Royal Wedding Only a Celebration of Wealth – London Student

Air Cargo Scare as Greek Anarchists Post Bombs to European Leaders
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany demanded EU take emergency action on Wednesday to secure air freight after parcel bombs were sent from Greece to Angela Merkel and other European targets.

Security services in Greece, Italy and Germany were investigating the co-ordinated campaign, which caused a continent-wide alert.

Mrs Merkel told a German newspaper that the EU needed to agree common rules on air cargo security, implying that freight-checking procedures were not up to the job of intercepting bombs.

"We have a global patchwork of security rules for air freight," she said.

EU officials told The Daily Telegraph that, while governments were responsible for passenger security, freight checks were carried out by companies with "trusted supplier" status.

"The interior ministers might want to look at the rules which currently allow accredited air freight and postal courier companies to do their own security checks," an official said. "It is difficult to detect devices in bulk cargo but if the feeling is that the bombs got through because checks were not tight enough then the rules will be looked at." >>> Bruno Waterfield and Nick Squires | Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Riot Police Working Overtime as Unions and Anarchists Link Arms for May Day
Police use tear gas against protesters during an outlawed May Day rally in central Istanbul. Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: Protesters turned traditional May Day demonstrations into a rallying call against global capitalism as unrest spread through city streets across Europe yesterday.

Politicians in Germany and France had been warning that the financial crisis was about to spark social unrest. In some towns the words became reality, even if the skirmishes and petrol bombings felt choreographed.

“We want social disturbances, upheaval, and we will do everything towards that end,” said Markus Bernhardt, a spokesman for Class Struggle Bloc, which helped to steer the riots. “The system is violent and now violence is being met by violence.”

Unions estimated that 484,000 people took part in 400 protests across Germany. Riots in Berlin began on Thursday night when cars and rubbish containers were set alight. On May Day morning 700 anarchists blocked a railway station in an attempt to sabotage a neo-Nazi march.

A force of 5,000 German police officers found it difficult to contain the rioting. Officials said 48 officers were hurt and 57 people detained. “One can only advise drivers not to park their cars on the street,” Dieter Glietsch, the head of the Berlin police, said. >>> Roger Boyes in Berlin and Charles Bremner in Paris | Saturday, May 2, 2009

Nato 60th Summit in Strasbourg Marred by Street Battles and Arson
THE TELEGRAPH: Buildings were set on fire and running battles were fought between protesters and riot police in the streets of Strasbourg, where Barack Obama and world leaders have gathered for a Nato summit.

A violent anti-NATO protest takes place during NATO's 60th-anniversary summit. Anti-NATO activists set up a barricade with a Strasbourg road sign, near the German border at the Europe bridge, east of Strasbourg. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Anarchists and demonstrators set fires at a hotel, a disused border post and a tourism office around Strasbourg's Pont de l'Europe, a bridge that joins France and Germany.

Police fired volleys of teargas to try to stop groups of violent French and German protesters joining forces to rampage across the city.

Masked youths threw petrol bombs, smashed windows and ransacked shops, forcing police to retreat until riot officers could regroup to seize back control.

Eyewitnesses saw black-clad protesters storm the nearby Ibis hotel, pilfering alcohol from its bar and setting the building ablaze.

"The hotel and the other buildings were completely engulfed in flames," said a resident of the city who witnessed the mayhem. >>> By Bruno Waterfield and Peter Allen in Strasbourg | Saturday, April 4, 2009