Source: http://youtu.be/BK1TlxpiXSw

More: Spaniards hold mass rally for leftist Podemos ahead of elections

Canada Unveils New Anti-Terrorism Bill That Moves for 'Unprecedented Expansion of Powers'

"This radical expansion of national security powers is not sound security policy and presents a real danger to Canadians," says civil liberties advocate

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/01/30/canada-unveils-new-anti...

Most Americans on Brink of Financial Disaster

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/01/30/most-americans-brink-fi...

Fifty-five percent of all households have a month or less of liquid savings, referring to savings or checking accounts, if a financial emergency struck, while a typical household at the bottom has less than two weeks such savings.

In the case of a financial emergency, many households would turn to any other assets they might have, either liquidating retirement savings or taking on credit card debt. Yet even doing that, the report states, "the typical household could replace only about four months of lost income."

http://yournewswire.com/austerity-ireland-thousands-to-protest-nati...

Austerity Ireland: Thousands to protest national broadcaster’s ‘biased reporting’ 

Thousands of anti-austerity campaigners are expected to gather outside the headquarters of RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster, on Saturday to protest against what they say is biased reporting that represents the interests of a marginal elite.

Protesters will assemble at 1pm at the Sacred Heart Church in Donnybrook, south Dublin, before making their way to the broadcaster’s studios nearby.

The demonstration has been organized by a diverse group of anti-austerity and political campaign groups from far-flung regions across Ireland.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/12/spain-security-law-pro...

Spain puts 'gag' on freedom of expression as senate approves security law

Thousands gather across Canada to protest proposed anti-terror legislation. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/03/14/canada-wide-protests-pla...

Wall Street bonuses keep soaring as profits decline   http://www.theguardian.com/money/us-money-blog/2015/mar/15/wall-str...

Bankers’ bonuses average some $173,000 – or three times the median American income – amounting to 170% of NYSE member firms’ profits

Bonuses don’t come out of a bank’s profits, but out of its revenues... Wall Street prefers to look at bonus payouts as a function of revenue. Even so, that still means that banks like JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are handing over about 40 to 50 cents out of every dollar of REVENUE (not profits) they generate every year in bonuses.

The biggest question of all is whether Wall Street’s investors are going to sit idly by as a greater percentage of profits that belong to them flow out the doors to the banks’ employees?... At some point, the banks won’t be able to... When that happens, maybe the bonus gravy train will finally stop running.

Comment by jorge namour 5 hours ago

Average worker must work 127.7 years for 1 year of CEO pay

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/average-worker-must-work-1277-year...

While the average American is living from paycheck to paycheck, the executives in the C-suite are taking home millions in wages and compensation, highlighting the widening income disparity in the U.S.

The average pay of chief executive officers working for the largest 3,000 companies in the U.S. climbed to $6.4 million in 2014 from $5.5 million in the previous year while the median CEO pay jumped 12.7% on the strength of higher pensions, according to data from ISS Corporate Solutions.

“These numbers provide a likely forecast for CEO pay trends and numbers we’ll see over the course of 2015 U.S. annual meeting season,” said John Roe, head of advisory with ISS.

Wages and salaries rose around 3% for most Americans workers in 2014, according to recent data.

In 2013, the latest year for which the Social Security Administration posted data for, average wages in America rose a mere 1.3% to $43,041 from $42.498 in 2012—meaning an average worker must work roughly 127.7 years to make the same kind of money that a CEO does.

By geography, CEOs in the Connecticut area saw the largest median pay increase at 38.7% compared with Denver-area CEOs who got a 2.3% hike.

CEOs in the San Francisco Bay Area got a 19.5% raise, followed by CEOs in the Washington, D.C. area at 15.4%. Ninety-eight New York-based corporations gave their CEOs a median pay raise of 12.3%, based on filings submitted.

The data, while not surprising, underscores the reality of how one of the richest countries in the world trails other nations in wealth distribution. The U.S.’s Gini coefficient—often used to measure income equality—was 41.1 in 2011, behind countries like Madagascar and Greece. Zero reflects perfect equality, and 100 represents perfect inequality.

---------------------------

Report: CEOs Earn 331 Times As Much As Average Workers, 774 Times As Much A...

With CEO compensation analysis season in full swing, the AFL-CIO released data this morning stating that American CEOs in 2013 earned an average of $11.7 million–an eye-popping 331 times the average worker’s $35,293.

==================================================

Protests for $15-an-hour wages set to expand Wednesday

Fight for $15 protests planned for fast-food and other low-wage workers

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/protests-15-hour-wages-set-112152734....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Fast-food workers calling for $15 an hour are picking up some more allies Wednesday.

Airport workers, home care workers, Walmart workers and adjunct professors are among those set to join in the Fight for $15 protests across the country, in what organizers are calling the biggest ever mobilization of workers in the U.S.

The campaign is being spearheaded by the Service Employees International Union and began in late 2012. On Wednesday, organizers say protests for higher pay and union for low-wage workers are planned for more than 230 cities and college campuses.

The demonstrations got an early start Tuesday afternoon in Boston, where several hundred people including college students, low-wage workers and their supporters gathered for a rally. In Detroit, protesters gathered in the evening inside a McDonald's, and organizers say three employees walked off the job as part of the protests.

In New York City, protesters rallied outside a McDonald's early Wednesday morning and were planning more demonstrations throughout the day.

Kendall Fells, organizing director for Fight for $15, said McDonald's remains a focus of the protests and that the company's recently announced pay bump shows fast-food workers already have a de facto union.

"It shows the workers are winning," he said.

McDonald's earlier this month said it would raise its starting salary to $1 above the local minimum wage, and give workers the ability to accrue paid time off. It marked the first national pay policy by McDonald's, and indicates the company wants to take control of its image as an employer. But the move only applies to workers at company-owned stores, which account for about 10 percent of more than 14,300 locations.

That means McDonald's is digging in its heels over a central issue for labor organizers: Whether it has the power to set wages at franchised restaurants.

McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's say they don't control the employment decisions at franchised restaurants. The SEIU is working to change that and hold McDonald's responsible for labor conditions at franchised restaurants in multiple ways, including lawsuits.

