“Our hand will not tremble in the face of violence,” one Cuban official warns the medical school protesters in the video, broadcast on the Maria Elvira Live program on MegaTV.

The official adds that it’s the second protest by the Pakistanis but gives no dates for either, and says 15 leaders of the latest manifestation were to be flown home immediately.

A statement by the Cuban Embassy in Pakistan on Thursday, after parts of the video were posted on the Internet, confirmed the protests but did not mention the students’ complaints of inadequate education and living conditions.

“Unfortunately, since the first months of 2007 and until now, grave violations of discipline have repeatedly been committed by a small group of students,” the statement said.

“Such violations of discipline have included, among others, disrespect for their professors, disregard to the Cuban authorities, failing to attend class, misbehavior, physical aggressions . . . along with acts of violence,” said the statement, published by the online Pakistan Observer.

The video shows scores of members of the anti-riot squad dressed in black and equipped well for a country where riots are extremely rare — with tear gas guns, riot batons, dogs, face shields and U.S.-styled helmets. Several had bayonets fixed on their AK assault rifles.

About five squad members are seen briefly pushing back a group of a few dozen students, some wearing skull caps. But the video did not show any signs of violence.

WELL PREPARED

It’s not clear if the unit, previously unseen in public, belonged to the police or military, but its deployment signaled that the government is well prepared for street disturbances.

“This is a super well-equipped unit, which we have never seen before but which showed that it was ready for something serious,” said Camilo Loret de Mola, who appeared on the Maria Elvira Salazar program that broadcast the video.

Loret de Mola said the video was received from a Cuban he declined to identify. The program broadcast segments on Wednesday and Thursday.

The protest took place at the Maximo Santiago Haza Medical School in Jagüey Grande, in Matanzas province, where nearly 1,000 Pakistanis have been studying on scholarships arranged after a devastating earthquake hit Pakistan in 2005.

Pakistani media reports indicate that it occurred sometime before March, and that at least five of the students were sent home.

The video, apparently taken on cellphones, shows the riot squad virtually surrounding the campus and posted on rooftops as the students are warned by Rolando Gómez, a foreign ministry official who helped set up the scholarship program.

FUTURE AT STAKE

“Think well about what’s at play here,” Gómez cautions them, because “today is the day that you decide if you want to be doctors or you want to go home.”

El Nuevo Herald phone calls to a number listed for the embassy went unanswered.

Under the scholarship program, about 400 Pakistani students arrived in Cuba in 2007 and another 600 arrived a year later. They were sent to the Matanzas school rather than the better known Latin American School for Medicine near Havana, which has about 30,000 students from 126 countries.

A letter purporting to speak for the 1,000 Pakistani students in Cuba, posted Sept. 17, 2009 on the website Overseas Pakistani Friends, detailed a slew of complaints against Cuban and Pakistani authorities.

“We are very much frustrated and feel our future on stake, as we do not even know whether our degree is valid or not” once they return to Pakistan, the letter notes.

While the scholarship program touted Cuba’s medical education as “world leading,” the letter added, the Matanzas school “by no definitions of the word can be called a world leading university.”

The converted Spanish-language school lacks facilities such as a “library, proper laboratory, no specimens (The dead bodies etc) are available for the dissection, and even the nearest hospital is far away from our school.

“How can one think of a medical school without any hospital attached?” the letter asked.

As authorities try to avoid anti-government feeling ahead of the country’s first elections in two decades, the New Light of Myanmar said the violence that killed Soe Paing Zaw, 19, and Aung Thu Hein, 23, was “just a drunken brawl”.

The paper claimed there was a “plot” to use the incident to provoke riots in the country, adding people wanted to help the state “wipe out such elements provoking mass protests for political gains”.

“The government is now gearing up hand in hand with the people… (to take) action against those elements deceiving the people into taking to the streets with the intention of destroying State stability and peace,” it said.

Soe Paing Zaw and Aung Thu Hein, who were shot dead on Saturday night in Bago, north of Yangon, were hurriedly cremated in the town on Tuesday afternoon amid tight security, according to witnesses.

