– Violent clashes in France after protester killed ‘by police grenade’ (PHOTOS, VIDEO) (RT, Nov 2, 2014):
Unrest
Presidential Palace In Bosnia Set On Fire As Riots Break Out Protesting 40% Unemployment
Government buildings on fire during protests in Sarajevo (AFP/GETTY)
– Presidential Palace In Bosnia Set On Fire As Riots Break Out Protesting 40% Unemployment (ZeroHedge, Feb 8, 2014):
Another day, another European nation is hit by violent riots as protests over the economy and corruption spilled over violently into the street, this time Bosnia where more than 150 people were wounded on Friday in the worst civil unrest in the country since the 1992-95 war. The reason: anger over the dire state of domestic politics, the economic collapse and especially the country’s 40% unemployment rate. The Telegraph reports that angry protesters set fire to part of the presidential palace in Sarajevo, as well as government buildings in the capital Sarajevo, Tuzla and Zenica. At least 80 people were injured in Sarajevo and 10 in Zenica, authorities said. There were no immediate casualty figures from Tuzla, where the worst of the fighting was.
Bosnia is a relatively new entrant to the current iteration of mass protests, however judging by the severity of public anger, the country is doing its best to catch up with the rest of Europe.
Read morePresidential Palace In Bosnia Set On Fire As Riots Break Out Protesting 40% Unemployment
Rioters Set Paris Ablaze Over Ban On Islamic Veil
– Rioters set Paris ablaze over ban on Islamic veil (Independent, July 21, 2013):
Twenty cars were burned and four people arrested early today in a second night of violence in a Paris suburb after allegedly heavy-handed police action to enforce France’s ban on the full-face Islamic veil.
Riot police were on patrol in the same suburb west of Paris this afternoon when a fire broke out in a disused furniture warehouse, but it was not immediately clear whether this had been started deliberately. Six young people were arrested in the suburb of Trappes on Friday night when 200 rioters besieged a local police station to protest against police violence. A 14-year-old boy suffered a serious eye injury.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls appealed for calm. Community leaders said that the riots were a response to the frequent violence and insulting language used by police, rather than a protest against the two-year-old law banning burkas or other full-face coverings.
On the second night of protest about 50 young people burned cars and threw Molotov cocktails at riot police. Both sides agree the protests began when a three-man police patrol stopped a young woman wearing a face veil on Friday night. The woman’s mother and husband became involved in an argument with the officers.
Police say the older woman rammed one officer with a pushchair, and her husband punched another and then tried to throttle him.
Zimmerman Verdict: NOT GUILTY – Stay Off The Streets, Everyone, And Prepare For Riots
Divide et impera!
– Zimmerman verdict: NOT GUILTY – stay off the streets, everyone, and prepare for riots (Natural News, July 14, 2013):
The verdict is in on the Zimmerman trial: NOT GUILTY. The jury found that Zimmerman acted within his right of self defense when he shot and killed Trayvon Martin. He is being fully acquitted.
This bulletin isn’t about the trial itself, nor the merits of the verdict. This is about urging all Natural News readers to stay off the streets tonight and for the next few nights, because there are huge numbers of people who say they’re going to RIOT if the verdict comes back “not guilty,” and now that moment has arrived.
Read moreZimmerman Verdict: NOT GUILTY – Stay Off The Streets, Everyone, And Prepare For Riots
Things Are Rapidly Shifting From Bad To Worse In Turkey: Live Stream From Istanbul
– Live Stream From Istanbul (ZeroHedge, June 11, 2013)
Turkey: Taksim Square Drenched In Blood As 900 Protesters Are Arrested (Extremely Graphic Content)
– Turkey’s Taksim Square Drenched in Blood as 900 Protesters Are Arrested (Extremely Graphic Content) (The Daily Sheeple, June 1, 2013)
Turkey is entering its third day of violent protests as police have withdrawn from Taksim Square and allowed the mass protests to continue.
Over 900 people have been arrested across Turkey for what the authorities called a security measure.
The first photo below was taken from a CNN IReport that CNN themselves have not vetted.
