Category Archives: Protest

‘I helped out security’: the backstory behind Bobby Wagner’s viral NFL hit

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Video of NFL star taking out animal rights demonstrator who interrupted game against San Francisco 49ers went viral

National Football League linebacker Bobby Wagner laid one of the season’s most jarring hits this week on an animal rights advocate who ran on to the field of a game to protest about criminal charges filed against two other activists.

“I just saw somebody running on the field, and [it looked like] he wasn’t supposed to be on the field,” Wagner, who plays for the Los Angeles Rams, said when reporters asked him about tackling the protester on Monday night. “I saw security was having a little problem, so I helped them out.”

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Iran arrests musician as anthem for protests goes viral

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The lyrics to Baraye by Shervin Hajipour are taken from ordinary Iranians voicing their anger in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death

As demonstrations against the death of Mahsa Amini enter their third week in Iran, a protest song by one of Iran’s most popular musicians has become the soundtrack to the biggest civil uprising for decades, channelling the rage of Iranians at home and abroad.

The lyrics to Baraye by Shervin Hajipour are taken entirely from messages that Iranians have posted online about why they are protesting. Each begins with the word Baraye – meaning “For …” or “Because of …” in Farsi.

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Russian woman behind on-air war protest reportedly escapes house arrest

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Journalist Marina Ovsyannikova gained international attention after holding up ‘no war’ poster on live TV

Russia has put Marina Ovsyannikova, the former state TV editor who interrupted a news broadcast to protest against the Ukraine war, on a wanted list after she reportedly escaped house arrest.

The Ukrainian-born Ovsyannikova, 44, gained international attention in March after bursting into a studio of Channel One, her then employer, to denounce the Ukraine war during a live news bulletin, holding a poster reading “no war”. At the time she was fined 30,000 roubles (£460) for shunning protest laws.

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Iranian students defy security forces after violence at university

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Rights groups ‘extremely concerned’ about violent repression of demonstrations in Tehran and Isfahan

Iranian students have stepped up their protests in defiance of a crackdown by security forces, who allegedly cornered and shot 12 students at a prestigious university in Tehran on Sunday night.

Anti-government protests ignited by the death of a young woman in police custody in mid-September have spread around the country at various levels of intensity, revealing a cultural chasm between the country’s educated youth and an elderly male religious establishment.

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Scores of Iraqis injured in anti-government protests in Baghdad

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Teargas and stun grenades used by security forces as unrest over poverty and corruption flares up in the capital and other cities

Iraqi security forces have fired teargas and stun grenades to disperse stone-throwing protesters in clashes that wounded scores of people near Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, where hundreds marked the anniversary of anti-government unrest in 2019.

At least 86 people were wounded on Saturday, about half of them members of the security forces, and 38 protesters were hit by rubber bullets.

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Just Stop Oil activists blockade four London bridges

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Climate and cost of living campaigners converged in London protests

Thousands of supporters of Just Stop Oil have blocked four bridges across the Thames.

Protesters blocked Waterloo Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge with sit-down protests after marching from 25 points around the centre of London.

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‘Women, life, liberty’: Iranian civil rights protests spread worldwide

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Demonstrations in string of major cities in solidarity with protests sparked by death of Mahsa Amini in police custody

Worldwide protests are being held in solidarity with the growing uprising in Iran demanding greater freedom and protesting against the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by Iranian morality police.

Demonstrations under the slogan “Women, life, liberty” are taking place in many major cities, including Rome, Zurich, Paris, London, Seoul, Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, Stockholm and New York.

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Russia’s consulate in New York vandalized in apparent protest

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Building defaced hours before Putin announced annexation of Ukrainian territories and Russian forces killed 30 civilians

The Russian consulate in New York has been vandalized with red spray paint, in an apparent protest against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Officers said they responded to an emergency call just after 1.30am on Friday reporting that paint had been sprayed across the facade of the consulate on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

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Nine foreign nationals arrested in Iran as protests and violence continue

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Detainees accused of being ‘agitators’, as death toll rises and tribunal says 2019 repression was crime against humanity

Iran’s ministry of intelligence has said that nine foreign nationals have been arrested in a round up of “agitators” allegedly linked to a wave of anti-government demonstrations that have now reached their third week. It said the detainees included nationals from Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.

In a lengthy statement on Friday, the ministry also accused the US of trying to break the Iranian government’s control on the internet.

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Iran puts pressure on celebrities and journalists over Mahsa Amini protests

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Tehran says film-makers, athletes and actors who have backed demonstrations ‘fanned flames of riots’

Iran has stepped up pressure on celebrities and journalists over the wave of women-led protests sparked by outrage over the death of Mahsa Amini, after she was arrested by the Islamic republic’s morality police.

