RAF Typhoons take part in Nato attack destroying guard towers at Libyan ruler’s Bab al-Aziziyah complex in Tripoli British RAF jets have taken part in a rare daytime strike by Nato aircraft on the Libyan capital, destroying the guard towers at Muammar Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli. The Libyan dictator was not a target and there was no way of knowing whether he was there at the time, the military alliance said. Followed a fifth straight night of attacks, British Typhoons were among the aircraft that used precision bombs early Saturday to bring down guard towers along the walls of the Bab al-Aziziyah complex. The British chief of defence staff’s spokesman, Major General John Lorimer, said: “For decades Colonel Gaddafi has hidden from the Libyan people behind these walls, spreading terror and crushing opposition. “The massive compound has not just been his home but is also a major military barracks and headquarters and lies at the heart of his network of secret police and intelligence agencies. “Last night’s action sends a powerful message to the regime’s leadership and to those involved in delivering Colonel Gaddafi’s attacks on civilians that they are no longer hidden away from the Libyan people behind high walls.” Previous Nato attacks had hit command and control and other military facilities within the complex, Lorimer said. A big boom shook Tripoli at about 8am GMT but it was unclear if it was caused by a bomb or missile. A Nato military spokesman said the daylight raid also targeted “a vehicle storage compound 600 to 800m to the east of Gaddafi’s so-called tent private area. It is not part of the main Gaddafi complex.” Following the Friday night strikes, the Libyan state broadcaster said Nato raids also caused “human and material” damage near Mizda, to the south. The strikes came as Nato prepared to deploy attack helicopters over Libya for the first time as a range of countries try to intensify pressure on Gaddafi to relinquish power. Gaddafi has been left diplomatically deserted after Russia, his sole international interlocutor, joined the rest of the G8 nations in declaring the Libyan leader had lost all legitimacy and must go. Libya Military Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Nato Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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Branches occupied or picketed in day of action spearheaded by UK Uncut and unions Protesters are holding demonstrations outside high street banks around the UK and have succeeded in occupying a number of branches in the biggest direct action to date against proposed changes to the NHS. The national protest, designed to draw attention to the banks’ role in creating the deficit, is being spearheaded by the anti-austerity campaigning group UK Uncut, which has been were joined by trade unionists and others. Activists dressed in doctors’ coats and armed with fake blood had planned to enter branches and set up mock hospitals and “operating theatres”. Instead they staged their protests on the streets outside when branches were closed or police kept them out. After assembling shortly before midday In London, close to 100 protesters staged actions outside three banks in Camden and held a mock trial of the health secretary, Andrew Landsley. Another group was able to enter a Natwest bank in Brixon and stage a theatrical protest. “The NHS did not cause the financial crisis – the banks did and are continuing to make billions in profits. And yet it is the NHS which is being cut,” said Candy Udwin of the Camden Keep Our NHS Public campaign, which took part. “Here in Camden there are hundreds of jobs under threat and that is why protests like this are being strongly supported.” Activists said they had occupied a number of banks in Brighton while actions also took place in Plymouth, Oxford, Leeds Liverpool, Bournmouth, Ipswich and Dundee. Protesters outside a branch of HSBC in Newcastle were joined by the musician and activist Billy Bragg, who addressed them by megaphone. More than 30 groups across the country had been expected to take part in the day of action, while the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) had encouraged members to attend. Dubbed “the emergency operation”, the day of protests is the first big action organised by UK Uncut since the arrests of 145 protesters during a sit-in at Fortnum and Mason in London on 26 March, when more than 250,000 people who took to the streets to protest against government spending cuts. UK Uncut has staged a series of campaigns against tax avoidance and public spending reductions since it was formed in October. UK Uncut Public sector cuts Protest NHS Health Liberal-Conservative coalition Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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Branches occupied or picketed in day of action spearheaded by UK Uncut and unions Protesters are holding demonstrations outside high street banks around the UK and have succeeded in occupying a number of branches in the biggest direct action to date against proposed changes to the NHS. The national protest, designed to draw attention to the banks’ role in creating the deficit, is being spearheaded by the anti-austerity campaigning group UK Uncut, which has been were joined by trade unionists and others. Activists dressed in doctors’ coats and armed with fake blood had planned to enter branches and set up mock hospitals and “operating theatres”. Instead they staged their protests on the streets outside when branches were closed or police kept them out. After assembling shortly before midday In London, close to 100 protesters staged actions outside three banks in Camden and held a mock trial of the health secretary, Andrew Landsley. Another group was able to enter a Natwest bank in Brixon and stage a theatrical protest. “The NHS did not cause the financial crisis – the banks did and are continuing to make billions in profits. And yet it is the NHS which is being cut,” said Candy Udwin of the Camden Keep Our NHS Public campaign, which took part. “Here in Camden there are hundreds of jobs under threat and that is why protests like this are being strongly supported.” Activists said they had occupied a number of banks in Brighton while actions also took place in Plymouth, Oxford, Leeds Liverpool, Bournmouth, Ipswich and Dundee. Protesters outside a branch of HSBC in Newcastle were joined by the musician and activist Billy Bragg, who addressed them by megaphone. More than 30 groups across the country had been expected to take part in the day of action, while the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) had encouraged members to attend. Dubbed “the emergency operation”, the day of protests is the first big action organised by UK Uncut since the arrests of 145 protesters during a sit-in at Fortnum and Mason in London on 26 March, when more than 250,000 people who took to the streets to protest against government spending cuts. UK Uncut has staged a series of campaigns against tax avoidance and public spending reductions since it was formed in October. UK Uncut Public sector cuts Protest NHS Health Liberal-Conservative coalition Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Branches occupied or picketed in day of action spearheaded by UK Uncut and unions Protesters are holding demonstrations outside high street banks around the UK and have succeeded in occupying a number of branches in the biggest direct action to date against proposed changes to the NHS. The national protest, designed to draw attention to the banks’ role in creating the deficit, is being spearheaded by the anti-austerity campaigning group UK Uncut, which has been were joined by trade unionists and others. Activists dressed in doctors’ coats and armed with fake blood had planned to enter branches and set up mock hospitals and “operating theatres”. Instead they staged their protests on the streets outside when branches were closed or police kept them out. After assembling shortly before midday In London, close to 100 protesters staged actions outside three banks in Camden and held a mock trial of the health secretary, Andrew Landsley. Another group was able to enter a Natwest bank in Brixon and stage a theatrical protest. “The NHS did not cause the financial crisis – the banks did and are continuing to make billions in profits. And yet it is the NHS which is being cut,” said Candy Udwin of the Camden Keep Our NHS Public campaign, which took part. “Here in Camden there are hundreds of jobs under threat and that is why protests like this are being strongly supported.” Activists said they had occupied a number of banks in Brighton while actions also took place in Plymouth, Oxford, Leeds Liverpool, Bournmouth, Ipswich and Dundee. Protesters outside a branch of HSBC in Newcastle were joined by the musician and activist Billy Bragg, who addressed them by megaphone. More than 30 groups across the country had been expected to take part in the day of action, while the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) had encouraged members to attend. Dubbed “the emergency operation”, the day of protests is the first big action organised by UK Uncut since the arrests of 145 protesters during a sit-in at Fortnum and Mason in London on 26 March, when more than 250,000 people who took to the streets to protest against government spending cuts. UK Uncut has staged a series of campaigns against tax avoidance and public spending reductions since it was formed in October. UK Uncut Public sector cuts Protest NHS Health Liberal-Conservative coalition Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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The British soldiers’ deaths bring to 44 the number of Nato troops who have been killed in Afghanistan in May Two British soldiers have been killed in a bomb blast while on patrol in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said. The troops from 42 Commando Royal Marines were killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand province on Friday. The deaths take to 368 the number of British military personnel who have died since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001. A British soldier from 1st Battalion the Rifles was killed on Monday by a bomb while on a patrol in another district of the province. A spokesman from the MoD said the two marines had been on patrol in the Loy Mandeh area when they were killed. The spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Major Rolf Kurth, said: “It is my sad duty to inform you of the death of two Royal Marines from 42 Commando Royal Marines in the Loy Mandeh area of the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand province. “The two Royal Marines were on patrol, disrupting insurgent activity when they were killed by an explosion caused by an IED. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends in their time of grief.” Their next of kin have been informed. The soldiers’ deaths bring to 44 the number of Nato troops who have been killed this month in Afghanistan. The recent violence is part of a spring offensive by the Taliban, who have stepped up roadside bomb and suicide attacks, as well as assaults on outposts in mountainous and rural areas. Afghanistan Military Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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Poet and songwriter was hailed as ‘Godfather of Rap’ after penning The Revolution Will Not Be Televised The musician and poet Gil Scott-Heron – best known for his pioneering rap The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – has died at the age of 62, having fallen ill after a European trip. Jamie Byng, his UK publisher, announced the news via Twitter: “Just heard the very sad news that my dear friend and one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met, the great Gil Scott-Heron, died today.” Scott-Heron’s spoken word recordings helped shape the emerging hip-hop culture. Generations of rappers cite his work as an influence. He was known as the Godfather of Rap but disapproved of the title, preferring to describe what he did as “bluesology” – a fusion of poetry, soul, blues and jazz, all shot through with a piercing social conscience and strong political messages, tackling issues such as apartheid and nuclear arms. “If there was any individual initiative that I was responsible for it might have been that there was music in certain poems of mine, with complete progression and repeating ‘hooks’, which made them more like songs than just recitations with percussion,” Scott-Heron wrote in the introduction to his 1990 Now and Then collection of poems. He was best known for The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, the critically acclaimed recording from his first album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, and for his collaborations with jazz/funk pianist and flautist Brian Jackson. In The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, first recorded in 1970, he issued a fierce critique of the role of race in the mass media and advertising age. “The revolution will not be right back after a message about a white tornado, white lightning or white people,” he sang. He performed at the No Nukes concerts, held in 1979 at Madison Square Garden. The concerts were organised by a group called Musicians United for Safe Energy and protested against the use of nuclear energy following the meltdown at Three Mile Island. The group included singer-songwriters such as Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and Bonnie Raitt. Scott-Heron’s song We Almost Lost Detroit, written about a previous accident at a nuclear power plant, is sampled on rapper Kanye West’s single The People. Scott-Heron’s 2010 album, I’m New Here, was his first new studio release in 16 years and was hailed by critics. The album’s first song, On Coming From a Broken Home, is an ode to his maternal grandmother, Lillie, who raised him in Jackson, Tennessee, until her death when he was 13. He moved to New York after that. Scott-Heron was HIV positive and battled drug addiction through most of his career. He spent a year and a half in prison for possession. In a 2009 interview he said that his jail term had forced him to confront the reality of his situation. “When you wake up every day and you’re in the joint, not only do you have a problem but you have a problem with admitting you have a problem.” Yet in spite of some “unhappy moments” in the past few years he still felt the need to challenge rights abuses and “the things that you pay for with your taxes”. “If the right of free speech is truly what it’s supposed to be, then anything you say is all right.” Scott-Heron’s friend Doris Nolan said the musician had died at St Luke’s hospital on Friday afternoon. “We’re all sort of shattered,” she told the Associated Press. Gil Scott-Heron Rap United States David Sharrock guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The Rick-Perry-for-president buzz whipped up again today when the Texas governor said, “I’m going to think about it,” reports the Dallas Morning News . It was a marked departure from his previous denials, though he qualified it by adding, “I think about a lot of things.” After the comment generated headlines,…
Continue reading …The fish that shows up on American plates is often a different fish than advertised, and US seafood lovers are getting routinely ripped off as a result, the nonprofit Oceana group says in a new report. Yellowtail commonly subs for mahi-mahi, for instance, and tilapia for red snapper, notes Consumer…
Continue reading …The news got even worse for Moammar Gadhafi today: Longtime ally Russia looks to be cutting ties, reports the Guardian . “He should leave,” Dmitry Medvedev said at today’s G8 summit in France. “I proposed our mediation services to my partners. Everyone thinks that would be useful.” Russia strongly opposed NATO’s…
Continue reading …Blackbeard’s flagship is again reaching the surface, bit by bit. Archeologists today raised one of the anchors from the remains of the renowned pirate’s Queen Anne’s Revenge, which sank off the coast of North Carolina in 1718, reports AP . More lies below, including what’s left of the hull, a half-dozen…
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