Blood in streets near Taksim Turkey
A shocking video report from RT shows violent clashes between police and protesters:
An RT article covered various aspects of the protests including how they started and what they stand for:
Police in Istanbul have withdrawn from Taksim Square, allowing the mass protest to continue unabated, Turkish media report. Istanbul and Ankara are entering the third day of violent protests, with tear gas and water cannon deployed and over 900 arrested.
Marc Faber: ‘People With Financial Assets Are All Doomed’
– Marc Faber: “People With Financial Assets Are All Doomed” (ZeroHedge, June 1, 2013):
As Barron’s notes in this recent interview, Marc Faber view the world with a skeptical eye, and never hesitates to speak his mind when things don’t look quite right. In other words, he would be the first in a crowd to tell you the emperor has no clothes, and has done so early, often, and aptly in the case of numerous investment bubbles. With even the world’s bankers now concerned at ‘unsustainable bubbles’, it is therefore unsurprising that in the discussion below, Faber explains, among other things, the fallacy of the Fed’s help “the problem is the money doesn’t flow into the system evenly, how with money-printing “the majority loses, and the minority wins,” and how, thanks to the further misallocation of capital, “people with assets are all doomed, because prices are grossly inflated globally for stocks and bonds.” Faber says he buys gold every month, adding that “I want to have some assets that aren’t in the banking system. When the asset bubble bursts, financial assets will be particularly vulnerable.”
On the error of the Fed’s ways:
Read moreMarc Faber: ‘People With Financial Assets Are All Doomed’
Turkey: Police And Protesters Battle For Taksim Square In Istanbul
Turkish police fired tear gas at demonstrators before retreating from Taksim Square in Istanbul.
– ?Turkish police and protesters battle for Taksim square (Telegraph, June 1, 2013):
Some protesters hurled objects at officers and police vehicles, prompting police to fire several rounds of tear gas.
In Ankara, a police vehicle hit two demonstrators who were crouched in the middle of the street, barricading themselves behind rubbish bins.
One of the men who was hit was seen being rescued by other demonstrators and loaded into an ambulance while flashing a “V” for victory sign.
The other man was thrown in the air but appeared to not have been seriously injured.
A demonstration that started in Istanbul on Friday as a peaceful sit-in to save an inner-city green space has turned into nationwide anti-government protests in Turkey, revealing the depth of public anger against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Many Turks view him as increasingly authoritarian and dismissive of opposing views.
Protesters who had camped out at Taksim were angry over the planned removal of trees in the square, one of the few bits of green in sprawling Istanbul.Read moreTurkey: Police And Protesters Battle For Taksim Square In Istanbul
Meanwhile, In Turkey … FULL-SCALE RIOTS (Video & Photos)
– Meanwhile, In Turkey… (ZeroHedge, May 31, 2013):
While most of the headlines this week have centered on Syria, Sweden (and Switzerland), Turkey has been cooking and today has broken into full-scale riots. As Reuters reports, Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon on Friday at demonstrators in central Istanbul, wounding scores of people and prompting rallies in other cities in the fiercest anti-government protests for years. The growing unrest centers on disquiet at the authoritarianism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (who just visited Obama). “We do not have a government, we have Tayyip Erdogan … Even AK Party supporters are saying they have lost their mind, they are not listening to us.” The protests somewhat surprisingly were sparked by the uprooting of trees but rapidly escalated (as seen below) into riot police, water cannon, and tear gas battles as protesters exclaim, “we’re fed up… we don’t like the direction the country is heading.”
Thousands of demonstrators massed on streets surrounding Istanbul’s central Taksim Square, long a venue for political unrest, while protests erupted in the capital Ankara and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.
…
The unrest reflects growing disquiet at the authoritarianism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).
…
There have also been protests against the government’s stance on the conflict in neighboring Syria, a tightening of restrictions on alcohol sales and warnings against public displays of affection.
“We do not have a government, we have Tayyip Erdogan … Even AK Party supporters are saying they have lost their mind, they are not listening to us,” said Koray Caliskan, a political scientist at Bosphorus University who attended the protest.
