May Day protest rallies affected cities around the world yesterday, with hundreds of protesters detained. In Berlin, riot police fought street battles with stone-throwing demonstrators in a second day of May-day riots. Streets were left strewn with upturned burning cars and paving stones that demonstrators had torn up and thrown at police.
Police responded by using truck-mounted water-cannon to forcibly break up a street festival in the inner city area of Kreutzberg.
"I was eating a sandwich when they came out of nowhere with the water cannon and knocked down the stands," said Roland Schmidt (23).
"They must have used tear gas too, because everyone's eyes were streaming. Police just grabbed people like me and threw them into vans."
As night fell, police feared further violence. Over 9,000 riot police had been deployed around Berlin.
Over 6,000 demonstrators gathered in the eastern Berlin suburbs of Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain on Monday night. They blocked streets, set fires and threw stones and bottles at riot police, who were caught out by the pre-emptive attack. It took over an hour to disperse the demonstrators with water cannon and remove burning barricades.
Several police officers were injured and a police spokesman said dozens of demonstrators were arrested.
In France, tens of thousands of trade unionists came onto the streets, many of them employees of international firms threatened with layoffs, such as Marks & Spencer.
In Paris, at least 12,000 people took part in three separate demonstrations. No incidents were reported.
A scuffle broke out in the northern Italian city of Turin after a small group of activists backing centre-right leader Mr Silvio Berlusconi tried to join a left-wing rally.
In Russia, tens of thousands marched to demand better pay and more jobs. Russian news agencies quoted police as saying more than 300,000 people had attended some 480 marches around the country without incident.
Tens of thousands of Cubans responded to the call of President Fidel Castro Tuesday by massing to observe May Day with a raucous anti-US, anti-free trade march, using carnival-style puppets to ridicule US President George W. Bush and other foreign leaders.
"Down with the Yankees; the FTAA can go to hell," chanted masses of flag-waving marchers, referring to the US-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas.
In South Korea about 20,000 workers faced 15,000 riot police in Seoul to protest against government economic restructuring and a harsh police crackdown on car workers in April.
In Taiwan, thousands of unemployed workers marched through Taipei, demanding jobs and the resignation of top government officials.
In Australia, Militant anti-capitalist protesters clashed with baton-wielding and armed police in the main cities as protests turned violent.
The biggest protest was staged in Melbourne, where an estimated 8,000 protesters brought the city to a standstill, closing the stock exchange building for the day. Companies such as Nike, McDonald's and Shell were also targeted by protesters.
In Sydney, up to 2,500 protesters targeted the country's main stock exchange building, closing it for the day. And at numerous flash-points, protesters were charged by police on horseback. There were 38 arrests and two police officers were hospitalised.
In Brisbane, where a crowd of around 1,500 gathered to mark the day protests followed much the same path as events in Sydney with peaceful demonstration giving way to confrontation before mounted police were called in. An estimated 35 arrests were made.
