Category Archives: Protest

The Arab spring wasn’t in vain. Next time will be different | Nesrine Malik

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Lessons have been learned about how to convert the forces that demand equality into those that deliver it

At the end of 2010, I was en route to Sudan for Christmas, scouring Arabic social media in search of scraps of information about a story unfolding in Tunisia; a story the Arab media was censoring and the western media was still ignoring. A street trader, Mohammed Bouazizi, had set himself on fire in protest at the government in the city of Sidi Bouzid, sparking demonstrations that spread across the country.

Weeks before the protests toppled Tunisia’s president-for-life, you could see that something about this uprising was different. There was something about the way the protests resonated in households around the Arab world, the intensity of the moral outrage and the force of the momentum that felt new and exciting.

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Far-right Trump supporters clash with counter-protesters in Washington – video

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Far-right groups, including Proud Boys, clashed with counter-protesters after a largely peaceful march against US president-elect Joe Biden’s election victory on Saturday.

Donald Trump made three passes over the cheering protesters in the Marine One helicopter on his way to the New York annual Army-Navy football game before the violence began.

Trump supporters are alleging widespread voter fraud during the 3 November election without evidence.

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Car plows into protesters at New York City Black Lives Matter demonstration – video

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Footage shows a vehicle driving into a crowd of about 50 people at a protest on Friday afternoon in the middle of Manhattan, injuring multiple people. The incident happened after 4pm at the corner of 39th Street and Third Avenue in midtown east, police said, adding that the woman behind the wheel of the BMW sedan who drove into the crowd was detained for questioning by law enforcement.

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UK government ‘has underestimated takeup for Hong Kong resettlement scheme’

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Survey finds more than 600,000 may want to move to Britain, many within two years of January start date

Hong Kong residents are likely to move to the UK faster than the British government has anticipated, and more should be done to prepare for their arrival, a new advocacy group has said.

HongKongers in Britain (HKB) surveyed city residents hoping to emigrate under a new British government scheme that opens in January, allowing those with colonial-era British National Overseas (BNO) status to obtain visas and pursue a “path to citizenship”.

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Multiple people injured after vehicle plows into crowd at New York protest

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Six people were taken by ambulance to local hospitals, the New York fire department said

A vehicle plowed into a crowd of about 50 people at a protest on Friday afternoon in the middle of Manhattan, injuring multiple people, the New York City police department said.

The incident happened after 4pm at the corner of 39th Street and Third Avenue in midtown east, police said, adding that the woman behind the wheel of the BMW sedan who drove into the crowd was detained for questioning by law enforcement.

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Digging in: on the frontlines as farmers lay siege to Delhi

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Donations flood in to community kitchens as farmers protest against liberalisation of agriculture sector

When the sacks were ripped opened, almonds poured out, more than 10,000kg of them. It was not the first donation that had been sent to the Indian farmers defiantly camped out along the periphery of Delhi. In previous days trucks had rolled up and disgorged sacks of rice, pulses, flour, vegetables, sugar, tea and biscuits.

“This is food being sent by supporters from all over India and from as far as England and Canada. There is no shortage of food. We have enough to eat for months,” said Jaswinder Pal Singh, a farmer from Punjab.

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Emmanuel Macron announces police reform consultation

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French president responds to angry protests and concerns force is losing public confidence

Emmanuel Macron has announced a national consultation on reforming the police amid concerns the force is losing the confidence of the French public.

The move comes after multiple allegations of police violence – several captured on film – in recent weeks and angry protests over a new law giving officers powers that critics say threaten civil and press freedom.

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White clicktivism: why are some Americans woke online but not in real life?

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Amidst a ‘great awakening’, white Americans overwhelmingly voted for Trump. Are liberals really doing the groundwork they claim?

In the winter of 2018, Gwen Kansen, a 33-year-old self-professed liberal, met a man called Elias in a bar. Within minutes, she knew he was intense. His phone screensaver was of Pepe the Frog – a symbol of the alt-right movement. His style reminded her of a Confederate soldier, and he wore badges proudly proclaiming his hatred for political correctness.

It was not long before he disclosed he was a member of the Proud Boys, a far-right, male-only political organization. Still, Kansen didn’t put an end to the date. They drank rum and cokes; spoke about music, books, and exes; and that night, he walked her home. The two had a brief fling. Later, Kansen wrote an article about coming to terms with her so-called liberal beliefs while still choosing to entertain the affair.

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Nationwide farmers’ strike shuts down large parts of India

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Protests against new agriculture laws hits transport, shops and markets across the country

Farmers in India have shut down swathes of the country’s transport, shops and markets as they escalated their protests against new agriculture laws with the launch of a national strike.

Hundreds of thousands of farmers blocked all roads into the capital Delhi for most of the day, and across the country demonstrated on railway lines and highways and called for a shutdown of shops, in a effort to pressurise the government into repealing new agriculture laws they say will leave them poverty stricken and at the mercy of corporations.