“This is the beginning of a summer of discontent.”
Read moreMeanwhile, In Turkey … FULL-SCALE RIOTS (Video & Photos)
Sweden: Youth Riots Enter Third Day – Rioters Attack Police Station, Set School & Nursery On Fire
Video:
– Swedish Youth Riots Enter Third Day (ZeroHedge, May 22, 2013):
Sparked by the police shooting of a machete-wielding 69 year-old man, traditionally calm-and-collected Sweden is suffering amid its third night of riots. It seems underlying tensions from high youth unemployment and rising nationalism against the nation’s large immigrant population have been catalyzed by this seemingly unrelated event. As the Daily Mail notes, immigrant ghettos have been created where unemployment is high and there are few opportunities for residents with left-leaning commenters adding that the riots represented a ‘gigantic failure’ of government policies, which had underpinned the rise of ghettos in the suburbs – “We have failed to give many of the people in the suburbs a hope for the future.” An anti-immigrant party, the Sweden Democrats, has risen to third in polls ahead of a general election due next year, reflecting unease about immigrants among many voters. What is driving this tension? After decades of practicing the ‘Swedish model’ of generous welfare benefits, the country has been reducing the role of the state since the 1990s, spurring the fastest growth in inequality of any advanced OECD economy. Given Sweden’s 24.7% youth unemployment, we wonder just what will happen to the 60% of unemployed youths in Greece and Spain when school lets out this summer?This can’t end well!
Via The Daily Mail:
The disorder has intensified despite a call for calm from Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
Last night, rioters attacked the police station in the Jakosberg area in the northwest of the city and set fire to 30 cars.
…
Groups of youths also smashed shop windows and burned down a 19th Century cultural centre.
Gangs of up to 60 set fire to a school and a nursery and hurled rocks at police and firefighters.
Food Is The New Oil And Land The New Gold – “The Term ‘Food Unrest’ Will Become Part Of Our Daily Vocabulary”
– Food is the New Oil and Land the New Gold: Lester Brown (Yahoo Finance, Oct 5, 2012):
The United Nations food agency reports that food prices are rising again, reaching 6-month highs and nearing levels not since 2008. Higher prices then spurred food riots in the Middle East and North Africa, which fueled the Arab Spring.
There’s no sign of widespread food riots now but eventually there could be, says Lester Brown, president and founder of the Earth Policy Institute and author of the new book “Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity.”
“The term ‘food unrest’ will become part of our daily vocabulary,” Brown tells The Daily Ticker.It reflects the imbalance between the supply of food and demand for food globally.
AND NOW … Social Security Is Gearing Up For Civil Unrest, To Purchase 174,000 Rounds Of HOLLOW POINT BULLETS (Video)
Related info:
– DHS Buys Enough Ammo To Wage Seven-Year War Against The American People
YouTube Added: 05.09.2012
Description:
First it was the Department of Homeland Security, then it was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and now the Social Security Administration is set to purchase 174,000 rounds of hollow point bullets that will be delivered to 41 locations across the country.
A solicitation posted by the SSA on the FedBizOpps website asks for contractors to supply 174,000 rounds of “.357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition.”
An online ammunition retailer describes the bullets as suitable “for peak performance rivaling and sometimes surpassing handloads in many guns,” noting that the ammo is “a great personal defense bullet.”
The synopsis to the solicitation adds that the ammunition is to be shipped to 41 locations within 60 days of purchase. A separate spreadsheet lists those locations, which include the Social Security headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland as well as major cities across the country including Los Angeles, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle.
Hollow point bullets are designed to expand as they enter the body, causing maximum damage by tearing apart internal organs.
