JOHANNESBURG, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - South African police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets Wednesday on the third day of violent protests at the University of Johannesburg.

A police spokesman said a group of around 200 students had tried to pull down a main entrance gate which had been closed as they gathered in the mid-morning.

'We used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse them,' the spokesman, Sefako Xaba, told AFP.

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - Twenty students were arrested at a university in Johannesburg on Tuesday as police used rubber bullets to break up a violent protest over plans to hike fees.

The group would be charged with public violence offences and with contempt of court after they had breached an earlier order banning them from disrupting academic activity and preventing students from attending classes at the University of Johannesburg, police spokesman Sefako Xaba told AFP.

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - A mass protest over proposed fee hikes disrupted academic activity for a second week running at South Africa's famous University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg on Monday.

Police used water cannon to disperse hundreds of students protesting at the gates of several of the university's campuses after an injunction was obtained to stop them interfering with work, a university spokeswoman told AFP.

'There were disruptions at three of our campuses (in Johannesburg), with two experiencing more disruptions,' Sonja Cronje said.

MADRID, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - Basque separatists Friday called for mass protests after Spanish police arrested almost the entire leadership of Batasuna -- the banned political wing of the armed group ETA.

In a further sign of Madrid's hardline position since ETA called off a ceasefire in June, the police seized 22 senior Batasuna members as they met in the Basque town of Segura late Thursday.

SEOUL, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - South Korean conservative activists and defectors from North Korea staged small protests Tuesday against this week's inter-Korean summit, branding President Roh Moo-Hyun a pro-Pyongyang leftist.

At Imjingak, near the border that Roh crossed Tuesday, some 15 protesters including several North Korean defectors shredded paper North Korean flags, chanting slogans and waving banners.

'Kim Jong-Il is the worst dictator,' read a banner written in English.

BANGKOK, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - The latest US sanctions imposed on Myanmar over the military's deadly military crackdown on dissent last week are mainly cosmetic and have little chance of pushing the regime to change, analysts said.

The United States has ordered a freeze on the assets of Myanmar's military leader and 13 other senior officials. The US administration also slapped visa bans on more than 30 members of the junta and their families.

BANGKOK, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - The military regime controlling Myanmar, where the main link to the Internet was cut Friday, is trying to operate 'behind closed doors', media rights group Reporters Without Borders said.

'As the repression of demonstrations continues, the junta is intensifying its strategy of isolating Myanmar, trying to return to the days of 1988 when news of a massacre only reached the outside world much later,' it said.

YANGON, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - The third day of a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in Myanmar has resulted in hundreds of arrests, and almost certainly deaths and injuries, a Western diplomat said Friday.

Fresh protests broke out in three locations in the main city of Yangon Friday, despite the military action of the previous two days, which left at least 13 dead, including a Japanese journalist.

YANGON, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - 'Come on, just kill me!' the furious woman shouted as police and soldiers poured into the streets. 'I don't care.'

An elderly man screamed at them: 'You are eating food given to you by the people. Yet you kill people and you kill the monks!'

The scenes of naked defiance and anger at the junta that has ruled Myanmar for more than four decades have underlined the depth of resentment over the crackdown here.

BANGKOK, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - Protests led by Buddhist monks in Myanmar will not be quelled easily despite a deadly crackdown by security forces, analysts said, warning that more blood could be spilled.

The ageing military junta that rules the country from a secret compound in its new capital of Naypyidaw shows no sign of making any concession to the protesters, analysts said as the crackdown entered its second day.

PARIS, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - France has not asked the energy giant Total to withdraw from Myanmar, its human rights minister said Thursday, after President Nicolas Sarkozy urged the group to freeze investments in the country.

Asked about a halt to Total's gas exploration activities in the country, French junior minister for human rights Rama Yade told French radio RTL: 'That is not what has been discussed for now. We are proceeding step by step.'

PARIS, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday urged French businesses including oil giant Total to freeze investments in Myanmar and called for the swift adoption of UN sanctions over the junta's crackdown on protestors.

'France will not accept the gagging of Myanmar's opposition,' Sarkozy warned after meeting the head of Myanmar's self-proclaimed government in exile, Sein Win, for talks at the Elysee palace.

PARIS, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - President Nicolas Sarkozy Wednesday condemned the 'gagging' of Myanmar's opposition, calling for the swift adoption of UN sanctions against the country's ruling junta.

