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Tag: Protests

  • Photos: Argentine police battle protesters opposed to sweeping reform bill

    Photos: Argentine police battle protesters opposed to sweeping reform bill

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    Police in Argentina have fired rubber bullets to disperse protesters gathered outside Congress in Buenos Aires as lawmakers debated newly elected President Javier Milei’s sweeping economic, social and political reform package.

    Opposition legislators stormed out of the building at one point to observe and denounce the police action, but later went back inside to take their seats and the debate resumed until past midnight.

    Local media reported three people injured and several arrests. The Buenos Aires press union reported at least a dozen journalists were hit by rubber bullets, including one in the face.

    It all unfolded on the second day of what is expected to be a marathon debate on Milei’s so-called omnibus reform bill.

    The 53-year-old political outsider – a libertarian and self-described anarcho-capitalist – won a resounding election victory last October on a wave of fury over decades of economic crises marked by debt, rampant money printing, inflation and fiscal deficit.

    Milei began his term by devaluing the peso by more than 50 percent, cutting state subsidies for fuel and transport, reducing the number of ministries by half, and scrapping hundreds of rules so as to deregulate the economy.

    His substantial reform package touches on all areas of public and private life, from privatisations to cultural issues, the penal code, divorce and the status of football clubs.

    But many Argentinians are already up in arms and staged a strike less than two months into his term.

    “Milei promises his austerity measures and reforms will bring down soaring inflation in Argentina and jumpstart the economy,” Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo, reporting from Thursday’s protest, sad.

    She noted, however, that the unrest showed “how difficult the months ahead will be and how the president is willing to confront those who dare oppose him”.

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  • Without clearly notifying public, Penn Museum buries remains of 19 Black Philadelphians held in its collection

    Without clearly notifying public, Penn Museum buries remains of 19 Black Philadelphians held in its collection

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    Penn Museum had sparked weeks of uproar over its planned burial of the remains of 19 Black Philadelphians that have been in its collections for decades. Community organizers and some anthropologists had called the service, set to take place Saturday, “rushed” and “disrespectful.” 

    Then, the museum quietly buried the remains ahead of schedule, alluding to it in a new announcement on Tuesday for weekend services, which will include a commemoration service and blessing. According to its website, the burial took place on Jan. 22.

    MORE: Philadelphia public schools hope to raise $40 million by 2028

    “Following the recommendations of the Morton Collection Community Advisory Group, the Black Philadelphians in the Morton Collection have been laid to rest,” a Penn spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. “After 200 years, it was time to respectfully lay them to rest.”

    That decision drew a strong rebuke from many people who opposed Penn Museum handling the burial. They included Lyra D. Monteiro, an assistant professor of history at Rutgers University, who had formally objected to Penn Museum’s court petition to bury the remains.  

    “The folks I have been in touch with are just in shock, and think it’s an assault,” Monteiro said. “It’s violent for them to have done this. I mean, how would you feel if somebody said, ‘oh yeah, I didn’t think you’d really care, so I just buried your grandma last week?’”

    A Penn Museum spokesperson argued the institution had provided public notice, pointing to a Jan. 19 Facebook post that stated the 19 Black individuals would be laid to rest “next week.” A tweet sent that same day, however, said the remains would be “respectfully laid to rest, Feb. 3.” The spokesperson did not offer explanation for the conflicting social media messaging. 

    The museum’s website also appears to have been updated after the burial took place. In screenshots of the Morton Cranial Collection page captured prior to the burial on Jan. 11 and four days later on Jan. 26, there is no reference to the Jan. 22 service, or any event other than the Feb. 3 public commemoration.

    This event had inspired multiple letters of protest and condemnations from anthropologists who said the museum had not conducted enough research into the individuals now interred in Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Delaware County. All of these individuals, the museum says, were previously part of the Morton Cranial Collection, an archive of more than 1,300 skulls the museum has managed since 1966. Samuel Morton, who collected and conducted research on the remains in the mid-1800s, was a Philadelphia physician who used the skulls to further white supremacist arguments about supposed biological inferiorities. 

    Museum officials said descendants and basic biographies could not be identified for the men and women, but critics argue they haven’t looked hard enough. In the lead-up to the burial service, Finding Ceremony, an initiative working on behalf of descendant groups, unearthed significant information on another individual the museum had planned to bury, John Voorhees. The research revealed that Voorhees’s mother was Indigenous, making his burial a violation of federal law. 

