Rioting erupts in Paris suburbs

TWO nights of rioting have rocked a suburb of Paris, after youths decided they had had enough of police oppression.

Cars and bins were torched and fireworks launched at police, who attacked locals with tear gas and "flashball" rubber bullets, leaving a 14 year old boy blinded in one eye.

In a dramatic incident at 1.30 on Sunday morning, a grey Renault Clio car drove up to the Trappes police station, heavily protected by police cars.

Instead of stopping, it smashed into barriers, prompting a helicopter chase which ended with a battle between 50 rioters and 150 CRS riot police.

The fighting in Trappes was sparked by a police search of a woman wearing a traditional Muslim veil, but one man told one TV report they were generally fed up with "being treated like dogs" by the cops.

On Saturday night, the action spread to nearby Elancourt and Guyancourt.

 

Riots in Barcelona - videos

 


Los mossos detienen a un manifestante que les enseñaba el DNI durante la Vaga 29F from apuente on Vimeo.




 




RIOTING broke out in Barcelona on Wednesday after cops attacked people protesting against neoliberal cuts to public education.

Angry rebels barricaded streets, burnt cars and smashed up a bank as the Catalan city showed its revolutionary spirit is still alive.

Tooled-up cops attacked crowds with batons and rubber bullets. The Guardian quoted one student as saying: "We did not expect this degree of repression. Nobody broke anything until they charged." 

There were also protests outside a TV station as the authorities tried to exonerate the police and blame the activists for the violence which left a dozen people injured.

Thousands more took to the streets across the Spanish state, including in Valencia where students were last week similarly attacked by violent police.

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Armed prisoners in full-on riot

ARMED prisoners have scaled fences in a full-on riot at an Australian jail.

It was being reported on Wednesday January 18 that at least two buildings were on fire at Fulham Prison in Sale, Victoria.

Said one website: "Prison authorities are being held at bay as the prisoners brandish bar bells and other gym equipment on the northwest side of the prison."

Pepper spray was being used to try and put down the rebellion.

Prisoners are understood to have become increasingly unhappy at the way they are being treated and the riot was sparked when they were ordered indoors on Wednesday afternoon.

The latest uprising comes just a few weeks after worldwide solidarity protests outside prisons at which organisers declared: "We will not let the prison system break their spirits and our passion for their freedom WILL be heard."

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French city erupts into rioting

A FRENCH city has erupted into rioting after the latest instance of police brutality and the predictable cover-up.

Some 30 cars were torched in Clermont-Ferrand on just one night as locals expressed their anger at the fact that Wissam El-Yamni, aged 30, was still in a coma after being arrested on New Year's Eve and suffering a 'heart attack' for unknown reasons while in the hands of the cops.

He had no medical history of heart problems and had injuries to the neck, report French media.

Wissam died on Monday this week, prompting the authorities to flood the Gauthière area with yet more police to try and quell further uprisings.

A police helicopter hovered over the estate, shining searchlights into residents' flats in a blatant show of intimidation.

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Video - Bahrainis with molotovs battle cops

BAHRAINI revolutionaries have fought back with molotov cocktails after a teenager was murdered by police.

Sayed Hashim Saeed, aged 15,  who died on Saturday, had apparently been hit by a tear gas canister at close range on Saturday.

The Al-Khalifa regime is backed by Saudi Arabia and the USA and Press TV reports that there have been anti-US protests in several areas, including Sitra, in which US flags were burnt.

In an interview with the Iranian TV channel, Bahraini activist Asma Darwish says: "Actually the regime mercenaries are shooting directly into people and into the houses and just today our house was shot by tear gas canisters. The smell is so strong and those tear gas [canisters] are all made in Brazil and in France and the United States. 

"The countries, including the United states should stop supporting the Bahraini regime. The Bahraini regime is an oppressive regime." 

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15 dead as Kazakh workers fight cops

AT LEAST 15 people have been killed and 70 injured as Kazakh police opened on unarmed rebel oil workers and their supporters in the west of the country.

The uprising is now being further fuelled by anger at the brutal methods deployed by the state to attack the demonstrations calling for higher wages.

Reports the New York Times: "On Saturday, several hundred protesters blocked railroad tracks in Shetpe, a town north of Zhanaozen, to protest the treatment of the other activists. The police opened fire, killing one person and wounding about a dozen more.

"Kazakh authorities said that the police had made protracted efforts to persuade the protesters to withdraw from the railroad tracks but that '50 hooligans' refused to do so.

"Only after a crowd pelted the police with stones and Molotov cocktails and set a locomotive and the municipal Christmas tree on fire did the police begin to fire in the air and at demonstrators’ legs, the prosecutor’s office said. Five police officers were injured, the statement said.