A memorial service at their homes in the town on Saturday is also expected to be heavily guarded as the junta tries to avoid unrest ahead of the November 7 vote — although there have not been any reported protests so far.

An unnamed Myanmar security officer said authorities would keep tight control over the situation as they “do not want any unrest ahead of the election”.

The pair were killed after a taxi they were travelling in with five others was hit by a motorcycle carrying two army officers, who had been drinking beer nearby.

According to the report, one officer ran away from the fight and came back with four security troops from Bago Railway Station, one of whom fired the fatal shots.

“In reality, it was just a drunken brawl in the street between some young soldiers and some young civilians, not a fight between the Tatmadaw and the public,” the paper said, using the term for Myanmar’s feared military.

“Such cases take place sometimes,” it added.

The report said that a lawsuit had been filed against the servicemen involved and stressed a “fine tradition” of punitive action being taken against offending soldiers.

It did not mention how many people would face the lawsuit, but soldiers who are to be prosecuted are thought likely to be dismissed from the army before facing criminal proceedings.

“Officers concerned called at the houses of the two victims to beg the pardon of their parents,” the paper said.

Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, has seen sporadic eruptions of civil unrest over the years, but most have ended in a bloody victory for the junta.

The country has banned civilians from holding any weapons and strictly controls press and other freedoms to maintain an iron grip on power.

Upcoming elections — the first since democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was denied power after her party’s landslide victory in the 1990 polls — have been criticised as a sham aimed at putting a civilian face on military rule.

Tens of traders clashed with police in Nairobi’s Muthurwa Market after a dawn demolition of their kioks in the area.

The hawkers arrived on Friday morning to find their kiosks flattened by council Askaris who had staged the exercise past midnight on Thursday.

In anger, the traders blocked a section of Nairobi’s Landhies Road and stoned motorists before police arrived and dispersed them. This also affected businesses in and around the market.

Traffic flow on some roads was affected in the melee that ensued.

The team of anti-riot officers used several teargas canisters and live bullets to disperse the hawkers who claimed they had been left with no place to operate.

Council officials said the demolition was conducted to enable easy operations there. An official, Robert Keriago said several illegal structures had been erected within the market hence blocking operations.

Seek approval

“They do not seek the approval of the council before constructing the structures. They are all illegal,” he said on the phone.

Central deputy OCPD Tom Atuti said none had been injured in the operation adding they would not allow the hawkers to disrupt business there.

The demolition came as the Cabinet cleared the way for the demolition of old council houses to pave the way for the construction of low-cost modern units.

The Cabinet approved the ‘re-development’ of the old local authority estates in a move expected to provide more affordable housing units for sale and rental in various cities and towns.

It further approved the development of multi-storey parking facilities, a move expected to ease parking pressure and congestion in urban areas.

They also resolved to improve the manner in which solid waste is managed in the country as this will create opportunities for employment and energy generation.

In Nairobi, at least 25 estates have been earmarked for demolition.

Estates likely to be affected include Muthurwa, Shauri Moyo, Bahati, Mbotela, Ziwani, Makongeni and Jericho.

The crowd shouted: “Boo!” “Killers!” and “Assassins!” as Beck took the microphone at John H. Liechty Middle School.

“I hope we came here to have a discussion,” Beck said. “Please, let’s respect each other.”

Beck had to step away from the microphone as the heckling continued.

The meeting was conducted in Spanish and English in the heavily immigrant neighborhood, where officials were hoping to ease tensions after two days of violent protest following the shooting Sunday afternoon of Manuel Jamines, 37.

The LAPD said Jamines, a Guatemalan immigrant who worked as a day laborer, threatened passersby and three police officers with a knife and refused repeated commands in Spanish and English to drop the weapon. He was fatally shot by one of the officers near 6th Street and Union Avenue.

Councilman Ed Reyes, whose district includes Westlake, also addressed the crowd.

“We’re here trying to air our concerns in a peaceful manner,” he said.

Riot-clad Los Angeles police officers in patrol cars Wednesday night were playing a cat-and-mouse game with throngs of protesters along 6th Street in the third straight day of violent clashes following the deadly shooting of a Guatemalan immigrant who allegedly threatened officers and passersby by with a knife.

