AUT: (Fwd) Fw: EF! Action Update Number 60, July 99

[Patrick Gun_Cuninghame <P.Gun-Cuninghame@xxxxxxxxx>]

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Date:          Tue, 06 Jul 1999 18:16:39 +0100
From:          Cornerstone <Cornerstone@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject:       Fw: EF! Action Update Number 60, July 99
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-----Original Message-----
From: Action Update <actionupdate@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: j18discussion@xxxxxxxxxx <j18discussion@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: j18london@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <j18london@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 06 July 1999 18:11
Subject: EF! Action Update Number 60, July 99


>
>We're sending this to the list because we've tried to make the coverage of
>June 18th as complete and accurate as possible, even if most of the
articles
>are quite brief. It's fairly UK-centric but intentionally so - hope no-one
>minds that. Email actionupdate@xxxxxxxxxx if you want to get it every
month,
>or if you want to know about getting paper copies.
>
>EARTH FIRST! ACTION UPDATE NUMBER 60, JULY 99
>
>The Monthly Round up of Ecological, and Other, Direct Action from Around
>Britain
>
>Earth First! is not a cohesive group or campaign, but a convenient banner
>for people who share similar philosophies to work under. The general
>principles behind the name are non-hierarchical organisation and the use of
>direct action to confront, stop and eventually reverse the forces that are
>responsible for the destruction of the Earth and its inhabitants.
>
>
>CITY OF LONDON HA HA HA
>
>? It was not a ?campaign? or a ?message?. It was an attempt to physically
>prevent the destructive machine processes of capital from going on. It was
>an act of self defence in a life or death struggle with those who kill to
>cling on to power and privilege.?
>It was lunchtime, and  7 enormous carnival heads representing 7 different
>revolutionary movements across the globe arrived at Liverpool St Station
>where over 8,000 people had gathered in resistance to capitalism. Some were
>already dancing to the Samba band. Carnival masks in four different
colours;
>red, green, black and gold, were distributed throughout the crowd; the
masks
>offered an explanation of carnival and instructions to follow written on
the
>back, as well as a unity of identity.
>At a signal, the crowd divided according to it?s colour into four groups,
>led by colour-coded streamers via different routes; some tube, some land:
>toward Upper Thames St. A fifth group, not colour coded ended up at an
>unintentional destination, London Wall. Here, separated from the bulk of
the
>crowd, around 2000 people bore much of the police frustration. One person
>was hospitalised after being run over by a police van.
>The majority of people reached Upper Thames St which was reclaimed, banners
>reading ?Global Ecology not Global Economy?, and ?Kill Capitalism? were
>hung, and the sound systems started. Walls and roads were grafitied with
>various messages and surveillance cameras were painted over, broken or had
>bags put over them. A fire hydrant was broken sending water 40 foot high
and
>flooding out  investment buildings, which, it was reported, caused
temporary
>disruption but no permanent damage. Police became more agitated when:
>?A number of us who were masked up ran at one of the entrances to the LIFFE
>building which also houses Cargill, a much hated biotech company, some
>dragging away barriers while others tried to storm the building. The few
>security posted there stopped the charge, and then the barriers become our
>tools, weapons not to keep us out but to get us in, and the glass doors
>shattered when we used the barriers to batter them down.?
>Inside the building, computers, mirrors and windows were smashed,  files
>thrown out into the street along with pot plants and furniture. Escalators
>were dismantled. Conflicting reports state that nobody reached beyond the
>ground floor although others claim that after  fistfights with traders at
>the top of the escalators the first floor was also damaged. Some reports
say
>trading was stopped and workers evacuated.
>At a similar time a group entered McDonalds in Canon St and began to smash
>windows and damage the interior, before dumping the tills in the middle of
>the street. The Fleet St branch had it?s windows broken. The Stock Exchange
>was targeted, but people were apparently stopped from breaking open the
>doors by other protestors, who, allegedly, put paint on their fellows so
>they could be identified by the police later. Some also tried to de-mask
>members of the crowd throughout the afternoon.
