political protest

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Insurer Urges Employees to Protest Health Care Reform

UnitedHealth Group lays down AstroTurf

(Newser) - UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s second-biggest health insurance firm, has been encouraging employees to attend events protesting health-care reform, Talking Points Memo reports. In a clear-cut example of “Astroturf”—fake grassroots action—a memo to employees urges them to call an “advocacy specialist” who can provide talking...

Iran: Protesters Were Tortured
 Iran: Protesters Were Tortured 

Iran: Protesters Were Tortured

Prosecutor general blamed Basij, Revolutionary Guard for 'painful accidents'

(Newser) - The Iranian prosecutor general admitted today that protesters arrested in the wake of the disputed presidential election were tortured, the New York Times reports. The comments by Qorbanali Dori-Najafabadi were the first official acknowledgments of torture made by an Iranian government official. Dori-Najafabadi blamed what he called a few “...

In Choosing Sides, Ayatollah Loses Authority

Ayatollah Khamenei's aura dims as Iranians take to the streets

(Newser) - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has lost some of the sacrosanct aura of his office by entering the political fray, writes Roger Cohen in the New York Times. Having warned on Friday of "bloodshed and chaos," Iran's supreme leader ended up with both. By aligning himself with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,...

What Happened to the Tiananmen Spirit?
 What Happened to the 
 Tiananmen Spirit? 
OPINION

What Happened to the Tiananmen Spirit?

(Newser) - Twenty years ago today, Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times was in Tiananmen Square, sweating in fear and watching as "'People’s China' opened fire on its people." The soldiers had shot at ambulances, too, so no one was helping the wounded—except the rickshaw drivers. One...

Obama Calls for 'Open Minds, Fair-Minded Words'

(Newser) - Speaking amid the swirl of controversy as his pro-choice views and the pro-life values of a Catholic university collided, President Obama today called for "open minds" and "fair-minded words" in Notre Dame's debate surrounding abortion, reports the AP. Amid heckles and students booing hecklers, Obama faced the treacherous...

Moldovan 'Twitter Revolution' Organizer Goes Into Hiding

Journalist fears arrest for role in anti-Communist protest

(Newser) - The journalist who used Twitter to organize last week's mass protests in Moldova has gone into hiding for fear of arrest. Journalist Natalia Morar, 25, told the Guardian she is avoiding telephones and the Internet in case the same tools she used to rally supporters are used against her by...

Thai Protests Break Up
 Thai Protests Break Up 

Thai Protests Break Up

Thaksin supporters end standoff as troops move in

(Newser) - Anti-government protesters have begun to disperse in Bangkok following orders from their leaders, the BBC reports. Thousands of protesters have ended their 3-week siege of the country's seat of government and some protest leaders have surrendered to authorities. After two deaths yesterday, leaders say they urged their followers to leave...

Thai Army Battles Protesters

 Thai Army Battles Protesters 

Thai Army Battles Protesters

Dozens injured as troops move to quell Bangkok protests

(Newser) - Dozens of people were injured today as the Thai military moved to crush protests causing chaos in Bangkok. Soldiers opened fire at demonstrators who had taken control of a major junction and set fire to a bus they had commandeered. Most aimed over the protesters' heads but some fired live...

Business Is Booming for French 'Protest Coach'

Parisian makes a living schooling dissenters in the art of civil disobedience

(Newser) - France's leading "protest consultant" has never been busier, he tells the Wall Street Journal. Xavier Renou provides—for a discretionary fee—tips and training courses for anticapitalist protesters on making sure their message is heard. Renou sticks to nonviolent means, but has plenty of practical advice on everything from...

Pakistan Bans Protest, Arrests Opposition Workers

(Newser) - Pakistan’s government began cracking down on the opposition today in ways reminiscent of deposed dictator Pervez Musharraf, the New York Times reports. Police arrested hundreds of political workers today, and the government banned a protest national march scheduled for tomorrow, declaring that demonstrators wouldn’t be allowed into Islamabad....

