Stokes Croft group who were raided by riot police say ‘we have nothing to do with the anti-Tesco protest’ The squatters whose treatment by police sparked an anti-Tesco riot near the centre of Bristol have denied any connection with activists campaigning against the supermarket giant. Speaking in the aftermath of one of the most serious outbreaks of disorder in Bristol since the St Pauls riots in 1980, the four occupants of “Telepathic Heights”, which was raided by police on Thursday night, also denied they had been manufacturing Molotov cocktails in the squat. “We had no intention of attacking Tesco whatsoever,” said Gavin Houghton, 28. “It was never on the cards – we have nothing to do with the anti-Tesco protest. They’re a separate group. “This is a nice building and it would be suicide if we started throwing petrol bombs off the roof. We would never do that. It’s not what we’re about.” Avon and Somerset police maintain that the operation was justified and said its officers had found petrol bombs on the roof of the building which had been taken away for tests. A spokesman said its forensic experts were trying to establish who made the bombs. He added: “We need to try and link it to the actual people involved because there are a number of people at the address.” Around 160 police officers in riot gear raided the squat in the Stokes Croft area to arrest a number of people they said posed “a real threat to the local community”. But the operation sparked violent protests amid allegations of heavy-handed tactics. Eight police officers were injured and recently opened Tesco store was badly damaged. Nine protesters were arrested, four of whom appeared before Bristol magistrateson Saturday. None of the four squatters remaining in the building were arrested. Houghton and Salim Noormohammad, also 28, told the Observer that the police raid had been violent and unwarranted. According to the squatters, the night the police arrived most of those living in the house had already moved out. The group had been in contact with Bristol city council’s empty homes agency and were removing the last of their stuff. “We were working on tidying the place up, as you do – it’s a house, so it’s got to be tidy,” says Houghton. “Then Salim said the police were trying to get in the front door, so I stopped painting. My first instincts were that there were going to be a few police to tell us that we were going to be evicted. But when I looked out the window it was a completely different story. “There were 30 to 40 police officers all dressed up in riot gear and they stormed the building.” Noormohammad said that after the officers broke through the door they tipped over the sofas and ripped them open, before emptying the squatters’ recycling box over the floor. “Then,” claimed Houghton, “one of the officers barged me in the face with his shield and pushed me across the room and told me to sit down on the floor. Whilst he was pushing me I said, ‘Leave me alone, I’m not doing anything to you.’ Then he started shouting, ‘Sit there, don’t move.’ “I think once they realised there were only four of us in the building, they calmed down.” Houghton said the police officers told him that they were looking for petrol bombs. According to witnesses the operation to clear the squat attracted a large crowd of people which blocked Cheltenham Road, one of the main routes into the city centre. By 1am on Friday there was serious trouble outside the Tesco store. Barricades were erected, bottle banks were emptied and their contents hurled at police, rubbish bins were set alight and a concrete slab was thrown at an officer who was knocked to the ground. Lewis Clapham, 22, a customer services worker, got caught up in the violence which lasted for several hours. He said: “I wasn’t involved in the protest or the squat. I just happened to be down there and I went up to the police and said I was just passing through, but one of them came and hit me really hard with a baton. I’ve got bruising all down my side now with massive swelling on my elbow.” Squatters Noormohammed and Philip Pezard have degrees in English and photography respectively. Noormohammad and Houghton are unemployed and Pezard works as a chef, but said he still didn’t have enough money to rent a home. They said that none of them imagined squatting after university and all claimed to be busy trying to find jobs rather than mounting a campaign against the supermarket chain. “This thing against Tesco,” said Pezard, “it’s the last thing on my mind.” The general mood in Stokes Croft is somewhat different. Hostility towards Tesco is apparent almost everywhere you look. For more than a year the residents have run a noisy campaign to stop the chain from opening one of its Express stores on the busy road. “No Tesco” graffiti dots walls up and down the road for a mile. Most prominent is a giant mural which gives a clear message to those entering the area: “Think Local, Boycott Tesco.” People have also held sit-down protests outside the store every day since its opening less than a fortnight ago. But, amid fears that violence could continue in Bristol over the bank wholiday weekend, the last residents of Telepathic Heights remained adamant that the police were looking in the wrong place for anti-supermarket activists. Police Protest Tesco Shiv Malik guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Witnesses say the death toll has risen to six as Syrian security forces fired on thousands of people taking part in funeral processions following the deadliest day of the country’s uprising. Two witnesses say security forces opened fire today on people heading to the southern village of Izraa, killing two….
