Athens, Greece - Anarchists are believed to be responsible for yet another firebomb attack that destroyed a central Athens bank last night. Greek anarchist groups have claimed responsibility for more than a half dozen arson and bomb attacks against various targets in the past month. Police attempting to catch the bombers have tried to draw a connection between anarchists and a gang of bank robbers known as the "Thieves in Black." Authorities claim they have discovered ties between anarchists and admitted bank robber and accused gang member Yiannis Dimitrakis who was arrested recently. Dimitrakis has refused to give investigators any information about his accomplices or their motives and political affiliation.

Kent, England - Police believe that animal liberation activists may be responsible for releasing 50,000 young Rainbow Trout into the Bewl Water Reservoir near Lamberhurst, in south-east England. Investigators say that a number of individuals in a boat must have deliberately tampered with nine of the ten large cages at a fish farm on the reservoir, around 3am Friday night.

If the Animal Liberation Front or like minded people are behind the sabotage it would be the first time they targeted a freshwater fish farm. "It is hugely worrying. I have never heard of this being done before," said Bob West, a spokesman for the Association of Stillwater Game Fisheries Managers. The farm estimated their losses at £100,000 or about $176,400.

Osaka, Japan - Angry homeless people scuffled with some of the 350 police and 750 city workers who began removing their tent dwellings from two city parks. The evictions began in the wake of a recent court ruling that allowed a homeless man to register a park as his legal residence. Japanese law requires that everyone must be registered at an address. The city is trying to remove poor people from public view in preparation for the "World Rose Convention" in May and an urban greenery event which begins in March.

Bil'in, The West Bank, Palestine – Palestinian demonstrators supported by international and Israeli activists protest the partially constructed Israeli separation wall that divides their village from their olive fields. Demonstrations take place weekly and generally end in clashes between stone throwing youths and Israeli soldiers who use teargas and rubber bullets to keep people from tearing down the fence.

"Anna," a paid informant for the FBI


Earth Liberation Front News

• Sacramento, California, U.S. - Lauren Weiner, who was arrested on January 13th with two others accused of being part of an Earth Liberation Front cell with her, was granted bail on Thursday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows ordered Eric McDavid and Zachary Jenson, Lauren's co-defendants, be held without bail. However, Judge Hollows said he is willing to release Weiner to the custody of her mother on $1.2 million bail, pending a decision by prosecutors on whether to appeal Weiner's release.
  
  The three, who have all pled not guilty, are not accused of any crimes, only of planning attacks on U.S. Forest Service buildings, the Nimbus Dam on the American River near Sacramento, a cellular telephone tower, a power station, banks, trucks, mountain-top-removal projects in West Virginia, and Communist Party offices.
  
  Before being arrested, Lauren, Eric, and Zachary, were being constantly monitored by the FBI. An FBI operative known as Anna was a key member of the alleged cell, and provided housing for the three in a cabin which, unbeknownst to them, was rented by the FBI and was specially equipped with audio and video surveillance equipment. Anna also wore a concealed wire in order to record conversations with the three. Anna was paid $75,000 plus expenses by the FBI over the course of the two years during which she infiltrated various anarchist groups and events.
  
  

• Eugene, Oregon, U.S. - Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin set the trial date for October 31st before Judge Anne Aiken for the eleven individuals who were indicted last week on charges relating to a series of Earth and Animal Liberation Front arsons between 1996 and 2001. Considering that the trial will not take place for quite a while, as it is likely to be delayed beyond October, Judge Coffin Set bail for Suzanne Savoie and Jonathan Paul. Savoie, who turned herself in last week, put up her 19 acres of property valued at $45,000 and her mother, who was in court, put up $5000. Jonathan Paul's $700,000 IRA account was frozen by the government in order to secure his release, and if he fails to return to court or comply with the conditions of his release, its contents will be seized by the government.
  
  

• Newport, Oregon, U.S. - Michael T. MacMurdo, 50, was arrested on suspicion that he spray painted more than a dozen new cars and two buildings at Gold Motors in Newport early Friday morning. The letters "ELF" were painted on the buildings. Police believed that MacMurdo vandalized the dealership after they refused to sell him a car, and later called two Portland televisions stations and told them that he was affiliated with the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and that he had "hit Gold Motors in Newport last night." Police could not establish any connection between MacMurdo and the ELF. They believed his actions were retaliatory in nature and not any kind of political statement. MacMurdo would not be the first person to claim that he acted on behalf of the ELF in order to disguise his true motives.