The Growing Threat Of Soybean-Inspired Social Unrest In China
– The Growing Threat Of Soybean-Inspired Social Unrest In China (ZeroHedge, Aug 19, 2012):
Two weeks ago we explained why the drought-inspired soaring price of Soybeans – specifically from the US – would notably influence global central-planners’ actions – and more specifically the Chinese (given its high impact on food price inflation). Food prices remain elevated and the PBoC is undertaking Reverse Repos – the exact opposite of an RRR-driven easing program so many expected. However, there is a further, deeper, and more troubling consequence than ‘simple’ inflationary arguments – that of social unrest. Confirming our insight, the LA Times points out,
Soybean oil is the most important edible oil in China with more than two-thirds of cooking oil consumed in China coming from soybeans – and most of those soybeans are supplied by the US (more than half of US exports are to China and the US is China’s number 1 supplier). According to one official this “makes [China] vulnerable to the drought” and bound to the fortunes of farmers in the American heartland. The Chinese devote more than 20% of their income to food (three times more than Americans – according to the USDA).
Read moreThe Growing Threat Of Soybean-Inspired Social Unrest In China
Syria: 2,000 Military Personnel Killed During Months-Long Unrest
– Syria says 2,000 military personnel killed during months-long unrest (Xinhua, Dec. 23, 2011):
DAMASCUS, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) — The Syrian government said Thursday that a total of 2,000 army and security personnel were killed during the nine-month-old unrest, accusing the United Nations of being bias by ignoring the existence of armed groups in the Middle East country.
In a letter sent to the U.N. Security Council and the Human Rights Council on Thursday, Damascus said the International Commission of Inquiry had handled the Syrian crisis ” unprofessionally, selectively and it was politically motivated.”
“Even though some 2,000 army members have been killed by armed groups, but some parties still unconvinced and determined not to believe in that fact,” it said, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
According to the United Nations, more than 5,000 Syrians have been killed since the uprising began in March.
In the letter, Syria stressed that what is happening on its territories is not a peaceful movement.
Read moreSyria: 2,000 Military Personnel Killed During Months-Long Unrest
China To Prepare For Social Unrest
– China to prepare for social unrest (Financial Times, Dec. 4, 2011):
Beijing has underlined its concern that an economic slowdown could lead to social unrest in China, with the country’s security chief urging local officials to do more to prepare for the “negative effects of the market economy”.
Zhou Yongkang, a member of the politburo, told provincial officials that they needed to find better methods of “social management” – a euphemism which can include everything from better internet censorship and strategic policing of violent unrest, to a better social safety net.
Cyber Riot: Greek Protesters Use Lasers to Dazzle Police, Then Attack Them With Catapults, Stones And Petrol Bombs
Targeted: Protesters use a laser pen to track a riot police officer during violent protests in Keratea, Greece, where locals are opposing a planned rubbish tip
Dazzling: The officers are caught in the beam as they attempt to protect the town’s police station
Explosive situation: A petrol bomb is thrown at riot police, who responded with tear gas
Defiant: A protester walks among the burning barricades
Laser-guided: A protester uses a beam to help aim his catapult
It looked like a scene from a science fiction film featuring forces of the future in an apocalyptic battle zone.
But these images were captured during a riot in Keratea, Greece, where residents opposing a decision to establish a new landfill rubbish tip nearby took to the streets.
They used laser pens to dazzle riot police officers and then attacked them with catapults, stones and petrol bombs.
Three people were arrested and two officers injured during the violent clashes which began when people in a crowd attacked the town’s police station.
They were objecting to the detention of a local man suspected of involvement in previous clashes.
Police responded with tear gas.
Residents of the town, 25 miles south east of the capital Athens, have clashed repeatedly over the past two months with riot police guarding the site of the planned rubbish dump.
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:46 AM on 9th February 2011
Source: Daily Mail
Food And Fuel Riots in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Yemen And Jordan
See also:
– Algerian Riots Continue Over Skyrocketing Food Prices And Unemployment:
The cost of flour and salad oil has doubled in recent months, reaching record highs. A kilogram of sugar, which a few months ago cost 70 dinars, is now 150 dinars (£1.28). Unemployment stands at about 10% percent, the government says; independent organisations put it closer to 25%.
Latest Inflation Riot Tally: Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Yemen And Jordan
The Fed chairman is 100% confident inflation can be contained. Rapidly spreading rioting (5 countries so far) would take the under on that.
