On 14 June, Iranians will go to the polls to vote in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s successor. As debate around the elections begins to heat up we will be joined by a panel of experts to talk us through the power struggles and the state of opposition movements.
Egypt’s Stolen Billions is a BBC Arabic investigative documentary that exposes the incompetence of the British Government in identifying Mubarak’s assets hidden in the UK. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with: reporter Reda Al Mawy; director and producer, Daniel Tetlow; Robert Palmer, specialist on Banks and Corruption from Global Witness; Dr Mohamed Abdel Ghani, from United Egyptians and Jeremy Carver, from Transparency International. The debate will be moderated by BBC Arabic’s Deputy Programmes Manager, Sam Farah.
A With Irina Prokhorova and Oliver Bullough. Irina Prokhorova, founder and editor-in-chief of New Literary Observer, and Oliver Bullough, Caucasus editor for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, will be joining us in conversation to offer two different portraits of Russia charting historical change.
Shereen El Feki has spent the past five years travelling across the Arab region asking people about sex. Blending interviews, statistics, opinion polls, journalism and personal reminiscence, in her new book Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World, she explores this intimate and often highly sensitive facet of life in a changing Arab world.
Screening + Debate.
The screening will be followed by a debate with Barney Afako, Mugambi Kiai and director Klaartje Quirijns, moderated by Matthew McAllester.
For more than 20 years, the Ugandan government has been fighting the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony. While his army of child soldiers roams Sudan and the DR Congo, The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague hopes to try Kony one day.
Screening + Q&A.
Amazing Azerbaijan! is a tale of two countries: one a shiny democratic republic the government proudly puts on display for visiting journalists and dignitaries. The other country is a repressive and corrupt state with no respect for freedom of expression, in which peaceful protesters are violently beaten and journalists are threatened or even killed. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Liz Mermin.
Broadcaster Charles Glass and former soldier Jake Wood will be joining us in conversation to talk about their respective works and the comparisons in the trauma suffered by soldiers from World War Two to Afghanistan.
Newly crowned RTS Television Journalist of the Year, Alex Thomson will be joining Vin Ray in conversation to reflect on a career that has seen him spend 22 years at the Channel 4 News covering 20 wars across the Gulf, the Balkans, Africa and Afghanistan, as well as presenting the programme.
Screening. In The World Before Her filmmaker Nisha Pahuja illustrates the tension between traditional and modern perspectives toward women in today’s India, through the Miss India contest and unprecedented access to the fundamentalist Hindu women’s training camps. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Nisha Pahuja. http://tinyurl.com/bm8bvrp
Vijay Mehta speaking on a book discussion event hosted by Southampton Hub, Southampton University.
Bromley Market Square by the Charles Darwin mural - 12 midday - 3.00 pm.
Meet at 10am in Dick Sheppard Chapel, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London for a short service.
Leaving at 11am for three separate walks around the London Embassies of the Nuclear Weapons States, New Agenda Coalition and some more key countries involved in initiatives in nuclear disarmament.
Bruce Kent's Scrap Trident Tour come to Manchester. Join him for lunch at
The Saffron Restaurant. (www.saffronuk.com). 12 noon for 12.30pm followed by a talk by Bruce.
How do we build up a coalition to work together for a nuclear weapons free world? Nuclear Free Local Authorities Scotland, Mayors for Peace, PNND and Abolition 2000 Joint Seminar. This seminar is a free event which coincides with the conclusion of the Abolition 2000 Network AGM and a meeting of the NFLA Scotland Forum. It is open to NFLA members, Mayors for Peace members, Parliamentarians for Non-proliferation & Nuclear Disarmament members and supporters of the Abolition 2000 Network.
NFLA: http://www.nuclearpolicy.info
Mayors for Peace: http://www.mayorsforpeace.org
Action at the Drax AGM. Drax is planning to convert half of their coal power station (the UK’s biggest) to burning biomass – most of it imported wood.
See website for details.
JOIN US OUTSIDE BENTALLS CENTRE (
We will be there with our Cutometer to ask Kingston shoppers if they wish George Osborne to cut health, education, welfare services, or Trident nuclear
weapons and “defence” spending. You can leaflet, hold a banner, or speak to the shoppers. Last time a large majority agreed we should cut Trident nuclear
weapons.
Roland Schilling from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) will talk about curent trends in forced displacement which are challenges for the UNHCR - with hundreds of thousands of people around the world becoming internally and externally displaced because of war and chaos. How does the UN Agency cope with this? Do come along to the talk on Friday 15 March to find out.
The talk is at 1pm and will last about 30 minutes followed by questions.
Admission is free. You are welcome to bring a packed lunch any time from 12.15pm. A donation is invited for a hot drink and biscuits.
More than just books. Bristol Against Arms Trade have a stall. Medea Benjamin co-founder of CODEPINK and Clare Cochrane from AWE will be doing a workshop for BAAT. Check bristolanarchistbookfair.org for timings.
Disarmament for development, public services and positive investment in renewable energy.
On the Global Day of Action on Military Spending, take part in a public meeting to examine the social justice possibilities of redirecting military spending, chaired by Bruce Kent, Vice President of the Movement for the Abolition of War, with speakers Caroline Lucas MP, Kate Hudson of CND, John Hilary of War on Want, and Anne-Marie O’Reilly of Campaign Against Arms Trade, and the launch of Pax Christi’s new short film on the theme of the event.
