G8 Summit Underway Amidst Violent Protests

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Amidst violent protests, the G8 summit is underway. President George W. Bush is attempting to sell his own version of a global-warming plan, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel isn't buying.

[q
url="http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=374914&ssid=26&sid=ENV"]The
US President's call for a "new framework" in which the world's biggest
carbon polluters will set long-term goals for curbing greenhouse gases
was especially unsettling for summit host German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, who is seeking to forge a binding pact to cap world temperature
rises.

Currently president of both the G8 and the European Union, Merkel reacted to Bush's statement by drawing a line in the sand.

Keeping negotiations on reducing global carbon emissions within the
existing United Nations structure, she insisted, was "non-negotiable".

Bush said he intends to expand on the Asia-Pacific partnership, a
technology-oriented, multilateral organisation -- including China and
India -- set up by the United States in 2005.

Merkel also seems determined to anchor two other climate change
objectives in a joint G8 communique: cutting greenhouse gas emissions
by 50 per cent compared to 1990 levels before 2050, and holding global
temperature rises to two degrees celsius by century's end. [/q]

Further update:

[q
url="http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/02/g-8.protest.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories"]Masked
demonstrators showered police with grapefruit-sized rocks and beer
bottles, then were driven back with water cannon and tear gas during a
protest march Saturday against the upcoming Group of Eight summit in
Germany.

The clashes left smoke from burning cars and the sting of tear gas
drifting through the harborfront area in the north German port of
Rostock. Some 146 police were hurt, 18 of them seriously.

Radicals "are smashing everything in their way to pieces," said Karsten Wolff, a police spokesman.

[/q]

Update:

[q
url="http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/02/g-8.protest.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories"]Masked
demonstrators hurled stones and flagpoles at police during a
demonstration Saturday by tens of thousands of people against the
upcoming Group of Eight summit in Germany, creating chaotic scenes near
the harbor of the northern port of Rostock.

Officers in helmets and full body armor at one point had to back off
before a hail of stones, while other officers chased down fleeing
protesters.

Police marched in a line through a harborside street to scatter
demonstrators, and were pelted with stones from behind. One of the
organizers pleaded for calm from a loudspeaker.

"The police are heading back so we can hold our protest in peace,
that is what we want," he said. (Watch standoff between police and
protesters Video)

Police spokesman Cordula Feitchinger said one officer was slightly
injured but remained on duty. She had no immediate total for arrests.

"There are massive assaults on police officers at the city's harbor
right now," Feichtinger said. "The situation is currently very chaotic
and we have to get it under control before I can tell you how many
people have been arrested."

Police put the size of the demonstration at 25,000; organizers said it was 80,000.[/q]

As this year's G8 summit is set to begin in Germany, protesters are also commencing: they're mobilizing in what may be the largest anti-G8 protests ever, and certainly the most vocal since the ones in Kananaskis, AB in 2002.

In an attempt to discourage the protesters, German police raided the known headquarters of a few of the protest groups and dispersed the members. They've also taken odor samples of protesters, and continue to generally harass the groups. All of this has resulted not in their dispersal, but in their increased ire. Surprise! Judging by last weekend's protests, which were already pretty action-packed, they're in for some serious demonstrations on June 2nd.

[q
url="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A8E010D0-DF38-4FB9-AF57-9446798948D0.htm"]Thousands
of people marched through the northern German port city of Rostock on
Saturday to protest against the forthcoming Group of Eight meeting of
industrialised powers.

Around 13,000 police were on hand, and authorities said about 30,000
protesters had come for the daylong demonstration under the motto
"another world is possible".

Police helicopters hovered overhead as demonstrators marched behind
a truck blowing out soap bubbles and carrying a rock band that played
anti-globalisation songs like "Block G8".

The summit will be hosted by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, in Heiligendamm, 25km west of Rostock.

Riot police were deployed as a precaution and officers videotaped the demonstration.

Some protesters covered their heads and faces with black hoods,
sunglasses and scarves, while others chanted protest slogans through
megaphones, blowing whistles and waving flags.

A group of protesters attacked police cars with rocks, bottles and
paint bombs, authorities said, adding that a hotel where a US
delegation is supposed to stay during the G-8 summit was also attacked.

Windows smashed

Rocks and broken beer bottles lay on the ground in front of a bank building where protesters smashed half a dozen windows.

Most stores along the route had boarded up there windows before the
protests - with the exception of sausage stands and other fast food
restaurants.

Dozens of different groups, including communists, anarchists and
environmentalists, were taking part and messages were mixed: Some urged
action from the G-8 countries in the fight against HIV/Aids, African
poverty and climate change, while others questioned the legitimacy of
the existence of the G-8 itself.[/q]