BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Thailand's main airport checked security and computer systems as it prepared to restore normal operations after a weeklong closure forced by anti-government protesters, as millions of Thais awaited a speech Thursday by their beloved monarch for guidance on ending the country's political paralysis....

Mardi, il était franchement comique d'entendre Stéphane Dion protester de la bonne foi souverainiste de Gilles Duceppe et ce dernier assurer que le chef libéral demeurait toujours un fidèle serviteur de l'unité canadienne. a href=http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/12/04/220750.htmlSuite/a

Inde Sept jours après les attaques terroristes qui ont frappé la ville de Mumbai, des dizaines de milliers de personnes ont manifesté, dans tout le pays, pour protester contre le terrorisme,

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/73455?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Flights+resume+out+of+Bangkok+as+protesters+lift+airport+siegech=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Thailand+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Ian+MacKinnonc7=2008_12_04c8=1128358c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Thailandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FThailand" width="1" height="1" //divpHopes for the hundreds of thousands of foreign travellers stranded in Thailand were raised yesterday when the first international passenger flights left Bangkok's main airport after anti-government protesters ended their eight-day siege./ppWithin hours of the lifting of the blockade the first passenger service in a week arrived from the resort island of Phuket, and a Thai Airways flight left for Sydney./ppThe end of the standoff - which left travellers frustrated and Thailand's tourist industry hamstrung - resembled a victory parade peppered with hugs and handshakes as the protesters declared they had won./ppThousands of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators left Suvarnabhumi international airport yesterday morning, a day after a court disbanded the governing party and barred the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, from office for electoral fraud. /ppBut as services resumed, the Thai airports' authority said the arrival of the first three international flights would not happen until tomorrow - although the hope was that normal services could resume soon after to take home the estimated 230,000 trapped tourists. As PAD supporters, dressed in yellow as a mark of respect for the king, packed up their tents and bedrolls, government MPs met to choose an interim leader. The rump of the six-party coalition - led by the People Power party - plans to meet on Monday to select a new prime minister. It will be Thailand's third prime minister in three months and may spark fresh tensions./ppAlthough the end of the standoff has defused the immediate crisis, demonstrators warned they would return if need be, raising the spectre of further violence in the bitterly divided country. "We will come back when the nation needs us," said Somkiat Pongpaibul, a key PAD member, an alliance of Bangkok's urban monarchist elite pitting itself against the rural poor who voted mainly for the government./ppThere was a carnival mood yesterday as the remaining demonstrators sang and danced to a band on the makeshift stage outside the airport's departure areas. Queues formed before a table set up for PAD's co-founders, Chamlong Srimuang and Sondhi Limthongkul, who signed autographs./ppThe international airport's manager, Serirat Prasutanond, predicted a speedy return to normality after inspecting the terminal. As he spoke, 700 soldiers and specialist bomb squads moved into the airport complex with sniffer dogs to search for explosive devices, while cleaners cleared the rubbish and IT technicians started rebooting systems shut down a week ago./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/thailand"Thailand/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/T9tFPrByi-NVbKKVuPyU7_rQCfM/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/T9tFPrByi-NVbKKVuPyU7_rQCfM/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

Rallies scheduled to take place throughout the country to protest govt plan for mandatory Internet filtering of "offensive and illegal material"by ISPs. It all started as a voluntary effort to "protect children," but quickly spiraled into an all out attempt by the Australian govt to make it mandatory for ISPs to filter the Internet of all "inappropriate content" and "offensive and illegal material." It quickly deteriorated from an attempt to somehow safeguard children from things like child pornography to things like legal pornography and gambling and has made Australian citizens rightly upset. Protests have been organized by groups like the Electronic Freedom Project and Digital Liberty Coalition, and will be held throughout the country on December 13th. The list of locations includes: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, and Perth.

REIMS - Le patron du bar "Le Club" à Chalons-en-Champagne a suspendu lundi sa grève de la faim entamée le 3 novembre pour protester contre les ...

How were Thai protesters able to strike at Bangkok?

How were Thai protesters able to strike at Bangkok?

mask.of.sanity writes "Outraged aussies will hold simultaneous protests across Australia in opposition to the government's plans for mandatory ISP internet content filtering. The plan will introduce nation-wide filtered internet using blacklists operated by a government agency, away from public scrunity. Politicians and ISPs will join protesters in the streets to voice their opposition to the government's plan, which has ploughed-ahead, despite intense criticism that the technology will crippled internet speeds and infringe on free speech.Opponents said the most accurate filter chosen by the government will incorrectly block up to 10,000 Web pages out of 1 million."pa href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/03/1324234amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=08/12/03/1324234"/a/ppa href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/03/1324234amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/-qKN5snGqMDEvhtRZnWxTp98dJk/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/-qKN5snGqMDEvhtRZnWxTp98dJk/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/a27Rfg33GpU" height="1" width="1"/

Bangkok’s airports are now open. The protesters have agreed to end their protests after the country’s top court ordered the dissolution of the ruling party which forced the Prime Minister to step down. Military troops are now guarding the airports. Tourists are advised to contact their airlines and tourism offices to check for flight schedules.

