Demonstrations

Neither side can drown out the other. Both so far are exercising a measure of restraint. But as authorities try to rein in Iran's most serious unrest since the Islamic Revolution, they face a diverse opposition united in its rejection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his policies.

Protests, rallies and scattered class cancellations roiled University of California campuses across the state Thursday, on the first day of the fall quarter for many students. But predictions by some organizers that the 10 campuses could be shut down by demonstrations against fee increases and pay cuts did not materialize. The size and intensity of the protests and related activities varied significantly across the UC system. An estimated 5,000 people demonstrated at UC Berkeley, the oldest campus; just 20 or so took part at UC Merced, the newest.

Father Louis Vitale has lost track of how many times he has been arrested. More than 200, he figures, maybe 300. The gaunt Franciscan friar figures he's spent a year and a half behind bars. At 76, he is ready to go to jail again. Last month, he appeared before a federal magistrate in Santa Barbara.

By the time Iranian authorities drew the curtain this week, it was too late. Attempts to choke off coverage of massive protests and postelection street battles between dissidents and government forces came well after the American public had reset a nascent and evolving impression of Iran, experts say. With the cooperation of the government, the global media buzzed in the days before the June 12 election with images of a youthful and exuberant Iran engaged in political debate.

None of the Los Angeles police officers accused of using excessive force on demonstrators and journalists at a 2007 May Day gathering at MacArthur Park will be fired, officials said Tuesday. Police Chief William J. Bratton had sought to punish 11 officers and called for the termination of four others by sending them to disciplinary panels for their involvement in the melee, which has cost the city $13 million in legal settlements.

Church of Scientology critics are accusing Riverside County of kowtowing to the religion and infringing on free speech by passing an ordinance that limits protest outside the church's sprawling complex near Hemet. For the last year, a handful of demonstrators who believe Scientology is an abusive cult have picketed Golden Era Productions, the church's main center for the production and dissemination of videos and tapes. The campus is home to 500 church employees.

A vehicle carrying Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was attacked by anti-government protesters Tuesday as turmoil intensified in Thailand days ahead of a key regional summit. A group of 50 protesters smashed the rear window and pummeled Abhisit's driver and bodyguards while the vehicle was stopped at a red light, according to local media reports and witnesses.

As authorities in Tehran have blocked opposition websites, jammed satellite TV channels and banned foreign journalists from covering demonstrations against last week's disputed elections, Iranians living in the U.S. have rushed to fill the communications gap. Iranian students and exiles here are flooding Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and their e-mail distribution lists with footage of bloodied protesters and other snippets gleaned from friends and relatives back home.

Several thousand people held anti-government protests in the Hungarian capital during a national holiday Sunday, and police detained 35 people. Dressed in riot gear, the police chased some of the protesters through the streets of Budapest and prevented them from reaching the parliament building, where violent protests had taken place in 2006. At one point, tear gas was used to drive back a small group of demonstrators that tried to attack police lines near St. Stephen's Basilica.

Take world-class traffic congestion. Add protesters, tens of thousands of them, until streets become a thick, impenetrable mass. Let angry horn-blowing begin. Repeat, over and over. There are times in Mexico's teeming capital when you can't get there from here. Usually, it's a question of too many cars on too few streets. But on many other days -- Wednesday, for example -- the paralysis is caused by street demonstrations, which are as worthy an emblem of Mexico City as the Angel of Independence statue on Paseo de la Reforma, where marchers often gather.