Taif represents Saudi Arabia at UNESCO Creative Cities literature network meeting in Slovenia    Saudi Arabia joins global initiative to strengthen independence of supreme audit institutions    Saudi Arabia graduates 3,948 security personnel after completing training in Riyadh and Makkah    Government launches platform to offer residential land in Riyadh at SR1,500 per sqm    GCC–Russia Ministerial Meeting condemns Israeli aggression against Qatar    Belarus pardons scores of prisoners 'at the request' of Trump, Lukashenko says    Ryan Routh cut off by judge as trial over attempted Trump assassination begins    South Korea workers detained in US raid head home    Summer 2025 sees 32 million tourists in Saudi Arabia with over SR53 billion spending    Al-Futtaim BYD KSA hosts first Super Hybrid Tech Day in Saudi Arabia First event of its kind in the region showcases breakthrough super hybrid technology    Saudi Industrial Production Index rises 6.5% in July 2025    King Charles and Prince Harry finally reunite after 19 months apart    PIF chief says Saudi transformation could outpace China's, outlines 'filtration' investment process The Fund to unveil its next five-year strategy soon    Anastacia: Arnold Schwarzenegger made me sing Whatta Man 12 times    Thousands pay their last respects to Giorgio Armani, private funeral on Monday    French doctor goes on trial for poisoning 30 patients, 12 fatally    The key to happiness    Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. set to meet in exhibition boxing match in 2026    Al Hilal sign Turkish defender Yusuf Akcicek on €22m deal until 2029    Al Qadsiah sign German midfielder Julian Weigl to strengthen defensive midfield    Al Ahli secure Flamengo starlet Matheus Gonçalves in long-term deal through 2027    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Quiet start to German May Day, as police braced for riots
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 01 - 05 - 2011


May Day remained largely peaceful on Sunday
in Berlin and Hamburg, Germany's traditional flashpoints for
anarchist rallies - but a large police contingent remained at the
ready bracing for possible violence once darkness set in, according to dpa.
At 6 pm (1600 GMT) several thousand radical left-wing protesters
began their annual "Revolutionary May 1 Demonstration" in Berlin,
where more than 6,000 police officers were on duty.
Radicals threw stones at banks and shops, and in isolated
incidences, police officers were targeted with bottles.
The officers, dressed in riot gear, held back as the mood became
heated. Police had stationed water cannons in the side streets along
the march route.
Protesters carried banners proclaiming a "Day of Anger" and
calling for a "Worldwide Social Revolution" whilst rallying against
capitalism, the political establishment and the police.
Demonstrators expressed solidarity with the uprisings in the Arab
world, and unveiled a huge banner proclaiming "Yalla," or "let's
go!" in Arabic script, from the top of a building.
Police also circled the event in helicopters and monitored the
protests from rooftops, after 92 officers were injured in the 2010
riots. In recent years they have sought a hands-off approach,
intervening only in response to violence.
Nearby, thousands revelled at the annual MyFest, successfully
introduced in recent years to counter the radical political rallies
associated with May Day.
Across Germany, the trade union confederation DGB said that
423,000 people participated in May Day demonstrations, demanding fair
wages and social security.
Meanwhile, thousands of people also took to the streets in protest
at planned right-wing May Day demonstrations.
Around 5,000 protested against 740 neo-Nazis marching in
Heilbronn, north of Stuttgart, police said. Around 450 left-wing
radicals were taken into protective custody after some of them
attacked officers with sticks and firecrackers.
In the eastern city of Halle 2,000 people countered 600 neo-Nazis
who were protesting at the May 1 opening of Germany's labour market
to eight central and eastern European states. Brief skirmishes
erupted as 1,000 police officers sought to keep the groups apart.
Another 3,000 people protested against a right-wing National
Democratic Party (NPD) rally in the northern town of Greifswald.
On Saturday, 4,000 people had countered around 200 rightwingers at
an NPD demo in Bremen.
Hamburg remained calm on Sunday after police arrested 17 rioters
late Saturday, when protesters threw fireworks at officers as 4,000
leftists demonstrated over the clearance of a former theatre occupied
by squatters.
On the eve of May 1, a total of 58 rioters were arrested in Berlin
after police were attacked with bottles and fireworks at a punk
concert.
Since 1987, Berlin has experienced radical left-wing violence on
May 1, a date associated with a far older tradition of lighting fires
and celebrating the end of winter.
The city has a history of squatting as a political act of
resistance, which began in West Berlin in the 1960s and spread to
abandoned buildings in the former East after the fall of the Berlin
Wall.
Around Europe, the May Day activities were largely quiet with few
incidents reported.
In France, the number of workers attending May Day rallies was
down significantly on the previous two years, when the financial
crisis and a reform of the pension system had galvanized workers to
take to the streets in large numbers.
In Paris, a few thousand people answered a call by five trade
unions to join in a short march, which was dominated by calls for an
increase in the minimum wage.
In Marseille, trade unions said 5,000 people had marched for
better working conditions, but police estimated the figure at less
than half that.
The cities of Toulouse, Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg also saw
demonstrations of up to a few thousand people each.
In Italy, far-left activists threw eggs and wet paper balls at a
march organised by Italy's main labour unions in the northwestern
city of Turin, one of several May Day rallies around the country.
The protesters accused some of the unions of "betraying" workers
by agreeing to new, stricter work conditions introduced by Turin-
based carmaker Fiat as part of its cost-cutting strategy.
In Rome hundreds of thousands were expected to attend a
traditional May 1 pop music concert in the central St John Lateran
Square.
In Bulgaria, several thousand backers from the Socialist
opposition cams used the May Day rallies to protest against the
government's spending cuts. "We are demanding this government's
resignation because it is leading Bulgaria into a dead end,"
Socialist leader Sergei Stanischev said.
In Greece, thousands of people took to the streets in May Day
demonstrations in several cities to protest against the Socialist
government's deep spending cuts.


Clic here to read the story from its source.