>Later in the day a Mercedes Benz showroom had it?s windows put through and
>some of the cars inside were smashed with scaffolding poles.. Throughout
the
>day a number of luxury cars were redesigned, at least one set on fire,
>others had their windows smashed. Some reports  said that protestors also
>targeted ordinary cars and :
>? These are some of the things that I saw: people destroying a little cafe
>that had been serving us food all day; people giving abuse to anyone in a
>suit/didn?t look right, people saying things like ?we?re just here to have
a
>party, man??...little restaurants, newsagents and shops being destroyed...I
>was scared and not just of the police.?
>As police lines pushed people back, the people retained ground with
missiles
>including white paint bombs which splattered a number of riot police. The
>windows of the Dutch Rabo Bank building were smashed , and one newspaper
>said that Normand Bank was damaged by fire. As the crowd was divided up by
>police lines, and the sound system led out, an elite wine bar was invaded,
>alcohol stolen, windows broken, and the interior destroyed. Four of the
tube
>stations on route had been closed, so an easy exit was not possible - some
>people headed for Waterloo station where the planned mass train jump to
>Cologne didn?t happen, some home, and some toward Trafalgar Square where
>people partied until late into the night.
>There were 15 arrests and nearly 50 injured on the day itself. Since then
>there have been other arrests for criminal damage as police have been
>viewing CCTV and identifying individuals, many of the crowd having not worn
>masks.
>? June 18th was a great day out, but for me it is not about the day but the
>process, just one day of many where we refuse and resist the onslaught of
>global capitalism. One paper warned that capitalism?s enemies will be back,
>but we had never gone away. We are part of our history of resistance, but
>now we are making links. Our revolution really is global.?
>
>Autonomous Actions on June 18th
>
>London Actions
>
>Hundreds of financial sector workers failed to turn up for the day having
>been ordered by their firms to avoid the City for fear of possible riots.
>So, some disruption was caused in the City even before anyone really did
>anything.
>
>PAINT JOB
>Five small groups went to London to splatter 5 places with paint at one
>minute past midnight on June 18th. Unfortunately due to last-minute
>organisational problems and police surveillance of the squats they had
>planned to stay in, only one group set off for its target.
>Undeterred, this group homed in on the London Metal Exchange and scored a
>hit, liberally spattering it with pink paint!
>
>
>ROAD AND RAIL BLOCKADES
>Fire alarms in 3 consecutive tube stations on the district and circle lines
>were activated (the theory being that this would cause the whole line to
>close). The 4th station couldn't be done because it had been evacuated,
>suggesting that it works.
>Two climbers closed Tower Bridge to traffic by abseiling into the path of
>traffic from one of the towers. A banner was hung, reading ?Life Before
>Profit?. They were removed by police climbers who appeared to be ready for
>this sort of eventuality. They were arrested, but got away with a caution
>and were released in time for the carnival.
>At 8.15am rush hour traffic attempting to enter Moorgate road on its way
>into the square mile, was blocked off by activists who D-locked steel cable
>from one side of the road to the other and attatched a banner to it reading
>"warning: steel cable: city closed". It is not known for how long this
>remained in place as the activists left quickly due to a high police
>presence!
>One group didn't make it to their meeting point due to tube chaos, and
>joined the animal rights march instead.
>
>CRITICAL MASS
>At 7.45 a.m about 5-600 cyclists staged a critical mass cycle ride,
>disrupting the flow of traffic all over the Square Mile. This carried on
all
>morning, continuing to jam the city streets untill 12.00 noon when it met
>with the Carnival Against Capital at Liverpool Street Station.
>
>BRIGHTON BLOCKS A BIG BRIDGE!
>Before they set off to do their action the Brighton group held 3 training
>days which included legal briefings, self defence workshops and discussions
>on the theory and practice of affinity groups. On the day itself 40 people
>barricaded London Bridge during the morning rush hour.
>The plan was to chain together and trash 3 cars, one in each of the
>North-bound lanes taking traffic into the City. Meanwhile the South-bound
>lane would be blocked by a chain sporting an enormous red, green and black
>banner reading 'Stop The City'.