In an emailed statement, McDonald's said it respects the right to "peacefully protest" and that its restaurants will remain open Wednesday. In the past, it said only about 10 to 15 McDonald's workers out of about 800,000 have participated.

In a recent column in The Chicago Tribune, McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook described the company's pay hike and other perks as "an initial step," and said he wants to transform McDonald's into a "modern, progressive burger company."

But that transformation will have to take place as labor organizers continue rallying public support for low-wage workers. Ahead of the protests this week, a study funded by the SEIU found working families rely on $153 billion in public assistance a year as a result of their low wages.

Already, organizers say the Fight for $15 is changing the way people think about low-wage work.

Last year, more than a dozen states and multiple cities raised their minimum wages, according to the National Employment Law Project. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has also been targeted with protests for higher wages and better treatment for workers, also recently announced pay hikes.

Robert Reich, former Labor secretary and a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, said stagnating wages for lower-income workers are also helping change negative attitudes about unions.

"People are beginning to wonder if they'd be better off with bargaining power," Reich said.

World Bank breaks its own rules as millions lose land and livelihoods http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/apr/16/world-ban...

The World Bank has repeatedly violated its own policies on protecting the rights of indigenous people by funding projects that resulted in nearly 3.4 million slum-dwellers, farmers and villagers losing their land or having their livelihoods damaged over the past decade, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

Residents of the Badia East slum in Lagos, who were evicted last year when the area was razed to make way for a World Bank-funded project.

Photograph: George Osodi/ICIJ

The following is a comment from Reddit:

Dr. Ha Joon Chang, economics professor at Cambridge(UK) University wrote a book entitled Kicking Away The Ladder which points to the IMF and Worldbank being active participants in ensuring the 3rd world stays poor by the 1st world profiting off them.

So no, what they actually mean is moving people from the countryside into slums in the cities then killing two birds with one stone by appropriating their land and moving them into sweatshop labour. But hey it looks good on paper because GDP measures the flow of capital around a country (for example, a wealthy oligarch buying up a neighbourhood then renting it back to that neighbourhood contributes positively to GDP, whether you think this is positive to the wellbeing of the neighbourhood is your own moral perception I guess). Farmers living the good life in the country don't contribute to GDP. But children in sweatshops do!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3057819/Baltimore-police-Fr...

Governor sends in National Guard as 15 officers are injured, shops are looted and police cars are set ablaze when gangs unite to take on Baltimore police after Freddie Gray open casket funeral

• State of emergency declared in Baltimore just hours after funeral for Freddie Gray who died in police custody
• Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake branded the rioters 'thugs' and issued a 10pm-5am curfew for all adults 
• President has been briefed on the situation, more than 1,000 police and Maryland National Guard are on standby  
• Three rival gangs have announced an unprecedented alliance to 'take out' Baltimore officers
• 15 police officers injured, two in serious condition in hospital. 27 people have been arrested
• Looters are raiding gun stores and check cashing stores. A CVS store is on fire, rioters slashed fire fighters' hoses
• Earlier Gray's distraught mother, Gloria Darden draped herself over her sons body during the open casket viewing
• Family attorney, Bill Murphy called for the officers who arrested Gray to come clean to the public
• Gray, 25, died after being detained by police on April 12. He suffered a spinal injury in their care and died on April 19

A state of emergency has been declared in Baltimore as the city transforms into 'an absolute war zone' following the funeral of Freddie Gray.

More than 1,000 police officers and the Maryland National Guard are arriving in the city and the president has been briefed on the situation as violence continues to escalate.

Fifteen police officers have been injured, many with broken bones, and at least one appeared ‘unresponsive’. Two of the 15 are in hospital in a serious condition.

Rioters are looting gun stores, ripping off the doors and passing weapons to people on the streets. Others have stormed check cashing stores and supermarkets. Buildings, including a CVS pharmacy, are on fire. Rioters have slashed fire fighters' hoses as they try to battle the flames. 

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake branded the rioters 'senseless thugs' in a press conference as she announced a week-long 10pm-5am curfew for all citizens starting tomorrow night. 

As night falls, groups appear to be moving toward Camden Yards stadium, prompting tonight's White Sox v Orioles game to be suspended. College students have been told to stay in their doors and be alert to possible attacks.

Freddie Gray died of a severe spinal injury in police custody on April 12.

State of emergency: Baltimore is in flames and the Maryland National Guard is on standby as riots escalate after Freddie Gray's funeral

Fire fight: A Baltimore police cruiser burns after being set alight on Monday following the outbreak of riots in the troubled city

A man walks past a burning police vehicle as another one burns (right) during unrest in Baltimore on Monday. Helicopters circled overhead as groups of roving youths moved through the city. Television footage showed a group of demonstrators pile on top of a car

Police unleash smoke bombs as Baltimore protesters defy curfew

Rival Crips and Bloods gangs unite to enforce curfew in Baltimore

'Protests are broader social issue not just law and order issue' says Obama

Broader context of Baltimore protests & riots

Good infograph on "Corruption in America".

"As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome."

If what is happening in Baltimore happened in a foreign country, here is how Western media would cover it

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/baltimore-riots-ho...

The real looting of Baltimore by Wall Street. http://reverbpress.com/justice/wells-fargo-is-baltimores-real-looter/

“…in 2/3rd (66%) cases, people with high FICO scores, who would have qualified for conventional loans at market rates, were diverted towards subprime loans because of their profitability.”

And Wells Fargo was one of the worst predatory lendors in the Baltimore area.

“Wells Fargo, Ms. Jacobson said in an interview, saw the black community as fertile ground for subprime mortgages, as working-class blacks were hungry to be a part of the nation’s home-owning mania. Loan officers, she said, pushed customers who could have qualified for prime loans into subprime mortgages. Another loan officer stated in an affidavit filed last week that employees had referred to blacks as ‘mud people’ and to subprime lending as ‘ghetto loans.'”

So, who is Wells Fargo's largest shareholder? Warren Buffett.

France to Limit Cash Transactions starting September, 2015 

http://www.leparisien.fr/economie/la-chasse-au-cash-est-lancee...

www.eleconomista.es%2Fempresas-finanzas%2Fnoticia...