Last week protesters belonging to the People’s Alliance for Democracy have occupied Bangkok’s two airports demanding the removal of the corrupt government. The airport takeover has stranded more than 300,000 passengers in the country.

Because of the favorable court order, the protesters have declared victory. However, they vowed to launch similar protest actions in the future if reforms are not instituted. Excerpts from PAD’s statement:

“The PAD would like to call on whichever side that attains power to run the country to find a solution for the current problems and not to create conditions for another political turmoil in the country. Do not bring to power people from the Thaksin regime. Address the wrongdoings conducted by those in the Thaksin regime. Join with the people in making new politics a reality.”

The PAD would like to make the following pledges.

1. If a proxy government of the Thaksin regime is set up again or if there is an attempt to amend the Constitution or the law to whitewash the wrongdoings of those in the Thaksin regime, to benefit politicians, or to lessen the power of the King, the PAD will return.

2. From now on, if there is any government which comes into power but is insincere in its efforts to launch new politics with the people, the PAD will return.

Thaksin is former Prime Minister of Thailand who was ousted in a coup two years ago. PAD accused the last two Prime Ministers of being puppets of Thaksin.

Thai Politico interprets the PAD statement:

“The implication at the moment is that if the next PM is not to the PAD's liking they will occupy the airport again. Will the security forces now completely secure Thailand's airports so that nothing like this can take place again? Or will we see the army back off like scared rabbits into the corner?”

New Mandala believes PAD’s victory will be short-lived:

“The celebrations by the yellow shirts at Suvanabhumi will be short-lived. The parliament has not been dissolved and the government looks very likely to maintain its majority. The Democrat-except-when-you-can’t-win-an-election-and-then-a-judicial-coup-is-OK Party simply can’t muster the numbers. More blatant judicial or military intervention will be required to remove the government.”

Political cartoon by Sacravatoons

PAD is popular in Bangkok (but the airport takeover has made it less popular today). PAD is accused of having close ties with Bangkok’s elite. On the other hand, most of the rural voters are supportive of Thaksin’s party. Someone asked: What if the farmers staged their own protest against PAD and the urban elite by refusing to plant rice?

Stranded tourists are now recounting their experience in Thailand. Tuesdaynight narrates how he and his wife were able to leave the country by traveling to Malaysia and Singapore by land. He writes:

“Finally, I have to say, after all this, I consider us to be lucky. We found a way out of the country and it worked. I truly feel for the hundreds of thousands people whose travel was impacted because of this. More importantly, I feel for the Thai people who have yet to find some form of political stability.”

Despite the airport chaos, life in Bangkok seemed like normal the past week. Oneditorial writes:

“During the week, I called my family to get their views on this event. They did not seem to be thinking too much about what is going on. They still carry on their daily lives as usual. As a matter of fact, on the day I talked to my mother on the phone, the entire family was completely absorbed in watching a Thai soap on the telly, never mind the fact that the country is in a state of political turmoil. I just wish I could be as detached as them.”

Andrew Biggs asks if the airport crisis would produce positive results:

“Could it be that the pain, shame and anger we have all experienced with the PAD’s closure of the airport actually be heralding a new era of politics in Thailand? Could it possibly be that something good is going to come out of all this?”

An anonymous commenter criticizes the organizer of the protests:

“Im sure terrorist groups in South-East Asia have witnessed the complete lack of security at the airport and thus it would be a sitting duck for groups who plan terrorist attacks against planes and passengers. Bangkok as a major hub? I dont think so any more. What airline will want to fly in and out of Bangkok when the airports own security guards ran like scared children from their own people. Shame on Thailand for allowing this anti democratic group to act like terrorists and hold an entire country to ransom. Thailand is about to see the trickle down from this catastrophe and I pity the ordinary people who were not involved in this protest but could lose jobs.”

Gabriella Haynes describes the mood in Bangkok:

“The atmosphere in wider Bangkok since the protests started has been calm and business as usual in general. While the city’s residents don’t take the sporadic and seemingly random spurts of violence and the loss of life and income lightly, there is no sense of widespread panic and concern. International news agencies report airport mayhem and interview distressed and worn-out tourists stranded in the country, yet most Thais I have spoken to only express concern about the potential violence of the situation and concern for the economy.”