>Unfortunately one of the cars broke down quarter of a mile away from the
>Bridge, so one of the carriageways was left unblocked. A heavy police
>presence resulted in 3 arrests for fairly minor offences, however, most
>groups managed to complete their tasks, evade arrest and enjoy the rest of
>the day.
>
>BUNCH OF BANKERS
>The Campaign Against the Arms Trade targeted Lloyds, Natwest and Friends
>Provident in the City to protest at their support for the arms export
trade.
>At Friends Provident only a couple of people managed to get inside, but a
>banner was dropped from the roof reading ?Capitalising on Misery?. Friends
>Provident holds over 4 million shares in British Aerospace which is the
>largest arms exporter in Europe, having sold weapons to Turkey, Indonesia,
>Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Chile.
>Lloyds, one of the primary banks used by arms exporters, was the next
target
>which was successfully occupied by about 9 people, 4 of whom locked on,
>while a picket was held outside. The occupation lasted from 9.3am-1.30pm,
>forcing the bank to close for the day.
>Nat West was also visited for a hour, and whilst work was not stopped lots
>of leaflets were given out. Meanwhile at Aldgate Station free food and
>leaflets were distributed.
>Contact CAAT: 0171 281 0297
>
>SCRAP GAP
>International Solidarity with Workers in Russia (ISWoR) held an action
>against the Oxford Street branch of Gap, a clothing multinational, in
>protest against the brutal exploitation of workers employed by Gap in
>Russia, who sew for as little as 11 US cents an hour.
>The action was originally planned mainly as a phone blitz, as the
organisers
>did not want to pull people away from the City of London. However, a press
>release accidentally went out stating that there would be a presence at the
>shop all day, so an action was organised at the last minute.
>Labels describing the working conditions in Russia were inserted by
>protesters all through the stock of clothes, causing disruption, despite
the
>shop's security plan and police presence. Afterwards customers were
>leafleted with information about the issue. Some of the shop-workers were
>found to be sympathetic. The ?phone blockade also went ahead as planned.
>International Solidarity with Workers in Russia, Box R, 46 Denmark Hill,
>London, SE5 8RZ
>
>ANTI-MAC
>McDonalds on Liverpool Street was picketed, around midday, by several
>hundred people whilst waiting to gather for the carnival.
>At 4pm, a small group of people left the carnival to picket the Aroma cafe
>in Bishopsgate, McDonalds having bought the Aroma cafe chain earlier this
>year. They arrived to find a lot of police waiting for them, which turned
>out not to be a problem as the cafe was already shut, presumably to avoid
>the protest.
>Contact: London Greenpeace. 0171 713 1269
>
>UNIONS TARGETED
>About 40 activists, including some from the Northern Anarchist Network,
>invaded the head offices of the TUC and the country?s largest union,
Unison.
>Whilst not actually in the Square Mile, the action was planned to emphasise
>how unions are hand in hand with Capital. Unions have consistently sold out
>workers, recent examples being the Liverpool Dockers, the Hillingdon
>Strikers and the Magnet workers.
>Office workers were leafleted and lots of disruption caused. It was felt to
>be a good action, with no arrests.
>
>NO NEW DEAL!
>At 10.00 a.m the Reed office on Moorgate was picketed as part of the
>campaign against Reeds? involvement in the New Deal. The New Deal will
force
>people on benefits into unpaid work, which will also lower the wages of
>those in work. Reed are implementing the scheme in London.
>About 20 people handed out leaflets outside the office for an hour.The
>office closed for the day!
>At this point the pickets moved on to BP?s head quarters where they
>protested against BP?s collaboration with the Colombian state, reading out
>the names of trade unionists and peasant activists, killed by Colombian
>death squads.
>Haringey Solidarity Group. 0181 374 5027
>
>ANIMAL ABUSE IS AS TRANSNATIONAL AS CAPITAL!
