TASS: World - Some 200 Kiev residents block traffic demanding heat in their houses

KIEV, October 30. /TASS/. About 200 people blocked traffic along a Kiev street protesting against heat and hot water supply shortages in their houses, the UNIAN news agency reported on Thursday.

Residents of Kiev’s southwestern district Solomensky say that although the heating season has already started, there was no heating and hot water in their houses. Moreover, they say they have been having electricity supplies problems since October 19, too.

An activist said that people had asked the authorities to solve this problem more than once but the problem was still there.

According to media reports, protesters only let ambulance cars pass along the street, with public transport and private vehicles stuck in a congestion.

Police are taking no measures to disperse the protesters.

Last week, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko decreed to begin the heating season in “all houses without exceptions” across the entire country before October 26. The president said that heating was the competence of local authorities.

Complete story at - TASS: World - Some 200 Kiev residents block traffic demanding heat in their houses

Education International - Ukraine: national protest defends teachers and quality education

Previously guaranteed rights and compensations for teachers have been abolished by the government, which is why Education International’s (EI) affiliate, the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers of Ukraine (STESU), has highlighted that the introduction of new rules to determine salariescould also lead to widespread salary cuts in the public sector. In addition, the access and quality of education in rural areas could be negatively impacted.

Massive demonstration

On 15 Oct, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, roughly 5,000 Ukrainian trade unionists from different sectors, including 850 STESU members representing education, rallied and picketed in front of the national Cabinet of Ministers. The protest was organised by the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, under the slogan “For decent work - for decent life”.

Participants urged the government to fight Ukraine’s shadow economy and tax evasion, eliminate wage discrimination in the public sector, restore the State Labour Inspection’s right to freely access workplaces in order to guarantee every worker’s labour rights and safety, and ensure the gradual implementation of European social standards when proceeding with economic reforms.

Cuts in allowances

The STESU also demanded that a ‘prestige’ allowance for teachers be fully reinstated. This allowance, representing 20 percent of the basic salary, was introduced in 2010 and paid to all education workers to acknowledge the high value of their work, and to make the profession more attractive to young people. In April, the Government did a U-turn, nominating “up to” 20 percent of basic salary as the allowance, to be determined by local education authorities within available funds. Many cities and districts in Ukraine have already set this allowance at 10.5 percent and even one percent of basic salary, leading to losses of 200-500 Ukrainian hryvnia (€12-30) per month for teachers.

Respect for trade union rights

The participants’ main demands to the Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers were in relation to the pressure on workers’ social, labour, and trade union rights and interests.

Trade unions are very concerned by new government attempts to restrict workers’ rights and cannot agree to the Government's anti-social legislative proposals. They strongly oppose, among others, job cuts, frozen wages and pensions, fiscal austerity at the expense of workers, retirees and their families, the destruction of the efficient self-governing social and health insurance system, and the lack of social responsibility by the Government while taking socially important decisions.

Complete story at - Education International - Ukraine: national protest defends teachers and quality education

Spain prepares for an autumn of discontent by buying €1m of riot gear | World news | The Guardian

The Spanish government is readying itself for an autumn of discontent, spending nearly €1m on riot gear for police units as disparate protest groups prepare a string of demonstrations.

Since June, the interior ministry has tendered four contracts to purchase riot equipment ranging from shields to stab vests. The ministry also finalised its purchase of a new truck-mounted water cannon, an anti-riot measure used during Spain's dictatorship and the transition to democracy but little seen in recent years. Despite attempts by opposition Socialist politician Antonio Trevín to paint the purchase as "a return to times that we would rather forget", the ministry said in its tender that the water cannon was necessary, "given the current social dynamic".

The government's spending spree comes as groups across Spain are predicting a season of protests. "We're calling it the autumn of confronting power and institutions," said the activist group Coordinadora 25-S which has its roots in the indignados movement.

Rallies are being planned to counter draft laws by the governing People's party that would curtail access to abortion in Spain or see unauthorised protests levied fines of up to €600,000. Months after former King Juan Carlos abdicated the throne in favour of his son King Felipe VI, protests are also being planned to demand a referendum on the monarchy. In Catalonia, the push continues for a vote on independence, while the Canary Islands has said it wants to put the idea of oil exploration in the waters around the region to a referendum.

Complete story at - Spain prepares for an autumn of discontent by buying €1m of riot gear | World news | The Guardian

'Kiev, rise up!' Protesters demand ouster of Ukrainian president, defense minister — RT News

Hundreds of people have gathered in front of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry in Kiev, demanding resignation of President Petro Poroshenko and the defense minister over the poor handling of the military operation in the southeast.

The demonstrators, many of whom were mothers and wives of the soldiers involved in the fighting in the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions, have blocked traffic at one of the capital’s arterial roads, the Vozdukhoflotsky Boulevard.

They called on the army to urgently send reinforcements, including tanks and other heavy military vehicles, to the city of Ilovaysk in the Donetsk Region.

This strategic town was retaken by the self-defense forces after several days of fighting on Wednesday, which led to the encirclement of a large group of Kiev’s troops.