    In response to the research report, the museum said it would exclude Voorhees from the burial and follow the process outlined in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. A Penn Museum spokesperson confirmed that Voorhees was excluded from the burial of the remains.

    “They don’t care,” said aAliy Muhammad, one of the co-stewards of Finding Ceremony and a member of the Black Philadelphians Descendant Community Group. “I don’t know how many times I can say that. They have not cared for these ancestors. They have not cared for community, and they won’t care. That’s the reason why we’re saying they are not the correct institution. No institution should be doing this work at all. But Penn by far is the most incorrect institution to ever consider doing this work.”

    The complicated timeline that led to the burial stretches back to more than two centuries ago, when Morton began building his collection through a vast network of associates who, in some cases, plundered the skulls from graves or battlefields. After Morton’s death in 1851, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia bought his collection. The Penn Museum acquired it in 1966.

    The collection was used for teaching and research purposes and partially displayed in University of Pennsylvania classrooms until 2020, when the museum undertook a reexamination of the collection apparently inspired by the racial justice protests over George Floyd’s murder. Staffers relocated the crania to storage, and formed a committee and later an advisory group to make recommendations on the collection’s future.

    Muhammad was part of that advisory group, but broke with the museum over its first attempt at a burial service in 2022. When the Penn Museum petitioned the Orphans’ Court to bury 13 Black Philadelphians in the collection, claiming consensus from the advisory group, Muhammad and Monteiro filed objections. The pair outlined a proposal for a descendant-led process that would transfer stewardship of the collection from the museum to Finding Ceremony, which would then create a complete catalog of every cranium and conduct research with the aim of identifying possible descendants. Penn Museum would provide funding, but relinquish all oversight.

    “The point is that the decision is not made by the institution that caused the harm,” Monteiro said.

    The court ultimately sided with the museum last February, approving its plan to inter the individuals at Eden Cemetery, a historically Black burial site. Over the course of the proceedings, the number of individuals increased from 13 to 20 — another indication, Finding Ceremony argued, of the museum’s mishandling and misunderstanding of the remains.

    In December, the museum announced plans for its Feb. 3 ceremony, promising a 10 a.m. interfaith service outside the museum followed by a blessing at Eden Cemetery. The timeline fell just within the court’s mandated burial deadline of one year from the ruling.

    “After nearly 200 years these individuals are finally being returned to the Black community and laid to rest with respect,” Christopher Woods, the director of the Penn Museum, said in a statement at the time. “This is a small but long-overdue step towards addressing injustices that have spanned centuries.”

    Critics, however, continued to voice objections to the plans. Aja Lans, a bioarchaeologist at Johns Hopkins University called the museum’s research “egregious” in an interview with Science magazine. Kyle Olson, an archaeologist at Washington University at St. Louis who received his PhD from Penn, called on the museum to “do better by Philly” on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

    Meanwhile, Monteiro and other researchers affiliated with Finding Ceremony investigated Voorhees, the only person slated for burial with a name. By combing through the Chester County Archives and Records Service and other sources, Monteiro and her team discovered that Voorhees had a wife and a child and described his mother as an “Indian squaw” in an interview conducted shortly before his death. Penn Museum had written in a previously published document that “a review of finding aids for Archives and Records at the
    Chester County History Center of Pennsylvania did not reveal any information about Mr. John Voorhees.”

    “Our report very clearly laid out multiple methodological errors that the Penn Museum had made in their research, which is why they had not found the same information,” Monteiro said. “I am a skilled researcher, you know, I am a professional archaeologist and historian, and I spend a lot of time in archives. But the University of Pennsylvania actually has a few professional historians itself, I think.

    “(It) ultimately comes down to not caring enough to do the research, and also not realizing when they didn’t know something.”

    Now with the burial completed, protestors have expressed shock and outrage on social media, calling the museum’s actions “despicable” and a possible violation of court orders.

    “This horrific happening also serves the purpose of gesturing that Black people in our lives and afterlives don’t matter,” Muhammad tweeted. “I’m really angry that this was allowed to take place. I’m sick to my stomach.”

    This story has been updated with the burial date and additional information on the Penn Museum’s previous invitations and social media messaging. Descriptions of Finding Ceremony and its affiliates have also been updated to more accurately reflect its work and organization.

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    Kristin Hunt

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  • Mona Lisa Splattered With Pumpkin Soup by Protesters in Paris

    Mona Lisa Splattered With Pumpkin Soup by Protesters in Paris

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    The world’s most famous painting was the focus of yet another demonstration on Sunday. when activists from the environmental group Riposte Alimentaire splattered Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa with pumpkin soup. The protest at the famed Paris museum, the Louvre, was an effort to draw attention to food insecurity in France, the organization said. The painting, which is encased in a sheet of bulletproof glass, was not damaged in the incident.