>London Animal Action decided to protest against the exploitation of animals
>under capitalism. About 200 people marched behind a banner which read 'Kill
>Capitalism Not Animals', to the offices of the British Chicken Association
>and the British Poultry Association. They then went to the HQ of the
>Imperial Cancer Research Fund, which experiments on animals, before
marching
>into the City of London to meet up with the carnival at Liverpool Street.
>There was a huge police presence, including photographers, but no arrests.
>Contact London Animal Action: BM 2248, WC1N 3XX. Tel: 0171 278 3068.
>
>GET OFF OUR SPACE!
>The Association of Autonomous Astronauts protested against the
>militarisation of space. Wearing space suits and giving out propaganda,
they
>gathered with banners reading ?Stop Star Wars. Military out of Space?.
>At their target, Lockheed Martin, they distributed leaflets and a
delegation
>headed for the reception area to deliver a letter demanding the hand-over
of
>all Lockheed?s resources to the AAA and the cessation of all weapons
>construction.
>One ?astronaut? said of the protest: ?All in all, a good day out, and proof
>positive that community based space exploration is on the up?.
>Association of Autonomous Astronauts: Box 15,138 Kingsland High St.,
London,
>E8 2NS
>
>KPMG OCCUPATION
>People from the South West occupied the offices of KPMG auditors in London.
>KPMG manage accounts and give financial advice for a wide array of dodgy
>companies including Nestle, Pepsi, ICI, Zeneca, British Aerospace and Rolls
>Royce. Just before 9am, the occupiers entered the building and made their
>way to the top floor offices. One was manhandled out by security guards,
but
>the remaining 7 activists split into 2 groups, each finding separate
>offices.
>One group happily barricaded for 40 minutes until they were removed.
>Leaflets were distributed to company workers outside. The second group
>settled down to some ?file tidying? and phoning friends outside, including
>the garment workers union of Bangladesh to send a message of solidarity.
>They remained in occupation for 2 hours. Many workers were distracted and
>amused, even coming from other floors to see the action. There were no
>arrests.
>
>DROP THE DEBT
>Campaign group People and Planet formed a human chain most of the way round
>the Treasury for the cancellation of the 3rd world debt.
>
>MINI CARNIVAL
>People from Newcastle went to the Petroleum Exchange where they leafleted
>pedestrians and chalked slogans about the outcomes of oil exploitation on
>the building and pavement.
>They then had a procession through the streets of London, led by a masked
>Tony Blair, stopping off at various banks including Lloyds HQ. They held
>banners, gave out leaflets and chalked slogans. The final destination was
>the Bank of England.
>Contact Tyneside Action for People and Planet: PO Box ITA, Newcastle, NE1
>1TA
>
>Actions outside London
>
>ASHTON COURT
>Activists from the Ashton Court Quarry Campaign decided to target their
>favourite multinational Pioneer Aggregates, responsible for the destruction
>of a wildflower meadow in Ashton Court to expand Durnford quarry. 11
>activists arrived at the offices in Harrow, Essex. Two, in suits, held the
>door open after a worker walked in, allowing others to rush through. Other
>activists climbed a fire escape to hang a banner from the roof. Inside,
much
>to the delight of the assembled mob, a board meeting was in progress, and
>duly disrupted. The directors were in conference with the West Country
>manager, Ian Wardle, who led the destruction at Ashton Court. The local
>rapid response WPC turned up after half an hour, from the station next
door!
>The activists left peacefully and there were no arrests.
>
>LINCOLN
>At 11:30 a.m several dozen people infiltrated clothing stores in the local
>malls and inserted small flyers discussing the GAP sweatshop labour issues
>into the pockets of clothing and handing out flyers to passers by.
>From 2:30 ?till 4:00 in the afternoon street theatre was performed in front
>of several downtown banks. More flyers were handed out. Following this an
>anti-capitalism demonstration was held in front of the Federal  building at
>which a further 1000 flyers were distributed.
>The day was rounded off with a critical mass cycle ride. All of this passed
>off without any serious confrontation with the police.
