Greece: Riots break out on anniversary of teenager’s death

Clashes have broken out in the Greek capital Athens during a march to commemorate the first anniversary of the police shooting of a teenager, whose death sparked massive riots.

riots-athens-2009-12-06
A policeman on fire in Athens during rioting Photo: getty

riots-athens-2009-12-06
Rioting in Athens Photo: getty

Police fired tear gas at youths throwing rocks and firecrackers in central Athens, as several thousand demonstrators gathered to mark the death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos.

About 3,000 mostly students, anarchists and leftists marched to parliament on Sunday and more protests were expected on Monday. An evening memorial service was planned in the Exarchia district, where the teenager was shot dead.

Athens University rector Christos Kittas was rushed to hospital with an irregular heartbeat and head injuries after protesters broke into the university’s central Athens offices to occupy them, police and media said.

A 55-year-old woman was also injured on central Syntagma Square after being struck by police. Four police officers were also hurt as hand-to-hand combat erupted with small groups of protesters around the square, a police source said.

Concern was heightened by reports that far-left groups and anarchists from other European countries have traveled to Greece to join the protests.

Violence also broke out in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, where youths threw petrol bombs at police and smashed the storefront of a Starbucks cafe.

Over 6,000 police were on duty in Athens alone. Another 3,000 were mobilised in Thessaloniki, local police said.

Read moreGreece: Riots break out on anniversary of teenager’s death

Police State: Cop uses Taser on 10-year-old girl who ‘refused to take a shower’

A police officer used a Taser stun gun to subdue a 10-year-old girl in her own home.

taser-x3-the-newest-tasers
Taser X3:
To be used on your children? Photo credit: James Martin/CNET

The officer had been called to the girl’s home in Ozark, Arkansas, by her mother because she was behaving in an unruly manner and refusing to take a shower.

In a report on the incident the officer, Dustin Bradshaw, said the mother gave him permission to use the Taser.

When he arrived, the girl was curled up on the floor, screaming, and resisting as her mother tried to get her in the shower before bed.

“Her mother told me to take her if I needed to,” the officer wrote.

The child was “violently kicking and verbally combative” when he tried to take her into custody and she kicked him in the groin.

He then delivered “a very brief drive stun to her back,” the report said.

The girl’s father, Anthony Medlock, who is divorced from her mother, said the girl showed signs of emotional problems but did not deserve to be “treated like an animal”.

He said: “Ten years old and they shot electricity through her body, and I want to know how the heck in God’s green earth can they get away with this.

“If you can’t pick the kid up and take her to your car, handcuff her, then I don’t think you need to be an officer. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like a dog. She’s not a tiger.” Local Mayor Vernon McDaniel said the FBI should investigate.

Read morePolice State: Cop uses Taser on 10-year-old girl who ‘refused to take a shower’

Police State: Cops Taser A Handcuffed And Subdued Suspect

police-state-cop-tasers-handcuffed-subdued-suspect
Video provided by Lansing police shows a suspect slumped on the ground after being Tasered by a police officer. (LANSING POLICE via LANSING STATE JOURNAL)

LANSING — A police officer who Tasered a man after the man had been handcuffed and subdued was suspended without pay for two weeks for violating department policies and procedures, officials said Thursday.

Lansing Police Chief Mark Alley said the incident began early Aug. 16 after police responded to a call of a dispute between Rocky Allred, 43, and a former girlfriend.

Alley said there was a scuffle between Allred and Officer Ryan Smith, a two-year veteran, and that Allred head-butted Smith while Smith tried to handcuff him.

Two other officers subdued and handcuffed Allred, Alley said, and Smith then used his Taser on Allred, causing him to fall to the ground.

According to Lansing Police Department documents, Allred had injuries to his face, including a broken jaw and chipped tooth, and required eight stitches to his chin.

Various charges against Allred later were dismissed.

Read morePolice State: Cops Taser A Handcuffed And Subdued Suspect

KBR: Corporate supremacy above gang raped human being

‘Corporatocracy’ rules America or better the elite that controls those corporations rules America. That is (economic) fascism. And this is not about Republicans vs. Democrats, because they are just two wings of the same bird, puppets controlled by the elite. There is no ‘change’ or ‘hope’ in sight with the Obama administration.

