China’s Great Firewall No Barrier to Ugly Online Battles Over Hong Kong Protests
Posted: August 20, 2019 Filed under: Asia, Censorship, China, Global, Hong Kong | Tags: Communist Party, Great Firewall, Hong Kong, Pro-Democracy Movement, Tear gas, Weibo Leave a comment
Sarah Zheng reports: Hong Kong’s summer of protests looks very different from inside and outside the Great Firewall that encircles the internet in mainland China.
On Monday morning, the top trending topic on Weibo, China’s highly regulated version of Twitter, featured a Shanghai tourist who was “harassed and beaten” during a massive pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong on Sunday evening. It racked up 520 million views. A prominent video on the topic from Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily showed the man, surnamed Ma, telling reporters about protesters accosting and accusing him of photographing their faces, under the tagline: “Is this the ‘safety’ that rioters are talking about?”
But in Hong Kong, where there is unfettered access to the internet, the focus was on the peaceful Sunday demonstrations, which organisers said drew 1.7 million people despite heavy rain. On LIHKG, the online forum where Hong Kong protesters discuss and organise their action, one hot topic celebrated Weibo posts on Ma that mentioned a taboo – Beijing’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The topic cheered the “first time China’s Weibo allowed public discussion of June 4th”, referencing posts about Photoshopped images of Ma in a shirt calling for justice over the crackdown.
Since the protests began in Hong Kong in early June, triggered by a now-shelved extradition bill, there has been a clear dichotomy between how the movement has been portrayed online, inside and outside China. Read the rest of this entry »
[PHOTO] Shield Used by French Police When They Entered the Bataclan Theater
Posted: November 21, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, France, Global, Guns and Gadgets, Terrorism, War Room | Tags: Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Boko Haram, Calais, Cameroon, Islamism, Kolofata, Law enforcement in France, Nigeria, Paris, Paris Attacks, Police officer, Tear gas Leave a comment
This shield was used by French Police when they entered the Bataclan Theater to rescue the victims and stop the carnage. Despite taking withering fire, the police continued charging the threats until they were shot dead or detonated their suicide belts.
Source: gop-tea-pub
Turkish Prosecutor Taken Hostage in Istanbul
Posted: March 31, 2015 Filed under: Global, War Room | Tags: Al-Raqqah, Anadolu Agency, Istanbul, Kurdish people, President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Tear gas, Turkey, Turkish language 3 Comments
Members of the illegal left-wing organization the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party Front have broken into a Turkish prosecutor’s office and taken him hostage
Yael Klein writes: The prosecutor, Mehmet Selim Kiraz, was targeted by the organization because he represented the state in the sensitive case of a young man’s death during anti-government protests in 2013. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was the Turkish prime minister at the time of the protests, exercised a very strict policy against the protestors. The young man was killed after the police used excessive force against the demonstrators, and the organization has taken Kiraz hostage as an act of protest against Erdogan.
Special Forces surrounding the building Photo Credit: Reuters / Channel 2 News
The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front has issued a message in the social media, threatening to execute the prosecutor by 3:36 pm (local time) if its demands are not answered. The members of the organization demand that the police officers who caused the death of the young man in the 2013 protests confess to killing him on live television. Read the rest of this entry »
Hong Kong Protests Hit 2.3 Million in Tweets
Posted: October 2, 2014 Filed under: Asia, China, Mediasphere | Tags: China, Hong Kong, Pepper spray, Protest, Tear gas, Twitter, Umbrella Revolution 1 Comment
Maya Pope-Chappell reports: There have been more than 2.3 million tweets related to the protests in Hong Kong since Sept. 27, according to Twitter data.
Though talk of the protests is still abuzz on the social network, the number of tweets has waned since Sunday’s crackdown by police, which saw more than 700 tweets per minute about the protests.
[More: How the protests unfolded on Twitter]
As photos of protesters using umbrellas to protect themselves against pepper spray and tear gas spread, the movement took on the name “Umbrella Revolution,” which also began appearing as a hashtag on Twitter and in Western media. Read the rest of this entry »
Ferguson Protest: ‘No-Stopping’ Orders Defied, Tense Night as Demonstrators & Police Finally Wind Down
Posted: August 18, 2014 Filed under: Mediasphere | Tags: CNN, Department of Justice, Ferguson, Ferguson Missouri, Jay Nixon, Police, Protest, St. Louis, Tear gas Leave a comment
[Police fire tear gas as demonstrations become chaotic]
[Chaos erupts again in Ferguson]
[Ferguson protest turns tense as demonstrators reportedly defy ‘no-stopping’ orders] Read the rest of this entry »
Tear Gas vs. Bow and Arrows: Indigenous Protesters Clash Outside Brazil’s National Stadium Ahead of World Cup
Posted: May 31, 2014 Filed under: Global, Health and Social Issues | Tags: Brazil, Mail Online, Molotov cocktail, Mounted police, Protest, Tear gas 2 Comments
For Mail Online, Julian Robinson reports: Indigenous people armed with bows and arrows have clashed with mounted police armed with tear gas, helmets and riot shields – just weeks before the World Cup begins.
Protestors wearing traditional tribal dress squared up to police in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia – and one officer ended up being shot in the leg with an arrow.
The violent scenes unfolded next to the Mane Garrincha National Stadium, amid a climate of increasing civil disobedience by groups looking to disrupt the event saying it will cost too much for a developing nation.
Stand off: Mounted police, armed with tear gas and riot helmets, confront native Brazilians, brandishing bows and arrows, to stop them from marching towards the Mane Garrincha stadium during a demonstration in Brasilia
In clashes broadcast live on television, riot police fired tear gas into small pockets of protesters as they approached Brasilia’s new stadium that will host Cup matches. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Violent Riots in Rio de Janeiro: Protesting Public Transportion Fare Increase
Posted: February 7, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Global | Tags: BBC, Brazil, Molotov cocktail, O Globo, Protest, Rio de Janeiro, Tear gas, Wyre Davies 1 Comment
Hundreds of people in Brazil have clashed with police during a protest against increased fares for public transport.
Riot police fired tear gas in attempts to regain control of the situation at Central Station
Commuters were caught up in the violence at Rio de Janeiro’s Central Station during rush hour.
Riot police fired tear gas and tried to disperse the crowd, while activists hurled stones and petrol bombs.
Shocking night in #Rio. A fellow journalist suffered terrible head injuries when hit by explosive device. Did our best to save him. Not sure
— Wyre Davies (@WyreDavies) February 6, 2014
A cameraman is in a serious condition in hospital after suffering a head injury.
The BBC’s Wyre Davies was at the station and was among those who went to the cameraman’s aid.
pundit from another planet 