>
>LANCASTER
>Activists from Lancaster J18 Collective occupied Freshfields, a city law
>firm at 11.00am. Despite heavy security they managed to rush into the
>central courtyard, unfolding banners and bunting as they went. Freshfields
>boast of representing the ?nuclear, aviation, road transportation,
>chemicals, mining, asbestos, tobacco products and drink industries?.
>Information was distributed to interested onlookers and cheering building
>workers, while one man locked on with a pair of handcuffs. Two vans of
>police arrived. One activist climbed the building and unfurled a banner
>reading 'Capitalism is killing the planet'. They all left of their own
>accord at midday.
>Later that afternoon in Lancaster a large critical mass gathered in Market
>Square. Other activists visited Acordis Acetates, a company accused of
>polluting the air with carcinogens and the River Lune with Mercury. They
>found their way into a meeting between senior executives and disrupted it.
>The police turned up quickly and the protesters left.
>Contact the Lancaster June 18 group at Lancaster-j18@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>EDINBURGH
>On the night of the 17/18 June, an unknown ?group of friends who are not
>involved in any formal organisation?, paint-bombed and fly-posted a Reed
>Employment office and fly-posted a Reed Accountancy office, both in central
>Edinburgh. The group stated that ?we hate workfare, the companies who
profit
>from it, and the whole exploiting system?.
>They explained:?We took this action as part of the ongoing opposition to
>Reeds running the New Deal in London and as part of the global day of
action
>against the capitalist system."
>
>GLASGOW
>Between 400 and 500 people participated in a moving street carnival in
>Glasgow complete with two sound systems and drummers. The unauthorised
march
>wended its way through the city centre for several hours, bringing shop and
>office workers to the windows to watch.
>The demonstrators joined forces from 3 different meeting points, plus a
>contingent of cyclists who staged a mini critical mass.
>Passers by were curious and intrigued and large quantities of flyers and
>leaflets were distributed. Various anti-capitalist banners were carried,
one
>of which proudly proclaimed ?Capitalism Is Stupid?.
>The march stopped at various sites, including the local Council Chambers,
an
>Armed Forces Careers office where demonstrators hammered on the windows, a
>large Bank of Scotland branch, and the Pitt Street police station.The
>activity lasted for around 7 hours in all, with people departing from the
>Park at around 8pm.
>There were no arrests, the only known attempt at an arrest, in George
>Square, being thwarted by determined demonstrators who surrounded the
police
>and freed the handcuffed prisoner.
>Contact: Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh. 0131 557 6242
>
>ABERDEEN
>A Reclaim The Streets party had been planned for Aberdeen but lack of
>numbers on the day meant direct action was impossible. Instead people
>leafleted the city centre and gave out leaflets at a branch of McDonalds.
>Contact: Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh.
>
>CARDIFF
>An event of some kind was planned for Cardiff. Unfortunately the EF!AU has
>been unable to find out what happened. Presumably something went ahead.
>Cardiff J18 group: efmaxmania@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>NEWBURY
>The Newbury Bypass again became the scene of direct action, when, in the
>early hours of the morning a car was dumped on the bypass, partly blocking
>it.
>Later in the day six residents of Newbury demonstrated outside the local
>offices of Vodaphone against that company?s plans to develop greenfield
land
>on the edge of Newbury. (See EF!AU issue 59). Despite a small turn-out they
>had a considerable effect: The police not only sent 2 vans to police the
>protest but also hired a ?crane with a camera on top? especially for
>surveillance on the day! Even this over reaction was more than matched by
>Vodaphone who hired security guards for the day and employed contractors to
>seal nearby manhole covers in case any of the demonstrators went
underground
>to cut their cables!
>
>J18 Media
>
>-Theirs and Ours-
>? The events of June the 18th were well publicised on the J18 website.
>Undercurrents, I-Contact video network and the J18 media group got video
>footage of the critical mass, the animal rights demo, the human chain and
>the carnival on to the website within 20 minutes of these actions taking
>place. The server was full to capacity all day with people logging on.