    According to a statement released by The Louvre, “Two activists from the environmental movement ‘Riposte Alimentaire’ sprayed pumpkin soup on the armoured glass protecting the Mona Lisa, this Sunday, January 28, 2024, around 10 am (4 am ET). The Louvre’s security staff immediately intervened … The museum will lodge a complaint.”

    This image grab taken from AFPTV footage shows two environmental activists from the collective dubbed “Riposte Alimentaire” (Food Retaliation) gesturing as they stand in front of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Vinci’sMona Lisa” (La Joconde) painting after hurling soup at the artwork, at the Louvre museum in Paris, on January 28, 2024.

    DAVID CANTINIAUX/Getty Images

    In security video from the action, one can see two women throw the liquid onto the well-shielded 16th-century painting, as the crowd in the Salle des Etats display area gasps. The duo duck beneath a barrier and stand beside the painting, as one unveils a t-shirt with Riposte Alimentaire written across her chest.

    “What is more important? Art or the right to have a healthy and sustainable food system?” the New York Times translates the women as saying in French. 

    “Our agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,” the BBC quotes them as saying.

    This image grab taken from AFPTV footage shows Leonardo Da Vincis “Mona Lisa” painting doused in soup after two...

    This image grab taken from AFPTV footage shows Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” (La Joconde) painting doused in soup after two environmental activists from the collective dubbed “Riposte Alimentaire” (Food Retaliation) hurled food at the artwork, at the Louvre museum in Paris, on January 28, 2024.

    DAVID CANTINIAUX/Getty Images

    Via X (formerly Twitter), Riposte Alimentaire—which, in English, can be read as  “Food Counterattack”—took credit for the action, and wrote that “Sasha (24) and Marie-Juliette (63) demand the establishment of Sustainable Food Social Security.”

    “In France, one in three people skip meals due to lack of means. At the same time, 20% of the food produced is thrown away,” the group said in a subsequent tweet.

    The group is asking that “food be added to the social security safety net and each resident be given a card topped up with 150 euros ($162) a month to buy ‘democratically selected’ pre-approved products,” Time reports. This proposal to change French societal support comes as farmers in the country’s agricultural areas block roads as a protest against governmental regulations and rising fuel prices.

    As the women were led away by Louvre security, staffers attempted to hide the mess with black, cloth screens, USA Today notes, while other workers hustled to evacuate the room. It reopened to visitors later that day.

    This isn’t the first attack on the Mona Lisa, a painting that was famously (albeit fictionally) destroyed in Rian Johnson film Glass Onion. A former Louvre employee stole the painting in 1911 and kept it hidden for about two years. In 1956, it faced a wave of defacements: razor blade, acid, and a tossed rock, The Week reports. That’s when it got the glass covering that shielded it from future incidents, including a thrown mug in 2009 and a pastry smear in 2022.

    Regarding this latest attack, French Minister for Culture Rachida Dati was firm. “The Mona Lisa, like our heritage, belongs to future generations,” she wrote on X. “No cause can justify it being targeted!”



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    Eve Batey

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  • Protesters Just Targeted the Mona Lisa by Throwing Soup

    Protesters Just Targeted the Mona Lisa by Throwing Soup

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    Two environmental activists threw soup on Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting in the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday in a protest for sustainable food and social security, the group behind them said. 

    The two activists ducked under a barrier surrounding the famous painting, which is protected by glass, then unzipped their coats to reveal the name of civil resistance climate activist group Riposte Alimentaire, which translates to “food response,” on their t-shirts. They raised one hand each in what looked like they were taking an oath and called for “healthy and sustainable” food, per English translations of videos posted online. Museum staff moved in quickly, using black shields to cover the scene as onlookers cried out in dismay.

    Paris police said two people were arrested, the Associated Press reported. TIME reached out to the police for further information.

    Riposte Alimentaire claimed responsibility via social media for the protest action by two people, ages 24 and 63, that took place at 10 a.m. The group, a part of the Europe-wide A22 network of which U.K. climate activist group Just Stop Oil is also a member, says in an English translation of its website that “we are the last generation capable of preventing societal collapse.”

    The French group drew attention in its social media posts about their latest action to social, economic, and environmental problems with the food system, with food production accounting for roughly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions globally.