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US Troops in Iraq talk about Halliburton & KBR (Flashback)
Whistleblower says Pentagon putting KBR over soldiers
Army Overseer Tells of Ouster Over KBR Stir
BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions
Rehired KBR driver in Iraq caught with child porn — again
Former workers accuse employees of improper activity, including the stealing of weapons, artwork and gold
DynCorp Manager Used Armored Car To Transport Hookers in Iraq
KBR Named In Report On Soldier Illnesses
Top Iraq contractor skirts US taxes offshore
10-Year U.S. Strategic Plan For Detention Camps Revives Proposals From Oliver North

Jamie Leigh Jones (born 1984)[1] is a former KBR employee who claims that seven KBR employees drugged and gang-raped her on July 28, 2005 at Camp Hope, Baghdad, Iraq.[2][3][4] She has filed a lawsuit against the company and the employees.

She is the founder of the Jamie Leigh Foundation, an advocacy agency for victims of sexual assault.

Jones began working for KBR as an administrative assistant in 2004 when she was 19, and started her contract of employment with Overseas Administrative Services, Ltd. in Houston, Texas on July 21, 2005.

Incident

According to Jones, on July 28, 2005, several of her fellow KBR employees offered her a drink containing a date rape drug, of which she took two sips. The men then allegedly engaged in unprotected anal and vaginal gang-rape upon her while she was unconscious. She was able to name one of her attackers based on his confession to her, but was unable to identify the others due to her unconsciousness. Further, the lawsuit filed by Jones’ attorneys cites the following: “When she awoke the next morning still affected by the drug, she found her body naked and severely bruised, with lacerations to her vagina and anus, blood running down her leg, her breast implants ruptured, and her pectoral muscles torn – which would later require reconstructive surgery. Upon walking to the rest room, she passed out again.”[5] Jones’ account was confirmed by U.S. Army physician Jodi Schultz.[6] Schultz gave the rape kit she used to gather evidence from Jones to KBR/Halliburton security forces, after which the rape kit disappeared. It was recovered two years later, but missing crucial photographs and notes. [7]

Jones was confined by armed guards to a shipping container containing only a bed, under the orders of her employer, KBR. She says she was denied food, water, and medical treatment. After approximately one day, says Jones, a sympathetic guard gave her a cell phone and she called her father, Tom, who in turn contacted Representative Ted Poe (RTX) who contacted the State Department. Agents were dispatched from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and removed Jones from KBR custody.[citation needed]

In May 2007, a State Department diplomat recovered the rape kit from Halliburton and KBR. However, notes and photographs taken by Schultz (of Jones the morning following her rape) were missing, undermining any chances of bringing the case through the criminal courts.[8]

Source: Wikipedia


post-human

We are fast approaching the time of the next great battle over evolution. The Neo-creationists will be corporations, and they will argue that they could not possibly be descended from human beings.

This isn’t science fiction. Just the other day 30 Republicans voted in the U.S. Senate to deny justice to a human victim of rape in order to protect the so-called sovereign rights of corporations.

I’m not much for slippery slope arguments, but when we’re buried in mud at the bottom of a slope, it might be prudent to see what we slipped on. In this case, as Thom Hartmann and others have pointed out, it was a court reporter’s memo attached to an obscure 1886 Supreme Court case. The memo summarized the court’s alleged opinion that the 14th Amendment applied to corporations. Corporations were people, too.

The rape case of Jamie Leigh Jones was just a logical step forward in the long-standing Republican effort to lock Americans out of the nation’s courthouses, an effort undertaken on behalf of corporate supremacy.  A woman is gang-raped by her fellow employees at government contractor KBR. The company says her contract prohibits her from seeking justice in court.

Thirty Republican U.S. senators voted to safeguard corporations from lawsuits in rape cases. You read that right the first time. The amendment they voted against, by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, would withhold government contracts from corporations that block employees from going to court when raped or sexually assaulted on the job.

The case – and the vote – stirred a little outrage, but not enough.

