Street Protests

CAIRO -- Egypt awoke to fresh protests Friday against the draft of a new constitution and a president who refuses to rein in his power after more than a week of unrest, economic tumult and searing political division. President Mohamed Morsi is defending his expanded power and a much-criticized proposed constitution as necessary to hold parliamentary elections and advance Egypt's political transition. But opposition groups accuse Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood of pushing an authoritarian agenda that lacks bold visions to inspire an Arab world undergoing great change.

PARIS - The French Parliament on Tuesday approved a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt, voting after months of often angry debate and sometimes violent protests in the streets. Members of the Socialist government chanted "Equality, equality" and stood up to applaud the results of the 331-225 vote in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. The center-right opposition party immediately announced its intention to appeal the law. Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, a strong supporter of the bill, said she was "overcome with emotion.

You know you're getting old when you can remember the days when people took to the streets in protest because they wanted to stay out of the army. MICHAEL SCHLESINGER Sherman Oaks

CAIRO - The young policeman with scuffed boots and sleepless eyes sat on a motorcycle in a neighborhood that no longer feared or respected him. Khaled Sayed wore the colors of his trade: a black beret adorned with a silver eagle. An officer for three years, Sayed patrols streets where guns flow and jobless youths roam with knives and rage. Uniformed men with badges and battered side arms once held sway here, but their swagger has been clipped by a new and dangerous order. Egypt's police and central security forces, for decades the thuggish protectors of Hosni Mubarak's repressive state, now safeguard a new government run by Islamist elements they once persecuted.

A general strike shut down much of Zimbabwe's already crippled economy, but security forces prevented efforts to organize massive street protests against President Robert Mugabe. Most banks, shops and other businesses remained closed across the troubled southern African country on the second day of a show of anti-government sentiment. Security forces reacted swiftly to crush street demonstrations, using rubber clubs, rifle butts, water cannons, tear gas and warning shots to disperse crowds.

Chinese students, ignoring police lines, Thursday turned Tian An Men Square in central Beijing into the scene of a festive pro-democracy celebration, then declared an end to nearly three weeks of protests. "Today is a very big victory," said a man in a crowd of about 150,000 that poured into the downtown square Thursday afternoon after police abandoned efforts to limit access to it. "To have such a big demonstration after the government tried to stop it is no simple thing." Thursday's demonstration was spearheaded by about 40,000 students who approached the square in orderly columns from various directions and pushed through lines of police who offered only token resistance.

The center of this capital city became one giant SigAlert on Sunday as anti-government demonstrators unleashed their newest weapon--their cars--in the fight against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Challenging a ban on street protests, thousands of motorists jammed their vehicles into principal avenues and brought Belgrade to a noisy standstill full of horns, car alarms and protesters' whistles. Demanding that opposition victories in Nov.

The Syrian-backed government of Lebanon collapsed Monday under a groundswell of street protests, candlelight vigils and international pressure to end Damascus' domination of its neighbor. While thousands of demonstrators thronged the streets outside, Prime Minister Omar Karami, an ally of Syria, stood before parliament and announced that he would quit his job and dismantle his Cabinet. The decision was apparently spontaneous.

The interim prime minister of the North African country that inspired the ongoing uprisings throughout the Arab world resigned Sunday after a new round of daily protests resulted in three weekend deaths. Interim President Fouad Mebazaa named Beji Caid Essebsi, a former foreign minister who served under Tunisia's long-ago President Habib Bourguiba, as new caretaker prime minister ahead of elections planned for the summer, state television reported. Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who served in the same post under deposed President Zine el Abidine ben Ali, bowed to public pressure and unruly street protests demanding that any traces of the former regime be purged from public life.

Greece took a step back from imminent default Wednesday by passing a stinging new austerity package but failed to dispel fear that its mounting debt is becoming unsustainable and, sooner rather than later, will still have to be restructured. The Greek government eked out a tense legislative victory that saw lawmakers defy raging street protests outside Parliament to vote 155-138 in favor of $40 billion in painful budget cuts and tax hikes over the next few years. The showdown came after stark warnings from European leaders that failure to pass the austerity plan would spell certain bankruptcy for Greece and potential disaster for the euro by spreading instability to more populous debt-laden nations such as Spain and Italy.

