Women form human shield around man in New Delhi and shout 'go back, go back' as officers attempt to beat him with sticks. Protests have erupted across India against law to fast-track citizenship for everyone except Muslim asylum seekers
Continue reading...Category Archives: Protest
‘Mentally, we’re in crisis mode’: protests leave Chileans living on their nerves
Chileans are gripped by uncertainty – suspended between hopes of progress, and frustration over an elusive political solution
When a tsunami of unrest spilled into Santiago’s fashionable Bellavista neighbourhood in October, Daniel Gajardo, 33, was torn between sympathy for the protesters and frustration at the harm they were doing his fledgling business.
The recording studio and music shop he co-owns had been thriving, and moved to new premises just a day before the first major demonstration.
Continue reading...Guinea protests turn bloody in fight to stop president’s third term
‘We have to keep going,’ say family of teenager killed in west African country’s capital
On the morning of 14 November Abdourahmane Diallo set out on his motorcycle taxi along the pothole-laden roads of Conakry, the bustling capital of Guinea. By nightfall he was dead.
His family said the 16-year-old orphan was shot in the ear by police who were targeting opposition supporters in the Bomboly neighbourhood where the Diallos live. With blood pouring from the wound, Diallo was shuffled between government hospitals, family members said. One hospital said it had no capacity for new patients, another said it had no equipment to treat him. He died that evening.
Continue reading...India citizenship law: shock at crackdown may unite Modi opponents
Protests are most significant show of dissent in nearly six years of Modi in power
Student protests are not unusual in India. Nor is police violence. But the scenes of officers entering one of Delhi’s Muslim-majority universities, teargassing the library and beating demonstrators and bystanders have shocked a country thought to have become inured to both.
Fuelled by the apparent police brutality, protests against a controversial law to fast-track citizenship for everyone but Muslim asylum seekers were spreading on Monday to other major universities and cities across the country, in what is becoming the most significant show of dissent in the nearly six years since Narendra Modi took office.
Continue reading...Indian students join fierce protests against ‘anti-Muslim’ citizenship law
Campus protests take place across country, as alleged police brutality fuels anger
Intense protests against a divisive Indian citizenship law that excludes Muslims have spread to university campuses across the country, fuelled by a brutal police crackdown on a demonstration in Delhi at the weekend.
Police entered the Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMI) campus in the capital on Sunday and detained more than 100 students, beating activists in the street and firing teargas. JMI was shut on Monday, as were nearby schools and offices, after barricades and buses were set alight during the protest.
Continue reading...‘Sardines’ against Salvini: Italy’s fight against the far right
Grassroots protests have brought tens of thousands of people on to the streets of Rome
Tens of thousands of people have crammed together in Rome on Saturday as part of the growing “sardines” movement against the leader of the far-right League and Italy’s former deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, and his allies.
Protesters converged in Piazza San Giovanni early in the afternoon in a bid “to further shake up the country’s politics and battle xenophobia”, in what was billed as their biggest rally.
Continue reading...Military police remove climate protesters from Schiphol airport
Hundreds of demonstrators call for international hub in Amsterdam to curb emissions
Dutch military police have begun forcibly removing a group of climate protesters at Schiphol airport, in Amsterdam, after they refused to leave during a demonstration organised by Greenpeace.
Hundreds of protesters attended the demonstration on Saturday calling on the international air hub to adopt a plan to curb greenhouse emissions. The group had been allowed to protest outside the building only, but they broke that restriction, arguing that citizens’ rights to peaceful protest should not be restricted.
Continue reading...Thousands join biggest protest in Bangkok since 2014 coup
Thai anti-government rally held in response to ban on Future Forward opposition party
Thousands of people joined the biggest protest in Bangkok since a 2014 coup on Saturday, after Thai authorities moved to ban a party that has rallied opposition to the government of the former military ruler Prayuth Chan-ocha.
The demonstration, called a day earlier by the Future Forward party leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a 41-year-old billionaire, was reminiscent of the street protests that have roiled Bangkok over the past two decades of turbulent politics.
Continue reading...Algeria: protesters boycott election chanting ‘No vote! We want freedom!’ – video
Thousands of people took to the streets in central Algiers, as the authorities held a presidential election that the mass protest movement views as a charade intended to keep the ruling elite in power. Local media showed videos of demonstrators throwing ballot papers to the ground. Only 33% of Algerians turned out to vote
Continue reading...Thousands march in Algeria after controversial election result
Ruling party hoped election of Abdelmadjid Tebboune as president would end months of instability
Huge crowds have massed in Algeria’s capital to protest against the election of a former loyalist of the deposed leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika as president in a widely boycotted poll.
Demonstrators who flooded central Algiers on Friday vowed to keep up their campaign for the total dismantling of the political establishment following Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s victory in Thursday’s election.