Eugene, Oregon, U.S. - Federal Judge Anne Aiken ordered Daniel McGowan to be released to the custody of his sister, who posted a bail of 1.6 million dollars. Daniel will be allowed to return home to New York City, where he will continue to attend acupuncture school and resume his job with Women's Law, a non-profit group which assists victims of domestic violence. He will be required to live in his sister's home, wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, and will only be allowed to leave the house for school or work. Judge Aiken cited the sixty letters of support she had received from Daniel's family, friends, and co-workers as one of the considerations in her decision to set bail.

During the detention hearing, Detective Gregory Harvey tried to associate Daniel with CrimethInc., which he described as a "small group of people in Olympia who publish several training manuals... including a book about Emma Goldman." CrimethInc. has been mentioned in several other recent high-profile cases that the government claims involve the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), including the recent arrests in Auburn, California. Harvey claimed that Daniel assisted convicted animal liberationist Peter Young during his seven years as a fugitive. The detective claimed that while on the run, Peter authored "Evasion", a book published by CrimethInc.

The prosecutor claimed that Daniel was active in more than one ELF cell: one called "The Family" which all of the others indicted are accused of being a part of, and an "incubator cell" that was a sub-cell of "The Family," and which included "sixteen select individuals" who allegedly planned on attacking different biotechnology research centers. Among the sixteen were Stanislas Meyerhoff, Joseph Dibee, Susan Savoie, William Rodgers, Daniel, and two people known only as Peaches and X. The prosecution described in great detail the way that the "incubator cell" communicated via e-mail using encryption software and a complicated code.

During the cross-examination, the detective disclosed that Kevin Tubbs, who was also arrested on December 7th, is a cooperating witness. Additionally, in an earlier court proceeding regarding the case of Suzanne Savoie, U.S. Assistant District Attorney Kirk Engdall revealed that Kendall Tankersley is a cooperating witness.

Edinburgh, Scotland - Protesters attempting to halt the construction of a new £40 million A68 road bypass through Dalkeith Country Park have been resisting police bailiffs for more than a week. Dozens of demonstrators have been removed and arrested from an interconnecting network of tree platforms as well as underground tunnels.

Suzanne Savoie

Eugene, Oregon, U.S. - The government has moved to try the eleven people that it has arrested in relation to a string of environmentally motivated arsons between 1996 and 2001 together as codefendants. They are alleging that all eleven individuals were members of a cell known as "The Family." Two of the accused, Kendall Tankersley (formerly known as Sarah Harvey) and Suzanne "India" Savoie, plead not guilty today at the first arraignments for the new charges. Harvey is free on $250,000 bail. Savoie and five other suspects have bail hearings scheduled throughout the week. Some of the discovery evidence that has been turned over includes 35 CDs of recorded conversations and 40,000 pages of transcripts, police reports, and photographs. Investigators say that they expect to be making more arrests in the case soon.

Katmandu, Nepal - Thousands of anti-king demonstrators have been involved with a series of ongoing and violent clashes with riot police on the streets of Katmandu. Public demonstrations were banned soon after King Gyanendra seized power by dissolving The Parliament last February. Protests breakout frequently but are violently repressed.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, with FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III

Washington DC, U.S. - Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and ATF Director Carl Truscott announced a total of 11 indictments in relation to a string of environmentally motivated arsons between 1996 and 2001. Credit for most of the arsons was claimed by The Earth or Animal Liberation Fronts. The first seven indictments were handed down early last month. One of the first people arrested was Bill Rodgers who is believed to have killed himself while in custody. Two more individuals Jonathan Paul, a wealthy independent wildland firefighter and Suzanne Savoie, a developmentally disabled children's caregiver were arrested earlier in the week.

A total of three suspects remain at large and are thought to be living abroad. Josephine Overaker, a.k.a. Lisa Rachelle Quintana and/or Maria Quintana is believed to be living in Germany. Rebecca Rubin, a former North Vancouver, Canada, resident was charged by the Canadian Royal Mounted Police (RCMP) in 1998 with committing actions on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), but the charges were dropped soon after. Darren Thurston was also arrested in relation to that case. He has been convicted twice for committing ALF actions in Canada.

