Activists Live Blog

5 days 20 hours ago - Syria

 

Syrian activists in Deir ez-Zor have posted video footage online that claims to show the plumes of smoke rising after Saturday's car bomb blast. The sound of gunshots can also be heard. 

Tags activists, car bomb, Deir ez Zor, syria citizen video
4 weeks 6 days ago - Bahrain
File 64216

Bahraini security forces have clashed with protesters against Bahrain's controversial Grand Prix in mainly Shia villages despite increasing security for the start of practice sessions.
 
The overnight clashes between protesters and security forces across Shia villages continued into the early morning on Friday, witnesses said. 

Formula One cars took to the track in Bahrain at about 07:00 GMT, with the government hoping for a successful Grand Prix, while activists are promising to mark it with "days of rage" after more than a year of Arab Spring protests.

"The people want to topple the regime," chanted dozens of protesters carrying pictures of jailed hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. "Down Hamad," they called, referring to Bahrain's king, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Met by tear gas and sound bombs, the protesters responded by hurling petrol bombs at security forces, witnesses said.

Mohammed Al-Maskati, president of Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera the mood in Manama in the run-up to Sunday's race was one of "anger".

He said the protesters "are very angry that [the] Formula One [race] was not cancelled - they want to send a message to say that sports must not support dictatorships and human rights violations".
Al Jazeera's correspondent in the capital Manama, who we are not naming due to reporting restrictions imposed by Bahrain's government, said a protest by anti-government demonstrators "will be held later today on the main highway in capital, where they will come out in force to show the world that Formula One really is not welcome here".
He said many were plagued with "security concerns".
"Most tourists and Formula One spectators are choosing to stay away from this race because it is just too controversial for them, I think people feel their security and personal wellbeing, cannot be guaranteed enough to make the trip worthwhile."

Continue reading our news story Clashes in Bahrain ahead of F1 race for more context.

For more of Al Jazeera's special coverage visit our spotlight page - Bahrain Protests.

[Clashes have been building in week leading to Sunday's round of World Championship - Photo: Reuters] 

Tags activists, Bahraini security forces, clashes, F1 Grand Prix, protests
10 weeks 3 days ago - Homs
File 60136

The Syrian army's crackdown on opposition to President Bashar al-Assad's rule appears to be intensifying. 

There has been more fighting in the city of Homs.

Activists say dozens of women and children have been killed by pro-government militia in a massacre. The government blames what it calls "terrorist gangs".

Syria's information minister told the AFP news agency that "terrorist gangs" had carried out a massacre in the central city of Homs to try to stoke an international outcry against the Damascus regime.

"Terrorist gangs carried out the most horrible massacre in the Karm el-Zaytoun neighborhood of Homs ... in order to incite international reaction against Syria," Adnan Mahmoud told AFP. 

Mahmoud accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of backing "armed terrorist gangs" operating in Syria and being responsible for the violence in the country.
"Some of the countries backing armed terrorist gangs, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are accomplices to the terrorism targeting the Syrian people ... and bear responsibility for the bloodletting," he said.
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Click here to read our latest news story on Syria.

For more of Al Jazeera's special coverage visit our spotlight page: Syria - The War Within
Tags activists, civilian deaths, militia, syria, Syrian army crackdown
12 weeks 11 hours ago - Cairo

 

A plane carrying American pro-democracy campaigners and other activists left Egypt on Thursday after a travel ban was lifted, an airport official said, a move that is likely to defuse the deepest row between Washington and Cairo in decades.

"They have left," the airport official told Reuters, without giving further details. A U.S. military plane had been sent to Egypt to take them, airport officials had said earlier. [Reuters]

Tags activists, egypt, NGO, travel ban, US
12 weeks 3 days ago - Syria

Emirati authorities have cancelled the residencies of dozens of Syrians for taking part in a protest against their regime outside the consulate in Dubai, Syrian activists told AFP on Sunday.

Two of them have already fled the Gulf country, arriving in Cairo on Saturday, after "all efforts failed to convince Emirati authorities to retract the decision," one of the activists said.

"My son can't go to Syria" for fear of being arrested there, the father of one of the protesters told AFP. "They have no mercy. They didn't even give him a warning. They just cancelled his residency right away."

The opposition activist told AFP that the UAE "authorities went ahead with the measures to cancel residencies despite promises to retract the decision." [AFP]

Tags activists, duba, United Arab Emirates
13 weeks 4 days ago - Damascus

Syrian activists call for 'Day of Defiance'. Read more here

Tags activists, Day of Defiance, syria
14 weeks 1 day ago - Syria

Some journalists are forbidden from reporting from Syria, so to fill the information gap, activists within the opposition have stepped in.

They organise rallies, film protests and attacks and upload video onto youtube to broadcast what they call their revolution. The Syrian government considers their work highly illegal, so the activists have to keep their identities hidden.

Al Jazeera met one man from Hama. Here is his story in his own words.

Tags activists, Hama
19 weeks 18 hours ago - Syria

 

The Syrian National Council (SNC) in Amman confirmed to Al Jazeera that Jordanian authorities have banned activists from heading to Syria to deliver aid in fear for "their safety and Jordan's security". Jordan is concerned the activists would be fired on by Syrian security forces once they exit Jordan.

Tags activists, aid, Jordan, security, SNC
38 weeks 6 days ago - Syria
Thousands of Syrians have filled the streets across the country following Friday prayers.

Protests are continuing despite activists saying at least eight people were killed by security forces overnight.

Al Jazeera is not allowed inside Syria to report on events.

But our correspondent, Nisreen El Shamayleh, is monitoring developments from Ramtha, on the Jordan-Syria border. 

"Activists have reported several deaths in several provinces across Syria, these all happened on Friday after the noon prayers," she said.

Tags activists, deaths, Friday prayers, Syria protests, Syrian security forces
45 weeks 6 days ago - Freedom Flotilla

Israeli policemen walk near tourists as they patrol the arrival terminal at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv July 8, 2011. [image | reuters]

File 37366

Some 200 pro-Palestinian activists have been barred from leaving foreign airports for Israel, where authorities are poised to deport any others who manage to fly in, Israeli police said on Friday. 

Tags activists, airport, Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel, Palestinian activists, Tel Aviv

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