Continue reading...Activists protest at ‘sidelining of social justice’ at UN climate talks
Campaigners frustrated at how women and indigenous people have struggled to have voices heard
Youth climate activists have called for a global strike on Friday to protest that human rights and social justice have been sidelined at the UN climate talks in Madrid, where governments look set to wrap up two weeks of negotiations without a breakthrough on the pressing issue of greenhouse gas reduction.
Campaigners have been frustrated not only at the slow progress of the talks but also that groups representing women, indigenous people and poor people have struggled to have their voices heard within the conference halls where the official negotiations are taking place, even while 500,000 people took part in a mass protest in the streets outside last Friday.
Continue reading...Mass boycott and police clashes as Algeria holds disputed election
Low turnout reflects widespread disaffection with election pitting regime loyalists against each other
An opposition call for a mass boycott of presidential elections in Algeria appeared to have succeeded on Thursday, as polls shut after a day marked by mass demonstrations, police clashes and a wave of arrests.
The turnout in the election appeared to be around 20% – a victory for the country’s pro-democracy protest movement, which has derided the vote as a sham.
Continue reading...EU leaders meet to try to agree on carbon neutrality by 2050
Greenpeace activists unfurl climate emergency banner on Brussels venue before event
European leaders meeting at a summit in Brussels will make a new attempt to set the European Union on course for carbon neutrality by 2050, in a test of the bloc’s credibility on the climate emergency.
Hours before EU leaders were due to arrive on Thursday, Greenpeace activists unfurled a banner on the side of the summit venue warning of the climate emergency.
Continue reading...Indian police fire teargas at citizenship bill protesters
Paramilitary forces deployed at demonstrations in north-east over bill excluding Muslims
Indian police have fired blanks on protesters as thousands ignored a curfew in the north-east of the country in fresh demonstrations against contentious new citizenship legislation.
Officials said on Thursday about 20 to 30 people have been hurt in the protests in recent days, with vehicles torched and police firing teargas and charging the crowds with heavy wooden sticks.
Continue reading...Outrage after Colombia riot police force young woman into unmarked car
- Protester freed after members of public give chase
- Video of incident adds to criticism of police tactics
Outrage has erupted in Colombia after a young woman participating in anti-government protests was grabbed by riot police in body armour, forced into an unmarked vehicle and driven away.
Video of the incident showed the woman sobbing and screaming “Help! The police have kidnapped me!” through the window of the black Chevrolet sedan as it drove away from the demonstration near the National University in Bogotá on Wednesday night.
Continue reading...Hong Kong: mammoth rally marks six months of pro-democracy protests
Sea of protesters pour on to streets calling for elections and inquiry into police tactics
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have once again poured on to the streets of Hong Kong, their chants echoing off high-rise buildings, in a mass show of support for a protest movement that shows no signs of flagging as it enters a seventh month.
Chanting “Fight for freedom” and “Stand with Hong Kong”, a sea of protesters formed a mile-long human snake winding for blocks on Hong Kong Island, from the Causeway Bay shopping district to the Central business zone.
Continue reading...Defiant protesters back in Baghdad square within an hour of slaughter
Demonstrators grow ever more determined to force real political change in Iraq despite a bloody crackdown which left over 20 dead
The gunshots emptied protesters from Baghdad’s Khilani square in minutes, but as nearby streets filled with the crush of people running for their lives, two men stayed on, waving a vast Shia banner in defiance of the bloodshed around them.
The pair must have known they were in the gunmen’s crosshairs, and soon one of them crumpled, hit by a bullet. But their determination to continue was a powerful message to authorities and militias trying to crush Iraq’s popular uprising by force.
Continue reading...Over a dozen killed in Baghdad when gunmen open fire on protesters
Attack follows mass stabbings in Tahrir Square, a focus of the anti-government movement
At least 14 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded when gunmen in cars opened fire on a protest camp in Baghdad, sending people running for cover in nearby mosques. Three of the victims were police officers.
The attacks on Friday came a day after a string of suspicious stabbing incidents left at least 13 wounded in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the centre of Iraq’s leaderless protest movement.
Continue reading...‘A rapist in your path’: Chilean protest song becomes feminist anthem – video
A Chilean protest song about rape culture and victim shaming has become an anthem for feminists around the world.
Un Violador en Tu Camino (A Rapist in Your Path) was first performed in late November as Chile’s nationwide uprising against social inequality entered its second month.
Here's a look at how the song, and its accompanying dance moves, have spread across Latin America and the world.
Continue reading...Jane Fonda on joining the climate fight: ‘It’s back to the barricades’
The veteran actor and activist has been arrested four times after being inspired by Greta Thunberg and disgusted by Trump
Jane Fonda has unusual plans for her 82nd birthday: she wants to spend the night in jail.
The American actor and political activist – who has been protesting about inaction over the climate crisis at the US Capitol every Friday – has been arrested four times and kept overnight once. Her lawyers have helped her avoid serious charges. But she says the acts of civil disobedience have pulled her out of a depression she sunk into after Donald Trump took office.
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