Read moreKBR: Corporate supremacy above gang raped human being

Police State: Cops Attack Anti-War Demonstrators In Rochester, New York


Date: 15th Oct 09

Related information:
Police State: Cop Caught On Camera beating special education student for not having his shirt tucked in
Police State: Florida cop attempts drive-by Tasering, runs over suspect
Police State: 14-Year-Old Girl Tasered In The Head
Police State: Cops Taser a 76-Year-Old Tractor Driver in Parade
Police State: Mother Watched Son Tasered To Death
Police State: Cops pepperspray, taser mentally challenged, deaf man, while using the toilet
Police State: Cops Taser Child 19 Times Leaving Him in a Coma
Police State: Cop Tasers Mom In Front of Her Children
Unedited Dash Cam Footage of Grandmother Being Tased
Taser use to obtain DNA not unconstitutional: NIAGARA COURTS RULING
Prison officer zaps children with 50,000-volt stun gun ‘to show them what a day at work is like’
Top cop fired for allegedly using Taser on wife
Ex-NFL Player Tasered For Pointing At Cop

Police State: Cop Caught On Camera beating special education student for not having his shirt tucked in

A south suburban Chicago police officer was caught on a security camera beating up a high school special education student, CBS2 reports.

Marshawn Pitts, 15, was walking down his school hallway when he says a Dolton, Ill. police officer went from berating him for his untucked shirt to slamming him to the ground and beating him.

“The officer was in his face because he didn’t have his shirt tucked in,” Pitts’ attorney told CBS 2’s Davis Savini. “That’s the officer put in that school to protect these kids, and instead of doing that, this officer is literally assaulting this kid.”

Neither school nor Dolton officials responded to CBS 2 about the story.

Watch video of the beating:

October 07, 2009

Source: Huffington Post

Related information:
Police State: Florida cop attempts drive-by Tasering, runs over suspect
Police State: 14-Year-Old Girl Tasered In The Head
Police State: Cops Taser a 76-Year-Old Tractor Driver in Parade
Police State: Mother Watched Son Tasered To Death
Police State: Cops pepperspray, taser mentally challenged, deaf man, while using the toilet
Police State: Cops Taser Child 19 Times Leaving Him in a Coma
Police State: Cop Tasers Mom In Front of Her Children
Unedited Dash Cam Footage of Grandmother Being Tased
Taser use to obtain DNA not unconstitutional: NIAGARA COURTS RULING
Prison officer zaps children with 50,000-volt stun gun ‘to show them what a day at work is like’
Top cop fired for allegedly using Taser on wife
Ex-NFL Player Tasered For Pointing At Cop

Related articles:
Wireless Tasers extend the long arm of the law
Sold as non-lethal, Tasers killed 400 in US, Canada since 2001
Cops raise Taser safety claims; Metro officers hurt during training sue company(!)

Police State: Violence at Mass Rally for Data Privacy “Freedom Instead of Fear” in Berlin (12.Sept.09)

The trigger was that a cyclist wanted to file charges against a police officer, because he saw how a friend was rudely arrested.


In German:

Polizeigewalt bei Datenschutz-Großdemo “Freiheit statt Angst” in Berlin (12.09.2009)

Auslöser war, dass der Radfahrer eine Anzeige gegen einen anderen Polizisten erstatten wollte, weil er gesehen hatte, wie ein Freund von ihm unsanft einkassiert wurde.


Berlin officers probed after police brutality video posted online

demonstration-berlin-police-violence

Berlin police are investigating some of their officers after witnesses filmed them beating a demonstrator at a protest against government infringement of Germany’s data protection laws.

The video, which appeared on YouTube, shows an officer hitting a man in the face before several other officers help pull him to the ground with more punches and kicking. Another man caught in the middle of the scuffle sustained a bloody nose.

State criminal prosecutors are working feverishly to investigate the incident and officers are suspected of assault while on duty, a police spokesman said. He added, however, that the video was problematic because it does not show the events that led to the violence.

The event under the motto “Freedom instead of fear – stop the surveillance madness,” was attended by some 10,000 participants, though organisers said more than 20,000 were on hand to protest laws that enable authorities to shut down websites and hold users’ personal telephone data. The event, part of a series held around the world, was called by a coalition of 167 organisations – including political parties, trade unions, professional associations, capitalism critics Attac, and the Chaos Computer Club.