(This is being done under the guise of limiting funding for terrorism.)

WOW, just WOW....After 44 years....(yes YEARS) of Conservative, Right Wing party governing in the province of Alberta (in Canada)....a MAJORITY NDP (Left Wing)Government was elected yesterday.

Just to put this into perspective for those who may not know the significance: This is akin to a leftist Democrat being elected with a Majority of votes in TEXAS (with only a MONTH of campaigning)....Alberta is the Texas of Canada....Talk about your Zeta's right again!!!

NDP's Alberta win a different kind of 'miracle on the Prairies'

From fourth to first in 28 days, it is how dynasties end, at least in Alberta

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ndp-s-alberta-win-a-different...

Not that it happens often, but when it does, Albertans give governments the ol' heave-ho with vigour and brutality.

Virtually no one believed the polls leading up to yesterday's vote that suggested an NDP government; or at least would admit they believed them. Many here are still in a state of disbelief........

Remember, when you lose government in Alberta, you're done, finished, kaput. No defeated government party has ever been a political force again.

As an aside....I never thought that this province would see an NDP government in my time.....boy was I wrong....the people spoke with there right to vote.

I didn't know whether to place this in BOTH Zeta's right again or just here....but this represents a 'seismic shift' in the political landscape of the country of Canada. As the Zeta's have said many times before: while the war with the cover up crowd heats up, the 8 of 10 sociological changes pick up....this is a big one folks....especially when you consider the Canadian Federal election is drawing near!!!!

Here is hoping that the people take the opportunity to help the CoW by ousting PM Steven Harper....after last night in Alberta, ANYTHING is possible!

5 Great Things That Have Happened for Bernie Sanders Since He Announced 

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/5-great-things-have-happened-...

http://www.alternet.org/dont-underestimate-me-after-shocking-fundra...

-He has 175,000 pledge volunteers already

-He raised $1.5 million dollars during the first day of his campaign

-People are speculating that his campaign could impact issues beyond the election:-  

"In Salon David Dayen explains that, "Sanders doesn’t have to win to achieve success. The potential here is to build an organizing apparatus for the ideas, to construct a coalition that supports a generous social safety net, progressive taxation and protection for labor.""

After Shocking Fundraising Totals, Bernie Sanders Defends European-Style Socialism http://www.alternet.org/dont-underestimate-me-after-shocking-fundra...

===========

I'm not trying to promote Sanders. He's a "politician" when it comes to foreign policy. But what's interesting to note is that after announcing his candidacy, he's already received 175,000 pledged volunteers & $1.5 million.

According to the Sanders campaign, 35,000 donors gave an average of $43.54 a piece. Even the Washington Post had to admit, "It is a surprisingly heavy haul for a candidate whom some in the Democratic chattering class have cast off as a gadfly and viewed as unable to wrest the nomination from the overwhelming favorite, Hillary Rodham Clinton."

What this shows you is the discrepancy between how the American people view things to be & the Washington bubble that the mainstream media mechanism sprouts from. It reminds me of an interview of someone from Kentucky saying he DESPISED Obamacare & would repeal it the next day. But when the reporter went through the list of benefits from Obamacare, the guy was actually was in favor of it. (Nevermind that Obamacare didnt have the most popular option of government provided health insurance, which a majority of Americans wanted).

The point is that this Left vs Right argument is a false dichotomy, in many ways. And ppl are catching up to it, if not already caught upto it. The real division in society is the elite vs the average person. The differences between the "left" & "right" pale in comparison to the differences between the elite & the average person.

Protesters and police face off at Downing Street gates as hundreds rally against new Tory government 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/protesters-police-face-downing...

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The British press has lost it: The UK elections may not be remembered as much for the outcome as the way the media covered it  http://www.politico.eu/article/the-british-press-has-lost-it/

The press just haven’t reflected reality, let alone the views of their readers. For months polls have put Conservatives and Labour close with about third of the vote each, and smaller parties destined to hold some balance of power. But there has been no balance in the papers. Tracked by Election Unspun, the coverage has been unremittingly hostile to Ed Miliband, the Labour challenger, with national newspapers backing the Conservative incumbent, David Cameron over Labour by a ratio of five to one.

Veteran US campaign manager David Axelrod finds this politicization of the print media one of the most salient differences with the US. “I’ve worked in aggressive media environments before,” he told POLITICO, “but not this partisan.” Axelrod may have ax to grind as he advises the Labour Party, but even a conservative commentator and long-serving lieutenant of Rupert Murdoch has been shocked. “Tomorrow’s front pages show British press at partisan worst,” Andrew Neil, former editor of the Sunday Times rued. “All pretense of separation between news and opinion gone, even in ‘qualities.'”

Source: https://youtu.be/4FuEHg8RBv8

Canadian government considering hate charges against those who boycott Israel http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-considering-hate-charges-aga...

We're ruled by a cosy elite who all go to the same dinner parties, says David Cameron;s former policy guru chief Steve Hilton.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3085342/Stop-listening-insu...

- Ex-Number 10 strategist warns of a crisis in Britain's political system

- Calls on Cameron to do more for the poor and listen less to the rich

- Says government is more likely to pay attention to concerns of wealthy

Steve Hilton said too many of those at the heart of government go to the same dinner parties and send their children to the same schools.  He said the UK’s political system is now in ‘crisis’ because... ‘Regardless of who’s in office, the same people are in power. ‘It is a democracy in name only, operating on behalf of a tiny elite no matter the electoral outcome.’

Mr Hilton, 45, is one of the David Cameron’s closest friends, making his attacks all the more surprising. He was godfather to Mr Cameron’s son Ivan

(How American democracy is hijacked on an industrial scale)

ALEC - The Backroom Where Laws Are Born

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: State Legislatures and ALEC (HBO)

Unprecedented death toll in qatar:

http://screamer.deadspin.com/chart-the-qatar-world-cup-death-toll-i...

Truth and Reconciliation report brings calls for action, not words

Commission releases 94 recommendations to confront 'cultural genocide' of schools

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/truth-and-reconciliation-report-bri...

Canadians must believe in the need for reconciliation with Aboriginal Peoples to repair the damage caused by residential schools, aboriginal leaders said Tuesday, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its summary report and findings.