And let’s not forget that pro-government supporters are also numerous in the city:

“The PAD has ceased their protests for now but the capital has also been inundated with pro-government supporters, which means the situation has not been completely diffused.”

Flickr photos from Ronn Ashore and Willie Lunchmeat

Thomas Wanhoff from Vietnam is disappointed that tourists are complaining of missed flights while Bangkok protesters are fighting for some cause:

“This is just unbelievable. There are people in Thailand trying to fight for democracy (but of course is their understanding of), at least stand up against the corrupt government, and tourists are just complaining about missed flights.”

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/50703?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+First+flight+reaches+Bangkok+after+airport+blockade+endsch=World+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Thailand+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Ian+MacKinnon%2CPeter+Walkerc7=2008_12_03c8=1127880c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Thailandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FThailand" width="1" height="1" //divpThe first commercial flight in a week arrived at Bangkok's international airport today after anti-government protesters ended their siege following the removal of the country's prime minister./ppA Thai Airways service from the resort island of Phuket landed at Suvarnabhumi airport at 2.15pm local time. Flights to destinations around the world were due to leave later in the day, although it remained unclear when a full schedule would resume./ppThe sudden end to the protest follows a court decision yesterday that disbanded the ruling party and banned the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, from office./ppThere are likely to be further delays for the 300,000 foreign tourists stranded since the sit-in began a week ago, all but paralysing Thailand's lucrative tourist industry./ppActivists from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which had demanded Somchai quit and the government step down, also ended their occupation of Bangkok's domestic airport./ppA spokesman for the group said protesters at both sites had been told to "clean up and pack their belongings" before leaving. The PAD staged a "handover ceremony" at the international terminal. The head of Thailand's airports authority shook hands with protest leaders as activists danced to music./ppAlthough the PAD has claimed victory in forcing Somchai out, the court decision is unlikely to dramatically alter Thailand's divided political landscape./ppThe ruling raises the spectre of street violence. Government supporters angered by the judges' decision surrounded the Bangkok court and refused to allow the judiciary to leave. A few hours earlier a grenade was thrown at Bangkok's barricaded domestic terminal, Don Muang, killing one demonstrator and injuring 22./ppJudges from the constitutional court found the People Power party (PPP) and two senior coalition partners guilty of electoral fraud for vote-buying in last December's general election and barred the prime minister from office for five years. Another 59 executives from the three parties were banned from political office, among them 24 MPs who will have to resign their seats./ppImmediately after the decision to disband the PPP and the Machima Thipatai and Chart Thai parties, Somchai said he would abide by the rule of law and stand aside, describing it as "not a problem. I was not working for myself. Now I will be a full-time citizen."/ppThe ruling coalition's six parties immediately said they would re-form under a new banner, which is permitted by the constitution. The PPP's surviving MPs are to join Puea Thai (For Thailand) and choose a new prime minister next week./ppThe PAD leadership embraced the court decision, perhaps grabbing an opportunity to save face and remove itself from the airport siege that has seen its backing dwindle among Thailand's metropolitan monarchist elite./pp"We have finished our duty," said the PAD leader, Sondhi Limthongkul, who had branded the government a proxy of the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. "If a puppet government returns or a new government shows its insincerity in pushing for political reform, we will return."/ppThe warning and the government supporters' decision to continue their own protests against yesterday's court ruling herald the prospect of further turmoil, though both sides will stand down for King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 81st birthday celebrations in two days./pp"The divisions are so deep, it's difficult to see how it could be over," said Giles Ungpakhorn, a political analyst at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, who described the court ruling as a "judicial coup" to strip the PPP of power. /ppFor tourists stranded for the past week, the departure of the thousands of PAD supporters comes as a huge relief. The first cargo aircraft left Suvarnabhumi yesterday afternoon after an agreement with the PAD, helping to reduce the economic distress of lost Thai export earnings of £53m a day./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/thailand"Thailand/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/4XVYg7yAMeyS2tQ2bbROLl1flFo/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/4XVYg7yAMeyS2tQ2bbROLl1flFo/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

Victorious anti-government protesters lifted their siege of Bangkok's two airports Wednesday while leaders of the ousted government named a caretaker prime minister to lead the politically chaotic kingdom.

Quelque 700 enseignants selon les organisateurs, 550 selon la police, ont manifesté aujourd'hui à Paris pour protester contre la suppression l'an prochain de postes d'enseignants spécialistes de la difficulté scolaire ("Rased"), a constaté une journaliste de l'AFP...

Thai anti-government protesters leave Bangkok's airports after a blockade that has paralysed government and tourism.

Thai anti-government protesters leave Bangkok's airports after a blockade that has paralysed government and tourism.