Latest on Tunisia:
Twelve people were killed in overnight clashes in the Tunisian capital Tunis and the northeastern town of Ras Jebel, according to accounts from two medical sources and a witness on Friday.
Ten of the victims were killed after clashes in the capital, two sources from Charles Nicolle hospital told Reuters.
A witness from Ras Jebel, who identified herself as Narjes, said: “I saw two dead people with my own eyes after police fired at youth”.
Tunisian officials could not immediately be reached for a comment. It was not immediately clear whether the shootings took place before or after the country’s president ordered police to stop using lethal force against demonstrators.
And now the violence has spread to Jordan:
Food price protests sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East reached Jordan on Friday, when hundreds of protesters chanted slogans against Prime Minister Samir al-Rifai in the southern city of Karak.
The peaceful protest was held despite hastily announced government measures to curb commodity and fuel prices. Similar demonstrations were held in three other towns and cities across the country, witnesses said.
“We are protesting the policies of the government — high prices and repeated taxation that made the Jordanian people revolt,” Tawfiq al-Batoush, a former head of Karak municipality, told Reuters at the protest outside Karak’s Al Omari mosque.
Three days ago, after riots in Algeria and Tunisia over high prices, unemployment and falling living standards, Jordan announced a $225 million package of cuts in the prices of some types of fuel and of staple products including sugar and rice.
Other Arab countries have taken similar steps. Libya abolished taxes and customs duties on food products and Morocco offered compensation to importers of soft milling wheat to keep supplies stable after a surge in grain prices.
…Morocco (google translated)
Protests against price rises and unemployment moved from Tunisia to Morocco, where the streets of Rabat, yesterday, saw clashes between young protesters and police forces, which tried to prevent them from organizing a demonstration outside the Moroccan parliament, in protest against unemployment and high prices and the cost of living in Morocco
And Yemen:
In Yemen, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh fired Minister of Oil and Chief Executive, the Yemen Petroleum Company Omar Arhabi, yesterday, due to a lack in the supply of petroleum products, not available in the market, which led to bottlenecks in front of gas stations and the creation of indignation among the citizens.
Not like there is much to add here, but we would like to add that if a rising stock market was indiciative of “wealth” then the citizens of Zimbabwe have to be the richest people in the universe.
Read moreFood And Fuel Riots in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Yemen And Jordan
Global Food Supply Chain Stretched to The Limit
Related info:
– US: Surprising Drop In Corn and Soybean Output Sends Grain Prices Surging
– Sri Lanka: Flood Affects 1 Million People, 40,000 Acres Of Paddy Cultivation Already Damaged
– ‘The World Is Only One Poor Harvest Away From Chaos’
– Australia Floods: Food Prices to Rise 30% – 50% of Crops Affected, With 20% Wiped Out
– India: Food Inflation Up Over 18 Percent In Just One Year
– Algerian Riots Continue Over Skyrocketing Food Prices And Unemployment
– Global Food Prices About To Break An All Time High (CHART OF THE DAY)
– USDA: No strategic grain reserves … they sold them!
– UN: Food prices may rise by up to 20%
– China introduces subsidies in response to double-digit food price inflation in October
Soaring Prices Spark Fears of Social Unrest in Developing World
Activists from India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) women’s wing shout slogans against the Congress-led government during a protest against an increase in milk, vegetables and food prices in New Delhi on April 1, 2010. The BJP activists protested against the price hikes of essential commodities. Food inflation is still at 17 percent according to official figures.
Strained by rising demand and battered by bad weather, the global food supply chain is stretched to the limit, sending prices soaring and sparking concerns about a repeat of food riots last seen three years ago.
“We are entering a danger territory,” Abdolreza Abbassian, chief economist at the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said last week.
Tunisia: Dozens Reported Killed As Unrest Escalates
TUNIS (AFP) — Authorities struggled to contain escalating unrest in Tunisia on Tuesday as labour and human-rights activists said as many as 50 people had been killed in protests against unemployment.
The government said only 21 people had died in the three days of violence however and challenged critics to prove the higher toll.
