Disputed elections , Iran riots

TEHRAN, Iran — Fires one after another were set in Tehran. And there were stunning scenes of masked rioters tangling with black-clad police.

Opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with police in the Iranian capital Saturday, accusing the hard-line leader of using fraud to steal election victory from his reformist rival.

The reformists’ new hero, Mir Hossein Mous-avi, declared himself the true winner of Friday’s presidential race and urged backers to resist a government based on "lies and dictatorship.”

Authorities, too, pushed back with ominous measures apparently seeking to undercut liberal voices: jamming text messages, blocking pro-Mousavi Web sites and Facebook and cutting off mobile phones in Tehran.

The extent of possible casualties and detentions was not clear.

Police stormed the headquarters of Iran’s largest reformist party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front, and arrested several reformist leaders, said activists close to the party.

Mousavi did not appear in public but warned in a Web message: "People won’t respect those who take power through fraud.”

The political chief of the Revolutionary Guard has warned it would crush any "revolution” against the Islamic regime by Mousavi’s "green movement.” And Ahmadinejad, in a nationally televised victory speech, accused the foreign media of producing coverage that harmed the Iranian people.


by the associated press

Shooting in Vienna causes riots

VIENNA, AUSTRIA — Investigators believe a sermon at a Sikh temple set off an attack that saw worshippers use a frying pan and microphone stands to fend off knife- and gun-wielding assailants who fatally shot a cleric, police said Monday.

The cleric’s death sparked riots in several northern Indian cities.

Witnesses said the Vienna temple attended by lower-caste Sikhs was attacked Sunday by Sikhs from a higher caste who accused one or both of the preachers of being disrespectful of the religion’s Holy Book.

The attack set off a brawl that wounded 16.

Six suspects are in custody and four have been identified as asylum-seekers, police spokesman Michael Takacs said.

In India, people responded by defying curfew and army patrols, attacking police stations and setting fire to the car of a senior officer and several trains. Police opened fire on mobs, wounding at least four people.



by the associated press

Riot Police Clash With Hundreds of Women

Riot police officers confronted hundreds of women from Nepal’s Communist Party protesting Thursday in front of the president’s house in the capital, Katmandu. The women were demanding that the president, Ram Baran Yadav, fire the country’s army chief.

The police used bamboo batons on some of the women who had broken through a cordon, injuring several of them. Nepal’s Communist prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, caused a national crisis on Monday when he resigned and pulled his party from the ruling coalition in protest over the army chief’s failure to integrate former Communist rebels into the military.






by the associated press

Drinking arrest Ignited Kent State Riots

KENT, Ohio — Police say a weekend brawl and riot near Kent State University in Ohio started with the arrest of a female for underage drinking.

Kent Police Chief James Peach said 50 people were arrested Saturday at the "College Fest.” The annual party is not an approved Kent State activity.

Fires were intentionally set. Peach said a large crowd chanted and challenged police and firefighters by throwing bottles, rocks and other items. Most of the people arrested were charged with misdemeanor counts of failure to disperse.

The police chief also said Monday that one police officer who responded, from nearby Lakemore, had a heart attack later at his home and died.

by the associted press