Justice Murray Sinclair, chair of the commission, called for changes in policies and programs, as well as commemoration through education and memorials, in introducing the commission's summary report and 94 recommendations.

​"Words are not enough," Sinclair said, to address the "cultural genocide" of residential schools on aboriginal communities....................

..............."Our recommendations should not be seen as an itemization of a national penance but as an opportunity to embrace a second chance at establishing a relationship of equals, which was intended at the beginning and should have continued throughout," he told the crowd.....

.........

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, delivered a joint statement with representatives from the Presbyterian, United and Catholic churches, acknowledging the "heartbreaking stories" of young students at schools that were administered by the churches.

"We know and declare that our apologies are not enough," he said. "Those harmed were children, vulnerable, far from their families and their communities. The sexual, physical and emotional abuse they suffered is well-documented, particularly in the work of the TRC."

The summary report released today called on the Pope to issue an official apology, to be delivered in Canada within a year. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI expressed "sorrow" for abuse aboriginal student... at residential schools run by the Roman Catholic Church.

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Pretty hard to fathom just how abused those young kids were, and the impacts are still being felt today. My hope is that people can reform and change how those who lived in Canada before anyone else are looked at, treated and brought into a society that doesn't try and institutionally put them down. The feelings many people in this country have towards Native Canadians is appalling, hopefully this can 'wake people up'!

Germany deploys 22,000 police officers at G7 summit

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/germany-deploys-22000-police-...

TTIP vote postponed as European Parliament descends into panic over trade deal   http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ttip-vote-postponed...

European Parliament TTIP vote cancelled ‘because of huge public pressure’   http://www.eureporter.co/frontpage/2015/06/10/european-parliament-t...

Comment by Starr DiGiacomo 4 hours ago

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/eu-preparing-for-state-of-emergency-...

EU preparing for 'state of emergency' after Greek talks collapse

Germany's EU commissioner said on Monday it was time to prepare for a "state of emergency" after talks collapsed at the weekend to rescue Greece from default and ejection from the euro.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ignored a litany of pleas from European leaders to act fast and instead blamed creditors for the collapse in aid-for-austerity talks, the biggest setback yet in long-running talks to secure more aid for Greece.

Athens now has just two weeks to find a way out of the impasse before it faces a 1.6 billion euro bill due to the International Monetary Fund, potentially leaving it out of cash, unable to borrow and cast out of the single currency.

While there was little sign of open panic in Athens as Greeks held out hope for a last-minute solution - a familiar theme over the past six years as Athens lurched from one crisis to the next - the latest impasse triggered a selloff in European and Asian shares and weighed on the euro.

According to various articles,  of the scarce number articles covering the nationwide protests,  this one failed to mentioned that protests were apparently going on all over the country at the same time.  This march being many more than 50k but likely 100k+. 

Tens of thousands march in London against coalition's austerity measures, UK

An estimated 50,000 people in London addressed by speakers, including Russell Brand, after People's Assembly march

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/21/protest-march-auste...

Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday afternoon in protest at austerity measures introduced by the coalition government. The demonstrators gathered before the Houses of Parliament, where they were addressed by speakers, including comedians Russell Brand and Mark Steel.

An estimated 50,000 people marched from the BBC's New Broadcasting House in central London to Westminster.

"The people of this building [the House of Commons] generally speaking do not represent us, they represent their friends in big business. It's time for us to take back our power," said Brand.

"This will be a peaceful, effortless, joyful revolution and I'm very grateful to be involved in the People's Assembly."

"Power isn't there, it is here, within us," he added. "The revolution that's required isn't a revolution of radical ideas, but the implementation of ideas we already have."

A spokesman for the People's Assembly, which organised the march, said the turnout was "testament to the level of anger there is at the moment".

He said that Saturday's action was "just the start", with a second march planned for October in conjunction with the Trades Union Congress, as well as strike action expected next month.

People's Assembly spokesman Clare Solomon said: "It is essential for the welfare of millions of people that we stop austerity and halt this coalition government dead in its tracks before it does lasting damage to people's lives and our public services."

Sam Fairburn, the group's national secretary, added: "Cuts are killing people and destroying cherished public services which have served generations."

Activists from the Stop The War Coalition and CND also joined the demonstration.

The crowds heard speeches at Parliament Square from People's Assembly supporters, including Caroline Lucas MP and journalist Owen Jones. Addressing the marchers, Jones said: "Who is really responsible for the mess this country is in? Is it the Polish fruit pickers or the Nigerian nurses? Or is it the bankers who plunged it into economic disaster – or the tax avoiders? It is selective anger."

He added: "The Conservatives are using the crisis to push policies they have always supported. For example, the sell-off of the NHS. They have built a country in which most people who are in poverty are also in work."

The People's Assembly was set up with an open letter to the Guardian in February 2013. Signatories to letter included Tony Benn, who died in March this year, journalist John Pilger and filmmaker Ken Loach.

In the letter, they wrote: "This is a call to all those millions of people in Britain who face an impoverished and uncertain year as their wages, jobs, conditions and welfare provision come under renewed attack by the government.

"The assembly will provide a national forum for anti-austerity views which, while increasingly popular, are barely represented in parliament."

The Metropolitan police refused to provide an estimate. A police spokesman said the force had received no reports of arrests.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3166048/Blood-spilt-governm...

'The message of the day for either side has been lost' Police condemn BOTH anti-racism activists and far right protesters after clashes force Melbourne CBD into lockdown 

• Anti-racism protesters clashed with anti-immigration groups outside Melbourne's Parliament House 
• Protesters from 'No Room for Racism' will meet members of Reclaim Australia and the United Patriots Front
• Tensions started to bubble after threats were made on social media warning that 'blood will be spilt'
• Police were forced to spray the angry crowds in pepper spray in a bid to take control of the chaotic rally
• One man was arrested for assault, while three others were detained for participating in riotous behaviou

Extreme right-wing protesters and anti-racism activists clashed with each other and police in Melbourne's CBD, with dozens pepper sprayed and four people arrested during the ugly scenes.

The dramatic events were sparked by a rally held outside Parliament House by a pair of anti-Muslim groups, Reclaim Australia and United Patriots Front.