UK Charges Wen Jibao's Shoe-Tosser

Faces public disorder charge; China sweeps incident under rug

(Newser) - The Cambridge University protester who yesterday chucked a gray sneaker at the Chinese premier—and missed by a solid 3 feet—has been slapped with a public disorder charge for his trouble, reports the Telegraph. The 27-year-old will appear in British court next Tuesday. China voiced its continued ire over...

New Protesters Greet Thailand's New Gov't

Thaksin supporters force parliament to suspend proceedings

(Newser) - A different set of anti-government protesters converged on Bankok today, with thousands of red-shirted supporters of exiled PM Thaksin Shinawatra surrounding parliament and forcing lawmakers to postpone their session. The yellow-clad Thaksin opposition had been set to take power after months of demonstrations, reports the New York Times.

Only Pakistanis Can Stop the Violence: Friedman

Friedman: Where is the outrage over Mumbai?

(Newser) - In 2006, thousands of Pakistanis took to the streets in weeks of protests against Danish cartoons that satirized the Prophet Muhammad. Yet after 173 people were shot dead in Mumbai, apparently by Pakistani killers, the response in the streets was silence. If Pakistan is to become a viable state, writes...

New Clues in '68 Mexico Massacre

Snipers provoked military into attacking protesters ahead of Olympics

(Newser) - Before there was Tiananmen Square, there was Tlatelolco Plaza. Just 10 days ahead of the 1968 Mexico City Games, army guns fired on a burgeoning movement of student protesters, setting off a government massacre—of anywhere from a handful to 3,000 students—that remains shrouded in mystery to this...

10,000 Iraqis Protest Troop Deal

Hang Bush in effigy

(Newser) - More than 10,000 Muqtada al-Sadr supporters gathered in Baghdad today to protest the US-Iraqi security pact that would keep troops in the country for another 3 years. The protesters hanged an effigy of President Bush from the same plinth Saddam Hussein’s statue was once toppled from by US...

Boston Scholar a Catalyst for Global Dissent

His writings have inspired revolutionaries in Zimbabwe, Burma

(Newser) - Most Americans have never heard of him, but the writings of an aging US academic by the name of Gene Sharp have played a key role in nonviolent resistance to government the world over. Sharp, 80, has been slammed by leaders from Iran to Venezuela for his ideas, which have...

Cuba Jails Rocker for 'Geriatric Castro' Lyrics

Human rights groups furious as singer faces 4 years for protest music

(Newser) - A Cuban rock star has been jailed and will be charged with "subverting communist morality" because his lyrics scorn the revolution, and rip "geriatric" Fidel and Raul Castro, the Guardian reports. Gorki Aguila, front man for underground band Porno para Ricardo, could face up to four years...

China Releases, Deports US Tibet Protesters

American officials 'disappointed' by China's 'intolerance'

(Newser) - Eight Americans arrested in China last week after staging a pro-Tibet protests have been freed from jail and deported following US pressure for their release, reports the BBC. The protesters faced up to 10 days in detention for unfurling a “Free Tibet” banner near an Olympic site and staging...

Take That Bjork: China Bans Performers Deemed a Threat

Protests, incendiary artists will not be allowed in the country, the new rules say

(Newser) - Entertainers deemed a threat to China’s sovereignty will not be allowed to perform in the country, the New York Times reports. The Ministry of Culture warned it will conduct background checks and ban those who “advocate obscenity or feudalism and superstition” or "take part in activities that...

1,000 Thai Protesters Clash With Cops

Demonstrators demand ouster of prime minister

(Newser) - An anti-government protest in Bangkok turned violent today as more than 1,000 protesters broke through a police barrier outside government offices. The demonstrators demanded the resignation of Samak Sundaravej, the Thai prime minister whom opponents call a proxy for ousted predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra. Protesters have been in the streets...

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