Witnesses: police use tear gas, water cannon to disperse thousands of protesters in Tehran

October 9th, 2009 Honduras police break up protests at site of talksTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Police fired tear gas and a water cannon Friday at protesters outside a hotel where talks on behalf of rival claimants to the Honduran presidency showed little sign of progress. Six negotiators — three each for ousted President Manuel Zelaya and interim President Roberto Micheletti — met for a second day after a diplomatic mission sponsored by the Organization of American States brought them together.

October 6th, 2009 Madagascar police use tear gas on protestersANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Police have dispersed protesters with tear gas outside a meeting of mediators who hope to smooth over Madagascar's post-coup political turmoil. African Union commissioner Jean Ping says the third meeting of African Union and southern African mediators on Tuesday hopes to reach a peaceful political solution after a coup in March.

October 6th, 2009 Police break up anti-IMF protest in IstanbulISTANBUL — Turkish police used water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray on Tuesday to disperse hundreds of demonstrators protesting against the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank held in Istanbul. Dozens of masked protesters shattered the windows of a McDonald's restaurant and several banks, also damaging vehicles as they ran into the streets behind Istanbul's Taksim Square, which is less than a kilometer (half a mile) from the venue of the IMF and World Bank meeting.

August 26th, 2009 SAfrican police clash with protesting soldiersJOHANNESBURG — Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas as violence flared during a wage protest by South African soldiers in the streets of Pretoria, the capital. A policeman and several soldiers were injured.

August 22nd, 2009 Thousands demonstrate over Venezuela education lawCARACAS, Venezuela — Police dispersed opponents of President Hugo Chavez's government on Saturday as thousands demonstrated both for and against an education law that critics fear will lead to political indoctrination in schools. Officers fired tear gas, a water cannon and rubber bullets to scatter opposition marchers as they tried to break through a police barrier.

August 3rd, 2009 TEHRAN - Renewed protest demonstrations started Monday in Tehran, just hours after the official endorsement of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second presidential term, eye-witnesses said. Thousands gathered between the two squares of Vali Asr and Vanak which connect central to northern Tehran, they said.

August 1st, 2009 10,000 defy Malaysia police, protest detention lawKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Riot police fired tear gas in a clash with at least 10,000 opposition supporters who marched in Malaysia's main city Saturday to protest a law allowing detention without trial. The rally in Kuala Lumpur was intended to pressure the government to scrap the Internal Security Act, which provides for indefinite imprisonment of people regarded as security threats.

August 1st, 2009 Malaysian police crush rally against detention lawKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Police broke up Malaysia's biggest street protest in nearly two years on Saturday, firing tear gas and chemical-laced water at thousands of opposition supporters demanding an end to a law that allows detention without trial. Witnesses estimated as many as 20,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur in defiance of government warnings for people to shun the rally against the Internal Security Act, which allows the indefinite imprisonment of people regarded as security threats.

August 1st, 2009 Malaysian police tear gas, scuffle with protestersKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Riot police charged demonstrators with batons and fired tear gas Saturday to disperse thousands of people marching in Malaysia's largest city to protest a law that allows indefinite detention without trial. People began massing at Kuala Lumpur's main mosque, a shopping mall and a train station Saturday morning in defiance of government warnings that police would crack down on demonstrators, who are pushing leaders to scrap the Internal Security Act, which allows the imprisonment of people regarded as security threats.

July 30th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian police and security forces Thursday broke up a demonstration by mourners remembering those killed in recent post-election clashes, and prevented Mir Hussein Moussavi from attending, witnesses said. Police used batons to break up a crowd of several hundred who had gathered around the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan, who died during last month's protests against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

June 20th, 2009 TEHRAN/BERLIN - Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the presidential candidate defeated in last week's contested poll, has written a letter to Iran's Guardian Council Saturday, saying that he believes the election was rigged in advance. In the seven-page letter, made public as clashes were going on between police and protestors in Tehran, Moussavi said "I will continue my efforts to clarify the truth on the basis of the constitution and current laws, although the violations and planning of this disgusting move had been planned in advance." The Guardian Council had offered to recount 10 percent of votes randomly to prove the veracity of the poll.

June 20th, 2009 Witnesses report fierce clashes on Tehran streetsTEHRAN, Iran — Police beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands who rallied Saturday in open defiance of Iran's clerical government, sharply escalating the most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Eyewitnesses described fierce clashes after some 3,000 protesters, many wearing black, chanted "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to dictatorship!" near Revolution Square in downtown Tehran.

June 12th, 2009 Police fire tear gas in Peru protestsLIMA, Peru — Riot police have fired tear gas to keep protesters away from Peru's Congress as thousands march in favor of Amazon Indians who want it to overturn laws they say threaten their lands. Some 4,000 students, labor unions and other native Peruvians from the country's Andean highlands to its jungle lowlands joined the mostly peaceful nationwide protests.

May 1st, 2009 Clashes, tear gas at Venezuela opposition marchCARACAS, Venezuela — Hundreds of Venezuelan police and National Guard troops broke up an opposition march Friday with volleys of tear gas and water cannon blasts. Thousands of opponents of President Hugo Chavez retreated as clouds of gas spread out over an avenue in downtown Caracas.

April 28th, 2009 EU police disperse Serb protest in Kosovo's northMITROVICA, Kosovo — Serbs protesting the building of homes for ethnic Albanians in Kosovo's tense north threw two hand grenades and fired gunshots at European Union police officers, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades to drive the crowd away Monday. It was the gravest incident since the EU took over policing Kosovo from the United Nations late last year, as part of an earlier peace plan that opened the way for the heavily Albanian region to declare independence from Serbia.