Occupy Oakland shuts down port, Bahrainis march, protesters scale fracking rig…

The Editors November 4, 2011

Some 5,000 protesters shut down operations at Oakland’s busy port and blocked traffic on Wednesday in demonstrations against economic inequality and police brutality that turned tense as the night wore on.

Security forces in Bahrain used tear gas and armored vehicles to drive back hundreds of protesters who advanced toward the heavily guarded Pearl Roundabout—once the center of pro-reform demonstrations in the Gulf nation—on Friday morning after a funeral procession for the 78-year-old father of an opposition leader.

Despite government promises two days ago to pull back from intense confrontations with protesters, Syrian security forces fanned out in force after Friday prayers, surrounding mosques to prevent demonstrations and using gunfire to disperse crowds. At least 15 civilians were reported killed.

At least 16 people were arrested Thursday while protesting outside the New York City headquarters of Goldman Sachs. Among those arrested were journalist Chris Hedges and the performance artist and activist Reverend Billy.

About 30 protesters occupied part of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office in Washington DC on Thursday to protest Republican opposition to President Obama’s jobs bill. The protesters were from a new group called “OurDC.”

Social activist Anna Hazare ended his 19-day vow of silence Friday with a clarion call to campaign against India’s ruling Congress party in the upcoming state assembly elections if his “Jan Lokpal,” or citizen’s ombudsman bill, is not passed during Parliament’s winter session that begins later this month.

2,000 church members marched through strategic locations in the Nigerian city of Abakaliki today to protest the slow pace of development and the level of poverty currently plaguing citizens. They also chanted choruses and brandished their brooms which they said symbolized spiritual cleansing of the state.

Protesters scaled a drilling rig at a hydraulic fracturing site in northern England on Wednesday after a report links the controversial gas drilling process to two minor earthquakes.

Israeli naval vessels intercepted the two Gaza-bound boats aiming to break Israel’s blockade on Friday afternoon.

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