According to police, the event was largely peaceful, but said the moment of violence captured on tape happened after a group of some 700 anarchists tried to deviate from the planned demonstration route in the Kreuzberg district. Police blocked the way, which inspired a demonstrator sound truck to call participants to criminal action. As officers addressed the truck, they were barraged with bottles from the crowd that did not result in injuries.

One 37-year-old man, identified by police as the person beaten in the video, was allegedly disruptive and did not leave despite repeated requests by police, they said. Witnesses said he had apparently wanted to register a complaint against one officer, who had allegedly arrested his friend “under unfriendly circumstances,” but police did not confirm this.

“The 37-year-old sustained injuries to his face during his arrest and was treated in a hospital,” the spokesperson said.

After the scuffle, other demonstrators can be heard shouting, “We are peaceful, what are you?” at officers.

Green Party MP Christian Ströbele told daily Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger on Monday that he questioned police behaviour in the incident after accompanying the demonstration for several hours without witnessing any violence.

“The demonstration was absolutely peaceful, it couldn’t have been more peaceful,” he told the paper.

Published: 14 Sep 09 12:11 CET

Source: The LocalOnline

Study: 1 in 3 teenage girls tell of sexual abuse by their boyfriends

Learn to defend yourself.

Ming Liu (Chinese Staff) – 1998 World Series of Martial Arts



Chris Cloke of NSPCC tells Mike Duran about a survey of teenage sexual relationships Link to this audio

  • Sexual exploitation rife in relationships, says NSPCC
  • Quarter of young women are beaten up, poll shows

One in three teenage girls has suffered sexual abuse from a boyfriend and one in four has experienced violence in a relationship, according to an in-depth study published today.

The survey, by the NSPCC and Bristol University, found that of the 1,353 teenage girls and boys questioned across the UK, nearly 90% of girls aged 13 to 17 had been in an intimate relationship. A similar number of boys had been in relationships.

A quarter of girls had suffered physical violence, including being slapped, punched or beaten by their boyfriends, according to the study.

As part of the research, 91 young people were questioned at length. Of the girls, one in six said that they had been pressured into having sex and one in 16 claimed to have been raped.

Read moreStudy: 1 in 3 teenage girls tell of sexual abuse by their boyfriends

Police State: Cop Tasers Mom In Front of Her Children

If this would have been the only incident that happened recently, then there would be no reason to speak of a “Police State”, but these things happen frequently right now.

An absolutely unnecessary abuse of power.


Added: August 15, 2009

Rioting in China: Hundreds Detained After Ethnic Violence Kills 156

July 7 (Bloomberg) — China’s government said more than 700 people were detained after ethnic rioting in the capital of Xinjiang province killed 156 people. Overseas Uighur groups were responsible for the violence, the government said.

A traffic blockade remained in effect in Urumqi, capital of the northwestern province, as police in riot gear stood guard in downtown areas, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said today. More than 200 “rioters” trying to gather at Id Kah Mosque, the largest in China, were dispersed by the police last night, Xinhua said.

China Central Television yesterday aired images of smoke billowing from vehicles, crowds overturning police cars and bloodied people slumped on sidewalks in Urumqi. More than 825 people were also injured after rioting broke out in the city late on July 5, and the toll is likely to rise, Xinhua cited Liu Yaohua, the region’s police chief, as saying.

The protest spread yesterday to a second city in the region, Kashgar, the Associated Press reported, citing witnesses, including one man who said there hadn’t been any clashes there.

The government said overseas separatists used the deaths of migrant Uighur workers in a factory brawl in southern China to fuel ethnic divisions. As many as 30 million migrant workers have lost their jobs during the global financial crisis, as demand from the U.S. and Europe vanishes, exacerbating already simmering social tensions.

Read moreRioting in China: Hundreds Detained After Ethnic Violence Kills 156

Top cop fired for allegedly using Taser on wife

OAKWOOD, Texas (AP) — The chief of a small Central Texas town’s police department has been fired and jailed for allegedly using a Taser gun on his wife.