"An Associated Press reporter who arrived in Shetpe on Sunday said the town was flooded with police officers, some of whom tried to restrict the movement of visiting journalists.

"Another group of oil workers held a protest on Sunday in front of the municipal administration building of Aktau, the regional capital, unfurling a long banner that read 'Do not shoot at your people'.”

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UK rioters speak out - video

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Riot Gran is new Greek icon

FIRST there was Loukanikos the Riot Dog and now Athens has a new symbol of hope and global resistance - Riot Gran!

This video, posted by From the Greek Streets, shows an elderly woman who, fed up with police brutality, appeared out of nowhere determined to attack the Greek riot police with stones and marbles on October 19.

Meanwhile the site reports on a resolution by the Popular Assembly of Syntagma Square that utterly condemns the outrageously counter-revolutionary actions of the Stalinists during last week's protests, when they blocked protesters from storming parliament then claimed they had been attacked by 'thugs'.

It says, in part: "From yesterday on, definitively and irreversibly, the so-called 'Communist Party' is no more than a barrier against the attempt to bury the parliamentary corpse.

"Any free human struggling for their dignity in these crucial days must politically target it [in return]. This proposition should not be read as a split in the movement.

"We might have common problems and common targets with the plain voters of the 'Communist Party', but the politics and the practice of the leadership to which they are glued follows by word the orders of the government and the envoys of the IMF, EU and the ECB.

"We never marched side-by-side with them, there will never be with us. We must all keep in mind that the 'Communist Party' will act as a fifth column of the dictatorial regime, hoping once again to grab some crumbs off the parliamentary table, just like it did in 1990.

"The stance of all political groupings, whether parliamentary or not, which supported the acts of the 'Communist Party', either indirectly with their silence, or directly with their statements, is equally condemnable.

"For as long as these parties remain within a parliament comprising of order-recipients of the TROIKA and continue to receive their fat salaries, they are entirely co-responsible for what has happened so far and what is to come.

"Their negative votes to the memorandums and combined laws reveal precisely their role in the dictatorship: they provide the alibi of polyphony and democracy, in this entirely set-up parliament of representatives, in order for the impoverished people to continue counting the ballots in each fixed and predetermined voting of laws that abolish their future – while at the same time being fed with the illusion that someone speaks on their behalf and their interest."

Zambians riot against pro-business regime

 
RIOTING has broken out in Zambia against suspected vote rigging by the corrupt regime.

The Daily Nation reports electoral materials burnt and almost 10 vehicles damaged in the capital Lusaka over delayed opening of polling stations.

It adds: "The situation is still tense in the city with sporadic riots reported in Kanyama and other townships."

Bloomberg Businessweek reveals that neoliberal president Rupiah Banda "has won praise from investors and the International Monetary Fund for reducing taxes and continuing policies that opened up the industry to investment, helping to boost copper production to more than 700,000 metric tons last year.

"He has reassured investors that his government won’t follow the lead of neighboring Zimbabwe and demand stakes in foreign companies."

His 73-year-old populist challenger Michael Sata claims his party will seek more revenue from mining companies with operations in Zambia, including Barrick Gold Corp., Vale SA, Vedanta Resources Plc and First Quantum Minerals Ltd, reports the website.

"The promise has attracted jobless youths and helped boost interest in the vote: the number of registered voters jumped to 5.2 million people from 3.9 million three years ago, according to the elections commission.

"Zambia may become the fifth-largest copper-mining country in the world by 2013, according to Sophie Chung, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie unit Brook Hunt in London. Producers are planning more than $6 billion in investment over that period, she said."

USA is braced for riots

RIOTS could hit the USA as it plunges into further poverty and economic collapse.

That was the warning on Friday from none other then the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.

CNN reports that he said during his weekly radio show: "You have a lot of kids graduating college, [who] can't find jobs. That's what happened in Cairo. That's what happened in Madrid. You don't want those kinds of riots here.

"The public is not happy. The public knows there is something wrong in this country, and there is. The bottom line is that they're upset.

"The damage to a generation that can't find jobs will go on for many, many years."

Adds CNN: "Riots have gripped various countries in European cities, including Athens and London, fueled by young people infuriated by high unemployment and austerity measures, which in some cases has led to looting.

"High unemployment among youth is also one of the driving forces behind the Arab Spring, as impoverished protestors in North Africa and the Middle East rose up against their heavy-handed governments."

They Will Not Control Us!

Unrest breaks out in more UK cities

RIOTING spread further across the rest of the UK on Tuesday night, as the state swamped the capital with 16,000 police.

There were major outbreaks of unrest in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Nottingham - where a police station was attacked - with Leicester, Loughborough and Gloucester alshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo affected, among others.

With the mirage of 'law and order' dispelled, an increasingly fraught British state seems to be edging towards deploying the army on the streets to hold down its own underclass.