Film-makers, athletes, musicians and actors have backed the demonstrations, and many saw it as a signal when the national football team remained in their black tracksuits when the anthems were played before a match in Vienna against Senegal.

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Hong Kong pro-democracy figure Ted Hui sentenced to jail over 2019 protests

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Former legislator, who fled to Australia last year, said earlier that any sentence would not harm his reputation or lobbying work

A Hong Kong court has sentenced pro-democracy figure in exile Ted Hui to three-and-a-half years in jail over charges related to the 2019 protest movement.

The ruling in Hong Kong’s high court on Thursday, reported by local media, is the first time someone has been sentenced in absentia over the protests.

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Cop27: Egyptian hosts urge leaders to set aside tensions over Ukraine

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Organisers call on nations to carry on crucial climate negotiations despite differences on geopolitical issues

The Egyptian hosts of the next UN climate summit have issued a plea for countries to set aside tensions and animosity over the Ukraine war for the sake of focusing on the climate crisis.

Egypt will host the Cop27 conference in Sharm El-Sheikh in November, intended as a forum for companies to fulfil the promises they made at the landmark Cop26 summit in Glasgow last year.

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Iran launches airstrike against Kurdish group in northern Iraq

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Deadly attack comes in response to KDPI support for ongoing protests over Mahsa Amini death in custody

Iran has launched a deadly cross-border airstrike into northern Iraq to punish Kurds for their role in supporting demonstrations over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman in Iranian police custody that are still rattling the Tehran regime.

As many as 13 people were killed and 58 injured in the Iranian drone strikes on military bases in northern Iraq that belong to the exiled Kurdish Democratic party of Iran.

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Climate activist avoids jail over Sydney tunnel protest after court hears of flood trauma

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Mali Cooper discharged into psychologist’s care after locking themself to steering wheel of a car to block traffic

A climate activist who disrupted peak-hour traffic in central Sydney has avoided conviction after a court was told of the trauma they suffered during the Lismore floods.

Mali Poppy Cooper, who uses they pronouns, locked themself onto the steering wheel of a car on the eastern approach to the Sydney Harbour tunnel in June.

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EU and US consider further sanctions on Iran over protest crackdown

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Demonstrators call for greater support from west and help communicating with outside world

The EU and the US are considering further sanctions against Iran over the attempt to suppress demonstrations and strikes in universities over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in a police detention centre.

Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, condemned Iran’s disproportionate use of force and said all options would be on the table at the next meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers. The main options are helping to prevent the internet being shut by Iran, and further economic sanctions.

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Death toll grows in Iran as Mahsa Amini protests continue for 10th night

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At least 41 people have died in unrest sparked by young woman’s death as judiciary warns of ‘decisive action without leniency’

Iranians have taken to the streets for a 10th consecutive night to protest against the death of Mahsa Amini in defiance of a warning from the judiciary.

Officially at least 41 people have died since the unrest began, mostly protesters but including members of the security forces, but sources say the real figure is higher.

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Protests spread in Iran as President Raisi vows to crack down

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Demonstrations that began with death of Mahsa Amini while detained by morality police pose biggest threat to regime in 13 years

Iran’s president has vowed to “deal decisively” with protests that are gathering momentum across much of the country one week after the death of a woman in custody who had been detained by the morality police.

Demonstrations have spread to most of Iran’s 31 provinces and almost all urban centres, pitting anti-government demonstrators against regime forces, including the military, and posing the most serious test to the hardline state’s authority in more than 13 years.

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Expect dissent to rise as Putin’s call-up brings Ukraine war home to Russians

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As men of fighting age flee the draft, observers say Kremlin should be more worried about mounting anger away from the cities

In a caricature by the country’s most prominent political cartoonist, Sergey Elkin, Vladimir Putin is standing on top of the Kremlin wall with his arms outstretched.

“So what else do I need to do for you guys to finally start rebelling,” Putin asks, with a look of desperation.

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Iranian authorities must ‘deal decisively’ with protests, says president

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At least 35 dead in eight nights of demonstrations after death of Mahsa Amini in custody, state media report

Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said authorities must “deal decisively with those who oppose the country’s security and tranquility”, Iranian state media have reported.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Tehran and other major cities for eight straight nights since the death of Mahsa Amini.

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Iran marchers call for execution of anti-government protesters

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Army signals it is prepared to crush dissent after unrest over death of Mahsa Amini in police custody

Pro-government rallies have taken place in several cities across Iran in an attempt to counter a week of mounting unrest triggered by the death of a woman in police custody.

Marchers called for anti-government protesters to be executed, while the army signalled that it was prepared to crush dissent by telling Iranians that it would confront “the enemies” behind the unrest.

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