    The group highlighted food insecurity in France. A report last year stated that 38% of Europeans no longer eat three meals a day. The agriculture system is broken, the group said, pointing to suicides among farmers feeling the financial squeeze. Currently, French farmers are protesting nationwide, blocking roads and threatening to converge on the capital as they demand better pay and living conditions from the government.

    To address “serious food insecurity,” Riposte Alimentaire demanded that food be added to the social security safety net and each resident be given a card topped up with 150 euros ($162) a month to buy “democratically selected” pre-approved products. 

    The most recent attention-grabbing protest mirrors a wave of similar actions by climate activists across Europe. In 2022, two Just Stop Oil protesters threw tomato soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting in the National Gallery in London.

    Just Stop Oil protesters have also interrupted a West End musical performance, vandalized King Charles III’s Madame Tussauds wax figure, and blocked roads during protests, resulting in mass arrests—all in their bid to get the U.K. government to stop investing in new gas, oil, and coal projects.



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    Mallory Moench

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  • Argentines protest against new austerity measures

    Argentines protest against new austerity measures

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    The president has said that the austerity measures are due to years of overspending that have resulted in huge debts.

    Argentine unions have begun a 12-hour strike in the capital to protest against tough economic reforms by President Javier Milei.

    Wednesday’s demonstration is the most significant show of opposition to Milei’s spending cuts and privatisation plans since he took office last month and pledged to fix an economy dealing with 211 percent inflation.

    The strike, coordinated by the umbrella union, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), comes amid scrutiny of Milei’s two significant reforms: the “omnibus” bill going through Congress and a “mega-decree” deregulating the economy.

    “Milei wants a country where poverty and informal work reaches 90 percent,” union member and national opposition deputy Hugo Yasky said on local radio station Radio Con Vos.

    “Now there is no job creation. What there is now is widespread misery, people’s desperation, there are no measures to mitigate the damage they are causing.”

    Demonstrators hold a placard that reads ‘down with the decree’ as they protest near the Pueyrredon Bridge during a one-day national strike, in Buenos Aires, Argentina [Agustin Marcarian/Reuters]

    Earlier on Wednesday, the omnibus bill was approved by a committee in the lower congressional house, the Chamber of Deputies.

    The mass strikes began at 12pm (15:00 GMT) and affected transportation, banks, hospitals, and public services.

    Local airlines said they had been forced to cancel hundreds of fights due to the demonstration.

    Protesters held placards that read “The homeland is not for sale” and “Eating is not a privilege” as some others held a giant puppet of Milei.

    Another poster said, “Today’s retirees are yesterday’s workers, stop robbing them!”

    Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman, reporting from Buenos Aires, said it was “impossible” to determine the number of people attending the protest due to its scale.

    “There seems to be a kind of unofficial agreement with the strikers and the security minister to allow these huge numbers of people to be here but only if they cannot disrupt traffic,” Newman said.

    “It’s still very, very tense, and it’s an ongoing situation here, but it’s a huge turnout so far.”

    Milei’s government said that the austerity measures are due to years of overspending that have left the South American country with huge debts to local and international creditors, including a $44bn deal with the International Monetary Fund.

    “There is no strike that stops us, there is no threat that intimidates us,” Milei’s security minister and former presidential election rival Patricia Bullrich wrote on X.

    “It’s mafia unionists, poverty managers, complicit judges and corrupt politicians, all defending their privileges, resisting the change that society chose democratically.”

    Milei, an economist and former TV pundit, assumed the presidency after a shock win in last year’s general election.

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  • Iran executes 2022 protester for murder

    Iran executes 2022 protester for murder

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    Human rights advocates criticise Mohammad Ghobadlou’s conviction, saying he did not get a fair trial.

    Iran has executed a man who ran over and killed a policeman, and injured five other people, during nationwide protests in 2022.

    Mohammad Ghobadlou was executed on Tuesday after being found guilty of the killing during mass protests two years ago, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency. However, human rights advocates criticised his conviction, saying he did not get a fair trial.

    “After being upheld by the Supreme Court, the death penalty against defendant Mohammad Ghobadlou has been implemented early this morning,” Mizan reported.

    The policeman was killed amid the huge protests that followed the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman who was arrested for violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.

    Ghobadlou was initially sentenced to death in November 2022 after being convicted of “corruption on earth” for attacking police in Tehran with a car.

    The Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution in February 2023, and later ordered consideration of his mental health, according to Mehr news agency.

    Mizan reported on Tuesday that the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence, which was carried out under Iran’s Islamic law of retribution.