>Within 3 days of the action a 30 minute video had been compiled by
>Undercurrents and I-Contact and shown at the Glastonbury festival to packed
>audiences every night. Visit the website at www.j18.org
>? A court ruling has gone in the favour of the Press who argued against a
>police order to hand over their footage of the day. The press argued that
it
>is not the role of the media to be police informers. However, this should
>not lull us into a false sense of security, as the media have no qualms
>about endangering protestors liberty by putting their faces on the front
>page/tv. It should also be remembered that everyone is liable to have their
>film seized by police on or after the day. Even seemingly innocent footage
>can be used to secure convictions.
>? On the issue of journalists; while it is up to each individual to say
what
>they like about themselves (as long as they don?t claim to speak for anyone
>else), mentioning other people to journalists is as serious as talking
about
>them to the police.
>? Thirty thousand copies of Evading Standards, a 32 page tabloid spoof on
>London?s Evening Standard were given out - twenty thousand of them to
>commuters in the week leading up to June 18th and the rest at the carnival
>itself.
>The international email list continues to run, and much of the discussion
>has turned to the possibility of future co-ordinated global days of action.
>To subscribe, send a message to listproc@xxxxxxxxxx with ?subscribe
>j18discussion? in the body of the message. But be warned - there is lots of
>traffic on this´F´F
>
>
>Actin Diary
>July
>10. URGENT conference 01865 721366
>10 Bristol RTS. Meet Castle Park at 12 noon. Ring Kebele on 0117 939 9469
>10. Gene-free Jamboree 0181 374 9677.
>12. URGENT action. 01865 721366
>14. GE Free Forests Action. Meet 9.30 in front of University of Oxford
>National History Museum
>17. National action against Tarmac.Somewhere in the Midlands. Ring 07971
755
>823 for details. Be prepared to stay over the night before.
>18. Stop the Crop March on a farm scale test site ,Watlington, Oxford. 2pm.
>Ring GEN 0181 3749516
>30. 4th Anarchist Summer Camp, Germany.  Tel: 0531 82909.  email:
>a-camp@xxxxxx
>31.  Smash Genetic Engineering Action. Cambridge For precise meeting point
>call 07808 191858 or smashgenetics@xxxxxxxxx after 24 July.
>31- Aug 2. Setting up Ecological Communities course
>at Stepping Stones Co-op, mid-Wales 0870 7332538
>August
>2.-8. European Animal Rights gathering, Norway. noah@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>18-23. EF! Summer Gathering, East Anglia. Contact Leeds EF! for workshops
or
>Norwich EF! for offers of help on site
>September
>Fifth ?Doin? it in the north?. Newcastle, date tbc.
>3-5 The Land is Ours Gathering. Wkshops on land based issues at a farm in
>Stroud. Bring acoustic music. Phone 01865 722016 for more details.
>11. Norwich Reclaim The Streets party - 07931308091
>October
>18.  Veggie?s 15th anniversary bash. Our celebrations will be as
>transnational as Capital. Contact as for Notts EF!
>
>
>Prisoners
>
>
>When writing to prisoners you must write your full name and address on the
>back of the envelope.
>
>One person is on remand after London?s Carnival Against Capital, charged
>with Affray and carrying an offensive weapon (a crowbar).
>Charles McBride DC8504, HMYOI Feltham, Bedfont Rd., Feltham, Midd?x, TW13
>4ND.
>
>Robert Thaxton is also in jail, charged with attempted murder, rioting, and
>assault after the June 18th events in Eugene, Oregon It seems the attempted
>murder charge was added to get him to plead guilty to the assault charge,
>which carries a minimum 5-year jail sentence.
>Robert Thaxton, 1370036, Lane County Jail - 101 W. 5th, Eugene Oregon,
>97401, USA.
> He can ONLY receive hand-written letters, no printed media. The envelope
>must be less than 1/4" thick.
>
>Steve Greenwood was sentenced to 10 months in April having been nicked
>protesting against the breeding of cats for vivisection at Hillgrove Farm..
>Steve Greenwood, DJ5857, HMP Woodhill, Rattenhoe Street, Milton Keynes, MK4
>4DA.