The protesters also insisted on the resignation of defense minister Valery Geletey and all other top commanders of Kiev’s so-called “anti-terrorist operation” in southeast Ukraine.

Complete story at - 'Kiev, rise up!' Protesters demand ouster of Ukrainian president, defense minister — RT News

Thirteen arrested as protesters tell Senators Menendez and Booker 'No More Blank Check for Israel’s Crimes'

On Tuesday August 26, 2014, more than 50 demonstrators protested outside the Newark, New Jersey, offices of U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker demanding that the legislators stop providing a blank check for Israel’s crimes. Thirteen demonstrators were arrested inside the building as they read out the names of some of the nearly 500 Palestinian children killed in Gaza.

(When B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, had tried to run a radio ad merely listing the names of five of the hundreds of children killed, the Israeli Broadcast Authority banned them from doing so.)

The U.S. Senate has played a shameful role during the recent Israeli assault on Gaza, twice voting 100-0 to give its full support to Israel, saying nothing about its violations of international humanitarian law (indeed, condemning the United Nations’ Human Rights Council for deigning to investigate war crimes), nothing about the blockade of Gaza, and nothing about the occupation, while promising Israel still more weapons.

All this, while more than 2,100 Gazans have been killed, with civilians constituting 85 percent of those whose status has been determined thus far. Families were blown to smithereens in their homes. More than 100,000 people lost their homes. UN refugee shelters were repeatedly struck. Artillery was used in densely populated areas, leveling entire neighborhoods. High-rise buildings were demolished. Water and power facilities were struck.

Complete story at - Thirteen arrested as protesters tell Senators Menendez and Booker 'No More Blank Check for Israel’s Crimes'

Ukrainians seethe over slow-paced reforms - Features - Al Jazeera English

Kiev, Ukraine - Ruslan Boldyzhar stands outside Ukraine's parliament, among a crowd of protesters and flags, demanding that those inside be scrutinised for links to corruption from the old regime.

Boldyzhar expressed frustratation with the slow pace of change and does not believe the politicians who were in the limelight during the country's bloody uprising from November to February are committed to real reforms.

"They [said] a lot to all of us, that 'We will support you, we agree with you,'" he said. "But during this time they didn't do anything … [to assure] us that they're working for Ukraine but not for themselves."

Boldyzhar arrived in the capital Kiev last Thursday morning from the southern city of Odessa, where he was involved in demonstrations during the revolt that ousted then-president Viktor Yanukovich. The protests, initially over Yanukovich's rejection of closer ties to the European Union in favour of Russia, grew into a movement against what demonstrators saw as corruption and abuse of power.

Corruption is notoriously widespread in Ukraine, Transparency International rated Ukraine 144 out of 175 countries on a corruptions index, just behind Nigeria and Iran.

The crowd of protesters, luxury cars, and black SUVs filled the side street and parking lot of the parliament last week. More demonstrators could be found on nearby Institutskaya Street, which saw some of the worst violence during the deadly protests, and where memorials still stand for those killed during the uprising.

In one building on the street, activists gathered to discuss reforms by the government to try to ensure the changes demanded during the protests would become reality.

Complete story at - Ukrainians seethe over slow-paced reforms - Features - Al Jazeera English

Far-right rally turns into massive brawl on Kiev’s Maidan, shots heard (PHOTOS) — RT News

A massive fight broke out on Kiev’s landmark Independence Square (Maidan) on Tuesday night, with shots and explosives being heard, according to Ukrainian media. There are reports of injuries.

Eye witnesses described over 100 people, reportedly members of the far-right Social-National Assembly, marching with burning torches towards Maidan – the epicenter of the massive uprising that removed former President Yanukovich from power. The marchers came to commemorate those killed during anti-government protests in December-February.

Unknown ultra-nationalists activists march towards the Independence Square to commemorate "Maidan heroes" in Kiev on April 29, 2014. (AFP Photo / Sergey Supinsky)

Maidan self-defense units blocked the rally at the barricades across from the main post office, prompting a massive fight.

The far-right radicals reportedly used firecrackers, traumatic guns, and tear gas. Many of them carried bats and sticks. There are reports of injuries, according to Ukrainian media.

Complete story at - Far-right rally turns into massive brawl on Kiev’s Maidan, shots heard (PHOTOS) — RT News



Source is rt.com Subject is protestors on Maidan, Kiev.

OPINION: Violent Crackdown on Ukrainian Protesters Would End in Civil War | RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - The violent suppression of anti-government demonstrations in eastern Ukraine would lead to a full-scale civil war, the president of the Center of System-based Analysis and Forecasting told RIA Novosti on Monday.

"A violent crackdown is a possibility since [former Ukrainian Prime Minister] Yulia Tymoshenko has called to start shooting to quell the mob," Rostislav Ishenko said.

"This will trigger a totally reverse reaction, with people organizing resistance. Then it will turn into a full-scale civil war," Ishenko said.

Protests in support of Ukraine's federalization took place Sunday in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk, Kharkov and Lugansk. Demonstrators carrying Russian national flags urged authorities to allow their regions to hold referendums to determine their status within the country.

Complete story at - OPINION: Violent Crackdown on Ukrainian Protesters Would End in Civil War | RIA Novosti