LONDON CALLING

LONDON -- Activists clashed with riot police today, and smashed into the Bank of Scotland. The violence at the G20 summit follows Saturday's peaceful march of 35,000 people demanding jobs, economic justice, and environmental accountability, kicking off six days of protests and actions.

ON THE OUTSIDE

As presidents and prime ministers (and a few royals) convene to tackle the global financial crisis, what is happening out in the streets? Will a handful of bad apples -- police and protesters alike -- give the protests a bad name? Will the media focus on the violence and avoid the issues? Who are the protesters and what do they want?

Need a scorecard? The Guardian published a cheeky "guide" to the protest here.

ON THE INSIDE

What was happening inside? A British official (who spoke on condition of anonymity) said the Group of 20 rich and developing countries would likely approve giving more than $500 billion to the IMF so it can increase its loans to governments struggling because of the financial crisis. Two other insiders said France and Germany had "persuaded the Group of 20 leaders to back tougher language in the final statement to avoid a repeat of the current crisis."

According to the Washington Post, leaders "were moving closer Thursday to taking broad steps to combat the global economic crisis, including the regulation of hedge funds, new transparency on offshore tax havens and dramatically boosting the cash available to hard-hit developing countries."

THE OVERVIEW

The best overview of the protest was probably experienced by the French daredevil Alain Robert who scaled Lloyds of London's high-rise headquarters, as office workers below snapped photos. Robert, dubbed the French Spiderman, has scaled dozens of tall structures around the world without ropes or harnesses to draw attention to global warming. He was later led away by police.

media focus: peaceful protester, or black-clad anarchist smashing windows?


London news report, March 28th, 2009

"FINANCIAL FOOL'S DAY"

April 1st, a mass group of anti-capitalist and climate change activists clashed with riot police in downtown London, breaking into the heavily guarded Royal Bank of Scotland and smashing its windows. Earlier, they tried to storm the Bank of England and pelted police with eggs and fruit.

Green activists march past Big Ben

At least 4,000 anarchists, anti-capitalists, environmentalists and others jammed into London's financial district for what they called "Financial Fool's Day." The protests were called ahead of Thursday's summit of world leaders, who hope to take concrete steps to resolve the global financial crisis that has lashed nations and workers worldwide. Protesters marched through London demanding action on poverty, climate change and jobs.



Today's news from the G20 summit in London

THE ANARCHIST PERSPECTIVE

The vast majority of activists were peaceful protesters but an element of self-described anarchists clashed with police and smashed windows. Sometimes civil disobedience is a necessary tactic, and sometimes it only hurts the cause.

Here is an anarchist take on G20:

BLOWUP!

This is a cool clip of the swinging London go-go scene of the mid-60s from Antonioni's "Blow-up." Carnaby Street fashions, mod birds in mini-skirts, cool rock music, and Thomas, played by David Hemmings, loosely based on mod photographer David Bailey, racing around London in a sports car convertible trying to solve a murder he thinks he's accidentally photographed in a park.
What more could you ask for? How about The Yardbirds, featuring Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page? They're the uncredited pop group in this scene. Groovy, baby. By the way, I love the chick with the striped pants. Meet you at the discotheque.