Groups opposing the 'racist' event, Rally Against Racism and United Against Islamophobia, flooded the area and attempted to confront people at the planned event.

Dramatic pictures taken during the violent clashes show a number of protesters with bloodshot eyes desperately having milk poured on their faces after being pepper sprayed by police officers trying to control the crowds. 

Other photographs show a number of people with their faces covered by masks, scarves or jumpers carrying signs and flags, marching through the streets and confronting police.

Despite the response from officers appearing extreme, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said it was necessary to cope with the protests.

'[Police] were at significant threat of having their lines over run and it was a tool we had to use at the time,' he said, according to the ABC.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said that while the use of pepper spray may appear extreme, it was completely justified as violence continued to escalate 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3177135/Summer-trouble-Holi...

Still thinking of heading to France for your holiday? Horrendous traffic jams, run the gauntlet of migrants, road blockades, wildfires at campsites… and now farmers are spraying manure over cars 

• 10,000 holidaymakers were forced to flee as wildfires tore through bone-dry forests in the southern Var region
• More fires broke out yesterday west of Bordeaux, threatening 1,000 houses, thanks to soaring summer temperatures
• In the north 5,000 migrants are camping at Calais and invading the Channel Tunnel on a nightly basis to reach UK
• An estimated 2,000 people invaded the tunnel last night, said operator Eurotunnel, as two more today hit by trains
• Meanwhile in the east farmers are spraying unsuspecting cars with manure, closing highways in food-price protest

Thousands of British holidaymakers have been caught up in a summer of chaos in France, running the gauntlet of migrants, road blockades and wildfires at campsites.

And as if that wasn’t enough, farmers have now begun spraying manure over cars in protest at falling food prices.

More than 2,000 migrants tried to force their way into the Channel Tunnel overnight, according to operator Eurotunnel, as more than 5,000 people camp out around Calais waiting for an opportunity to enter the UK.

Chaos in France: Farmers have launched a protest in the east of France, spraying unsuspecting cars with waves of manure and forcing the closure of the A31 highway due to falling food prices

‘It was the biggest incursion effort in the past month and a half,’ said the spokesman for Eurotunnel, which is battling often deadly efforts to smuggle themselves into Britain.

‘All our security personnel, that is nearly 200 people as well as police were called in.’

The migrants tried to enter the site between midnight and 6am.

Tourists faced serious delays throughout much of today following the incursion attempt, with passengers held up for around an hour on the British side and 30 minutes on the French side.

Local authorities were unable to say whether any of the migrants were hurt in the attempt, although a French police source denied that there were as many as 2,000 involved.

Since the beginning of June, eight migrants have died trying to enter the tunnel. 

Two migrants are in hospital this evening in Calais after being hit by high-speed trains as they tried to enter Britain through the Channel Tunnel today.

Seven others were saved from drowning at around the same time after falling into a concrete water collection basin near the Tunnel entrance.

Reports of their perilous attempts came as holidaymakers faced travel misery yet again today after the latest migrant chaos triggered huge delays on the Eurotunnel, with estimates putting waiting times at an hour in both directions.

Operation Stack – which saw the closure of Junctions 8 to 11 of the M20 motorway – ended on Sunday, but queues have been extremely slow to start moving again.

But when they finally enter France, things only seem to get worse for Britain’s holidaymakers.

Traffic jams: Holidaymakers have faced hours of motorway queues throughout the summer, before they even make it out of the country due to chaotic migrant activity at Calais

Understanding the Mega-Crisis in Malaysian Politics

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33972632

Europe migrant crisis: Surge in numbers at EU border

The number of migrants at the EU's borders reached a record high of 107,500 in July, officials say, as a sharp surge in expected asylum requests was reported in Germany.

Germany has seen a wave of migration from Syria and the Balkans, and now says it could receive as many as 750,000 asylum seekers this year.

The EU has been struggling to cope with migrant arrivals in recent months.

France and the UK say they will sign a deal to tackle the crisis in Calais.

Over the summer, thousands of migrants have sought to get to the UK through the Channel Tunnel from makeshift camps around the northern French city.

France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and his British counterpart, Theresa May, say they will sign a deal there on Thursday to strengthen their countries' co-operation on security, the fight against criminal smugglers, human traffickers, and clandestine immigration.

In early August, the UK pledged to add €10m (£7m) to a fund established in September 2014 to secure the port of Calais, and initially endowed with €15m over three years.

EU border agency Frontex said the number of migrants surpassed the 100,000 mark in a single month for the first time since it had begun keeping records in 2008.

The Warsaw-based agency said in a statement that the figure of 107,500 migrants for July was the "third consecutive monthly record, jumping well past the previous high of more than 70,000 reached in June".

The German government had earlier forecast that 450,000 asylum seekers could arrive in 2015, but is now set to increase that to 650,000 or higher.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said more countries in Europe should share the burden.

"It is unsustainable in the long run that only two EU countries, Germany and Sweden, take in the majority of refugees," he told German daily Die Welt.

Hungary's southern border marks the edge of the EU's Schengen zone of passport-free travel and is thus a target for migrants seeking to enter the EU.

Its government has said it will send thousands of police officers to its southern ... with Serbia in its latest step to stem the flow of migrants.

Helping the refugees - by Jenny Hill, BBC Berlin correspondent

Squatting on a kerb, Barakat smiles as a volunteer hands his young son and daughter some second-hand clothes.

The family are Yazidis and fled Iraq. "They were killing all the women - what were we supposed to do?"

Nearby, hundreds of people queue outside a grey concrete building. Every so often an official comes out and shouts instructions through a megaphone.

This is Berlin's reception centre, where refugees come to register for housing and benefits. But it is volunteers who provide food, water, clothing and medical help. A doctor holds a makeshift surgery in a tent.

"It shouldn't be volunteers doing this," he says. "But the authorities never expected this many people to arrive so suddenly."

As I leave, I pass an old lady slowly pushing a trolley towards the centre. "I've come to donate clothes," she tells me. "Why wouldn't you help these people?"

More than 240,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean already this year, arriving on the shores of Greece and Italy before travelling on to other destinations.

In the past week alone, 21,000 migrants have arrived in Greece, according to the UN.