MEXICO CITY - Enrique Peña Nieto, a 46-year-old career politician and member of Mexico's old-guard political party, Saturday assumed the presidency of a nation reeling from drug-related violence, promising his fellow citizens that "the primary focus of my government is to achieve a Mexico at peace. " By that measure, his term did not start well. Outside the lower house of Congress, where Peña Nieto was given the presidential sash by his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, protesters clashed with police, lobbing Molotov cocktails and rocks.

CAIRO -- Egypt awoke to fresh protests Friday against the draft of a new constitution and a president who refuses to rein in his power after more than a week of unrest, economic tumult and searing political division. President Mohamed Morsi is defending his expanded power and a much-criticized proposed constitution as necessary to hold parliamentary elections and advance Egypt's political transition. But opposition groups accuse Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood of pushing an authoritarian agenda that lacks bold visions to inspire an Arab world undergoing great change.

L.A. rapper Omar Offendum came of age in a hip-hop era filled with violent tales by artists like Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. But last year, the 30-year-old Syrian American discovered how truly dangerous hip-hop could be. "I had to hold my tongue for a long time," Offendum said of his song "#Syria," a furious riposte to Syrian President Bashar Assad that he released in March. Although Offendum (he prefers not to use his real name to protect family) is hardly a superstar, the underground track still could have had devastating implications for family members still in Syria.

TEHRAN - Iranian police and demonstrators clashed Wednesday during street protests linked to rising prices and the plunging value of the national currency. Police in black riot gear fired tear gas and moved to disperse the protesters after they had rallied outside the capital's central bazaar and then marched toward the parliament building. Many businesses and shops were shuttered, which in effect led to the shutdown of the huge marketplace. "Our checks bounced, our businesses are ruined," said a merchant who gave his name as Ali. "How shall we earn a living?"

Of the foreign journalists who had been alerted to a shocking political protest against South Vietnam's U.S.-supported government, only one - Malcolm Browne of the Associated Press - arrived in June 1963 to document it. His photos of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc setting himself ablaze on a Saigon street ran on front pages around the world and prompted President Kennedy to order a reevaluation of his administration's Vietnam policy. "No news picture in history has generated so much emotion as that one," Kennedy said, according to the 2006 book "Cold War Mandarin.

An independent report released Wednesday criticizes the use of force by University of California police during the Occupy Wall Street protests at UC Berkeley last fall. The report, written by the campus' independent Police Review Board, found that officers appeared to have strayed from campus policies and norms in their use of batons against protesters and called on the university to better explain when the use of force is appropriate. "Strictly confined limits, as precise as possible, should be articulated regarding the use of force by law enforcement during any protest events," the report said.

CAIRO - The young policeman with scuffed boots and sleepless eyes sat on a motorcycle in a neighborhood that no longer feared or respected him. Khaled Sayed wore the colors of his trade: a black beret adorned with a silver eagle. An officer for three years, Sayed patrols streets where guns flow and jobless youths roam with knives and rage. Uniformed men with badges and battered side arms once held sway here, but their swagger has been clipped by a new and dangerous order. Egypt's police and central security forces, for decades the thuggish protectors of Hosni Mubarak's repressive state, now safeguard a new government run by Islamist elements they once persecuted.

This ancient city of congenial smiles is cranky. Scuffles and the boots of riot police rattle through streets ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections that are not likely to ease public anger over President Hosni Mubarak's squeaky, but powerful, political machine. There is no doubt the National Democratic Party will sweep to victory from the southern deserts to the Nile Delta. Egypt is not known for cliffhangers. Limits on political freedom and three decades of emergency law have turned party challengers into mere annoyances.

MOSCOW - Stiff new penalties aimed at opposition protesters were given preliminary approval Tuesday by Russian lawmakers loyal to President Vladimir Putin, the target of mass rallies and demonstrations before his March election victory. The bill, which opposition parliament members termed draconian and protested by threatening to file out of a legislative session, calls for fines of up to $50,000 and up to 200 hours of community service for organizers of rallies and demonstrations that grow violent or exceed the approved number of participants.

Numerous streets in downtown Los Angeles and beyond will be closed Tuesday for May Day marches. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the following streets downtown will be affected, beginning as early as 7 a.m. and continuing until 7:30 p.m: •Broadway between 11th and Temple streets •Olympic Boulevard between Hill and Main streets •9th between Hill and Broadway •8th between Spring and Broadway ...