State panic as riots spread

RIOTS were spreading all across London on Monday night, as pent-up anger at the capitalist system and its brutal police broke out.

Hackney, Peckham, Lewisham, East Ham and Croydon were all said to be hit by unrest, with reports coming in of incidents in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Liverpool and Leeds.

Clapham Junction was also a focus - locals were helping themselves to the contents of Debenhams, with no police in sight.

A Google map has been set up here.

Power cuts are also being reported.

There is an increasing sense of panic from the state and its media apologists, with the forces of law and order increasingly unable to maintain the illusion that they have the numbers to hold down a rebellious population.

Naive people who believe in the myth of protective authority are becoming confused as to why it hasn't all been "sorted out".

Ian Bone's blog has updates plus, of course, Twitter.

Up to 24 dead in Tunisian uprising

UP TO 24 people have reportedly been killed by police in Tunisia during an ongoing uprising over unemployment and a lack of political freedom.

Reports the LA Times: "Tunisia's worst political violence in decades erupted after a 26-year-old street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi attempted to commit suicide by publicly setting himself on fire because he could not find a job.

"Bouazizi was angered after he was barred from delivering a complaint to the officials of the region after the confiscation of his goods by police for not having a proper vendor license.

"Critics of the government say it is corrupt and uses the threat of Islamists and the need for foreign investment as pretexts for repressive domestic policies that violate basic civil rights. The harsh reaction of the security forces against protesters has further angered the public."

Wave of rioting sweeps Algeria

THE DISPOSSESSED people of Algeria are rising up against the spiralling cost of food.

Reports the Magharebia website: "In what many say is the largest wave of protests in more than two decades, thousands of unemployed youths have taken to the streets of Algeria to unleash their anger.

"Widespread unrest continued to rock Algeria on Sunday (January 9th) as protests continued against rising food prices despite government action to stem the riots.

"The Algerian cabinet agreed on Saturday to lower the custom duties and taxes on sugar and other food stuffs by 41% as a temporary act to cut prices. But the measure, which will last through the end of August, did not end days of conflict in the streets between angry youth and security services."

Interior Minister Daho Ould Kabila said that more than 1,000 young people were arrested and three killed. The minister also said 736 security officers and 53 demonstrators were wounded in the violent clashes.

The first demonstrations broke out Tuesday night in the westerns suburbs of Algiers. The riots began growing in intensity on Wednesday, with protests in Oran, the country's second largest city. Later on Wednesday evening, the unrest spread to the working-class district of Bab El Oued in central Algiers. This set the scene, and one by one, the other working-class districts of the capital followed suit.

By Thursday evening, riots had broken out in a total of 24 of the country's 48 wilayas, reports the site.

"I was born in the slum, I grew up with promises of being re-housed in decent accommodation," 19-year-old Mohamed told Magharebia. "Nothing, no job, no training, just pick-pocketing and unofficial odd jobs. The state did nothing for me, and this is my way of revenge for that state that ignored me."

Riots break out across France

RIOTS are breaking out across France, as the population shows its anger at the neoliberal 'austerity' measures being imposed on them by the hated Sarkozy regime.

Secondary school children have been blockading schools and youngsters have been fighting back against the police.

In several cities cars have been torched and molotov cocktails thrown at riot cops.

A college near Le Mans was set on fire and burnt to the ground.

The authorities say that 290 'casseurs' (hooligans) were arrested on Monday alone.

University students, who have not so far been involved, are now about to also join in the battle, raising the stakes still higher.

Because of union blockades of oil refineries, petrol is running out across the country, with two-hour queues forming even where fuels is available.

Airports and railway lines have been blockaded and lorry drivers staging 10mph 'snail' protests to block congest roads.

Poll show a massive 70% of the public support the strike, but President Sarkozy refuses to back down from his authoritarian capitalist position.

Comments the Daily Mail: "Many fear a re-run of the May 1968 riots in Paris when thousands took to the streets to try to bring down the government of President Charles de Gaulle."

Tuesday sees another day of mass action and strikes - and the momentum currently seems to lie firmly with the street.

Victory for Mozambique rioters

PEOPLE power has notched up an important victory in Mozambique, with riots forcing the government to reverse a huge rise in the price of bread.

Reports Times Live: "The 30% rise in the bread price as a result of soaring wheat prices sparked the worst riots since 2008 in the country.

"President Armando Guebuza's government had said it had been forced to increase bread prices because of the spike in wheat prices, which was linked partly to drought and fires in Russia.

"The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, Oliver de Schutter, warned yesterday the riots should be a wake-up call for governments that ignored food security problems, which arose two years ago.