A few hundred people had gathered at Burlington Avenue and 6th in Westlake, where some hurled bottles at squad cars. Others shouted “Pig!” and profanities at officers as they got out of their vehicles, rifles in their hands.

At least one fire was lighted, but it was quickly extinguished.

Dozens of police cars, lights flashing and sirens wailing, chased after groups of protesters who were running along 6th, near the scene where Manuel Jamines, 37, was shot Sunday afternoon by an LAPD officer.

The LAPD earlier declared a modified tactical alert, holding over extra patrol officers.

LOS ANGELES — Demonstrators pelted police for a second night in a poor immigrant neighborhood following the fatal shooting of a Guatemalan day laborer who allegedly threatened people with a knife and then turned the weapon on a responding officer.

Officers fired at least two rounds of foam projectiles at demonstrators Tuesday night and 22 people were arrested, mainly for failure to disperse and unlawful assembly, Officer Karen Rayner said.

The disturbance erupted despite police Chief Charlie Beck’s pledge to conduct a full investigation into the Sunday afternoon shooting of Manuel Jamines, 37, in the Westlake district near MacArthur Park, a neighborhood packed with recent immigrants from Central America.

An estimated 300 protesters who gathered outside the local police station hurled eggs, rocks and bottles and set a trash bin on fire. Others dropped household items from apartment buildings.

“People were throwing televisions, air conditioning units, miscellaneous furniture and other objects from the windows,” Lt. Cory Palka said.

At least one officer and a Univision reporter were slightly injured by thrown or slingshot-propelled objects, police told City News Service. A man who fell off his bicycle suffered a head injury.

In Monday night’s violence, three officers were slightly injured by thrown objects and four people were arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor inciting a riot, Officer Bruce Borihanh said. Police said most of Monday’s trouble involved a group handing out revolutionary fliers.

In the wake of the protests, authorities scheduled a community meeting for Wednesday evening at a school.

Beck said the Jamines shooting occurred after someone flagged down three bicycle officers to tell them a man was threatening people with a knife.

The officers approached the suspect and told him in Spanish and English to put down the weapon. Instead, Jamines raised the knife above his head and lunged at Officer Frank Hernandez, a 13-year veteran of the department, Beck said.

Eyewitness accounts from six civilians, nine police personnel and two fire department staff indicate Hernandez fired twice “in immediate defense of life,” Beck said. Jamines died at the scene.

Investigators recovered a bloody, 6-inch knife at the scene but didn’t know where the blood came from.

“This was a very brief moment in time, just 40 seconds between first contact and the time of the shooting,” Beck said.

Beck said the timeline was based on preliminary interviews. He said the department’s Force Investigation Division will conduct a thorough, transparent probe.

The three officers involved in the shooting have been temporarily reassigned.

Jamines had a wife and three children — ages 13, 6 and 8 — in his hometown of Mazatenango, Guatemala, according to his cousin Juan Jaminez, 38. He came to the United States six years ago to find work and spent most of his time looking for jobs in a Home Depot parking lot near his home.

Jamines was drunk but not dangerous, his cousin and neighbors said.

“Killing a drunk isn’t right,” said Juan Jaminez, also a day laborer. He and others described Jamines as a friendly, hardworking man who liked to drink on the weekends but wasn’t violent.

“The officer who did this should be subject to discipline and a thorough investigation,” said Juan Flores, 39, a restaurant cook who knew Jamines.

Flores said the officers should have used a non-lethal weapon.

Beck said the officer involved in the shooting didn’t have a baton or stun gun. He said bicycle officers frequently do not carry the selection of non-lethal weapons found in patrol cars.

Juana Neri, 57, a Mexican immigrant housewife who lives nearby, pushed her grocery bag in a baby stroller past the corner where Jamines was killed.

“It’s bad, what the police did, but what’s worse is the silly stuff that people were doing here,” she said, referring to Monday’s violence. “We are not in our country, and with the problems that Hispanic immigrants have these days, it’s better not to cause problems.”

