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Demonstrate to stop the killing of Palestinians and call for a halt to the Israeli bombardment. Stop the War is asking all its local groups outside of London to book coaches or arrange other transport to help make 10th January the biggest demonstration yet seen in this country in the cause of Palestinian freedom.
Assemble in Hyde Park, London on Saturday 10 January. March to the Israeli Embassy in High St Kensington.

Stop the War, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, British Muslim Initiative, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are also organising continual protests in the next week, culminating in a national demonstration marching to the Israeli Embassy in London on Saturday 10 January.

Further information

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

BM Initiative

Gender IT reports from the Internet Governance Forum.

“Judging from the substantial number of workshops dedicated to the issue of child online protection at the third Internet Governance Forum currently underway in Hyderabad, a veritable rescue mission for the children of the world seems to be underway. Or maybe not?”

Heike Jensen reports for Gender IT.

Popular comedian Zarganar faces 45 years in jail for organising aid runs to victims of Cyclone Nargis which hit in May. He is the latest in a string of opposition activists to be jailed by the military government for

Further information

The Burma Campaign

Free Burma

Join us online for 16 days of technical action to resist domestic violence.

Take Back the Tech is all about getting women to reclaim technology for change and resistance. Check out the website for cool ways that women’s rights groups are using technology to raise awareness, as well as things that you can do to get involved.

Celebrate the life and work of libertarian socialist dissident Noam Chomsky on his 80th birthday by adding your tribute here…

A new Corner House report looks at the real costs, consequences and possible solutions to the global financial crisis.

Full article available to download as a pdf from The Corner House website.

against toxic trade to stop the UK’s electrical waste being dumped in developing countries.

Computeraid International have recently launched a campaign calling on the UK government to tighten up the WEEE directive and take action to prevent the UK’s electrical waste (e-waste) being illegally exported and dumped in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and China.

Computer Aid’s mission is to reduce poverty through practical ICT solutions. Modern economic development is not possible without information and communication technologies, but we must put a stop to this shameful abuse of non tested and faulty equipment being dumped in the developing world.

Further information

Computeraid International

The people of Sarajevo call for an end to recent homophobic brutality.
In an open letter to the international community, a group of progressive citizens of Sarajevo have called for support in condemning the recent brutal attacks against gay, bisexual and lesbian people.

“We, the citizens of Sarajevo, call upon the representatives of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina to raise their voices against the escalation of violence in the Capital, especially with regards to the recent events that increased the feeling of insecurity among law-abiding people. Namely, the events that followed
the opening of the Queer Festival in the night of the 24^th September, when eight people were injured and other participants and visitors verbally and physically harassed in the very heart of the city, are
only the continuation of violent crimes that we have been witnessing over the past year, the most horrific one being the brutal murder of a young boy, Denis Mrnjavac back in February. We believe that the failure of the authorities to take responsibility for prosecuting and punishing the perpetrators in an efficient manner led to this shocking
surge of crime.”

“This is why we ask you to demand from the representatives of the authorities to condemn the violence that occurred on 24^th September and to apprehend and punish the perpetrators. If they fail to do so, we fear that the promotion of fascism and homophobia will spread to the other spheres of social life of the wider community. We, the citizens of Sarajevo, have the right to freedom, without fear of persecution because of our personal beliefs or sexual
orientation.”

“Please help us fight discrimination and violence!“

Further information

Amnesty

You Tube Video

Recent report reveals the scale of Chinese police surveillance of Skype and Tom-Skype text chats.
The full text chat messages of Chinese TOM-Skype users, along with Skype users who have communicated with TOM-Skype users, are regularly scanned for sensitive keywords, and if present, the resulting data are uploaded and stored on servers in China.

• These text messages, along with millions of records containing personal information, are stored on insecure publicly-accessible web servers together with the encryption key required to decrypt the data.

• The captured messages contain specific keywords relating to sensitive political topics such as Taiwan independence, the Falun Gong, and political opposition to the Communist Party of China.

• Our analysis suggests that the surveillance is not solely keyword-driven. Many of the captured messages contain words that are too common for extensive logging, suggesting that there may be criteria, such as specific usernames, that determine whether messages are captured by the system.

Tell Boris not to scrap the western extension of the congestion charge. The congestion charge works for cycling, but it risks being scrapped. It is essential that you make your views known to the TfL consultation.

London Mayor, Boris Johnson has asked for your views, so don’t lose this chance to support the congestion charge.

The original central London congestion charge led to an immediate reduction in motor vehicle traffic and a 30% increase in cycling. Pollution levels went down and the health of Londoners went up. The congestion charge raises vital income to support sustainable transport and a more liveable London.

The western extension of the congestion charge encouraged cycling and initially resulted in a 20% decrease in congestion. Major roadworks in the area have reduced the congestion impact, but without the charge congestion would be far far worse.

The Mayor and his advisors are known to be critical of the congestion charge. Boris Johnson is asking for views on whether the western extension should remain as it is; should be removed; or whether it should be altered. None of the alterations suggested in the consultation will reduce congestion and may even increase it.

London is renowned globally for the political courage in introducing congestion charging. Don’t let things slip back and see worse conditions for cycling and growth in motor traffic, congestion and pollution.

London Cycling Campaign is calling on the Mayor to retain the western congestion zone and strengthen its impact on reducing congestion.

LCC wants:

* Retention of the western extension and of the current operating hours * Action to reduce congestion caused by travel between the western extension and the central zone. This means separating the two zones, charging separately for each zone, with a discount for drivers and zone residents travelling across both zones * Measures to capitalise on the road space freed-up by congestion charging, such as reallocating the space to cycling, walking and making streets and public spaces people-friendly

You’ll find LCC’s official responseat www.lcc.org.uk

The congestion charge has been central to promoting cycling and making London more pleasant. We can and must stop it being rolled back.

Make your views known at: TfL consultation

When you visit the TfL consultation website, you need not be constrained by the options given to you in the questionnaire. If you share our views, we suggest you tick the box for ‘keep the western extension as it is’, and then use the space on the next page to suggest changes, such as those we list above.

Act now, to make London a better city for cyclists