'France will not accept the gagging of Myanmar's opposition,' Sarkozy said after meeting the leader of Myanmar's self-proclaimed government-in-exile, Sein Win, calling for the Security Council to adopt sanctions 'without delay'.

LONDON, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - The British government warned its citizens on Wednesday against 'all but essential travel' to Myanmar as the military junta there launched a bloody crackdown on protestors.

'We advise against all but essential travel to Burma (Myanmar) due to the unsettled political situation,' the Foreign Office in London said.

'Protests against the government are taking place in cities across Burma and there have been reports of clashes between protestors and the security forces,' it added.

PARIS, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - The head of Myanmar's self-proclaimed government-in-exile, Sein Win, said Wednesday that democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been transferred from house arrest to a prison cell.

Asked about rumours the Nobel Peace prize winner had been imprisoned amid mass protests led by Buddhist monks against Myanmar's military junta, he told AFP: 'We have this information from two sources.

'Up until now it was not certain because we only had one source, but now we have it from another independent source.'

ROME, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Wednesday he planned to ask Portugal, the current holder of the EU presidency, to call an urgent meeting on the situation in Myanmar.

'Mr Prodi will meet with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates to ask for a meeting in the (European Union) community framework to discuss ways to stop the violence,' the Italian leader's office said in a statement.

DUBLIN, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern condemned as 'unacceptable and deeply shocking' the crackdown on protestors Wednesday by the military junta in Myanmar.

Ahern called for all countries, in particular China and India who he says have influence with the junta, to condemn the use of force against unarmed civilians, demonstrating peacefully.

JIEGAO, China, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Bustling trade on the border between Myanmar and China continued unabated Wednesday as security forces beat peaceful protestors in the southeast Asian nation's biggest city of Yangon.

Nearly 150 trucks cross the border here daily with Chinese electronic goods, motorcyles and fertiliser going into Myanmar, while food and agricultural products and minerals such as jade enter China, traders said.

PARIS, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - France warned Myanmar's ruling junta on Tuesday against any attempt to repress a wave of protests led by Buddhist monks, saying they were a legitimate expression of the people's grievances.

'We warn the authorities in Yangon against any attempt to repress by force the expression of the Myanmar people's just political and social demands,' said French foreign ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux.

He said France was 'following with extreme concern the situation that is developing'.

PARIS, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - The head of Myanmar's self-proclaimed government-in-exile Tuesday urged France, as chair of the UN Security Council, to call emergency UN talks on the uprising against the country's ruling junta.

'What we expect from France, is for it to help us get out of this situation,' Sein Win, the prime minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), told French news channel LCI.

GENEVA, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - UN human rights chief Louise Arbour called for restraint from Myanmar's junta Tuesday as it deployed soldiers and riot police against scores of thousands of pro-democracy protesters.

'The international community has asked the Burmese authorities to abstain from suppressing peaceful protests,' the UN high commissioner for human rights told reporters in Geneva.

BOURNEMOUTH, England, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Britain called on the European Union Tuesday to toughen its stance on Myanmar, urging the military junta to 'exercise restraint' over protestors.

The appeal by Prime Minister Gordon Brown came as military trucks were deployed in central Yangon after Buddhist monks led another mass anti-government protest with some 100,000 people on the streets.

At the same time Foreign Secretary David Miliband called for imprisoned democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to take her 'rightful place' at the head of a government in Myanmar.

YANGON, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Eleven Myanmar military trucks, each with about 20 soldiers and riot police, were deployed Tuesday around the Yangon city hall, after Buddhist monks led a major anti-government protest, witnesses said.

The security forces stayed in the vehicles, while about 500 onlookers gathered warily on a nearby sidewalk, witnesses said.

Just hours earlier, Buddhist monks had led 100,000 people on a march through the city and protesters had stood on the sidewalk outside the city hall to deliver speeches calling for national reconciliation.

BOURNEMOUTH, England, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday called on the European Union to toughen its stance on Myanmar, urging the military junta to 'exercise restraint' over protestors.

In a letter to the EU presidency, Brown said he would back an initiative warning Myanmar that 'we are watching their behaviour and that the EU will impose tougher EU sanctions' if necessary.

PARIS, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - A global trade union leader called Tuesday on Myanmar's ruling junta to give up power as Buddhist monks led citizens in a second day of mass protests against the military regime.