MacArthur Park was the site of a May 1, 2007, clash in which police pummeled immigration rights marchers and reporters with batons and shot rubber bullets into the crowd. Police cited significant command failures in the response to a confrontation with a group of “agitators” that triggered the sweep through the park, and a deputy chief at the scene quickly resigned after being demoted.

Police have raided buildings across Germany to search for evidence that the country’s largest neo-Nazi group is an “aggressive and combative” threat to democracy.

Senior interior ministry officials have confirmed that the sweep of 30 buildings is an investigation into whether the Aid Organisation for National Political Victims and their Relatives (HNG) should be banned.

“Today’s searches will show whether our suspicions are confirmed and the HNG is positioned against constitutional order in an aggressively violent manner,” Klaus-Dieter Fritsche , an interior minister said in Germany’s capital Berlin.

“Our findings bring us nearer to the suspicion that the HNG’s main goal is to network and strengthen the mainly fragmented neo-Nazi scene beyond trench warfare.”

The 600-strong far-right group is accused of keeping in contact with imprisoned Nazis to strengthen extremist ideology and “encourage them to commit further crimes”.

“Imprisoned comrades are not only kept within the group while in jail, but also encouraged to ‘fight on against the system’,” said Mr Fritsche.

In March 2009, the government banned a neo-Nazi organization, Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend, which sought to attract youths to an anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant ideology under the guise of activities such as summer camps and outings.

Police had uncovered swastikas, black-clad youngsters and extremist lyrics during a raid on one of the HDJ’s camping sites on the Baltic Sea coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state.

Germany has grappled with the proliferation of anti- immigrant and extremist groups, underscored by regional state election victories of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany.

Ihar Bahachak, Valery Khotsin, Syarhey Slyusar, Mikalay Dzyadok, Alyaksey Zhynhyarowski and Alyaksandr Frantskevich were arrested in a police raid on an apartment in Minsk at about 6 a.m. on September 3, reported the news site belarus.indymedia.org.

The police searched the apartment and seized five computers, two laptops, mobile phones, cash, posters and magazines, according to the site.

The six young men were taken to the interior ministry’s organized crime prevention department for interrogation and then placed in the detention center on Akrestsina Street.

The indymedia site described the arrested men as “civil society activists who participate in various social campaigns aimed at the protection of human rights and free access to information.”

Belarus’ law-enforcement agencies have released no official information on the arrest.

Under regulations, a person may be detained without being charged for 72 hours. A prosecutor has the right to extend the detention to 10 days.

The fresh wave of protests in Manikganj and Gazipur signals the recurrence of violent unrest in the apparel industry ahead of Eid.

Police said thousands of workers of two garment factories in Manikganj and Gazipur blockaded Dhaka-Aricha and Dhaka-Tangail highways as authorities of the units are yet to settle workers’ wages, dues and bonuses.

The street violence temporarily disrupted vehicular movements on the highways, causing sufferings to the homebound passengers.

Officer-in-Charge of Manikganj police station Mohammad Azizul Haque said the demonstration took place in Giland area of Manikganj Sadar Upazila from 8:00am to 9:00am after blockading Dhaka-Aricha highway.

He said the workers of Monnu Apparels were dissatisfied as the authorities provided lower quality Iftar and food Monday and did not declare holiday on Wednesday. The protesting workers also demanded overtime bills.

A sub-inspector of Chakrabarty police station said workers of RK Homes Textile at Zirani of Gazipur put barricade on Dhaka-Tangail Highway in the morning demanding full payments of arrears, bonuses and overtime bills.

The protestors later withdrew their blockades after getting assurances from the factory management.

A labour group recently announced that they would cordon off houses of the manufacturers unless workers’ dues, wages, bonuses and overtime bill were met by Wednesday.

They also urged garment producers to meet their demand by the deadline, saying the workers would definitely resist the owners that wrongdoing at any costs.

“We’ll launch nationwide protest programme unless workers’ dues, wages, bonuses and overtime bills were provided before the eid. We’re now observing the overall situation in the sector,” said a union leader seeking anonymity.

Officials of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) said they had asked the owners to clear all dues, wages, festival allowances and overtime bills before eid.

“Due wages and allowances have already been paid in most factories following the order. I hope the other workers will be paid by a day,” a senior BGMEA official said.