Joseph Dibee, of Seattle is an environmental activist who worked for Greenpeace and the Sea Defense Alliance, which Jonathan Paul was also apart of. The two had a public falling out when the group split in 1999. Like some of the others who were indicted Joe was active in campaigns in Canada.

The only evidence in the 83 page indictment comes from the testimony of five "confidential sources." Two of the confidential sources, Jacob Ferguson and Stanislas Meyerhoff, who were also indicted. A third is reportedly Jen Kolar, but this has yet to be confirmed. In 1999 Jen and Joe Dibee hosted an Earth First! affiliated group called Buffalo Field Campaign. The FBI's indictments are taking some of the heat off the bureau in regards to the domestic spying scandal and in many cases came just before the statute of limitations was due to expire. The ELF does not seem to have been slowed down though; authorities credited them with a $2-3 million arson in Washington State in the past week.

Marshallville, Georgia, U.S. - A mob of people attacked police officers with rocks and then looted and burned down Police Chief Stephen Stewart's home after a black man, Clarence Walker, 48, was murdered by police. Police claim that they only used "minimal force" to subdue Walker who was wanted on outstanding charges, but witnesses saw officers sitting on him and spray him with pepper spray. Marshallville is a small town of 1,300 people about 90 miles south of Atlanta.

Medford, Oregon, U.S. - Suzanne Nicole "India" Savoie, 28, of Applegate surrendered herself to federal authorities after she was indicted for the 2001 Earth Liberation Front (ELF) arson of the Superior Lumber Mill offices in Glendale, Oregon. Suzanne received a subpoena on December 7th. The same day at least six other individuals received subpoenas for the same February 16, 2005, Eugene Grand Jury and indictments were announced for seven others.

Federal agents informed her she was a suspect the the lumber company fire and two other ELF arsons when they served her back in December. She said that they wanted her to implicate others, or she would "take the fall for all the men" involved. According to court documents in a related case, Suzanne functioned as a lookout or "watchdog" for in the arson with her ex-boyfriend, who was one of the individuals arrested in December. Suzanne is an environmental activist who has been helping to organize a campaign to preserve the Bald Lick roadless area on Oregon's Black Mountain.

Yiannis Dimitrakis

Athens, Greece - Police claim that bank robbers have ties to anarchist groups. They believe that the group known as “Thieves in Black,” who held up a branch of the National Bank in central Athens, are connected to Athens anarchist arson gangs who frequently attack police and symbols of the state and capitalism. Police have tried before to connect anarchists to the gang of bank robbers.

In July authorities arrested three individuals they believed to be responsible for a petrol bomb attack of a riot police van. They alleged that the three may also be behind the bank heists. The robberies began in 2002 and have netted as much as 500,000 Euros at a time. Police believe that they arrested one of the thieves, Yiannis Dimitrakis, and are close to capturing two others.

Camano Island, Washington - Authorities suspect that environmentalists acting on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) are responsible for burning down a nearly completed 9,600-square-foot house, $3 million house Tuesday morning. Investigators would only say that: someone spray-painted a threatening message on a pink bedsheet and draped it across the front gate.

The ELF often target homes built in sprawling new developments. In the past year there have been at least two similar anti-sprawl arsons in King and Whatcom Counties. In the King County case the perpetrator(s) also left behind a sheet claiming responsibility. It was signed by the ELF. No one has ever been killed or injured in any ELF actions in the group's history, which began in England in 1992.

Jonathan Paul with his sister, environmental activist Caroline Paul

Medford, Oregon, U.S. - Two more environmental activists have been charged in connection with a series of Northwest arsons claimed by the Earth and Animal Liberation Fronts. The first arrests in the investigation, which began in 1997 took place in four separate states early last month.

Jonathan Mark Christopher Paul, 39, of Ashland, received a Grand Jury subpoena on December 7th, but was not arraigned until today on charges that he helped firebomb a horse slaughter house and meat packing plant in Redmond, Oregon, in 1997. The fire caused an estimated $1 million in damages.

Jonathan was charged but not prosecuted in the 1986 sabotage of a University of Oregon animal testing lab. He also spent six months in jail in 1993 for refusing to testify before a Spokane, Washington Grand Jury about now convicted Animal Liberation Front saboteur Rod Coronado.