'The military must understand the tremendous damage their actions are causing throughout the country,' Guy Ryder, secretary general of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), said in a statement.

'They should step aside now and allow a return to democracy and respect for human rights.'

BANGKOK, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Media freedom groups on Tuesday called on Myanmar's junta not to obstruct journalists who are covering or joining huge protests against their rule in the military-ruled nation.

The Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) said the junta had summoned reporters from local publications and warned them against joining protests, which saw about 100,000 people march in Yangon both on Monday and Tuesday.

BANGKOK, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Buddhist monks and their supporters have rallied against the junta in cities and towns of all sizes across military-ruled Myanmar, the BBC and exiled media groups reported Tuesday.

By far the largest protest on Monday was in the commercial hub Yangon, where up to 100,000 people thronged the streets carrying banners and chanting prayers of peace and compassion.

DUBLIN, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern hailed Monday's demonstrations in Myanmar against the military regime, the largest in nearly two decades, as a 'legitimate' protest for real democracy.

Ahern said he had been 'struck by the dignity and courage of the protests by thousands of Buddhist monks and tens of thousands of ordinary people in cities across the country, and their appeal for national reconciliation, genuine democracy and improved living conditions'.

YANGON, Sept 22, 2007 (AFP) - Detained Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi stepped out of her home in tears Saturday to greet Buddhist monks marching past the compound where she is confined by the military junta, witnesses said.

Armed guards usually block the road leading to the rambling lakeside house, but in an unprecedented move, they allowed about 1,000 monks to walk past the home where she was been detained for most of the last 18 years.

DHAKA, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Street clashes broke out in Bangladesh Friday as Islamic activists defied emergency rule to protest over the publication in a major newspaper of a cartoon deemed offensive to Muslims.

Thousands of protesters joined the rally in the centre of the capital Dhaka, an AFP photographer at the scene said, even though demonstrations are strictly prohibited under the country's eight-month-old state of emergency.

DHAKA, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Street clashes broke out as Islamic activists defied emergency rule in Bangladesh to protest Friday over the publication in a major newspaper of a cartoon deemed offensive to Muslims.

Thousands of protesters joined the rally in the centre of the capital Dhaka, an AFP photographer at the scene said, even though demonstrations are strictly prohibited under the country's eight-month-old state of emergency.

BANGKOK, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - Myanmar's military government has cut off the mobile phones of prominent pro-democracy supporters and of some journalists representing foreign media, including two from Agence France-Presse.

The management of AFP has requested that the authorities in Myanmar restore mobile phone service to its reporters so that they can carry out their work.

BUDAPEST, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Police in Budapest said Friday they were bracing for a series of demonstrations over the next few days marking the first anniversary of the leak of an audio tape that had sparked violent riots.

Budapest police chief Gabor Toth told a news conference that a number of protests were planned for Saturday and more on Monday, the actual anniversary of the tape's leak.

On the tape, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany was heard admitting that he had lied to voters about the economy to win re-election last year.

YANGON, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - The only telephone line has been cut at the headquarters of Myanmar's major opposition party, a spokesman said Friday, as the junta seeks to tighten its grip after a series of protests.

'We have only one landline,' said Han Zaw, a spokesman for detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

'It has been cut since Wednesday without any reason. We hope it's just a technical problem and things will get back to normal soon.'

YANGON, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Myanmar's military rulers Sunday threatened to take 'effective action' against pro-democracy supporters who have staged a rare string of anti-junta protests across the country over the last three weeks.

The secretive regime took the unusual step of issuing a statement directly to the news media, accusing the National League for Democracy (NLD) of trying to instigate nationwide unrest.

YANGON, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Myanmar's military rulers Sunday accused the United States and Britain of trying to topple them by backing a wave of rare anti-junta protests.

The junta has faced three weeks of near-daily protests by pro-democracy supporters around the country, sparked by public anger over a massive hike in fuel prices last month.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a government mouthpiece, on Sunday accused Britain and the United States of supporting the protesters.

SYDNEY, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Several hundred people demonstrated against China's human rights record during a visit by President Hu Jintao to Sydney on Thursday ahead of a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.

A rally in the city's Hyde Park was addressed by former prisoner and US-based rights activist Wei Jingsheng, who said the West's attempts to win China's favour would only make the communist regime more dangerous.