The World Marks May Day with Protests All Over
Local Editor
On the occasion of the international Labor Day which falls on May 1st each year, people marched in several countries protesting life circumstances and demanding several issues concerning their current situations.
Greek trade unions marked May Day with a 24-hour nationwide strike and protests against looming new cuts demanded by the country's creditors in return for bailout cash.
Under pressure from its creditors -- the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- the government agreed to adopt another 3.6 billion euros [$3.8 billion] in cuts in 2019 and 2020.
Meanwhile, Turkish police used tear gas to disperse a group of protesters as they sought to defy a ban and march to Istanbul's Taksim square to celebrate May Day, an AFP journalist reported.
Turkish Police tried to stop around 200 protesters in the Gayrettepe district on the European side of Istanbul who wanted to walk to the famous square in spite of the ban by city authorities.
Meanwhile France was at extra high alert as union members and protesters marched against Marine Le Pen while her Front National party held its annual gathering to honor Joan of Arc.
As the FN pays tribute to the nationalist icon, union leaders and left-wingers called for a massive turnout for traditional May Day marches through Paris as a show of strength against the far-Right presidential contender.
More than 9,000 armed police and soldiers will try to keep the two sides apart.
A total of 250 May Day events are planned across the country amid fears of an attack similar to the Champs-Elysées killing of a policeman earlier this month, days before the first round of the presidential election.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese people marched in the capital city of Beirut to mark Labor Day and to demand better working conditions as the country tries to cope with the presence of 1.5 million Syrian refugees and is struggling to revive its ailing economy.
The protest was joined by the National Federation of Workers' and Employees' Trade Unions [FENASOL], the Domestic Workers' Union in Lebanon and the Lebanese Communist Party.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
