civil unrest

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Portland Mayor Tells Police: No More Tear Gas

Use resumed after Ted Wheeler ordered force to cut back

(Newser) - Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler had already told police in the Oregon city to go easy on the tear gas during demonstrations. He got a dose of it himself in July when he stopped by one of the protests. So now he's leaving police no wiggle room, telling them Thursday...

Shots Fired Near Portland Protest Site

Loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails also found

(Newser) - Police in Portland, Ore., arrested two people after reports that a shot was fired Sunday night near where thousands of people have turned out nightly for protests in the city that has become the epicenter of national unrest over George Floyd’s death, the AP reports. Officers responded to the...

Violence Roils Congo After Disputed Vote

Opposition leader says results fixed, declares himself victor

(Newser) - With opposition leaders rejecting yesterday's re-election win for Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila, fighting and unrest has broken out in Kinshasa and threatened to plunge the fragile African country back into war, reports Al Jazeera . Protesters burned tires and gunshots rang out last night in the capital,...

Sarkozy Pleads for Calm as France Erupts
 France Erupts as 1M Protest 
Oct 20, 2010 7:37 AM CDT

France Erupts as 1M Protest

President promises to get gas flowing again, clamp down on 'troublemakers'

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants his striking, rioting countrymen to calm down, act responsibly—and work until they are 62. He issued an appeal for calm yesterday as protests over plans to raise the retirement age continued to rock the country, the Guardian reports. Sarkozy insisted that he has no...

French Youth Join Fight Against Working 'Til Age 62

More than 200 high schools were disrupted yesterday

(Newser) - Protests over plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 have brought much of France to a standstill, and authorities fear the civil unrest is just getting started. Young people have joined the strikes and protests that have disrupted daily life and a wide swath of industry. More...

Shot Thai Protest Leader Dies
 Shot Thai Protest Leader Dies 

May 17, 2010 4:50 AM CDT

Shot Thai Protest Leader Dies

'Red commander' shooting boosts violence

(Newser) - A leader of the Thai anti-government Red Shirts who was shot in the head by a sniper last week in the middle of a media interview has died. Tensions in Bangkok escalated after Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol, known as Seh Daeng (Red Commander), was shot last week while talking to...

Haiti Aid Piles Up at Bottlenecks as Unrest Grows

Medicine, bandages, food stuck at port, airport, warehouses

(Newser) - Massive amounts of aid are arriving in Haiti only to hit bottlenecks at the Port-au-Prince airport, the port or warehouses, where medicine, bandages, and other desperately needed supplies are piling up. Clogged roads, a crippled government, and outbreaks of violence mean that the aid flowing into Haiti is reaching earthquake...

300 Cars Torched in Bastille Day Riots

(Newser) - France's celebration of the 320th anniversary of rioters storming the Bastille was marred by major riots, Der Speigel reports. Over 300 cars were torched in cities across the country, and hundreds of arrests were made as youths hurled home-made explosives at police, injuring several officers. Authorities say the number of...

Unrest Shines Light on Chinese Ethnic Fractures

'Monolithic myth' fades after riots

(Newser) - The government clings to the notion of a “harmonious” country, but China is home to 56 “official” ethnic groups and many unofficial divisions—which are widening as some push for “increased cultural nationalism and resistance to Beijing central control,” writes Dru Gladney in the Wall Street ...

As Riots Quiet, China Vows to Execute Killers

Anyone found guilty of murder will be executed, says party head

(Newser) - After thousands of troops were deployed to quell ethnic unrest in the Chinese city of Urumqi, “the situation is under control,” said officials—who vowed to execute anyone behind the riot's 156 deaths. Most of those charged with murder so far have been students, said the city’s...

Mousavi Under House Arrest as Riots Rage

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rivals for the Iranian presidency were placed under house arrest in the wake of the disputed election results as fiery riots beoke out across Tehran, the Los Angeles Times reports. Main challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, who had declared victory before the Interior Ministry's announcement that Ahmadinejad had prevailed,...

Army Seizes Presidential Palace in Madagascar

(Newser) - Explosions rang out in Madagascar’s capital today, as the army stormed and easily captured the presidential palace at the center of the city. The building appeared deserted, according to an AP reporter, who saw armored vehicles roll through the normally ceremonial palace gates. One colonel said it wasn’t...

Spy Chief: Economic Crisis a Greater Threat than Terror

Security assessment warns that downturn could cause widespread instability

(Newser) - The new director of national intelligence warned Congress yesterday that the global economic crisis poses a graver and more immediate threat to the US than international terror, the New York Times reports. The crisis could undermine national governments and cause widespread civil unrest as it spreads and deepens, causing serious...

China Detains 59 in Tibet for 'Spreading Hate'

Activists accused of targeting ethnic Han migrants via music

(Newser) - Chinese police have arrested 59 people in Tibet for downloading and selling banned “reactionary songs” they say fuel ethnic hatred against migrant Han Chinese, the New York Times reports. The detainees are accused of collaborating with the exiled Dalai Lama to fuel unrest in the troubled region. State media...

Collapsing Nations Threaten to Be Obama's First Crisis

Imploding world economies would demand tough foreign policy choices

(Newser) - Barack Obama's first major foreign policy crisis threatens to be no less that the complete collapse of a large and unstable nation, Marc Ambinder writes in the Atlantic. The transition team has so far been silent—in public, anyway—on the prospect, but there are indications they are convinced the...

3K Stranded in Bangkok as PM Refuses to Step Down

Army pressures government as violence grows between factions

(Newser) - Thailand’s government today rejected a top general’s demand it dissolve parliament and hold elections, the Guardian reports, as protesters demand that Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat step down entirely. Wongsawat snuck back into Thailand today and plans to meet with the king, whom protesters support; a pro-government gang killed...

Protests Ground Bangkok Flights
 Protests Ground Bangkok Flights
Nov 25, 2008 12:02 PM CST

Protests Ground Bangkok Flights

Demonstrators swarm airport to stop PM from returning

(Newser) - Anti-government protesters have stormed the terminals of Bangkok's main airport, forcing all flights to be canceled or diverted, in an attempt to stop the prime minister from returning home from an international summit, the Telegraph reports. Police—instructed not to use force—say they could do little to stop the...

Thai Riots Rattle Gentle Anteaters

Zoo officials move sensitive animals away from noise and tear gas

(Newser) - Violent clashes in Bangkok between police and protesters have produced two unlikely refugees—anteaters in the city's Dusit Zoo. Two 4-year-old anteaters who arrived from the US last year have been moved to another zoo where they won't be traumatized by the noise of rioting or tear gas, the BBC...

18 Stories