Stray Bullets - From House Party To House Arrest, A Trident Protest And A BBC Apology

The BBC Apologises For Band Aid Mistake:
The BBC has apologised for erroneous reports [1] that claimed charity money was used to buy arms in Africa. In March this year, articles released relating to a report by the BBC’s World Service’s Assignment said that money raised by Band Aid and Live Aid had been given to rebels [2] who went on to use the money to buy arms. They also stated 95% of aid for Ethiopia’s famine was misappropriated [3]. Bob Geldof, one of the organisers behind the charity events, said The BBC’s independent Editorial Complaints Unit issued an investigation after complaints from Band Aid, and found that there was “no evidence [4]” for Assignment’s claims. Bob Geldof said in a statement that, “thanks to the BBC, (the program) was picked up all over the world as evidence that aid doesn’t work. But it does.” Geldof’s statement comes in the same week as the UN published it’s 20th anniversary report on Human Development, stressing the efficiency of aid and the progress that the poorest countries have made.

Protests At Trident Dockyard:
Over 100 activists from anti-nuclear group, Trident Ploughshare [5], have blockaded the gates [6] leading to Plymouth’s Royal Naval base. Joined by a Swiss affinity group, the activists managed to close four of the main access gates. Over 12 activists were arrested [7], with protests occurring outside a local police station. Mary Kemmenoe, one the activists, said, “The deployment of armed Trident submarines is an ongoing criminal threat to the world, which as citizens of conscience, we feel we have a duty to try and prevent.”

Chinese Artist Placed Under House Arrest:
Ai Weiwei [8], one of China’s most famous contemporary artists and frequent critic of the Chinese government, has been placed under house arrest for being unable to cancel a party [9]. Weiwei was visited by police on Friday (November 5) to warn him that a planned qausi-political gathering outside his soon to be demolished studio in Shanghai was deemed too large by authorities and should be cancelled. Weiwei, whose sunflower seed installation is currently being exhibited in the Tate Modern, said he was unable to cancel the event and was placed under house arrest to deter potential partygoers from attending the event. On the day of his release and the eve of Prime Minister Cameron’s visit to China, Weiwei wrote an article for the Guardian criticising the Chinese human rights situation [10]. Weiwei wrote that, “Cameron should ask the Chinese government not to make people ’disappear’ or to jail them merely because they have different opinions.” In 2009, Weiwei used an exhibition in Munich to criticise the Chinese government’s response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, just months after he had been severely beaten by police. 

Words: Richard Lemmer
Photo : Flickr user .ack-online.de [11], of Ai Weiwei around a construction site.