Thousands of activists marched across the Brooklyn Bridge and demonstrators rang handbells at the World Trade Center site, the latest in a growing procession of protests leading up to the Republican National Convention. \nThousands of marchers, forming a line 10 people wide and a kilometer long at times, crossed the bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan in a march organized by Planned Parenthood. \nLater in the day, several hundred demonstrators formed a loose ring around ground zero in lower Manhattan and rang handbells in a protest against the Bush administration. \nTheir plan was to ring the bells 2,749 times -- one for each victim killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the trade center -- but the demonstration quickly turned into almost continuous ringing. \n"I'm affected personally, in terms of birth control. I demand and cherish that right," said Sara Breman, a 22-year-old student from Austin, Texas, in the bridge march. \n"Under Bush, that right is being threatened through sex education that teaches only abstinence," said Breman before rolling her bicycle onto the bridge. \nSome of the marchers chanted: "What does democracy look like?" While others answered, "This is what democracy looks like!" \nOnce the protesters crossed the bridge, they headed for a rally at City Hall. Actress Kathleen Turner, state Comptroller Alan Hevesi and Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt were among the marchers. \nNew York police said 25 people were arrested in convention-related incidents Saturday, bringing the total for the three days to 311. \nPolice said Saturday's arrests were scattered around the city, including some Starbucks employees who protested in midtown Manhattan, accusing the Bush administration of opposing their attempt to form a union. \nOn Friday night, 264 people were arrested for disorderly conduct in a protest bicycle ride that snaked through the city and passed by Madison Square Garden, where the convention opens Monday. \nThe bike ride represented the first major clash between police and demonstrators converging on the city for the convention. \nLater Saturday, an anti-war group called the ANSWER coalition was encouraging people to gather in Central Park. But the park was peaceful early, with its usual assortment of sunbathers and softball players. \nAnd a group called Ring Out planned to encircle Ground Zero in lower Manhattan and ring bells to honor those who died at the World Trade Center. The group said it intended to show Bush does not speak for attack victims or New Yorkers. \nSaturday's protests were expected to be a mere prelude to yesterday, when a huge anti-war march was to pass by the convention site and end at Union Square Park in Manhattan. \nOrganizers of that march have said it could draw 250,000 people. The city refused to allow a rally in Central Park, but organizers suggested protesters could spontaneously gather there anyway after the march.
PHOTO: AFP
PHOTO: AFP
FEELING THREATENED: The first military commission under Kim Jong-un’s leadership to last longer than a day is a sign of a growing escalatory doctrine, an analyst said North Korea discussed assigning additional duties to its frontline army units at a key military meeting, state media said yesterday, suggesting that the country might deploy battlefield nuclear weapons targeting South Korea along the rivals’ tense border. The discussion comes as South Korean officials said North Korea has finished preparations for its first nuclear test in five years, as part of possible efforts to build a warhead to be mounted on short-range weapons capable of hitting targets in South Korea. During an ongoing meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party on Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and
TRADE TALK: Xiao Qian said that Australia had fired the ‘first shot’ in deteriorating trade relations with China, but improvements were possible if Canberra takes action China’s new ambassador to Australia chided protesters who heckled him yesterday during a speech about the future of relations between the two countries. Xiao Qian (肖千), who has only been in the role since January, had just begun his speech at the University of Technology Sydney when the first protesters interjected, calling for freedom for Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. The ambassador was repeatedly interrupted by sign-wielding protesters, some criticizing China’s treatment of the Uighur people as well as the university for inviting Xiao to speak. “People who are coming again and again to interrupt the process, that’s not expression of freedom of
China’s COVID-19 outbreak is shifting to its south coast, with a flareup in Shenzhen triggering mass testing and a lockdown of some neighborhoods, while Macau — an hour’s drive away — is racing to stop its first outbreak in eight months. The new cases come as China’s two most important cities, Beijing and Shanghai, look to be subduing the virus after months of strict curbs and repeated testing. Shanghai yesterday reported nine local cases, while Beijing reported five. Nationwide, China yesterday reported 34 new COVID-19 infections. Yet new clusters continue to emerge, prompting action from local officials. Borders are increasingly under pressure, with
New Zealand stargazers were left puzzled and awed by strange, spiraling light formations in the night sky on Sunday night. At about 7:25pm, Alasdair Burns, a stargazing guide on Stewart Island, also called Rakiura, received a text from a friend saying to go outside and look at the sky. He went out and saw a huge, blue spiral of light amid the darkness. “It looked like an enormous spiral galaxy, just hanging there in the sky,” Burns said. “Quite an eerie feeling.” “We quickly banged on the doors of all our neighbors to get them out as well. And so there were
RSS