Continue reading …John Ensign may have quit to avoid further scrutiny of his peccadilloes, but the Senate ethics investigation into his affair with a campaign staffer will go on, reports the Washington Post . “Senator Ensign has made the appropriate decision,” said a statement from Sens. Barbara Boxer and Johnny Isakson, who are…
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Confrontation at Kirti monastery reportedly occurred during raid in which police took away 300 monks Two people have reportedly died in a clash with Chinese police during a raid on a Tibetan Buddhist monastery where tensions have run high over the recent suicide of a monk. The incident marks some of the worst violence in the ongoing troubles at Kirti monastery high in the Himalayan foothills in a Tibetan area of Sichuan province. Police who have blockaded the monastery and restricted the movements of its 2,500 residents launched a raid on Thursday night, according to the US-based International Campaign for Tibet . Police took 300 monks to an unknown location and two villagers trying to block the monks’ removal were killed, it said. The dead were named by the group as 60-year-old Dongko, and a 65-year-old woman, Sherkyi. The area has since been closed off to outside visitors, it said. Tensions in Kirti were heightened by the suicide on 16 March of 21-year-old monk, Phuntsog, who set himself on fire in a protest against government controls of Tibetan Buddhism, which recognizes the exiled Dalai Lama as its leader. China occupied Tibet in 1950 and claims the region has been part of its territory for centuries, although many Tibetans, who are linguistically and ethnically distinct from Chinese, say they were in effect independent. Information from the remote region is extremely limited, and it was not immediately possible to confirm the incident. Without mentioning the clash, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said authorities had ordered residents of Kirti to attend a course of legal education, a form of political indoctrination deeply resented by monks. China Tibet Buddhism Religion Human rights David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Intelligence officials say dissidents are capable of mounting mainland attack, as fears grow of ‘Easter offensive’ in Ulster Dissident republicans have developed the capability to mount an attack on the British mainland, according to the latest security assessment. Senior counter-terrorism sources confirmed the threat from dissidents attacking the mainland “now goes beyond an aspiration” and that they now possess the means to mount an attack across the Irish Sea. Amid rising tension in the province and fears of an “Easter offensive” by dissident groups, police in Northern Ireland also warned that anti-ceasefire republicans were plotting to kill more police officers. The increased threat from republican dissidents is certain to heighten security concerns during the build-up to the royal wedding on Friday, although there is no intelligence suggesting a specific plot related to the event. On Friday another dissident grouping, styling itself “the IRA”, issued a public statement claiming responsibility for the murder of PC Ronan Kerr in Omagh this month. The group, comprising former members of the Provisional IRA, vowed to embark on a bombing campaign. It is understood that the new group includes veteran paramilitaries who were involved in transporting and later detonating the bomb that exploded at London’s Canary Wharf in 1996. Intelligence officials monitoring dissident activity point to a growing sophistication in bomb-making techniques and a widening range of attack techniques as evidence of expanding capability. A senior intelligence source told the Observer : “We feel there is capability to attempt some form of an attack on Britain. Based on our assessment, it goes beyond an aspiration.” Dissident groups have recently deployed command-wire explosive devices, van-mounted weaponry, car bombs and vehicle booby traps, as well as more orthodox military equipment such as hand-grenades. Several individuals are believed to be under surveillance. The mainland has not experienced an Irish republican attack since car bombs exploded at the BBC Television Centre and Ealing Broadway station in London in 2001. The head of MI5, Jonathan Evans, said last September, however, that dissidents posed a “real and increasing security challenge in Northern Ireland” and could be planning attacks elsewhere. According to MI5′s Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, the official threat level is “substantial”, meaning an attack is a “strong possibility”. On Saturday a man appeared in court facing charges in connection with the murder of Kerr. Gavin Coyle, 33, from Omagh was charged with possession of explosives, firearms and articles likely to be of use to terrorists. He was remanded in custody. The court heard he was linked to a footprint found at a major dissident republican arms dump in Coalisland during investigations into Kerr’s murder. Police have also revealed details of a substantial haul of guns and ammunition found in a vehicle stopped by officers in Keady, near the Irish border, on Friday. Attention has concentrated upon the Real IRA and the smaller but technically able Oglaigh na hEireann, which has improved its explosives technology over the past two years. Analysis suggests that the explosives material being used by dissidents may have originated from a onetime Provisional IRA stockpile whose whereabouts were known by former quartermaster