Suzanne Nicole "India" Savoie, 28, of Applegate, was also indicted but remains at large. The U.S. attorney's office claims that she served as a lookout in the 2001 firebombing at the offices of the Superior Lumber Mill in Glendale, Oregon. Two of the suspects arrested on December 7th are also charged in connection with that arson. That fire caused an estimated $400,000 in damage. Both Savoie and Paul face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Investigators got their first major break in the case in 2004 when one of the alleged arsonists began cooperating with them. Jacob Ferguson claims that he was member of the group which set many of the fires which are under investigation. Jacob, who is a known heroin user in Eugene and at one point spent a lot of time with people in the environmental movement, began assisting the FBI in their investigation shortly after the agency offered a $50,000 reward for information in the cases.

Sacramento, California, U.S. - FBI documents released today reveal details about the state's case against Eric McDavid, Lauren Weiner, and Zachary Jensen, who were arrested Friday for allegedly conspiring to blow up U.S. Forest Service buildings buildings and cell phone towers on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front. According to the criminal complaint the group considered bombing the Nimbus Dam on the American River near Sacramento, a cellular telephone tower, a power station, banks, trucks, mountain-top-removal projects in West Virginia and Communist Party offices.

The complaint went on to claim that the three "scoped out" the US Forest Service's Institute of Forest Genetics in Placerville, California, building and the Nimbus Dam, on January 10th. The following day they allegedly purchased ingredients for a homemade bomb at an area Wal-Mart store. Agents say that they recovered a notebook from Eric McDavid which contained a diagram of the Forest Service Institute and pictures of pipe bombs.

Information in the complaint comes from a paid "confidential source (CS) who is deeply imbedded within the subjects' cell. The CS has worked for the FBI since early 2004. S/he has agreed to testify in court." Supporters identified the CS as a young woman named "Anna" who "went to Auburn" with the defendents shortly before their arrests. The document says that she has has provided information in at least 12 anarchist cases since 2004. She has traveled to and infiltrated various anarchist gatherings and protests across the country including the Biodev 2005 demonstrations in Philadelphia, a CrimethInc. convergence in Indiana and the Feral Visions green anarchist gathering in North Carolina. A police officer suffered a fatal heart attack during a confrontation at the Philadelphia protest which the defendants are now being linked to.

Additional information provided in the complaint was gathered from the defendant's own blogs and and MySpace.com an online community were at least one of the defendants has a personal profile and blog. MySpace is a popular networking and dating forum used by young people. MySpace profiles regularly contain fictitious information about individuals. For instance, one of the defendants profiles which was used against him in court said that he lives in "the barren wastelands, Morocco." A profile on the LiveJournal.com personal publishing site and online community was also used as evidence.

All three suspects are being held in the Sacramento County Jail. They have had difficulty receiving vegan or vegetarian meals from jail authorities. Lauren's case is particularly serious because she has Lymes disease which is maintained through dietary control and is also lactose intolerant. She has requested that people contact the jail on her behalf and request that she be given food which she can eat.

Eugene, Oregon, U.S. - Sarah Harvey, also known as Kendall Tankersley, who was arrested along with five others on December 7th, was granted $250,000 bail by Judge Ann Aiken Friday. The arrests were part of a coordinated sting that spanned the country and included four states and targeted people who had been involved in the environmental and animal rights movement. Each of the individuals arrested have been charged with committing acts of arson on behalf of the Earth or Animal Liberation Front. One of the conditions of her release is that she not have any contact with people in the Earth Liberation Front or the Animal Liberation Front. Activists claim that the arrests are nothing more than harassment and say that the FBI is creating a 'Green Scare."

The "Green Scare" is a term many people are using to describe the contemporary government hysteria surrounding and persecution of environmentalists and animal rights activists. In May the government described the ELF as "the biggest terrorist threat in the US." This assertion contradicts commonly known information about groups on the radical right, like the Army of God who have murdered numerous doctors who perform abortions and are responsible for the 1996 Olympics bombing, which killed two and maimed 111 others. The Earth and Animal Liberation Fronts have committed 1000s of direct actions without ever harming a person since forming in 1976.

Strasbourg, France - Dockers are protesting the EU in Strasbourg which is debating a proposal to "liberalise" European ports. The dockers know that if this happens they will most likely loose their jobs to private contractors. Thousands of dockers have descended upon Strasbourg. The police have responded with the use of tear gas and water cannons. As a result the dockers have utilized firecrackers, stones and metal missiles, smashing windows and causing "considerable damage". Elsewhere in Europe dockers have been on strike in protest shutting down ports in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Antwerp in Belgium and Le Havre in France.

