Tony Robinson

The 2012 edition of the Right Livelihood Awards, the alternative Nobel Prizes, have been announced in Sweden today. According to the Jury, the “2012 Laureates define essential conditions for global peace and security.” The awards are made by the Right…

In the wake of an enormous fine for rigging fundamental interest rates, general outrage at banker’s bonuses, and the devastation ravaging the world’s economy, the stink from the Banking sector is set to rise with a stink bomb attack planned for Barclays Bank. Will the UK government be capable of undertaking the Herculean task of cleaning out the Augean Stables?

Around the world we are used to nonviolent protest being violently repressed. Those in a position of power have ruthlessly killed and tortured those who opposed them ever since human beings first learned to fight with sticks and rocks.

A young Algerian, Sid Hamed Bouzaine has been released from an immigration detention centre near Malaga. After even being made to marry his girlfriend of 2 years, Spanish Authorities have seemingly bowed to public pressure and accepted his claim to stay in the country given that reportedly three of his brothers have been killed by the state and the other one has disappeared.

What do Bolivia, Iceland, Tunisia, Egypt and Spain all have in common? Given that they are famous respectively for; ladies in bowler hats, volcanoes, mosaics, pyramids and Rafael Nadal there seems to be little to connect these diverse countries, yet they are all undergoing the most radical forms of social revolution witnessed since the collapse of the Soviet Empire.

Echoing the recent protests in Egypt and Spain, it is the turn of Israeli youth to take to the streets and start camping to draw attention to the excessive cost of rents in Tel Aviv and other major population centres of the territory. An emergency session of the Israeli Cabinet is convened to try to deal with the situation.

The extraordinary scene was captured by video yesterday of the police backing down from an attempt to detain a Senegalese national living in Madrid. The multiracial neighbourhood of Lavapies in Madrid was holding an assembly as part of the M-15 movement when, according to police a man attempted to board a train without a ticket and was stopped by staff who called the police.

Regarding democracy demonstrations in Spain (M-15), World without Wars and Violence would like to express its warm support to the people of Spain who are mobilised and organising themselves in search of a better future.

Following the sickening display of glorification of assassination shown by a US president who somehow managed get a Nobel Peace Prize, World without Wars declares: What occurred on Monday, 2nd of May can in no way be described as justice: justice is done when a man accused of a crime is brought before a court of law and given a trial according to international legal standards.

World without Wars is following the dramatic events of recent days in Libya with deep concern. The victory of non-violent popular protest in Tunisia and Egypt clearly did not serve as a lesson for Gaddafi who responds to demonstrations by hiring mercenaries, firing rockets and shooting protesters from helicopters, blaming “thugs, inmates, foreigners and Islamists”!