general Michael McKevitt – who formed the Real IRA. Police in Northern Ireland said yesterday that fresh violence was expected. “Dissident terrorist groups are continuing to identify officers and target them with the single objective of killing them,” a spokesman said. In further evidence of growing confidence among extremist republican groups, a leading figure in one of the dissident groups’ political wings announced that the Queen should be considered a “legitimate target” during her visit to Ireland in May. The general secretary of the hardline Republican Sinn Féin party, Josephine Hayden, said she would have no problem with a sniper targeting the Queen. “You might say that she is just a little old grandmother,” said Hayden, “but it is what she represents, what she symbolises that counts. She is a legitimate target.” The Observer has learned that a radical republican group known as Eirígí: for a Socialist Republic is planning to occupy Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance 48 hours before the Queen is scheduled to attend a reconciliation ceremony there. Republicans in Dublin say the splinter group plans to establish a tented camp on the Sunday prior to the visit, creating the possibility that the Garda Siochána will have to forcibly remove protesters before the royal tour begins on 17 May. On 5 May, Northern Ireland is braced for trouble to mark assembly elections and the 30th anniversary of the death of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. Future trouble could depend on the reaction from the loyalist community, described by sources as “relatively restrained” until now. A 40-year-old Belfast man was, however, arrested on Saturday in connection with loyalist terrorist activity. UK security and terrorism Northern Ireland Real IRA IRA Royal wedding Mark Townsend Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian invited pals to an alleged engagement party yesterday—then just went ahead and got married, reports People. The couple exchanged “personalized” vows in front of a crowd of 40 at a private California home. “I’m looking forward to settling down,” Rimes recently told the mag….
Continue reading …St. Louis’ main airport was closed for business today while crews cleaned up after an apparent tornado tore through a terminal, causing several injuries and sending people scurrying for shelter as plated glass shattered around them. Last night’s storm at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport ripped away a large section of…
Continue reading …Janet Richardson, 73, who was being carried off the ship on a stretcher, dies after falling into sub-zero ocean A British tourist who fell into the North Sea in sub-zero conditions as she was being carried on a stretcher off a cruise ship has died. Janet Richardson, 73, from near Penrith, Cumbria, was taken ill on the Ocean Countess and fell into the sea while being stretchered onto a rescue vessel. She spent eight minutes in the water before being rescued and taken to hospital in Norway. The grandmother died on Thursday evening at Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle. Richardson had begun to suffer internal bleeding on the voyage from Hull to Norway on a trip to see the Northern Lights with her husband George, 78. The captain of the Ocean Countess, operated by UK company Cruise and Maritime Voyages, had called for a rescue boat to take her to hospital. However, while the rescue teams were moving her on a stretcher to a rescue boat, she fell into the sea – which was about -3C at the time. The incident is under investigation by the cruise company and the Norwegian rescue authorities. She was eventually transported to hospital in Bodø, Norway, accompanied by her husband, who remained by her bedside for several days before she was airlifted to Cumberland infirmary. In a statement, North Cumbria University Hospitals said: “It is with regret that Mrs Janet Richardson passed away on Thursday evening, 21 April. Respecting the family’s wishes, we have no further comment at this time.” Norway Europe David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Labour heavyweight says Labour voters should unite in support of alternative vote to prevent Tories from keeping grip on power Former cabinet minister Peter Hain has called on Labour voters to put aside their contempt for Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and say yes to the alternative vote to prevent the Conservatives from keeping a grip on power. Backing business secretary’s Vince Cable’s call for an anti-Conservative coalition to deliver a victory for the yes campaign , Hain said Labour supporters should take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stop the Tories from snatching government from the progressive majority of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. Lib Dem MP Cable said the moment had come to end the dynamic in which votes for the three progressive parties were split under the first-past-the-post voting system, allowing the Conservatives to win overall majorities on a minority of the vote. Hain, the chair of Labour’s national policy forum, said he agreed with Cable but was concerned that many Labour voters had been put off from voting for AV in the electoral reform referendum on 5 May because of the Liberal Democrats’ embrace of rightwing Tory policies in the coalition government. “I very much agree with Vince Cable’s argument,” said Hain. “There is a natural progressive majority in Britain, which has been thwarted by first-past-the-post, with the Tories consistently