    Hundreds died during the 2022 protests, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands were arrested over what officials labelled as foreign-instigated “riots”.

    Ghobadlou is the eighth person executed after being convicted of murder or other violence against security forces during the demonstrations.

    ‘Unfair sham trials’

    However, human rights group Amnesty International said the 22-year-old’s right to a fair trial was violated, and his bipolar condition was not taken into consideration by the judicial system.

    “Ghobadlou received two death sentences after grossly unfair sham trials marred by torture-tainted ‘confessions’ and failure to order rigorous mental health assessments despite his mental disability,” Amnesty said.

    However, Mizan said claims of mental disability were wrong. Ghobadlou, it noted, had allegedly rejected the suggestion during his trial.

    Earlier this month, dozens of people, including Ghobadlou’s family, demonstrated in front of a prison in the Iranian city of Karaj against his sentencing as well as that of another young man.

    “My child is sick, he has a medical file, but they don’t want to accept,” Ghobadlou’s mother shouted in one video of the event at that time, which was verified by Al Jazeera.

    Iran executes more people per year than any other country except China, according to Amnesty, and usually does so by hanging.

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  • Israelis protest for hostages’ release as clashes increase with Hezbollah at the Lebanon border

    Israelis protest for hostages’ release as clashes increase with Hezbollah at the Lebanon border

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    Israelis protest for hostages’ release as clashes increase with Hezbollah at the Lebanon border – CBS News


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    The Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah are continuing to trade blows along Lebanon’s border with Israel, leading to concerns that the northern border may become a second front amid the war in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli citizens are calling for the release of all remaining hostages taken on Oct. 7. Ian Lee has more from Israel.

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  • Black Friday boycott calls intensify

    Black Friday boycott calls intensify

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    Calls to boycott Black Friday as part of protests over the Israeli-Palestinian war are growing on social media.

    Protesters on platforms including X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram have argued that people should not take part in the discount day on November 24 because the pause in fighting agreed between Israeli officials and Hamas is not enough.

    The deal will see Hamas release at least 50 hostages over a four-day period, with a temporary stop in fighting, more humanitarian aid into Gaza and 150 Palestinian women and teenagers held in Israeli jails released.

    Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in New York City on October 9, 2023. Some activists are now calling for a Black Friday boycott as part of a protest over the Israeli-Palestinian war.
    Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

    But the reaction from some pro-Palestinian accounts on social media demanded a total stop to the war and called for the Black Friday boycott to take place in protest.

    One post that was seen more than 60,000 times on X said the pause in fighting was so shoppers can “spend guilt free” and urged consumers to “hit them in their pockets” by not taking part.

    Another reached more than 177,000 people and asked: “Are you ready to disrupt business as usual? No celebrating in peace while genocide takes place. This Black Friday, November 24, people around the world will boycott, disrupt, and rally at commercial centers as we continue to #ShutItDown4Palestine.”

    Following the October 7 assault, during which thousands of Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack from Gaza into southern Israel and killed 1,200 Israelis, predominantly civilians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until the Israeli goal of the elimination of Hamas and the return of hostages is achieved.

    White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said of accusations of genocide: “Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map. Israel is not trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat. So if we’re going to start using that word, fine. Let’s use it appropriately.”

    Black Friday shoppers in a Colorado mall
    Black Friday shoppers walk through a mall in Colorado on November 26, 2021. The commercial discount event is set to be boycotted by some protesters this year.
    Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

    The Party for Socialism and Liberation 2024 campaign of Claudia De La Cruz for President & Karina Garcia for VP has also backed the Black Friday boycott.

    In a statement, it wrote: “This holiday season also presents a crucial opportunity for us to take a stand for the Palestinian people. We call on everyone to join the Shut it Down for Palestine movement: disrupt, march, rally and take other creative actions at commercial centers this Friday.

    “Tens of thousands across the country will be shutting down business-as-usual on Black Friday, the most profitable day of the year for major retail corporations—join us!”

    The protest groups’ demands include a permanent ceasefire, the end of all U.S. aid to Israel and the release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

    But despite people vowing to boycott, it is unlikely to have an impact on Black Friday and data from the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported by Forbes predicts that more people than ever are set to make a purchase as part of the upcoming annual event and surrounding sales.

    An estimated 182 million people are planning to shop in-store and online from Thanksgiving Day through to Cyber Monday, according to the federation’s survey. This is the highest estimate since they began tracking the data in 2017.

    Newsweek has contacted the NRF and The Party for Socialism and Liberation via email for comment.