Dajabon, Haiti - Two protesters were killed and seven others injured after troops fired on them. The shooting began after some demonstrators through stones at the troops of the United Nations Stabilization Mission and Dominican troops who were guarding the border. The protest against the border was organized after 24 Haitian men suffocated to death while attempting to cross the border illegally in an air tight sealed truck. The men were planning on finding work on the Dominican side so that they could support their families. The Dominican Republic buried the immigrant's bodies in a mass grave. They said they could not return them to their families because of the demonstration.

Auburn, California, U.S. - The FBI has arrested three community activists they claim were planning to blow up U.S. Forest Service property along with cell phone towers and power generators on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). ELF is an underground radical environmental movement. Zachary O. Jensen, 20, of Monroe, Washington, Lauren Weiner, also 20, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Eric Taylor McDavid, 28, of nearby Foresthill, were taken into custody, without incident by an FBI Special Weapons and Tactics team and at least another dozen other state and local police, in the parking lot of an Auburn K-Mart store. The three are in Sacramento County Jail awaiting arraignments, which are expected to happen Tuesday.

Lauren Weiner is currently a student at The University Of The Arts in Philadelphia and had just arrived in California in the past week. She told her friends that she was planning to take part in a glass blowing internship program in California, for the semester.

Dave Picard, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Sacramento office, said that he had nothing to indicate that there was any imminent danger to the public; but emphasised that "these people could have done a lot of harm to people and property." The ELF, which has committed hundreds of acts of arson, sabotage, and vandalism since it's founding in 1992 has never harmed a single person.

Federal agents said that the arrests were the culmination of a nearly year long investigation. Special Agent John Cauthen said and that they believe that the three had "a loose association" with the four Newcastle residents who were arrested last year in connection with a string of ELF arsons and attempted arsons in Auburn County. Three of the four Newcastle suspects pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing. A fourth is awaiting trial.

Madrid, Spain - The Animal Liberation Front claimed credit for rescuing 28 beagles from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Independent University of Madrid in the memory of "William C. Rogers, 'Avalon'. A comrade who recently "appeared" dead in his cell with a bag over his head." Bill was arrested on December 7th, and was alleged to be a "mastermind" behind numerous Earth Liberation Front arsons as well as the author of a guide to constructing electrical timed incendiary devices.

Edinburgh, Scotland - A closed-circuit television surveillance van monitoring the area around a government housing complex in the Pilton area was attacked by a group of youths early Saturday morning. They smashed the windows and threw a petrol bomb at it while two city employees were inside. This attack was one of several violent incidents which occurred after a 14 year-old was arrested by police on burglary charges. Youths in the area feel that they are being unfairly harassed and profiled by police. Two 15 year-olds were arrested in connection with the fire-bomb attack. No one was hurt.

Fort Sumner, New Mexico- A mouse set fire to and destroyed the home of Luciano Mares. Mares found the mouse in his home and decided to kill it by throwing it into the pile of burning leaves in his yard. The mouse, in all its blazing glory, ran back to the house, stood beneath a window, and set it on fire. Flames spread from there throughout the house, completely destroying the home and everything inside, nobody was harmed.

New York, New York - New York City activist David Segal, who pled guilty last September to malicious mischief for attempting to burn down a Bronx military recruiting station last January, was sentenced to six months in prison on Thursday. He was also sentenced to serve four months of house arrest, without having to wear an electronic ankle monitoring bracelet. The four months of house arrest will be part of a three year supervised release program during which he will have to visit with a counselor for one hour each week, pay $4,500 in fines, and serve 150 hours of community service.

David is required to talk to a counselor because a 15 minute psychiatric evaluation found him to be "anti-social" because he does not believe that what he did is wrong. Supporters who disagree with the evaluation set up a website to coordinate support for David while he serves his sentence. It also encourages others to commit similar actions against recruitment centers.

Judge Richard Berman congratulated David's lawyer Martin Stolar for arranging "the most extraordinary plea bargain” he had ever seen. If the case had gone to trial and ended in a conviction Judge Berman would be forced to impose a 5 year mandatory minimum sentence. Instead, David has until March 13 to report to a minimum security prison camp in Westchester County where he will have access to a vegan diet free of animal products.

