Nottingham: The Bigger Society Social Club is open

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The Notts Free Space is now open to the public. We are occupying the former Conservative Social Club on Church Street in Lenton. Please come and support us tonight and tomorrow whilst we get off the ground. A programme of events will be taking place throughout the week.

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Wales: Government Building Squatted in Cardiff

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The spirit of occupation is spreading throughout Cardiff as it was announced today that a group calling themselves The Great Tax Invasion have ‘occupied’ the old Inland Revenue Offices on Westgate Street, in the city centre.
Activists started squatting in the building earlier this week saying their aim is to raise awareness of the amount of empty buildings which they feel should be made available to the benefit of the community. The occupation was announced with a banner drop while Food Not Bombs South Wales provided vegan soup to people outside the building.
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Cardiff: The Red and Black Umbrella, new Social Centre

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It’s new! It’s free! It’s in Cardiff!
The flyer reads:
You may have noticed we’ve moved into the old Tredegar Hotel [on Clifton Street], so we thought we’d introduce ourselves. We are the Red and Black Umbrella Collective and intend on turning the abandoned pub into a social centre. We believe people should come before profit. We are sick of government cuts that affect us while MPs and bankers get richer. David Cameron wanted a big society and we’re going to give him one. We are currently renovating the pub and want to provide a cultural hub for the local community… [Read More]

Barcelona: New Bank taken in La Floresta

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Now there are 3 ex banks OCCUPIED around Barcelona. And on Friday a big crowd played cat and mouse with the baffled police, before successfully occupying another huge building as a ‘home for evicted mortgage defaulters’.

The latest Bank was taken in the La Floresta suburb. After a leafleting and graffiti march around local banks the local ‘Indignats’ cooked an enormous veggie Paella for up to 200 people. Finally they enacted a drama in the street which ended..SURPRISE in the occupation of an adjoining abandoned bank.(Still going strong). La Floresta is close to the new Occupied Castle Social Center (see post), begun just last week, so there’s plenty of local action, including a small consumers CoOp, an occupied community garden.. and more stuff.

http://thefreeonline.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/ocupat-un-banc-occupan-otro-banco-banks-occupied-in-barcelona/

Toulouse: about the November 15th raids and arrests

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On July 5th 2011, Labège PJJ (Legal Protection of Youth) offices were visited, turned upside down and tagged as a protest against its participation in jailing young people. While the PJJ cried over its work conditions, at the Lavaur EPM (Youth Jail), which is coordinated by the PJJ and the prison administration, kids considered as lost were smashed up by the infamous ERIS unit (Regional Team of Intervention and Safety).

On tuesday November 15th, in Toulouse, seven homes, some of them squats, were raided and searched by a hundred policeman. Computers, telephones, books, posters and personal effects were seized. [Read More]

Occupy London ‘repossesses’ multi-million pound bank offices

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First building for the economic justice campaigners as they occupy third space in borough of Hackney, alongside existing spaces in the City of London and borough of Islington.

The new ‘Bank of Ideas’ will open to public this Saturday. Offices and meeting rooms will be available for those that have lost their nurseries, community centres and youth clubs due to savage Government spending cuts.
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Bristol: The eviction of The Factory social centre. A perspective

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Just a quick update and some thoughts from a friend of the Factory.

I managed to take a bit of time away from working and went down to see what was happening at The Factory. Cops and robbers were standing around “protecting” the building and photographing the public. It has been completely evicted as far as I can tell. Chatted to a few folk who were about so this is a mainly a second hand account. I suspect that the occupiers will comment later after they have got some rest.
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Cologne: SPD and Pro-Köln polarize against Autonomes Zentrum (AZ)

Autonomes Zentrum Köln

Cologne’s local politic posse is seeking again the conflict with Autonomes Zentrum. After the prevented eviction in April this year, the squat gained a legal use contract for an indefinite period of time with the owner, the Sparkasse Köln-Bonn (a savings bank). Since then, the former canteen located in the KHD industrial complex in Köln Kalk, has been used legally. [Read More]

Brighton: Facing Up To Mike Weatherley’s Fearsome Gauntlet

Lewes Road Community Garden

In his usual dim-witted way, ‘Mad Mike’ Weatherley has been making fatuous comments regarding (unnamed) homelessness charities endorsing his campaign to criminalise squatters, all squatters being lifestylists or how Brighton police have never convicted squatters in eighteen years. All these remarks are ill-informed, for example the last – there haven’t been any convictions because it’s not a criminal offence (although the police do often make sure to frame squatters for other alleged crimes).
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Hamburg: 17.12.2011 » access all areas « Day of action against capitalist urban development and gentrification

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Cities are the location of economical constraints and repressive policies all over the world. But at the same time they are contested areas characterised by the fight for self-determination and participation. Presently, we are experiencing crises, social protests and new movements. In order to multiply these conflict lines on the city’s terrain, a day of action against capitalist urban development and gentrification is going to take place. The action day is to create an event which has its place wherever you are fighting and living and relating to squatted projects like Rote Flora in solidarity. [Read More]

Cardiff: New Squatted Social Centre

For the last week Cardiff has seen a new squatted social centre, an old derelict pub turned into life and happiness with numerous people and projects setting up. The old abandoned building has been empty for years in a run-down neglected area of Cardiff. The residents intend to open it up for use by all radicals and locals. The support has already been great and the first fund raising gig was held on Sunday.
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CZ: Solidarity with UK Struggles

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Yesterday we made a little action in Prague to support the struggle against the criminalisation of squatting in UK and to send our love and solidarity to our friends and comrades from Orange Fence and The Factory.

Our attempt to occupy the British embassy failed but we at least managed to block the front door with our banner and spread some English/Czech flyers.
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