May Day demonstrations today

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

This video from today in the USA is called Huge Crowd Gathers For San Francisco May Day Protest March.

This video is called Turkey: May Day protesters tear gassed in Istanbul, some 200 arrested.

This video says about itself:

1 May 2017

Greece: May Day rally against more austerity.

Thousands of Greek workers have marked International Labour Day by taking to the streets to protest against new looming austerity measures.

Greece needs more cash from its creditors to prop up a struggling economy.

But to get the money, it’s being asked to make more cuts worth billions of dollars.

Al Jazeera’s Rob Matheson reports.

This video is about the Dutch trade union May Day rally in Amsterdam.

Otters at play at camera trap

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

This 18 April 2017 by Harrie Bosma in Friesland province in the Netherlands shows four young otters at play, recorded by a camera trap.

Attacker of Belgian left MP has violent crime history

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

Raoul Hedebouw enters an ambulance to go to hospital after the knife attack

According to Belgian daily De Gazet van Antwerpen, the man who today attacked left MP Raul Hedebouw at a May Day rally in Liège, is 63 years old, and had been convicted in 2010 for violent crime in Antwerp.

Paris police teargas against May Day demonstrators

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

This 1 May 2017 video is called Police Set Ablaze Paris #MayDay.

According to Dutch NOS TV today, French police uses tear gas and water cannon against May Day demonstrators in Paris, to prevent them from demonstrating on the Place de la Bastille square.

The demonstrators protest against extreme right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen; and are critical of the other election second round candidate Macron as well.

Orange-tipped butterfly in the sun

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

This 18 April 2017 video shows a male orange-tipped butterfly in the sun.

Thea Bezemer in the Netherlands made this video.

May Day all over the world

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

This video from Durban, South Africa today is called May Day march KwaZulu-Natal, 01 May 2017.

This video from Taiwan is called Labor Day march in Taipei, May 1, 2017.

This 1 May 2017 video is called Kenyans commemorate Labor Day 2017 at Uhuru Park.

This video from Malaysia says about itself:

Around 200 people took part in the May Day rally in Kuala Lumpur today calling for an establishment of a Workers Retrenchement Fund.

The rally goers, largely clad in red, started gathering opposite the Kuala Lumpur train station at around 10am.

Many held placards which read “Hilang Kerja, Pekerja Merana” (Workers are suffering from loss of jobs) which was the theme of this year’s rally.

They also chanted “long live the workers”, “abolish capitalism” and “we want rights” with emphasis on hardships due to rising cost of living.

Ladybug mating season video

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

This 18 April 2017 video is about a seven-spotted ladybug couple mating.

Ruud van Loenen in the Netherlands made this video.

Turkish police arrests May Day demonstrators

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

This video says about itself:

1 May 2017

Turkish police arrested dozens [a very low estimate] of people as anti-government protesters sought to defy a ban and march to Istanbul’s Taksim Square to celebrate May Day on Monday (May 1). VIDEO: REUTERS

Dutch NOS TV reports today that Turkish police has arrested at least 207 people for wanting to demonstrate on May Day, International Workers Day.

Police of the Erdogan regime used tear gas and rubber bullets against the May Day demonstrators.

Avocets mating, video

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

This 13 April 2017 video shows an avocet couple mating. The female waits till the male has cleaned his feathers.

Featuring a spotted redshank as well.

Luuk Punt from the Netherlands made this video.

Belgian rightist knife attack on leftist MP

Posted on May 1, 2017 by petrel41

Raoul Hedebouw's May Day speech after the right-wing knife attack, photo by Belga

According to Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad, today the leftist Workers Party of Belgium (PTB) had a May Day rally in Liège city. Their MP Raoul Hedebouw would speak.

Then, suddenly a man, estimated to be in his fifties, appeared. He screamed: ‘The PTB are all idiots! So, I attack them!‘ The, presumably extreme right, man then attacked Hedebouw with a knife.

Though Hedebouw was injured, he still did his speech; and went to the hospital after the rally. He promised to come back to the May Day participants after the hospital, for the May Day march. ‘They can’t silence us’.

The attacker was arrested. Besides the knife, he had pepper spray as well on him. As he, presumably, was not a Muslim, corporate media probably won’t call him a ‘terrorist’. Like the nazi murderer of British MP Jo Cox was also often not called ‘terrorist’.

Raoul Hedebouw is a 39-year-old biologist.

Dutch NOS TV compares Hedebouw’s PTB-PVDA party to the left movement of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France.

According to Belgian VRT TV, polls say that the PTB-PVDA in Wallonia would get over 20% of the vote; more than the social democratic PS, traditionally the biggest party in Wallonia.