In a written statement David credited his extremely lenient sentence to the fortune of being able to retain a good and sympathetic lawyer and encouraged people to support other political prisoners who were less privileged. He concluded it: "Finally, no matter what happens to any of us, we all have to keep fighting. In the end, we’ll win."

New Orleans, Louisiana - A coalition of community members and anarchist relief volunteers with the Common Ground Collective faced down demolition crews and forced them to halt their efforts to raze hurricane damaged homes in New Orleans impoverished lower 9th Ward, early Thursday. Officials who are legally barred from demolishing private structures without the owner's consent before January 6th, claimed that they were only clearing "debris."

Local police, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Army officers were on hand during the confrontation. Volunteers with Common Ground Relief, and the People's Hurricane Relief Fund planned to stay in the neighborhood to patrol and watch for illegal bulldozing. They expressed concerns about potential harassment and disruption from Black Water Security and the National Guard troops.

Hackney, England - Opponenets to the Broadway Market gentrification plans have illegally re-occupied Francesca's café which they were foricibly evicted from just prior to the Christmas holiday. The squatters entered the building on Boxing Day (December 26th) and have since rebuilt the roof and walls that workers demolished after the eviction. Arthur Shutter a spokesperson for the group said that "developers are tearing the community apart, but we will fight them all the way."

Devon, England - The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) took responsibility for reintroducing wild boars to England after a 300 year absence. ALF cut the fencing around boar pens at Allan Dedames' Woodland Wild Boar Farm, freeing 100 animals. 41 mostly young animals were quickly recaptured, but despite the efforts of dozens of hunters using all terrain vehicles and hunting dogs the majority of the boars are likely to remain free.

Gaza, Palestine - Renegade members of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commandeered a bulldozer and destroyed a section of a wall separating Palestine from Egypt. Hundreds of Palestinians, who usually have a very difficult time crossing the border, swarmed across a no-man's land into Egypt. Egyptian police fired warning shots into the air and captured about 100 Palestinians. Some of those who managed to evade capture returned later in the day with discounted merchandise. Video

Athens, Greece - A previously unknown anarchist group, Anti-State Justice, has claimed responsibility for two bombings in support of anarchist prisoners who were arrested last July in connection with an attack on a police officer. The first bomb destroyed a number of automobiles including one belonging to a Finish diplomat. The second targeted an office of Greece's ruling New Democracy party. No one was injured in either blast.

Ohio - Former Toledo city councilman and one-time mayoral candidate Mike Ferner, 54, and his brother John Ferner, 46, of Columbus were arrested for spray-painting anti-war and anti-Bush slogans on highway overpasses along I-475/U.S. 23 in Maumee and Sylvania Township. Mike served in the U.S. Navy from 1969 to 1973 where he received an honorable discharge as a conscientious objector. He was elected to Toledo city council in 1989 and narrowly lost the 1993 mayoral election. He has since worked as a nonviolent peace activist who has been arrested numerous times for hanging banners and engaging in sit-ins. His wife Sue Carter said that "the real crime is going to war on a lie, violating international treaties, and spying on the American public."

Norwich, England - Police attempted to shut down a New Years Eve rave celebration on the north side of Norwich. They tried to intercept to vans transporting sound equipment for the event but were met with resistance from revelers. Riot police with dogs engaged in a stand-off with would-be party-goers and were pelted with rocks, bottles, roof tiles from the tops of nearby homes, and snowballs. The police eventually backed off and the party continued into the early morning. Police are still looking to prosecute the events organizers. Techno rave music parties were criminalized in the mid-eighties by the Criminal Justice Act which explicitly outlawed gatherings of 100 or more people playing amplified music characterised by a "succession of repetitive beats."

Dubbo, Australia - Racial tensions between police and aboriginals boiled over around 2 AM this morning outside a public housing complex. Two undercover police detectives in a new unmarked car stopped an aboriginal youth they suspected of driving a stolen station wagon. The officers were attacked and beaten by a large group of youths; and their cruiser and the station wagon were torched. One of the detectives was hostpitalized with a broken jaw and the other released with cuts and bruises. A police spokesperson said that "they're lucky they're alive." One youth was also injured and four other arrested. Police are preparing to ensure that violence does not continue into a second night.