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Gezi Park: protest 'funfair' at heart of Turkey unrest

Agence France-PresseJune 6, 2013 07:50
Under the towering sycamore trees, young Turks whirl hand-in-hand in a circle, whooping with joy to the beat of the drum. To see them dance, you wouldn't think they were caught up in their country's fiercest political unrest in years. It may be the cradle of nearly a week of police violence, but amid the smoke of kebabs and the rattle of tambourines, Istanbul's Gezi Park looks more like a funfair.

Two civilians killed in south Yemen clashes: sources

March 13, 2013 07:45
Renewed clashes between Yemeni police and southern separatists killed two civilians on Wednesday, five days ahead of the country's troubled national dialogue, medics and an activist told AFP. Police opened fire on Southern Movement activists who had blocked roads with rocks and burning tyres as part of a campaign of civil disobedience they began less than a month ago, an activist said. A security official said police and separatists had "traded fire" in Aden's Mansura district, a stronghold of the pro-independence movement.

Egypt protests turn weekend into nightmare for many

February 22, 2013 07:45
Hanan Attia says she can no longer leave her home on Fridays in the Egyptian capital, where bloody weekly protests and insecurity have left many anxious families dreading the weekend. "It's no longer a day of rest, but one of fear and anxiety," Attia told AFP. Since November, when President Mohamed Morsi issued a controversial decree that widened his powers and pushed through a contested Islamist-drafted constitution, the country has been deeply divided.

Egypt activist death reignites police reform calls

February 4, 2013 19:46
Fierce clashes broke out in the Nile Delta on Monday between demonstrators and riot police after the funeral of an activist who died in custody, witnesses said, amid a growing backlash against police abuses. A health ministry official said at least 18 people were wounded in the city of Tanta, where witnesses say police fired tear gas and birdshot at stone-throwing protesters following the activist's funeral.

Obama places civil rights at center of inauguration

January 21, 2013 20:00
* Emancipation Proclamation, March on Washington anniversaries marked * Day accompanied by many symbols of black history * President links blacks' struggle to women and gay rights By Samuel P. Jacobs WASHINGTON, Jan 21(Reuters) - President Barack Obama placed the struggle over race and U.S. civil rights at the center of his second inauguration on Monday, a departure from his first inaugural address and from a first term punctuated by relative silence on the subject.
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