International round-up

US’s riot training for West Africa

US marines are teaching crowd control to troops in several West African countries.

The training includes use of batons and shields, and deploying “snatch teams” to arrest protest leaders. It also involved a riot simulation.

8,000 jobs go at French car giant

Workers at Peugeot factories in France protested against plans for 8,000 job cuts on Thursday of last week. The car giant plans to close a major factory north of Paris.

The plant’s workforce is mostly made up of workers the firm recruited from Algeria and Morocco. They are members of the CGT union.

Portugal doctors strike and rally

Doctors struck against health cuts for two days last week across Portugal and protested on Thursday.

The government has slashed the health budget in order to get an EU bailout. Patients have had to pay much higher fees.

Scientists on the march in Canada

Thousands of scientists in white coats marched on Canada’s parliament last Tuesday.

They say the government is using cuts to silence critics of its environmental policy. Projects studying the effects of oil extraction from the Alberta tar sands have been hit.