As the United States said it was “deeply concerned” by reports that authorities had used excessive force against protesters, police broke up fresh demonstrations by Tunisian intellectuals aimed at condemning the crackdown.
“Our numbers say there are 21 dead,” Communications Minister Samir Laabidi told a news conference, denying the reports of a higher death toll.
“Those who have spoken of 40 or 50 dead should produce a list of names,” he said.
Officials had previously given a toll of 18 dead.
Read moreTunisia: Dozens Reported Killed As Unrest Escalates
France: Riot Police Clash With Students As Petrol Stations Run Dry
French riot police and students fired tear gas and petrol bombs at each other while truckers blocked roads and almost 3,000 petrol stations ran dry, as nationwide protests intensified.
Despite claims that it had petrol provision “under control”, the government said it had activated an emergency crisis cell charged with maintaining fuel supplies.
The opposition Socialists criticised François Fillon, the prime minister, for failing to speak to the unions over proposed pension reforms, which would raise minimum and full retirement ages to 62 and 67.
“We have a prime minister who thinks he is Churchill but who is only Thatcher,” said Harlem Désir, the Socialists’ deputy leader. “He is trying to make us think he is carrying out great reforms to save our economy but in fact he is smashing our social model.”
The Socialists, like the unions, want to allow the French to continue to retire at 60 despite rising life expectancy, saying the shortfall could be filled by increasing tax on capital and the number of years a person paid into the system.
Read moreFrance: Riot Police Clash With Students As Petrol Stations Run Dry
Italy: Riots over plans to build rubbish dump on slopes of Mt Vesuvius
Police and protesters clashed in Naples over plans to build a new rubbish dump on the slopes of Mt Vesuvius.
Italian policemen remove a protester from the road leading to a landfill in Terzigno Photo: EPA
Around 2,000 stone-throwing locals set fire to rubbish trucks and waste compactor machines into the early hours of Friday.
At least one protester was arrested and a senior police officer had to have stitches after being hit in the face by a rock, in the third consecutive night of violence.
Using tear gas and batons, police cleared a path through the demonstrators so that the rubbish trucks could reach the dump in the town of Terzigno, south of Naples.
Read moreItaly: Riots over plans to build rubbish dump on slopes of Mt Vesuvius
23 Killed, 340 Injured in Kyrgyz Riots; Interim Government Declares State of Emergency, Imposes Curfew
More than 23 people have died and 340 been injured in ethnic fighting which broke out last night in the city of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyz soldiers stand on an armoured vehicle in the streets of Osh Photo: AFP
Several buildings across Osh, the country’s second-largest city, were ablaze Friday morning, after witnesses reported hearing sustained gunfire beginning late Thursday. Gangs of young men armed with metal bars and stones attacked shops and set cars alight in the city.
Gunfire continued Friday, although it was not clear who was shooting, residents said.
The country’s provisional government, led by Roza Otunbayeva, has struggled to keep order in the volatile Central Asian state since seizing control during riots that ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev earlier this year. The central Asian country’s interim government declared a state of emergency, imposed a curfew, and sent in more than seven armoured cars to try to end the fighting between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in the city.
Related Information:
– New Violence in Kyrgyzstan Leads to Troop Deployment (New York Times)
– In pictures: Kyrgyzstan unrest (BBC News)
– 23 Killed, 300 Wounded in Kyrgyz Riots (Voice of America)
Azimbek Beknazarov, the deputy Kyrgyz leader, said that apart from a few clashes, the situation now seemed under control.
“Everything began yesterday at about 11 pm, and, unfortunately, despite the curfew established, at present skirmishing is going on in the city,” he said.
More than 1000 young men came out onto the streets last night, many of them carrying guns or iron bars, and began to smash the windows of cafes and restaurants, and set fire to cars and buildings throughout the city.
Thailand: Stock Exchange on Fire; Power Blackouts; Red-Shirt Leaders Surrender; Bangkok Under Curfew
– Thai stock exchange on fire, blackouts hit Bangkok (Reuters):
BANGKOK, May 19 (Reuters) – The Thai stock exchange was on fire and parts of Bangkok were hit by power blackouts on Wednesday as violence continued, even though anti-government protest leaders surrendered and troops said they were in control.
