THE GUARDIAN: Tens of thousands take to streets after opposition calls for major rallies in support of prominent rights activist Nabeel RajabRiot police in Bahrain fired teargas and stun grenades on Friday as tens of thousands of protesters staged the biggest anti-government demonstrations in weeks in the divided Gulf nation.
Opposition groups called for major rallies after a prominent rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, was placed back in detention earlier this week on fresh charges linked to his posts on social media such as Twitter.
Bahrain has experienced near daily protests for 16 months caused by an uprising by the kingdom's Shia majority seeking greater political rights from the western-backed Sunni monarchy. At least 50 people have died in the unrest since February 2011.
There were no immediate reports of injuries from Friday's street battles, which left piles of burning rubbish and clouds of stinging tear gas in the western outskirts of the capital, Manama. » | Associated Press | Friday, June 08, 2012
