Red Pepper News

UK CO2 emissions keep on growing

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the UK have continued to rise in the first six months of the year, according to analysis by Friends of the Earth. Emissions were up by 2.5 per cent in the first six months of the year – further proof, if proof were needed, that the government’s pledged reductions to help tackle climate change are a load of hot (and polluted) air.

Australian MPs call for hijab ban

A year after the French hijab ban in schools came into force, the same measures are being pushed by two Australian politicians. Sophie Panopoulos and Bronwyn Bishop, MPs from the ruling right-wing Liberal party, called for a ban to curb what they claim is a rise in ‘Muslim extremism’. Bishop called the hijab ‘an iconic symbol of the clash of cultures’ before going on to equate the wearing of the headscarf with Nazism: ‘Now, this morning on a debate with a Muslim lady, she said she felt free being a Muslim, and I would simply say that in Nazi Germany, Nazis felt free and comfortable. That is not the sort of definition of freedom that I want for my country.’ The comments were condemned by Muslim and human rights groups. ‘We are appalled and offended that Ms Bishop would compare Muslim Women to slaves or our religion to Nazism. We demand an unequivocal apology,’ said Ms Maha Abdo of the Muslim Women’s Association. Agnes Chong, co-convenor of the Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network (AMCRAN), added: ‘The argument is tainted with racist overtones, and assumes Muslim women are weak and not fully intellectually developed.’

Arming the world

Who are the world’s biggest arms dealers? A new report from the US Congress can help you to find out. According to "Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1997-2004" , the USA and Russia still top the list of conventional arms suppliers, with China and India leading the list of purchasers.

Britain ranked third in the list of arms sellers in 2004, whilst Israel jumped to fifth place in the list.

One of the report’s major findings is that nearly 22 billion dollars in new arms agreements were signed between developed and developing countries last year, a sharp increase over the 15.1 billion of the previous year.

Haitians murdered in Dominican Republic

Scores of Haitians have been attacked and more than 13 are reported dead amidst a rise in xenophobic activity in the Dominican Republic, according to the Haiti Support Group.

The attacks follow a series of derogatory statements by Dominican politicians and the media, as well as a recent wave of mass deportations.

Background on Haiti:

Naomi Klein, 6/7 

Peter Hallward, Option Zero in Haiti

I Spy

The FBI has been busily spying on anti-war activists. Ok, no big surprise. But The Nation magazine’s report on the use of Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs), FBI-led teams of state and local police and federal agents, still makes interesting reading. As well as keeping a close track of Cindy Sheehan’s Gold Star Families for Peace, JTTFs have a presence on virtually every campus in the US.

Meanwhile, back in London, the Met's Forward Intelligence Teams are gearing up for a busy week of harrassing activists at the DSEi arms fair.