Image via poelq/Flickr At least 130 students at SOAS have pledged to withold rent from the company that runs their halls, Sanctuary Students, in protest over conditions at the two buildings and “mismanagement” of student complaints. The campaign has released a list of demands including compensation of at least £800 per resident and a full…
News
Student journalist held 32 days in German cell
James Andrew Smith
Photo: Montecruz Foto/Flickr A SOAS student has been arrested and charged for causing “injury to an officer” at the mass “Blockupy” protest in Frankfurt against EU austerity measures. Federico Annibale was allegedly found with two stones in his pockets, and has been charged under public order offences by German law, despite there being no clear…
News
King’s College closed after major fire
James Andrew Smith
Image via Angus Wood A fire beneath the city streets on Wednesday has left much of Central London cordoned off to the public, with LSE main campus and King’s College library still shut after two days. According to TFL, the fire was ignited by electrical cables, quickly spreading to gas supplies under the Kingsway and…
News
Feminist activists occupy Senate House
James Andrew Smith
Activists look down from the Senate House occupation. Photo: Ed Ive. Students have taken up occupation at Senate House this evening to mark International Women’s Day on the 8th of March. The occupation began at approximately 3:30pm today, with protesters throwing banners and flags from the South East corner of the building. NCAFC Women, the…
News
Coalition war of words over university terror guidance
James Andrew Smith
Grant Shapps and Vince Cable had a very public falling out yesterday over anti-terror guidelines being drafted for universities, with Liberal Democrats arguing the guidance should only apply to those who directly incite terror. According to the BBC, sources close to Mr. Cable said he thought they were “too prescriptive.” The row follows revelations Muhammad…
News
SOAS votes to boycott Israeli academia
James Andrew Smith
73% of students and staff at SOAS have voted this week for a boycott in protest over the occupation of Palestine. The leading university in the UK for Middle East study will now, supported by the SU, disengage from all formal relations with Israeli academic institutions. A motion passed at UGM mandated a campus-wide referendum…
News
London universities “hostile to free speech,” according to research
James Andrew Smith
A report released today named 12 universities in London where “explicit restrictions on speech” are most prolific, 19% worse than the national average.
News
At City Hall, activists overlook housing demo from luxury apartments
James Andrew Smith
Students and activists stormed an unfinished luxury development today as the March for Homes demo - led by the Focus E15 mothers - rallied outside City Hall. In an article published in today’s Guardian, Jasmine Stone from Focus E15 outlined her reasons for heading out on the march, talking about “sky-rocketing market rents, fuel poverty,…
Opinion
The Charlie Hebdo murders were not an attack on our freedoms
James Andrew Smith
I should not be having to write this article - certainly not now. No doubt there will be many who say this is the wrong time to be discussing the politics of the Charlie Hebdo murders; while the grief and shock at their loss leaves a whole nation in mourning; while families, friends and colleagues…