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Armenian protesters demand prime minister quit over deal with Nagorno-Karabakh

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Ceding of land to Azerbaijan by Nikol Pashinyan in return for peace sparks fury in Yerevan

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters have marched through the Armenian capital to call for the resignation of the country’s prime minister because of his handling of the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In six weeks of fierce fighting that ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal on 10 November, the Azerbaijani army reclaimed lands that Armenian forces have held for more than a quarter of a century.

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Thousands show loyalty to Thai king amid anti-monarchy protests

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Yellow-clad supporters cheered King Maha Vajiralongkorn during a tribute to his late father

Thousands of yellow-clad supporters greeted Thailand’s king on Saturday as he led a birthday commemoration for his revered late father, the latest in a series of public appearances at a time of unprecedented challenge to the monarchy from student-led protesters.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn, accompanied by Queen Suthida, waved as he arrived at Bangkok’s Sanam Luang ceremonial ground. Supporters of the monarchy held Thai and yellow royal flags to welcome them, with some cheering “Long live the king”. The crowd wore yellow shirts, the colour associated with the royal institution.

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Thousands march over police violence and security bill in Paris

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Riot officers fire teargas and charge protesters in one incident after fireworks launched at their lines

The French government’s attempts to calm growing public fury over new legislation deemed a danger to civil liberties was challenged with a new wave of protests across the country on Saturday.

A largely peaceful march against the contested global security law and police violence in Paris degenerated after hooded and black-clad casseurs – vandals – disrupted the demonstration for the second weekend in a row. Clusters of hooded youths set fire to vehicles, smashed shop windows and hurled stones and molotov cocktails at police, who responded with water cannons and teargas.

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Vehicles set alight as thousands protest against police violence in Paris – video

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Thousands of people protested in Paris on Saturday to denounce police violence and Emmanuel Macron’s security policy plans, which they say would infringe civil liberties. In one incident, police fired teargas and charged after fireworks were launched at their lines. Protesters set cars alight and smashed shop windows. There were violent clashes between protesters and police at a similar protest last week

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Tunnel protesters sing and drum their way into Stonehenge

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Police and officials maintain presence at mass trespass after bypass approved

More than 100 protesters have staged a trespass at Stonehenge to raise concerns over plans for a two-mile tunnel underneath the world heritage site.

Last month the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, approved the £1.7bn project, which will include eight miles of extended dual carriageway along the A303 in Wiltshire.

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Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong jailed for 13 and a half months over protest

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Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam also sentenced over pro-democracy protest at police HQ last year

The high-profile Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong will spend more than a year in jail over an unauthorised protest outside police headquarters in June last year, a court in the city has ruled.

Fellow activists Agnes Chow, 23, and Ivan Lam, 26, were sentenced to 10 months and seven months respectively.

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Exiled bookseller: ‘If they can take Hong Kong back, the next place is Taiwan’

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After fleeing Hong Kong for Taiwan, Lam Wing-kee speaks of the danger the island faces and the ordeal of his detention in China

Lam Wing-kee leans forward in his chair, answering quickly and sharply to issue a warning to the people of his new home, Taiwan. “Be ready now,” he says.

“We should be more alert as citizens, we should get ready,” says the 64-year-old Hongkonger. “If they can take Hong Kong back, the next place, I feel, is Taiwan.”

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Thai protesters flood street with rubber ducks in ‘coup prevention’ drill

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Thousands block major Bangkok junction in continuing protests against government and monarchy

Thousands of democracy activists blocked a major junction in Bangkok for several hours on Friday to rehearse “coup prevention” strategies in the latest round of Thailand’s anti-government protests.

The country has for months been rocked by youth-led protests demanding a new constitution, reform of the untouchable monarchy and for the prime minister, Prayut Chan-O-Cha, to resign.

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Clashes erupt as police break up makeshift refugee camp in Paris – video report

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French police and gendarmes removed tents set up at Place de la République in Paris by refugees in a charity-organised protest on Monday against mass evacuations of homeless camps. Footage posted online showed police and demonstrators pushing against each other as officers moved in to clear the square of tents, which the police said had been set up without official permission. The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said on Tuesday that images of the scuffles were 'shocking' and he was launching an investigation into the clashes

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Hong Kong activists face jail after guilty plea – video

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Pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong, Ivan Lam and Agnes Chow arrived at West Kowloon magistrates courts to face charges related to illegal assembly stemming from a protest last year in Hong Kong.

The trial was scheduled to begin on Monday, but after pleading guilty they were taken away ahead of a sentencing hearing on Wednesday next week.

The trio of high-profile pro-democracy activists and former politicians, were facing multiple charges over an unauthorised protest outside police headquarters in June last year, and inciting others to take part.

They face a penalty of up to five years in prison 

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