Former Oakwood police chief Oly Ivy is in Leon County Jail in Centerville on Wednesday, charged with aggravated assault. Bond is $100,000.

Ivy, 30, was arrested near Palestine on Monday. The city council fired him that night.

Read moreTop cop fired for allegedly using Taser on wife

New video of torture exposes Chinese brutality in Tibet (03/20/09)

The Tibetan government-in-exile, led by the Dalai Lama, has released a video that appears to show Tibetan monks being tortured by Chinese security forces.

Be warned that is the original video and not the Telegraph’s version:

Added: March 21, 2009
Source: YouTube

Video footage from Tibet is extremely rare. The film, which shows violent scenes from the March 2008 riots, is the clearest evidence yet that Tibetans were subject to police brutality as China struggled for control in Lhasa.

In the seven-minute film, exerpts of which are shown above, Chinese police kick and beat apparently defenceless Tibetan protesters and monks after they have been handcuffed and are lying on the ground.

The Tibetan government-in-exile, which is based in Dharamsala in India, said the treatment of the captives violated international norms and amounted to torture.

Until now, the only video evidence of the riots in March was shot from long-distance and showed clashes in the streets of Lhasa but not evidence of torture.

“This is the first footage which visibly proves the use of brutal and excessive force against Tibetan protesters. It clearly challenges official Chinese statements that disproportionate force was not used on unarmed protesters,” said Stephanie Brigden, the director of the international campaign group Free Tibet.

The second half of the video, which is too graphic to show here, documents a serious set of injuries allegedly sustained by a Tibetan worker after he intervened in the beating of a monk.

According to the Tibetan government-in-exile, Chinese police shot at the man, who was named as Tendar, and then stubbed cigarettes out on his body, forced a nail through his right foot and beat him with an electric baton.

He was initially taken to a military hospital but, according to the video, his wounds were merely wrapped in cling film, which allowed them to rot. He subsequently died of his injuries in June 2008.

Read moreNew video of torture exposes Chinese brutality in Tibet (03/20/09)

MadWorld: Most violent computer game ever launched on Nintendo Wii

Coming to your neighborhood soon.


MadWorld, a new computer game claimed to be “the most violent ever”, is being launched on the Nintendo Wii console.

MadWorld - 'most violent computer game ever' - launched on Nintendo Wii
MadWorld has already caused controversy abroad, being banned in Germany, while parent groups in the US have also called for a ban

Players in MadWorld use chainsaws, spiked clubs, daggers and spears to execute victims

Players in MadWorld use chainsaws, spiked clubs, daggers and spears to execute victims.

They can impale their enemies on road signs, fry them on electrical sockets and rip out their hearts.

The game’s ‘bloodbath challenges’ see characters mown down by trains, crushed in the back of refuse collection vehicles and blown up as ‘human fireworks’.

A challenge called ‘human darts’ sees players pick up Madworld citizens and hurl them onto giant spiked dartboard.

Sega, publishers of the game, said it is “tipped to be the most violent video game in history”.

Read moreMadWorld: Most violent computer game ever launched on Nintendo Wii

George Galloway convoy stoned by irate Egyptians

A British aid convoy led by George Galloway, the east London MP, that was carrying relief supplies for Gaza, was pelted with stones and vandalised in the Egyptian town El-Arish late on Sunday, an organiser said.


George Galloway: A security official said that during a power cut, which is a frequent occurrence in the town, children had pelted the convoy with stones Photo: PA

The convoy, which set out from London last month carrying relief supplies valued at £1 million ($1.4 million), was in El-Arish, a border staging post about 28 miles from the Rafah passage to Gaza.

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” said the organiser of the aid shipment, Yvonne Ridley. “The power was cut. During cover of darkness members of our convoy were attacked with stones.

“Vandals also wrote dirty words and anti-Hamas slogans,” she said. “Several people in the convoy were injured in the attack.”

A security official said that during a power cut, which is a frequent occurrence in the town, children had pelted the convoy with stones.

Read moreGeorge Galloway convoy stoned by irate Egyptians

MEXICO UNDER SIEGE: Mexico to send up to 5,000 more troops to Ciudad Juarez

The increase would triple the law enforcement presence in the border city, which has been racked by drug violence. Its police chief quit recently and its mayor has received threats as well.

