The centerpiece of next week's Stop the War march to coincide with US President George W. Bush's state visit to England will be the symbolic toppling of a 6m high statue of the 43rd president. But long before the papier-mache figure is pulled from one of the plinths in Trafalgar Square, a group of direct action protesters will hope to have put their own indelible mark on the visit.
While the Stop the War Coalition, the Muslim Council of Britain, and CND are urging more than 100,000 people to take to the streets on Thursday for what they hope will be the biggest anti-war demonstration since the start of the invasion of Iraq, those involved in direct action are unlikely to number more than a few hundred.
But despite the relatively small numbers involved, much of the ?4 million security operation put in place by Scotland Yard will be taken up with trying to counter the actions of these hardcore protesters in a giant game of cat-and-mouse across central London.
Set up under the umbrella name "Resist Bush," the action is being spearheaded by several groups including Justice Not Vengeance (JNV), Grass Roots Opposition to War (Grow) and Voices in the Wilderness.
Many of those involved have become tired of the Stop the War demonstrations, which they say have become little more than talking shops.
"The marches have been great at mobilizing large numbers of people, but at some point we need to go further to really get our point across," one 23-year-old activist said. "I don't think Bush realizes just how angry people in this country are and how offensive his coming here is. Well, we're going to let him know."
Those with their ears to the ground -- including the police -- are not expecting any large-scale assaults in the style of the G8 conference in Genoa last year, which resulted in clashes with Italian police when a protester was killed.
Instead the direct action is likely to take the form of what one seasoned watcher termed "freelance" operations, involving small groups breaking off from the main body and performing random acts.
"In my experience, the most effective direct action is usually spontaneous," said another protester, a veteran of direct action at US airbases during the Iraq war. "You need to see what the police are doing. At the moment we don't even know what Bush's itinerary is or where he is going to be."
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique