Up to 20,000 people remain in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, with thousands more in surrounding streets, despite ongoing efforts by security forces to remove them in a third consecutive day of protests. Over 20 have now been killed in the protests.
Rodrigo Londoño AKA “Timochenko,” issued his first statement since assuming command of the FARC guerillas, saying official celebrations of the death of his predecessor Alfonso Cano exposed “the macabre face of this beautiful democracy.”
Hundreds of protesters against Egypt’s military rulers remain camped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square for a third day, retaking the plaza in clashes with security forces after being evicted in a police assault. At least 13 protesters were killed.
A funeral procession in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar erupted into clashes with Israeli forces after a Jewish settler fired on the group and Palestinian mourners responded by throwing stones. Israeli forces fired tear gas and live bullets.
Saif al-Islam Qaddafi was captured by fighters from Zintan, who say they will hold him until a new government is formed. The Zintan and rival Jadu militias are refusing NTC pressure to disarm, each fearing reprisals from the other.
Egyptian riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets stormed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square to break up a protest tent camp, sparking clashes that injured at least 500. Protests and deadly repression are meanwhile fast escalating in Syria and Yemen.
Human rights groups staged a demonstration at the headquarters of Ve Wong Corp in Taipei, accusing the snack food giant in the illegal seizure of farmland in Cambodia, and using private security forces to repress peasant protests.
President Barack Obama announced his decision to send 2,500 troops to Australia days after a congressional advisory panel, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, warned of Beijing’s growing military presence in Asia.
Riots broke out in Italy and Greece and thousands marched in Spanish cities as new governments announced austerity measures in response to a financial crisis that has become a “serious emergency” to the entire Eurozone.
New York City police arrested some 200 protesters as hundreds converged on the Financial District for a “Shut Down Wall Street” action to note the two-month mark of the Occupation movement. Some 30,000 later marched over the Brooklyn Bridge.
Hundreds of riot police and navy commandos invaded the Rio de Janeiro favelas of Rocinha, Vidigal and Chacara do Ceu. Brazilian authorities say they plan to pacify dozens more favelas ahead of the 2014 World Cup.
The discovery of a drug tunnel linking San Diego and Tijuana warehouses led to the seizure of some 17 tons of cannabis as well as a large grow operation in the industrial area of Otay Mesa east of San Diego.
