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Archive for the ‘Protests’ Category

Libya: Protesters, security clash in capital

February 21, 2011 Comments off

Associated Press

CAIRO — Protesters and security forces battled in the center of Tripoli as anti-government unrest spread to the Libyan capital and Moammar Gadhafi‘s son went on state television to proclaim that his father remained in charge with the army’s backing and would “fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet.”

Even as Seif al-Islam Gadhafi spoke Sunday night, clashes were raging in and around Tripoli’s central Green Square, lasting until dawn Monday, witnesses said. They reported snipers opening fire on crowds trying to seize the square, and Gadhafi supporters speeding through in vehicles, shooting and running over protesters. Early Monday, protesters took over the office of two of the multiple state-run satellite news channels, witnesses said.

The protests and violence were the heaviest yet in Read more…

N.Korean Regime Worried About Arab Uprisings

February 21, 2011 Comments off

chosun.com

The North Korean authorities are apparently on full alert as news trickles in about pro-democracy protests in the Middle East despite an official blackout. According to a source, security agents have banned all gatherings, especially of university students, as news spreads about the public revolts in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere in the Arab world.

The source added that partitions have been removed in restaurants across the country, and security agents break up even small gatherings in open-air markets.

“This is the first time I saw even partitions removed from restaurants in North Korea,” a recent defector said. Students in Pyongyang have begun Read more…

World On Fire – Mapping Last Week’s 88 Global Protests

February 20, 2011 Comments off

from ZeroHedge.com

Feeling like the entire world is on the verge of a global revolution? It’s understandable. According to the attached interactive map, based on Google News data, in the past week, there have been 88 reported instances of protest somewhere in the world. How much of this is due to snow, and how much is due to Bernanke’s increasingly more genocidal policies (has anyone done a tally of how many people have died in various riots, protests and revolutions since the beginning of the year – perhaps it is time) is unknown and irrelevant.

Arrests as China web users call for revolution

February 20, 2011 Comments off

As many as 100 high-profile Chinese activists and human rights lawyers have been rounded up by authorities, according to their supporters.

They are reportedly being held in custody without charges.

The detentions follow calls on the internet for Read more…

Video: Libyans claim Gaddafi shipping in African mercenaries to crack down on protesters

February 20, 2011 Comments off

China cracks down on call for ‘Jasmine Revolution’

February 19, 2011 Comments off

By CARA ANNA

The Associated Press
Saturday, February 19, 2011; 10:05 AM

BEIJING — Chinese authorities cracked down on activists as a call circulated for people to gather in more than a dozen cities Sunday for a “Jasmine Revolution.”

The source of the call was not known, but authorities moved to halt its spread online. Searches for the word “jasmine” were blocked Saturday on China’s largest Twitter-like microblog, and the website where the request first appeared said it was hit by an attack.

Activists seemed not to know what to make of the call to protest, even as they passed it on. They said they were unaware of any known group being involved in the request for citizens to gather in 13 cities and shout “We want food, we want work, we want Read more…

Police open fire in third day of South Africa protest

February 18, 2011 Comments off

By Joshua Howat Berger

starafrica.com

WESSELTON, South Africa — Police fired rubber bullets as protestors set alight tyres in a destitute South African township on Wednesday in a third day of demonstrations to demand jobs and improved services.

Riot police deployed into the streets of Wesselton, around 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of Johannesburg, to disperse protesters who also dragged the charred remains of Tuesday’s barricades back into the road.

However calm returned on the streets of the township after South African police commissioner Bheki Cele visited the area and warned residents that law enforcements officers will not tolerate any further violent protests.

“It is their constitutional right to participate in mass action without violence, if they do that then police can go home,” he told reporters.

“But it is not their right to burn tires, it is not their right to loot, it is not their right to injure and attack people. If they do that we (police) will respond accordingly. It looks for now we have agreed on that approach. I hope that approach stays that way.”

He said 160 police officers were deployed to Read more…

Riot police storm square in Bahrain

February 17, 2011 Comments off
Bahraini demonstrators stand by a damaged car after they managed to escape a police attack in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning.
Bahraini demonstrators stand by a damaged car after they managed to escape a police attack in Manama, Bahrain, early Thursday morning.

Hassan Ammar/AP

Jesse McLean Staff Reporter

MANAMA—Riot police stormed a square occupied by anti-government protesters Thursday, driving them out with tear gas and rubber bullets and destroying a makeshift encampment that had become the demonstrators’ rallying point.

At least two people were killed in the pre-dawn assault on Pearl Square, the main opposition group Al Wefaq said. There was no official word on deaths or injuries.

After riot police regained control of the plaza, they chased protesters through sidestreets just as the dawn call for prayers rang out.

Protesters described police swarming in through a cloud of tear gas.

“They attacked our tents, beating us with batons,” Jafar Jafar, 17, told Associated Press. “The police were Read more…

Hundreds of Libyans demand the government’s ouster

February 16, 2011 Comments off
Muammar Ghadafi
TRIPOLI, Libya —

Hundreds of Libyans calling for the government’s ouster took to the streets Wednesday in the country’s second-largest city as Egypt-inspired unrest spread to the country long ruled by Moammar Kadafi.

Ashur Shamis, a Libyan opposition activist in London, said the protests began Tuesday in the port city of Benghazi, with demonstrators chanting, “No God but Allah, Moammar is the enemy of Allah” and “Down, down to corruption and to the corrupt.”

But police and armed government backers quickly clamped down on the protesters, firing rubber bullets, he said.

Witnesses and videos posted on the Internet showed protesters calling for a Libyan uprising and chanting slogans against Kadafi, who has held virtually unchecked power for more than four decades, as well as Read more…

Iranian MPs call for execution of opposition leaders

February 16, 2011 Comments off

Moussavi and Karroubi under house arrest

222 members of Iran’s 290-seat Parliament calling for the execution of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who remain under house arrest after being detained from attending anti-government protests in Read more…