Greece has become the main arrival point for migrants heading for the EU

Germany's latest projected figures were due to be confirmed by Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere on Wednesday and Handelsblatt reported that the number of refugees seeking accommodation around the country was surging.

Last month alone, 5,700 people applied for asylum in the northern city of Hamburg and 7,065 in the south-western state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

"I would have to build a block of flats every day to accommodate them", Stuttgart Integration Minister Bilkay Oeney told Handelsblatt.

Thousands have marched in eastern Germany against the housing of asylum seekers

The numbers are far higher than the record 438,000 asylum applications in 1992 during the Bosnian crisis.

German towns have been housing refugees in tent cities and converted gyms, but as tensions increase, there has been a rise in attacks on asylum seekers.

In the east, thousands of people have marched in towns and cities in protest at asylum seekers being housed in their areas and against what they call the "Islamisation of the West".

Last month, EU member states agreed to take in 32,000 asylum seekers arriving in Italy and Greece over the next two years - fewer than the 40,000 target.

The UK is exempt from the agreement.

www.rt.com/news/313165-lebanon-clashes-beirut-teargas/

http://www.rt.com/news/313165-lebanon-clashes-beirut-teargas/

Tear gas, water cannon, ‘gunfire heard’ in Lebanese capital Beirut on day 2 of clashes

The clashes between police and protesters continued in Beirut on Sunday evening as 10,000 people gathered on Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square near the government’s Grand Serail palace.

The rally started peacefully, but then a group of aggressive youths attempted to remove the barbed wire which circled the square, TASS reported.

Police responded by using water cannon and tear gas, forcing the demonstrators to retreat from the area near the palace.

A witness told Reuters that gunfire was heard as security forces fired in the air in an effort to drive protesters away from government offices.

The protesters kept throwing stones and bottles at the police, who remained behind protective barriers and did not engage the crowd.

On Sunday, thousands of people gathered near the government headquarters in Beirut chanting anti-government slogans and calling for a larger protest later on the day.

The police again used teargas and water cannon against the crowd, with protesters responding by throwing rocks at the officers.

People in the town of Dahr el Baidar have blocked the main road leading from Beirut to Damascus, with cars only moving in the direction of the Lebanese capital, NNA agency reported.

There were also reports of people taking to the streets in the towns of Tripoli, Nabatieh and elsewhere in the country.

Earlier, the Lebanese Prime Minister, Tammam Salam, described force used against protesters as “excessive” and promised that those responsible would be held to account.

“I warn that we are going towards collapse if matters continue. Frankly, I have not and will not be a partner in this collapse. Let all officials and political forces bear their responsibilities,” Salam said in a televised address Sunday.

The police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the rally on Saturday. At least 100 people, both police officers and protesters, were injured in the clashes, according to AP.

People in Beirut took to the streets after piles of rubbish began to appear on the streets of the Lebanese capital.

Beirut's main landfill was closed about a month ago and the authorities have yet to decide how to replace it.

Amid the unrest, some were shouting slogans used during the Arab Spring protests like “The people want to topple the regime!”

RT contacted one of the organizers of the rally, who said that the protest was initially peaceful, not calling for a violent change of power.

“We were very peaceful protesters. We were just demanding the resignation of the minister of environment,” the activist, who opted not to disclose his name, said.

Protesters start a fire during a protest against corruption and against the government's failure to resolve a crisis over rubbish disposal, near the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon August 23, 2015 © Mohamed Azakir / Reuters

He described the response to the protest by the police as “brutal,” saying that the “the army beat us… brutally with tear gas and with bullets – with real bullets.”

“Now we’re demanding the resignation of the whole government, immediately,” the activist said, adding that the parliamentary election must be announced “as soon as possible” in the country.

READ MORE: Tear gas, water cannon: Dozens injured as police clash w...

The political balance in Lebanon is extremely fragile due to legislators having been unable to pick a new president for more than a year.

The principle of ‘confessional distribution’ of parliamentary seats leaves governing divided among 18 religious groups.

Regional threats, like the war in neighboring Syria and the growing influence of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), are adding fuel to the instability in Lebanon.

The editor of the Pan-African News Wire, Abayomi Azikiwe, told RT that the situation could easily get worse, affecting Lebanon and adding even more tension to the region.

“There’s a political vacuum inside the country. The presidency has been vacant now for over a year. They had the same government since 2009. There was supposed to be an election in 2014, however, because of the political division inside the country the election has been postponed for another two years,” he said.

According to Azikiwe, the deadlock in the Lebanese power is caused by the ongoing civil war in Syria.

“You have political parties on Lebanon, who support the opposition in Syria, and the other political parties, who support the Syrian government in Damascus,” he explained.

“It may appear to be a domestic situation but it can easily deteriorate into a clash that may not necessarily be controllable by the existing government and security forces inside the country.”

More than 150 million workers’ in India strike over economic reforms

Indian police try to close the gate of a police van as arrested trade union activists try to force it open during a protest in Kolkata on September 2, 2015. Millions of workers across India held a 24-hour strike in protest at right-wing prime minister Narendra Modi's economic policies, which they say will put jobs at risk and hurt ordinary people. Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo

Millions of workers across India went on strike on Wednesday in protest at Narendra Modi’s economic policies.

It was the biggest show of strength by trade unions since the right-wing prime minister took office.

They say labour law reforms planned by Mr Modi’s government will put jobs at risk, and are demanding it scrap changes that would make it easier to lay off workers and shut down unproductive factories.

The secretary of All India Trade Union Congress, Gurudas Dasgupta, said the response had been “magnificent” and estimated over 150 million workers participated in the strike.

The numbers could not be independently confirmed.

The strike – the biggest in India for more than two years – included staff at state-run banks and mines as well as factory, construction and transport workers.

“This strike is a reminder to the government that it must consult the millions of employee [affected] before changing the labour laws,” striking bank worker Amit Khanna said in New Delhi.

Most cities remained peaceful, but clashes between police and activists broke out in the eastern state of West Bengal, which has a long history of union activism.

Television footage showed police baton-charge protesters in state capital Kolkata and drag away women who had staged a sit-in, while protesters threw stones and smashed vehicles.