elected with less than 50% of the vote. “The problem is, many Labour voters have been so contemptuous of the way in which the Liberal Democrats have been swallowed up by a rightwing Tory government that they may vote no. People see Nick Clegg as completely contaminated by a Tory ideology; he’s tied to them like an umbilical cord. It places a millstone around the neck of the yes campaign. “My appeal to them is to ignore the Liberal Democrats and vote yes out of principle. It is a once-in-a-political-lifetime opportunity to get a fairer voting system that could ensure a progressive majority is not denied by the Tories as so often has happened.” Hain warned colleagues who supported the no campaign that a defeat for AV would result in the coalition government being strengthened and “the Tories smiling smugly”. “I cannot understand my Labour colleagues who join hands with David Cameron on this when a victory for the no campaign will strengthen Cameron,” he said. He argued that, while a win for the yes campaign might not bring down the government, it could put the brakes on the coalition pursuing a rightwing free market ideology, including the controversial shakeup of the NHS. He said victory would enable the next general election to be run under AV, which would give progressive Labour and Lib Dem voters a better chance of ending the Tories’ hold on power. A TNS poll published on Saturday gives yes campaigners cause for hope after previous polls have suggested leads for the no campaign of as much as 16%. The new poll found that 34% of people oppose AV but 32% support it. After breaking down voting intention by party, most analysts believe the support of Labour voters – nearly evenly split – will be crucial to whether the change to the voting system goes through. Cable’s intervention came after a week in which Cameron hit the road to press for a no vote and dismissed accusations he had reneged on a deal with Clegg that he would take a back seat in the debate. Lib Dems have been struck that Cameron appears to take no responsibility for the attacks on the deputy prime minister in Tory no campaign leaflets that encourage people to punish Clegg for “breaking promises” in government. He undermined Clegg further by saying he defended the allocation of internship placements to the children of friends and colleagues, therefore showing no regard for one of Clegg’s policies for improving social mobility. Alternative vote Electoral reform AV referendum Peter Hain Liberal Democrats Conservatives Labour Nick Clegg Vince Cable David Batty guardian.co.uk
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• Hit F5 in frustration because our auto-refresh is broken • Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk sending chat, but no banter Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) West Ham United: Green, Jacobsen, Gabbidon, da Costa, Bridge, Spector, Noble, Hitzlsperger, Sears, Cole, Ba. Subs: Boffin, Tomkins, Boa Morte, Kovac, Piquionne, Obinna, Keane. Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Kalou, Drogba, Malouda. Subs: Turnbull, Torres , Benayoun, Zhirkov, Ferreira, Bertrand, Anelka. While we’re waiting, time to address more serious issues. “Rodney wasn’t a Charlton fan, his Mum was,” insists Owen Worth, with reference to the fact that Charlton was also the character’s middle name. “He used to support Chelsea. There are many references to this in a number of episodes. Also I doubt Vince would have fitted in with the Shed End in the 1980s.” I take your point. Though Stamford Bridge has always been a broad church. I was looking at young Mr Pinner as a kind of prototype Tim Lovejoy. Team news: Fernando Torres is on the bench again. Oh Fernando! West Ham meanwhile will be missing Matthew Upson, out with a chest infection, joining Footballer of the Year Scott Parker on the sidelines. Full line-ups coming your way soon. Anyway, the football. Chelsea need to win, to retain a slim hope of winning the title. West Ham need to win, every point vital in their relegation battle. And poor Fernando Torres, dreaming of 2008, really needs a goal. This could be a cracker. Anyway, in lieu of a solemn hymn, here’s a blast of the original theme to Only Fools and Horses: It was written by Ronnie Hazlehurst, incidentally, subject of the only other Memorial Minute-By-Minute in the history of the Guardian . Big fan of Ronnie’s, but not sure the 1970s-style light entertainment segue into the episode works so well here. Probably for the best that it was replaced by Sullivan’s own themes (which have, on the DVDs, airbrushed Hazelhurst’s first-series theme totally out of the picture, a Stalinist revision that’s not really on, but now’s probably not the time). Anyway, all together now: God bless Hooky Street… None of the characters in Sullivan’s work appear to have supported either of the teams playing tonight. Wolfie Smith, eponymous star of Sullivan’s first hit, Citizen Smith, was a Fulham fan. Del Boy and Rodney, meanwhile, were Charlton Athletic supporters. No idea who Penny Warrender from Just Good Friends cheered on. Vince looked like he might have been a Chelsea fan, though. Yes, he could easily have been a Chelsea fan. John Sullivan RIP: A sad day for anyone who sat cross-legged in front of the television during the 1970s and 1980s, as one of the finest sitcom scriptwriters in the history of com dies. So this has got nothing to do with football? So sue me! West Ham United Chelsea Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
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