Civil unrest across the globe

Much of the news for today is about civil unrest - right across the globe.

Op-Ed: How the London riots will benefit the economy

Digital Journal

The riots that swept Britain recently are said to have cost around £200 million, but the government is looking on the black side; there are rich pickings to be made here that will benefit the economy no end.

Those of a certain political persuasion who excuse the outrageous behaviour of the rioters have nothing to be ashamed of, because the recent riots will actually be good for the British economy in the medium to long term, in fact, we have already seen considerable benefits in the short term.

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Israeli protesters demand end to staggering wealth gap

MSNBC

They are mainstays of the society pages and glossy magazines. Some are praised for the hospital wings they have built, others are gossiped about for their quirks.

But these days, the handful of wealthy families who dominate the Israeli economy are assuming a new role: one of the chief targets of the tent-city protesters who have shaken Israel in the past month.

The “tycoons,” as they are known even in Hebrew, are suddenly facing enraged scrutiny as middle-class families complain that a country once viewed as an example of intimate equality today has one of the largest gaps between rich and poor in the industrialized world.

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Thousands Riot in Southwest China Town

CNBC

Thursday, 11 Aug 2011 | 10:23 PM ET

Thousands of residents of a town in southwest China took to the streets on Thursday, smashing police vehicles in the latest protest by citizens angered by the rough handling of local officials, according to news reports.

The protest in Qianxi County, Guizhou province, was the latest of thousands of brief, local riots and demonstrations that happen in China every year, and like many recent outbreaks this one pitted residents against "urban administration" officials charged with enforcing law and order.

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Vigilante groups protect London streets

CNN

August 11, 2011 -- Updated 1645 GMT (0045 HKT)

London (CNN) -- As riots broke out across London, leaving shops and homes burning, and residents cowering in their homes, Elif Mills returned to her flat in the east of the city to find a burned out bus around the corner, and a mob of burly men in the street outside.

But rather than looting, this gang was working to protect the neighborhood. And far from mugging Mills, the men handed her a free kebab, walked her to her front door and promised to keep her and her terrified neighbors safe as trouble raged in streets nearby.

What Mills calls her "Turkish Army" -- dozens of shopkeepers guarding Kingsland High Street in Dalston -- was just one of many groups of vigilantes armed with makeshift weapons determined to protect their areas of London from looters.

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Chilean students taking to streets against 'Pinochet's education'

Christian Science Monitor

August 11, 2011

The tune of the protest song is familiar. "It's going to fall, it's going to fall," chant students in the streets of Santiago and other Chilean cities, using the same lyrics used in marches against military dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 1980s. But this time, they don't say the government will fall, but rather the country's education system that hails back to the Pinochet era.

Before the dictatorship, Chilean higher education was free, just as it remains in much of South America. But Mr. Pinochet created a system of private universities and voucher-type subsidies for private schools. Today, low-income Chileans generally go to public schools or voucher schools and end up in expensive, often low-performing private universities. After waiting in vain through decades of center-left government, students have found their voice in the face of the country's first elected conservative government in more than 50 years.

"I'm a child of the dictatorship," said Marcela Salas, a telecommunications manager taking part in a continuous 75-day student protest relay run around the presidential palace in Santiago. "There was no access to information. The kids who have grown up since then, they are better informed, and better trained to express themselves. And not just through political parties, not just left or right. Now it has come to a breaking point."

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Chilean cities have witnessed near continuous rallies for two months that have torpedoed support for President Sebastian Piñera, leaving him with the lowest approval rating among Chilean leaders since the dictatorship ended in 1990. The rallies show growing frustration with a political system that has failed to provide a route to a better life.

For years, Chileans have waited to reap the fruits of a growing economy. Similar student protests five years ago ended when the center-left Concertación government offered a dialogue, but there were no lasting changes. Burned by that experience, today's students are refusing to back down. Though the government has offered new educational policies, the student response has been to expand their list of demands – including nationalization of the country's copper mines to pay for education.

Public opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of the students' basic goals, even as the general public has dealt with bombardments of tear gas and the looting and vandalism that have accompanied some marches. The non-partisan Centro de Estudios Publicos found that 80 percent of the public opposed for-profit education. Support for the government has fallen to an all-time low of 26 percent, according to polling late last month.

But there are signs that support for the students may be waning. Student leader Camila Vallejo recently had her home address and other personal details revealed on Twitter and a Facebook group formed online threatening to stone her house. Last night, a group of about 20 civilians attacked a high school that is under student occupation, while police forced their way into another high school and evicted the students, according to local newspaper La Tercera.