureh Tajik & Phil Wilayto.

Iran: Solidarity, Not Intervention. Raha Iranian Feminist Collective.

The West’s Politico-Economic Warfare on Iran. Eleanor & Ardeshir Ommani.

Antiwar Strategies in Black Community Organizations. Ana Edwards, Abayomi Azikiwe, others.

Contradictions of the Imperialists’ Agenda for Full Spectrum Dominance. Glen Ford, Nellie Bailey, Margaret Kimberly, Bruce Dixon, Tony Montiero.

Propaganda and Communications on Permanent War. Peter Hart & David Swanson.

Building Resistance at the Democratic National Convention. Ben Carroll. In formation.

No to NATO/G8: Teaching Resistance—Anti-Imperialist Curriculum and Methods. June C. Terpstra, Cris Toffolo.

U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe and the Campaign for Withdrawal: John LaForge, Marion Keupker, Alice Dressman

Veterans Peace Teams. Tarak Kauff, Eric Lobo, Mike Tork, Fred Nagel, Ellen Barfield.

What War? US Turns from War on Iraq to Permanent Occupation. Invitees: Debra Sweet, Siman Antoon, Wafaa Bilal, Larry Everest, Raed Jarrar, and Michael Otterman

Taking Back Our Schools: Counter-Recruiting in upstate NY and Chelsea MA. Jim Murphy, Lyn Meza

“We are Not Your Soldiers”: Stop the Militarization of our High School Campuses. Elaine Brower, Ethan McCord, Matthis Chiroux, James Brower.

Corporate War Against the Planet: The Hydrofracking Front. Mary Finneran, Joan Walker, video of Richard Grossman

Democratizing Money: Banking in the Public Interest: Susan Harman, Mike Krauss, Tom Sgouros

Labor Against Austerity and War: Andrew Murray, Clarence Thomas

Border Militarization/Migrant Workers Rising Globally. Monami Maulik, Rafael Samanez, Amanda Flores, AyeshaMahmooda, Roksana Mun, Mustafa Sullivan, Derechos Humanos, Carol Barton

All Out for the May 1 mobilization! Teresa Gutierrez, Victor Toro, others.

From Egypt to New York City: “Anti-Radicalization” Laws, Surveillance, the War on Terror Industrial Complex, & NDAA. Monami Maulik, Fahd Ahmed, Shasheena Parveen, Shahid Buttar; Osman Chowdhury, Sam Anderson, Suzanne Adely

Confronting Robotic (Drone) Warfare at the Hancock AFNG Base/Hancock 38. Carol Baum, Judy Bello, Ed Kinane.

Rethinking Pakistan: People’s Struggle and the War on Terror. Saadia Toor, Adaner Usmani, Madiha Tahir, Zohra Ahmed.

Negotiating Peace—What the U.S. Might Do for Colombia. John Jairo Lugo & Stephen Kobasa.

Honduras: The Struggle for Land, Democracy, & Sovereignty. Xiomara de Zelaya, Lucy Pagoada, others.

The Economy, Unemployment & the Military: Alternatives to Save Our Country & the Jobless: Marguerite Rosenthal, Gertrude Schaffner, Shelia Collins.

Linking Endless War and Economic Crisis: Bring Our War $ Home. Bruce Gagnon, Lisa Savage, Paki Wieland, Mary Beth Sullivan

Occupying the Military Industrial Complex: David Swanson, Brian Kwoba, others

Occupy, Community, & Labor Collaboration: Notes from the field. In formation.

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions—Join Palestinian Non-violent Resistance to Occupation. Ethan Heitner, Nancy Krikorian, SJP.

No Nukes: Nuclear Power, Weapons, & War. Hattie Nestel, Alice Slater, Henry Rosenberg

How Do You End Student Debt? End the War! Tax the Rich! Daniel Alley, Christopher Hutchinson, others

Search for Human Rights & Justice in South Asia. Muslim Peace Coalition. Kannan Srinivasan, Toby Caman, Junaid Ahmad, Haley Duschinski.

Resource Wars in South Asia. Muslim Peace Coalition. Hares Sayed, Akhtar Assad, Shafat Ahmad.

Influencing Electoral Conversation from a Peace & Justice Perspective. Muslim Peace Coalition. Shaik Ubaid, Seemi Ahmed, Imam Talib Abdurrashid.

Prisons: The New Torture Machine. Steve Downs, Faisel Hashmi, Ayesha Hoda, Kathy Manley.

Faith-Based Organizing. Fellowship of Reconcilation & others.

Activist Lessons from the Past: Changing Our Society & Pressuring Our Gov’t to End War. David Swanson. In formation

Honduras Resistencia. Xiomara de Zelaya, Lucy Pagoada, and others.

Women, Peace & Security. Laura Rosko. In formation.

From Adbusters:

On May 1, 50,000 people from all over the world will flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month. With a bit of luck, we’ll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen.

Indeed the rumors are true. Chicago will host an “Occupy Festival” in the run-up to the NATO summit this coming May. NBC and Huffington Post have already broken the news, and the buzz in the social media world has just started to percolate: here.

Last Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder enacted guidelines that further expand the US government’s asserted powers to collect and store private information, without a warrant, concerning individuals who are not suspected of any crime: here.

G8 against ‘Arab Spring’

This video from France is about:

On Saturday 21 May 2011 Le Havre saw a protest of some 20 – 30,000 trade unionists & socialist groups protesting the forthcoming G8 meeting taking place at Deauville in Northern France 27th and 28th May 2011.

The G8 summit opened in France with discussion on a response to the so-called “Arab Spring” that has seen mass uprisings against Western-backed regimes: here.

By Kumaran Ira in France:

Tunisian interim prime minister visits France ahead of G8 summit

27 May 2011

On May 17-18, Tunisian interim prime minister Beji Caid Essebsi made an official visit to France where he had discussions with Prime Minister François Fillon and President Nicolas Sarkozy. It was the first such visit by a Tunisian prime minster since the dictatorship of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in January, after a month of popular protest.

Essebsi’s visit took place ahead of Tunisia’s forthcoming participation in the G8 summit on May 26-27 in Deauville, in northern France. France, which holds the rotating presidency of the G8, has invited Tunisia and Egypt to participate at a session called “Arab spring,” promoting it as “the democratic transition in the Arab world.” On May 19, Al Arabiya reported that the G8 nations plan to provide Tunisia with $10 billion in economic aid.

THE G8 summit gathered last week in the French resort of Deauville. Apart from endorsing Barack Obama’s attempt to co-opt the Arab revolutions, it’s not clear what it did: here.

As struggles continue in North Africa and the Middle East, the great powers are attempting to strangle the revolutionary developments in the region in collaboration with the national ruling elites and the pro-government trade unions. In this context, Essebsi’s visit inevitably focused on how to reassert the imperialist agenda in those regions.

Compared to the trillions lavished on bank bailouts, the financial help promised by the Western powers is quite minimal.

Thousands to protest ahead of G8 Deauville meeting: here.

G8: Undermining the Arab Spring: here.

Embassy Protest Against Bahrain’s Anti-Union Repression: here.

Trade unionists delivered a petition to the Bahraini embassy in Brussels on Thursday calling on the ruling Khalifa family to stop its violent campaign against the country’s labour movement: here.