Reporting from Mexico City — Amid growing alarm over drug violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico will deploy up to 5,000 more troops to the border city, officials said today.

The increase would triple the number of troops and federal police officers operating there as part of President Felipe Calderon’s offensive against drug traffickers.


Related article: Napolitano On The War In Mexico (CBS News):
Acknowledging that the violent drug cartels of Mexico are now operating in many U.S. cities, America’s Homeland Security secretary says every American has a stake in Mexico’s war against the murderous gangs.


Jose Reyes Ferriz, the mayor of Ciudad Juarez, said the added troops would give the military a higher profile by taking control of police functions, including street patrols. Currently, soldiers tend highway checkpoints, guard crime scenes and take part in special operations, such as house searches.

The city is without a police chief since Roberto Orduña Cruz quit last week after several officers were slain and someone posted threats saying more would be killed unless he stepped down.

Read moreMEXICO UNDER SIEGE: Mexico to send up to 5,000 more troops to Ciudad Juarez

U.N. calls for an immediate halt to all violence in Gaza

27 December 2008 – Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the situation in Gaza and southern Israel

The Secretary-General is deeply alarmed by today’s heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel.

He appeals for an immediate halt to all violence.

While recognizing Israel”s security concerns regarding the continued firing of rockets from Gaza, he firmly reiterates Israel”s obligation to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law and condemns excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians. He condemns the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants and is deeply distressed that repeated calls on Hamas for these attacks to end have gone unheeded.

The Secretary-General reiterates his previous calls for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza to aid the distressed civilian population. He is making immediate contact with regional and international leaders, including Quartet principals,in an effort to bring a swift end to the violence.

Related articles and video:
Israeli jets kill ‘more than 200? in revenge strikes on Gaza (The Times)

Israel vows to keep up Gaza attacks through the night (CNN)
Witness describes Gaza attacks (BBC)
EU Calls for Ceasefire as Casualty Numbers Rise in Gaza (Deutsche Welle)
Hamas source: IDF strike unexpected (ynet news)

Source: UN

Greek Syndrome is catching as youth take to streets


Protesters clash with police in Athens on Thursday

Europe exists, it appears. If Greek students sneeze, or catch a whiff of tear-gas, young people take to the streets in France and now Sweden. Yesterday, masked youths threw two firebombs at the French Institute in Athens. Windows were smashed but the building was not seriously damaged. Then youths spray-painted two slogans on the building. One said, “Spark in Athens. Fire in Paris. Insurrection is coming”. The other read, “France, Greece, uprising everywhere”.

It was a calculated and violent attempt to link disparate youth protest movements. Links between protests in Greece and France – and, to a lesser degree, unrest in Sweden – may seem tenuous, even non-existent. But social and political ailments and their symptoms transmit as rapidly as influenza in the television, internet and text-message age.

Read moreGreek Syndrome is catching as youth take to streets

Unrest spreads across Europe


Protesters throw stones at riot police during clashes in front of the Greek parliament building in Athens, December 10, 2008. (Oleg Popov/Reuters

MADRID, Spain – The unrest that has gripped Greece is spilling over into the rest of Europe, raising concerns the clashes could be a trigger for opponents of globalization, disaffected youth and others outraged by the continent’s economic turmoil and soaring unemployment.

Protesters in Spain, Denmark and Italy smashed shop windows, pelted police with bottles and attacked banks this week, while in France, cars were set ablaze Thursday outside the Greek consulate in Bordeaux, where protesters scrawled graffiti warning about a looming “insurrection.”

At least some of the protests were organized over the Internet, showing how quickly the message of discontent can be spread, particularly among tech-savvy youth. One Web site Greek protesters used to update each other on the locations of clashes asserted there have been sympathy protests in nearly 20 countries.

More demonstrations were set for Friday in Italy, France and Germany.

Still, the clashes have been isolated so far, and nothing like the scope of the chaos in Greece, which was triggered by the police killing of a teenager on Saturday and has ballooned into nightly scenes of burning street barricades, looted stores and overturned cars.