The stock exchange building was on fire, the exchange’s president told Reuters, while witnesses said major tourist hotels had lost power as black smoke billowed around buildings in the Thai capital.
The stock market had closed early due to the violence.
Thai Defence Minister General Pravit Wongsuwan said a curfew may be imposed on Bangkok to deal with continued unrest after troops dispersed anti-government protesters in a major offensive that killed at least four people and wounded 50 others.
– Bangkok burns as Thai Red Shirts run amok after leaders’ surrender (Times):
Bangkok was burning today after Thai protest leaders called a halt to months of anti-government demonstrations leaving their followers to wreak havoc in retreat.
The stock exchange and two shopping centres were set alight after a bloody army assault on the barricaded encampment forced the Red Shirts to surrender. Protesters have also set the offices of TV station Channel 3 on fire, trapping 100 staff in the building.
The dawn offensive left five dead, including an Italian journalist, and dozens more were wounded.
– Thai Government Declares Curfew in Bangkok (Voice of America)
Curfew comes into force in Bangkok
Smoke rises from burning fires in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, following the surrender of anti-government leaders to the police Wednesday, May 19, 2010. The Thai government is attempting to end the two month long standoff with Red Shirt protestors with a massive military crackdown. (AP)
BANGKOK — A night curfew has come into force in Bangkok, the first declared in the Thai capital since 1992.
The 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew was enforced Wednesday following an army assault on the anti-government protesters.
At least six people have been killed and nearly 60 injured in clashes.
The last such curfew was declared in 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the ouster of a military-backed government.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
BANGKOK (AP) — Downtown Bangkok became a flaming battleground Wednesday as an army assault forced anti-government protest leaders to surrender, enraging followers who shot grenades and set fire to landmark buildings, cloaking the skyline in black smoke.
Using live ammunition, troops dispersed thousands of Red Shirt protesters who had been camped in the capital’s premier shopping and residential district for weeks. Five protesters and an Italian news photographer were killed in the ensuing gunbattles and about 60 wounded.
Protestors Storm Parliament in Greece, 3 Killed in a Firebombed Bank
Hmmh. I would like to know who really firebombed the bank. (Another Iceland?)
Greek police hit by molotov cocktail (Reuters)
– 3 dead after protesters torch Greek bank (ABC NEWS):
Three people died in a burning bank as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Athens during a general strike over the Greek government’s planned spending cuts.
Some protesters tried to storm parliament while others threw petrol bombs at police and torched buildings in protest against new austerity measures and a decision to raise taxes to meet the conditions of its international bailout.
A petrol bomb hurled at an Athens branch of the Marfin Investment Bank killed two women and a man who were caught in the resulting inferno.
– 3 killed as rioters overrun streets of Greece (Los Angeles Times)
– Greek bank firebombing a ‘raw murderous act’ (Sydney Morning Herald):
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has condemned the killing of three people in a firebombed bank during protests in Athens as a “murderous act”, vowing to bring those responsible to justice.
In an address to parliament on Wednesday, Papandreou denounced “the unfair deaths of our citizens who fell victim to a raw murderous act” hours after the three died when petrol bombs thrown by demonstrators set the bank on fire.
“Nobody has the right to violence and particularly violence that leads to murder. Violence breeds violence,” Papandreou said.
A riot policeman falls after being hit with molotov cocktail near the Greek parliament in Athens. Photo: Reuters
– At least 3 killed as protestors storm parliament in Greece (InTheNews):
At least three people have been killed in Greece as protestors stormed parliament buildings in Athens amid the country’s debt crisis.
Striking workers set fire to a bank, possibly after being hit by petrol bombs, with fire services saying three bodies were found inside the burning building.
Police have responded to the unrest with pepper spray, tear gas and stun grenades.
Transport was at a standstill in the country as the angry protestors began their second day of strikes in the capital today over the government’s response to the country’s huge deficit.
Read moreProtestors Storm Parliament in Greece, 3 Killed in a Firebombed Bank