Banks, shops and other businesses remained closed in the city, stranding commuters and travellers at the main station, while dozens of flag-waving protesters halted suburban trains.

In New Delhi, long queues formed at bus stops on Wednesday, while passengers were stranded at airports as taxis and rickshaws stayed off the streets.

Some protesters forced autorickshaw and taxi drivers off the roads and vandalised their vehicles.

“I told them [protesters] that I am going to the hospital, but these people said ‘there’s a strike today’ and beat me up,” an autorickshaw driver in New Delhi told TV reporters as he stood in front of his damaged yellow and green vehicle.

Mr Modi has promised business-friendly reforms to attract foreign investment and revive Asia’s third-largest economy.

His government wants to simplify India’s myriad of sometimes archaic labour laws, which date back to the British Raj, and create a single code for industry.

Businesses argue that conforming to India’s 44 national and more than 150 state labour laws is not only costly and time-consuming, but has also deterred foreign investors.

The government’s proposals would make it easier for firms with 300 or more workers to fire employees and make it more difficult to create new unions.

Although trade unions agree reforms are overdue, they oppose the bills, saying saying they would leave workers with less job security while the level of legal protection on pay and other conditions would be reduced.

The bills have also come up against opposition in the upper house of parliament where the government does not have a majority.

The unions went ahead with the 24-hour strike after talks with finance minister Arun Jaitley broke down.

Last month they demanded the government improve social security measures and set a national minimum wage of 15,000 rupees (Dh830), up from current state set standards that range from 5,000 to 9,000 rupees.

Those demands are supported by hawkers, domestic workers and daily wage labourers who also joined Wednesday’s strike.

India’s economy grew by a slower than expected 7 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year and experts say reforms are needed to create jobs for millions of young people.

Previous strikes have shut down cities and cost the Indian economy millions of dollars in lost production.

Source: thenational.ae

Refugee relief effort needs funds, UN official says

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The United Nations refugee chief says the organization is no longer able to meet the minimum requirements to provide life-saving support. (Source: UN/CNN)

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151020/1028808248/saudi-arabia-re...

A black hole that has opened up in the region after the US fiasco in Iraq and overthrow of Saddam Hussain is apparently beginning to drag down Saudi Arabia.

In the last few months the debates about the future of the Saudi regime have been gaining momentum. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter and one of the leading consumers of high-tech weapons of the US. If the Saudi regime falls, the oil markets will turn over upside down, and Saudi weapons will disperse throughout the world, Ergin Yıldızoğlu wrote.

 

The Mecca stampede that killed at least 2,177 pilgrims during the annual period of Hajj last month has seriously cast doubts over the ability of the Saudi regime to carry out its functions of providing safety to Muslims while performing the pilgrimage.

The rise of the terrifying ISIL which is based on the Wahhabi school of thought and Salafi Islamist terrorism has resulted in the Saudi regime being firmly linked with international terrorism.

The falling popularity of the Saudi regime is also linked to the war in Yemen. It was started without any consideration of the consequences mainly due to Saudi Arabia’s 'Iran-phobia'. This war as experts have noted, has not given any results and continues to have a heavy impact on the Saudi treasury. It has also called into question the decision-making abilities of the regime, Yıldızoğlu wrote for Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet.

If that was not enough, the House of Saud is also facing a losing battle in its oil business. It is trying too hard to maintain a high price on the oil in order to sideline the American oil producers from the market. The price of a barrel of oil is $90 whereas; the actual price is almost two times lower than that. The treasury revenues, which are 80-90% dependent on oil exports, are gradually declining, Yıldızoğlu noted.

 

According to secret documents (leaked to the press last week) that indicate economic and public expenditures being reduced by King Salman, one might think that the effects of the economic pressure are beginning to show in the country.

But the biggest threat of all may well be the instability within the royal family itself. According to the documents that were published a few weeks ago by The Guardian, a prince of the royal family (whose name was undisclosed), wrote a letter of appeal to the palace to conduct a coup against the king and his son Salman.

Allegedly, the letter received broad support among other members of the family and nation.

The rising tension with Iran and ISIL’s threats that have directly started to take aim at the Saudi regime all add up to the Saudis being in an extremely dangerous geopolitical situation.

Just until recently the House of Saud in the face of all these geopolitical risks relied on the protection of the US administration. However, today, the United States and Iran are improving their ties and that is yet another heavy blow to the shaken Saudi regime.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3302211/Chaos-Cyprus-migran...

Chaos in Cyprus as migrants threaten suicide, burn tents and clash with police as they complain about their treatment after arriving at British military base

• The 114 refugees came ashore at the RAF base on Cyprus last month
• Videos show their growing frustration with staying at the UK base
• One man is shown trying to hang himself, another climbing wire fence 
• It is down to Cyprus to handle asylum, but process has only just started
• See more on the migrant crisis at www.dailymail.co.uk/migrantcrisis 

Police armed with Tasers had to quell disturbances involving migrants at a British military camp in Cyprus after tents were set on fire.

Some of the migrants – who are angry they are being forced to remain on the Mediterranean island and want permission to come directly to Britain – likened their detention to Guantanamo Bay.

'We are people, not animals,' one shouted.

A line of British police, some carrying Tasers and handcuffs, tried to block the path of one man who scaled a fence at RAF Dhekelia, which is the temporary home of 114 migrants who landed at another UK base on the island, RAF Akrotiri, in two boats a fortnight ago. 

Up in flames: Migrants set fire to tents at the British Royal Air Force base in Dhekelia, Cyprus, in protest over their treatment after they landed at another RAF base on the island last month seeking asylum in Europe

The 67 men, 28 children and 19 women were bussed from RAF Akrotiri to the Dhekelia garrison near Larnaca last week. 

Last night, it emerged 14 had been handed over to Cypriot authorities. However, the rest remain in limbo.

The disturbances happened on Monday night when tensions boiled over and two tents in the temporary facility on the base were set ablaze.

The migrants told the Mail that if the UK will not let them in, they should be permitted to go to Greece, their original destination, or another mainland European country.

The migrants, living in a fenced-off camp in Dhekelia, insist they do not want to remain in Cyprus and say they should be brought to the UK as they are on British soil. 