Read moreUnrest spreads across Europe

Greece hit by 5th day of violence, general strike; Clashes outside parliament


Protesters throw stones at policemen guarding Greece’s parliament in Athens December 10, 2008. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis

ATHENS (Reuters) – Protesters threw fire bombs at police outside parliament on Wednesday during a general strike which paralyzed Greece and piled pressure on a conservative government reeling from the worst riots in decades.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis announced financial support for businesses damaged in five days of rioting. He also pledged to safeguard people from violence, but did not say how.

Government sources have denied rumors emergency measures were being considered.

“Government murderers!” demonstrators shouted, furious at the shooting of a teenager by police on Saturday which sparked riots fueled by simmering public anger at political scandals, rising unemployment and poverty.

Read moreGreece hit by 5th day of violence, general strike; Clashes outside parliament

Police officers investigated after assault of Mark Aspinall caught on CCTV

Watch it.
_________________________________________________________________________

Three police officers are being investigated after a soldier claimed he was repeatedly beaten while being pinned to the ground.

CCTV footage shows Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall, who was praised for his bravery against the Taleban in Afghanistan earlier this year, being held down by two officers while a third appears to hit him on the back.

Mr Aspinall, 24, was later found guilty of of assaulting the police offices but the convictions have been quashed on appeal after a judge watched a video of the incident.

The nine-minute video, obtained by the Sunday Mirror, shows a drunken Mr Aspinall gesticulating at three police officers in Wigan, Lancashire, in July.

It is claimed that he was mistakenly identified by the officers who had been called to deal with a man causing a nuisance to paramedics in the centre of the town.

Mr Aspinall is then seen tripping as he attempts to run away from the police and then is then held down by three officers in fluorescent yellow jackets.

An officer, identified in court as PC Peter Lightfoot, appears to twice push Mr Aspinall’s head on the ground in the middle of the road.

Two colleagues – PC Richard Kelsall and another named only as Sergeant Russell – pin down his legs.

When Mr Aspinall bites one of the officers legs, PC Lightfoot appears to scrape his face on the road. He then hits Mr Aspinall eight times on the back before he is put in the back of a police van.

Read morePolice officers investigated after assault of Mark Aspinall caught on CCTV

Police clash with police in Brazil violence

Striking police officers were embroiled in a mass-melee with hundreds of their own colleagues in riot gear who policed their protest, amid bizarre scenes in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.

The clashes between state police and plainclothes investigators last night came after the demonstrators tried to break through a barrier protecting the state government palace. Officers fired shots, tear gas and shock bombs, and the scuffles broke out.

Critics will highlight the incident as another example of the chaotic and dysfunctional nature of policing in Brazil. Last year, the UN pointed out that very low salaries – over which officers are currently striking – encourage widespread corruption, with many police units forming their own vigilante groups, death squads and militias.

It also sharply criticised Brazilian police for major human rights violations, pointing out that many of the 694 deaths caused by officers between January and June 2007 in Rio were likely to have been extra-judicial killings.

Officers are also known to engage in gunfire with Rio’s heavily armed drug gangs. Innocent civilians are often caught in the crossfire.

Read morePolice clash with police in Brazil violence

India terrorised by holy war

A holy war in India has left tens of thousands of Christians crammed into relief camps, too scared to return home following weeks of clashes with Hindu mobs in which at least 35 people have died.

More than 40,000 Christians have had to flee their homes in Kandhamal district, one of India’s poorest, in the eastern state of Orissa. Their homes have been systematically attacked, looted and burned down by Hindu mobs since the end of August as the local police have looked on helplessly.

“Villagers have threatened to kill me because I am a Christian. They have said I will be welcome back only if I change my religion and become a Hindu,” said Jibit Kumar Digal, 30, who has spent over a month in a relief camp at Baliguda, 200 south west of the provincial capital Bhubaneswar.

Aligned to the radical Hindu Opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the marauding mobs supported by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or World Hindu Council, are alleged to have killed Christians by burnign them alive, gang-raped a nun and destroyed over 140 churches and orphanages across Kandhamal.

Read moreIndia terrorised by holy war