IN THE UK

Leeds
Protesters toured shops in the City Centre such as Gap, Nike and McDonald’s. They hand out thousands of leaflets. They were accompanied by a police riot van and police recorded the action on video.

Bristol
Protesters toured the City Centre, stopping outside the police station and Reed Employment Agency. Flyposting of RAF Recruitment Office.

Glasgow
Around 1000 people marched to Glasgow Green in an anti-capitalist demonstration.

Liverpool
Protests outside Gap and McDonald’s.

York
Protest at railway station, demanding renationalisation.

Newcastle
Two hundred joined protest on Saturday 28 April, including large contingent of asylum seekers.

Manchester
Initially beginning at 12noon outside Manchester City Council. Involved up to 300 people and brief occupation of Warner Bros. store and a sit-down protest in McDonald’s until police forcibly removed protesters. Most major roads into city centre were blocked including trams (one of which hit a police van).
Police used section 60 to contain 100 of us near to Piccadilly railway station for over an hour and frequently used stop-and-search on many people. At 4pm a demonstration at Balfour Beatty took place before a chase through Portland Street by hundreds of police including horses and riot police.

There were also protests in Swansea, Birmingham and Sheffield, but we have no details.

WORLDWIDE

Belfast
Several hundred people protest outside Gap with balloons, banners, whistles, placards and drums. Many passers-by joined action. 50 protesters got into the store and stayed there chanting for about 20 minutes. Protesters then staged a sit-down protest in McDonald’s.

Dublin
Six hundred protesters force the Irish Stock Exchange to close early, the first time in history this has happened. After this they march through City Centre to parliament. Three hundred people later attended a rally at Trinity College. GR Ireland write that “today marked the birth of the anti-capitalist movement in Ireland.”

Germany
Anti-capitalist march in Berlin banned, while far-right demo was allowed to go ahead. Five thousand protesters marched against the ban. Nine thousand police on streets, clashes with protesters.

Austria
100,000 people marched for greater job security.

Poland
Around 700 anarchists march in central Warsaw, chanting “away with authorities” and beating drums.

South Korea
Over ten thousand workers and students joined protests calling for job security.

Turkey
Demonstrations in fifty cities against the IMF’s austerity programme, poverty and corruption. 50,000 marched in Instanbul, 10,000 in Ankara. Police prevented meetings and demonstrations in the Kurdish area of Turkey.

Pakistan
Around a hundred pro-democracy protesters defied a ban on marches in Karachi.

France
Hundreds of thousands of trade unionists marched for workers’ rights. Protests opposed mass sackings by multinationals like Marks and Spencer.

Australia
Protests at stock exchanges in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Anti-capitalist demonstrators joined with trade unionists in Melbourne, linking arms to force the closure of several streets.

Indonesia
Thousands of workers demonstrate in Jakarta for trade union rights and against globalisation and debt repayments.

Japan
Nearly half a million people joined a workers’ march in Tokyo, including delegations from Burma as well as main Japanese unions.

Portugal
Immigrants march for legal rights and residency permits.

Palestine
Trade unionists marched to protest against Israeli occupation.

Italy
Half a million people due to attend a rock concert organised by the trade unions.