>
>Some of the people arrested for organising the June 18th action in Pakistan
>now face charges that carry the death penalty. The jailed trade unionists
>are: Choudhry Riaz Ahmed, Mohammad Shakeel Janjua s.v.p. Pirzada Imtiaz
>Syed, Ayub Ali Khan, Haroon H Rasheed, Mohammad Inayat Sabri, Mohammad
>Noveed.
>Offers of solidarity can be sent to the union address: APFUTU, Union House,
>Rang Pura, Sargodha Road Gujurat - 50700 Pakistan; Fax: ( + 92 - 4331 )
>525302; E-Mail: union@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Voice your protest to the High Commission of Pakistan on 0171 664 9200 (ask
>for High Commissioner's office) and to the Prime Minister of Pakistan at
>primeminister@xxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>A GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION
>
>Events took place for June 18th on every continent - here?s a round-up of
>the actions we?ve heard about, no doubt there were many others. Longer
>reports can be found on the international website: http://www.j18.org
>
>AUSTRALIA
>Adelaide. Two small actions took place: the Wildcat Collective ?stuck coins
>around in strategic places?, including the stock exchange, and Everyone for
>a Nuclear-Free Future plus supporters did a banner walk near the main
branch
>of Westpac - an Australian bank who have invested in the Jabiluka uranium
>mine.
> Perth had three small events on the 18th - a Jubilee 2000  'wake up crawl?
>of consulates, a demo against Western Mining's desecration in the
>Philippines and an action against a local engineering company - Clough -
>that's helping a US/UK/Canadian/Swiss mob called Pangea to plan a major
>international nuclear waste dump in outback Western Australia.
>Melbourne.Highlight of the day in Melbourne was when Kim Beazely, the
leader
>of the opposition, was pied for speaking at a meeting about APEC and Global
>Trade, sponsored by Shell. The majority of people (along with three
>roadkilled wombats) met up at the stock exchange at noon, and went off to
>the local branch of Westpac. A group of people entered a department store
>and ran amok inside, and there were reports that a Nike store was
>paintbombed and that ticket validation machines on the tram system were
>damaged.
>Sydney At least three major events took place, alongside other autonomous
>actions. The anti-business lunch was followed by a ?scumbag?s tour? of the
>business district. Critical mass took place later in the evening, over the
>harbour bridge and around the town.
>
>ARGENTINA
>Buenos Aires A multi-religious assembly against debt and global capitalism
>in general was staged in front of the I.M.F and Central Bank building,
>followed by a march through the streets of the financial district of Buenos
>Aires. J18 was the first in a series of similar events to be held every
>third Friday.
>
>BANGLADESH
>Dhaka. Friday is the weekly holiday in Bangladesh so all the offices of
>financial institutions were closed on that day. Previously the Domestic
>Workers Association had decided to organise a demonstration in front of the
>World Bank?s office for Bangladesh .But due to the holiday it was moved to
>Purina Paltan in the centre of Dhaka. Several hundreds of domestic workers
>demonstrated for two hours with slogans against the IMF, World Bank,
>capitalism and TNCs, and exploitation both local and international.
>
>BELARUS
>Minsk.Two groups organised a picket near the McDonald's in the centre of
>Minsk. They handed out pamphlets about multinational corporations and their
>policy,and handed toilet paper to people entering McDonalds. Any public
>meetings or demonstrations are illegal in Belarus but nobody was arrested.
>Also, the "No Corporations"-open air festival was staged without permission
>by the state.
>
>BRAZIL
>Desterro.In  Desterro (named by the state Florianopolis) the 12 meters high
>clock placed in the centre of the city, built by the media giant "Globo
>Network" was stained with red paint symbolising the blood of indigenous
>people shed by the European conquerors. The clock, a copy of which is
>erected in the capital of every Brazilian state, is intended to celebrate
>the 500 years of "discovery" (read invasion) of this land. At the bottom of
>the clock was spray-painted: "celebrating what"?
>
>CANADA
>Calgary. 30 local activists converged on the headquarters of Shell Canada,


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