"Police fired rubber bullets, live ammunition and tear gas during the three days of protests against higher bread prices and rises in water and electricity tariffs last week.

"The price hike took the price of a bread roll - the bread staple of Mozambicans - to R1.45 in a country where the average person is paid about R267 a month."

The government said it would put in place austerity measures to help fund subsidies by freezing allowances and pay rises for senior state officials. Foreign travel by officials would be limited.

Food riots break out in Mozambique

FOOD riots have broken out in Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Protesters staged a second day of strikes and demonstrations on Thursday over food price increases and the violence has so far left seven people dead and 288 wounded, the government admits.

Reports Times Live: "Clashes between police and protesters broke out Wednesday and Thursday, as crowds in impoverished neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Maputo took to the streets.

"They were protesting a 17-percent increase in the price of bread, as well as fuel, water and electricity rises.

"Protesters looted 23 shops and damaged 12 buses, completely destroying one, government spokesman Alberto Nkutumula told journalists after an emergency cabinet meeting Wednesday.

"Despite posting impressive economic growth figures since the end of a 16-year civil war in 1992 Mozambique still has a per capita income of just 794 dollars (620 euros) a year."

Food riots on the way - warning

THE WORLD faces an inflationary time bomb as shortages of food threaten to push prices to fresh all-time highs - with the threat of riots, reports The Independent in London.

It says: "A variety of freakish weather conditions across the world has sent the price of staples including wheat, pork, rice, orange juice, coffee, cocoa and tea to fresh highs in recent weeks.

"Yesterday's decision by the Russian government to ban the export of wheat to protect home consumers saw grain prices jump 8 per cent on the day, on what was already a two-year high.

"Meanwhile, the burgeoning demand for foodstuffs and raw material growth in the resurgent economies of China and India has also driven oil, copper and other industrial commodities higher.

"In developing and emerging economies, however, the challenge is in some cases a matter of life and death.

"In these countries food represents a much higher proportion of household budgets than in the West, and they are less able to withstand such shocks. Freakish weather, as in Pakistan now, can also lead to immediate demands for extra food supplies.

"Fears that the population may simply not have enough to eat because of the drought in Russia, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan, one of the world's great 'bread baskets', prompted the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, to sign a decree yesterday prohibiting the export of wheat, barley, rye, corn and flour until the end of the year. 'We must prevent domestic prices from rising, preserve cattle herds and build up reserves,' he said.

"Mr Putin added that ending shipments would be 'appropriate' to restrain domestic food prices, which rose 19 per cent last week alone.

"Conversely, flood conditions in Canada, another major grower, have also reduced supply. World wheat prices are up 92 per cent since early June. Worse could follow: the Russian weather has also threatened the next sowing season, and has harmed other crops such as sugar beet, potatoes and corn."

Bangladeshi workers step up resistance

BANGLADESHI workers have stepped up their inspiring uprising against slave labour conditions.

The authorities and factory owners thought their resistance could be bought off with an 80% wage rise - up to the equivalent of £28 a week.

But the rebels are holding out for £46 and gave their answer on the streets.

Gulf News reports that Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina on Saturday warned tough action would be taken against "anarchists" as thousands of the workers took to the streets for the second consecutive day.

It adds: "The Premier's comments Saturday came as the suburban Savar and Narayanganj districts witnessed clashes between the workers and riot police - leaving dozens of workers and police injured.

"The premier’s deputy press secretary Mahbubul Haque Shakil said Shaikh Hasina had said: 'No anarchy and sabotage in this sector will be tolerated'. Shaikh Hasina said the street protests were 'designed to destroy the sector'.

"The premier had asked workers to concentrate on their work after accepting the new minimum wage, saying 'their reasonable demands will be addressed after the effects of the world economic depression are over and exports increase'.

"Shaikh Hasina had criticised the garment industry for paying low wages to some two million workers at 4,000 factories in major cities and city outskirts.

"Manufacturers had staunchly resisted any significant wage increase.

"Garments made in Bangladesh are mostly exported to the United States and Europe earning the country more than $12 billion a year - nearly 80 per cent of the country's exports. The following companies are bulk importers from Bangladesh: Wal-Mart, Tesco, H&M, Zara, Carrefour, Gap, Metro, JCPenney, Marks & Spencer, Kohl's, Levi Strauss and Tommy Hilfiger.

"Witnesses to the clashes said workers vandalised several roadside business and had put up barricades to disrupt traffic on two major highways for hours.

"They said more than 100 garment workers and 20 policemen were injured when violence erupted in the Savar area, 30km north of Dhaka, when the baton-wielding policemen in riot gear tried to remove the highway blockades.

"Police said the 'agitators' had also vandalised 50 vehicles including 10 police cars in Savar area.

"Highways were also blockaded in Narayanganj, 15km south of Dhaka."