London
Riots overshadow rally: In the biggest rally since the 2003 protests against the Iraq war, some 250,000 Britons marched through London this week to protest planned cuts in social spending. The cuts, the deepest in more than 50 years, would eliminate as many as half a million public-sector jobs. The vast majority of demonstrators were peaceful, turning the streets into a sea of pro-union banners. But a group of about 300 anarchists wearing black balaclavas ran riot through an upscale shopping district, smashing storefronts of banks and shops and throwing firebombs and paint. Labor MP Jim Murphy condemned those involved in the violence as a “tiny minority of violent, parasitic, unrepresentative hooligans.”
Stuttgart, Germany
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Voters punish Merkel: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union suffered a historic defeat in state elections this week after a surge in anger over her government’s wobbly nuclear policy. The southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, a prosperous CDU stronghold since 1953, fell to a leftist coalition of anti-nuke Greens and Social Democrats. Assuming the first-place Greens lead the coalition, it will be the first time that party has headed a state government. Merkel drew widespread criticism last year for her decision to keep aging nuclear plants open. But when she abruptly reversed that decision in the wake of the Japanese nuclear disaster, voters believed her to be pandering. “We’ll have to work a long time to overcome the pain of this defeat,” Merkel said.
Lampedusa, Italy
North African influx: Another wave of North African migrants overwhelmed the Italian island of Lampedusa this week, prompting locals to block the harbor in protest. Residents occupied the town hall and threatened to cut off supply shipments unless the Italian government moved the migrants to the mainland and sent warships to guard the coast. “There will be a total shutdown and no one will be able to eat on the island, including the immigrants,” said activist Salvatore Martello. Over just three days, some 2,000 people landed makeshift boats, bringing the total number of migrants transiting through Lampedusa since January to nearly 19,000. Most of the asylum seekers are Tunisians taking advantage of lax border controls since the fall of the Ben Ali regime.