Million Mask March London 2015 Live: Bonfire Night Chaos Ensues As Three Police Injured And Patrol Car Set Ablaze

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/11/05/million-mask-march-londo...

Three police officers were treated in hospital on Thursday after being injured during an anti-capitalist march which also resulted in a patrol car being torched.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators clad in Guy Fawkes masks descended on central London to protest capitalism and digital privacy incursions by state security services. Some 49 people were arrested and early in the evening police apprehended three men carrying knives, gas canisters and lock picks in Trafalgar Square.

One of the injured officers is believed to have been thrown from a police horse near Buckingham Palace. A police car at Green Park was set ablaze. Anarchists were later filmed jumping on and attacking the car.

Bonfire Night's 'Million Mask March' was organised by hacktivist collective 'Anonymous', and saw marches being held in 650 other cities across the globe.

Police ramped up numbers in a bid to curb violence and anti-social behaviour, but Scotland Yard told The Huffington Post UK that 49 people had been arrested, some three and a half hours after the demonstration was due to end.

27 of these were for public order offences, three for possession of an offensive weapon, two on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, while three others were arrested on separate counts of criminal damage, common assault and drug offences, respectively.

14 other attendees were also arrested, the Met confirmed.

November 5's annual festivities officially kicked off at 6pm on Thursday, with demonstrators carrying placards, including some saying: "One solution, revolution."

A curfew was issued for marchers, in anticipation that the event could turn violent, as had been the case in previous years.

Police only allowed static protest at three points - outside the National Gallery, opposite the Prime Minister's residence of 10 Downing Street and on the lawns outside the Houses of Parliament, which was the setting of Guy Fawkes' gun powder plot exactly 410 year ago today.

Chief Superintendent Pippa Mills spoke out about the event - also dubbed 'Operation November 5'.

She said: “This year we have strong reason to believe that peaceful protest is the last thing on the minds of many of the people who will come along.

Mills also claimed that in 2014 "hundreds of people on their way home from work, or out enjoying an evening in the capital, were surrounded by people causing them huge concern".

But her comments were rebutted by the march's organisers in a statement on Facebook, who said the event was to call for a "positive change in the world".

"We have seen the abuses and malpractice of this government, and governments before it, we have seen the encroaching destruction of many civil liberties we hold dear," they wrote.

"We have seen the pushes to make the internet yet another part of the surveillance state, we have seen the government's disregard for migrants, for the poor, the elderly and the handicapped.

"We have seen the capital, profit and greed of the few put before the well-being of the many and we say enough is enough."

They invited fellow activists, workers, students, doctors and nurses - and "all those that want to see a positive change in the world", to join them on the November 5th march.

"The government and the 1% have played their hand," they concluded, adding: "Now it is time to play ours."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315796/Migration-crisis-tr...

Are Europe's open borders on the brink of collapse? EU leaders warn of 'race against time' to save passport free travel zone as migration crisis spirals out of control 

• European Council President Donald Tusk warns: 'The clock is ticking'
• End of Schengen Agreement allowing free movement is under threat
• Sweden has stunned allies by reintroducing passport checks at borders
• For more on the EU migration crisis visit www.dailymail.co.uk/migrantcrisis

The European Union is in a ‘race against time’ to stop the impending collapse of its border-free travel zone as its leaders admitted they had lost control.

Countries across Europe are poised to bring back checkpoints as one of the most senior EU officials admitted the ‘clock was ticking’ on the end of the Schengen Agreement.

Sweden slammed shut its borders warning it could no longer continue its tradition of welcoming migrants as it cannot cope with the vast numbers coming in.

European Council president Donald Tusk said it is a 'race against time' to save the EU's Schengen travel zone

A major migration summit this evening descended into an acrimonious farce as African leaders angrily rejected a deal to take back tens of thousands of failed asylum seekers and accused Europe of causing their problems. It came on a day of chaos as:

• European Council president Donald Tusk said it was a ‘race against time’ to save the EU’s Schengen travel zone.
• Denmark said it stood ready to follow Sweden and bring back checkpoints on its border.
• Slovenia began work erecting a razor-wire fence along its border with Croatia
• Angela Merkel’s finance minister and close ally compared her managing of the migrant crisis to a ‘careless skier’ who triggers an ‘avalanche’
• It emerged European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker had told Britain to stump up £275million to help refugees in Turkey.

Sweden's prime minister Stefan Lofven today defended his decision to reintroduce passport checks, saying it was no longer possible to properly control the country's borders.

The Swedish move was seen as particularly significant as the Scandinavian country has been one of the most hospitable to migrants with the highest number per capita in any of Europe, but its officials said it is now over-stretched.

‘When our authorities tell us we cannot guarantee the security and control of our borders, we need to listen,’ Mr Lofven said.

‘We need to make sure that we have control... We have to make sure we know who is coming to Sweden.’

He called for an overhaul of the Schengen Agreement, saying the EU needed ‘to discuss what the rules should look like. We need another system. That is obvious.’

Leaders from a number of African nations were present at the conference to discuss migration with their European counterparts. Pictured left to right are Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande

Mr Tusk said the travel zone was destined to fail without radical action to secure Europe’s external border as he became the most senior EU leader to give such a pessimistic diagnosis.

‘Let there be no doubt, the future of Schengen is at stake and time is running out,’ the former Polish prime minister said.

‘The clock is ticking, we are under pressure, we need to act fast.

‘Saving Schengen is a race against time, and we are determined to win that race.’

Mr Tusk, who chairs the meetings of all 28 EU leaders, said urgent measures needed to be implemented. ‘This includes, first and foremost, restoring external border control,’ he said.

‘Without effective border control, the Schengen rules will not survive. We must hurry, but without panic.’

Danish prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said he had put in contingency plans so they could bring in border controls at a moment’s notice.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/police-at-least-11-dead-in-violence-ar...

Police: At least 35 dead in Paris attacks; hostages taken

www.rt.com/news/322488-nigeria-market-blast-yola/

32 dead, 80 injured in Nigeria market blast

ARHIVE: Security personnel rush towards the site of a car bomb explosion near a stadium in the northeastern Nigerian city of Gombe.© Afolabi Sotunde / Reuters