British protest against Islamic extremism turns violent, more than 30 arrested amid clashes

September 30th, 2009 Study says too much candy could lead to prisonLONDON — Willy Wonka would be horrified. Children who eat too much candy may be more likely to be arrested for violent behavior as adults, new research suggests.

September 17th, 2009 Watchdog slams Vancouver Olympic protest zonesVANCOUVER, British Columbia — A Canadian civil rights watchdog group says protest zones at the Vancouver Games will increase the chances of Olympic demonstrators clashing with police. Games organizers say protests will be allowed in police-controlled "safe assembly areas" within sight of the venues, media and spectators.

September 12th, 2009 UK gov't troubled by violent anti-Islam protestsLONDON — A British minister is sounding the alarm over a spate of anti-Islam demonstrations that have descended into violence in the past month. Communities minister John Denham says recent clashes between white protesters and Muslim counter-demonstrators in Birmingham and London have parallels to the violence provoked by 1930s-era fascists.

September 12th, 2009 UK troubled by violent anti-Islam protestsLONDON — Violent clashes between anti-Islam demonstrators and Muslim counter-protesters in English cities are worrying the government, with one British minister comparing the disturbances to 1930s-era fascist incitement. The violence that has hit Luton, Birmingham and London in the last few months has involved a loose collection of far-right groups — such as the previously unknown English Defense League — on one side and anti-fascist organizations and Muslim youth on the other.

September 12th, 2009 LONDON - A British minister has warned of 1930s-style fascist provocation on the streets of London as police arrested eight people at a 9/11 anti-Islamic demonstration in a London suburb. Community Minister John Denham pinpointed the English Defence League while warning of far-right provocation in Britain.

September 7th, 2009 LONDON - Muslims were encouraged by the Birmingham Central Mosque to "vent their feelings" against anti-Islamic protesters during a weekend rally, which ended up taking shape of a riot. The Times quoted Birmingham Central Mosque's chairman Mohammad Naseem as saying that he encouraged members of his congregation to participate in the rally despite the advice given by the West Midlands Police to stop his flowers from attending.

September 6th, 2009 British police arrest 90 after Birmingham clashesLONDON — Authorities arrested 90 people after racially charged violence erupted between a group protesting Islamic extremism and counter-demonstrators in the central English city of Birmingham, police said Sunday. The clashes erupted Saturday when a rally by the English Defense League ran into counter-demonstrators including anti-fascists and youths of South Asian descent, West Midlands Police said.

July 19th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran Sunday freed a British embassy staffer, the last of nine arrested on suspicion in fomenting dissent after alleged fraud in Iran's June 12 presidential elections. Hossein Rassam, chief analyst of the British embassy, had been detained for more than three weeks.

July 7th, 2009 36 arrested at anti-G-8 protest in RomeROME — Police arrested 36 activists Tuesday after clashes at a Rome demonstration against this week's Group of Eight summit in central Italy. Protesters with covered faces and helmets blocked roads and set fire to garbage bins and tires near one of the capital's universities.

May 19th, 2009 LONDON - Ten people were arrested after violent clashes early Tuesday left 21 British policemen and 11 Tamil protesters injured in central London, police said Tuesday. At least three policemen and eight Tamils were treated in hospital after the clashes, which began just after midnight when police moved demonstrators off a busy road opposite the British parliament, where they had been staging a sit-in.

May 11th, 2009 LONDON - Police arrested 31 people after hundreds of Tamil protesters waving LTTE flags brought traffic to a standstill outside the British parliament in the middle of Monday-morning rush hour. Police made the arrests after some 500 protesters calling for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka broke through police lines at around 10.30 a.m and squatted in the middle of the road in front of the British parliament in central London.

April 9th, 2009 LONDON - British universities have long been identified as a potential breeding ground for extremists. inisters have already warned that the threat from campuses was "real and serious" as students are at risk of being groomed by fanatics.

April 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Police guarding world leaders at the G20 summit in London Thursday were braced for more anti-capitalist protests after making 87 arrests overnight. Masked anarchists Wednesday smashed their way into a Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) branch in Central London amid 'high levels of violence' throughout the day, police said.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - A new report by a think tank has urged British ministers to re-think their Preventing Violent Extremism campaign. "Not only is it failing to achieve its stated objectives, in many places it is actually making the situation worse.

January 7th, 2009 LONDON - Amid a reported surge in anti-Jewish attacks in Europe, a group of leading moderate Muslims Thursday warned Prime Minister Gordon Brown that anger over Israel's invasion of Gaza could spill over to the streets of Britain. '...The anger within UK Muslim communities has reached acute levels of intensity,' said a letter to Brown from 14 British Muslims who are among the government's leading counter-extremism advisers.