Gardaí (Irish police) have been attacked after hundreds of people protesting Covid-19 restrictions were prevented from gathering in St Stephen's Green in Dublin on Saturday.
Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported that a number of arrests have been made.
Police used batons to push demonstrators down Grafton Street, but were attacked with fireworks, cans and bollards, RTÉ said.
The Office of Public Works closed the park after orders from police.
In an earlier message, Gardaí said they were operating a policing plan in Dublin city centre on Saturday afternoon and a number of traffic diversions had been put in place.
The operator of the Luas public transport system said its green line service would not be stopping at the park for a time due to the protest.
Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Leo Varadkar said he was "horrified" by what had happened.
Horrified to see this on our streets. Irish people have spent last year fighting Covid. There is no excuse for violence to Gardaí or anyone. This behaviour on Grafton St by a selfish few undermines sacrifices that millions have made in the last 12 months https://t.co/QI8x2dmFg3
The Fine Gael leader said there was "no excuse for violence to gardaí or anyone", adding that a "selfish few" were undermining "sacrifices that millions have made in the last 12 months".
Higher Education Minister Simon Harris condemned the attacks on police as "pure thuggery" and said the protest was "an attack on our national effort".
Pure thuggery on the streets of Dublin today. It’s not a “protest”. It’s an attack on our national effort. The abuse directed at the Gardai is sickening & shameful. Disgraceful. Thoughts with the Gardai and their families
Anti-lockdown protests in Dublin have descended into chaos as the police and protestors square off. Police have attempted to disperse the large groups as the demonstrators loudly chanted freedom. Video footage has emerged of some protestors hurling objects at police.
Among the chaos were protestors berating the police while others demanded people calm down and protest peacefully.
Terrifying footage has emerged showing one individual walking directly up to the police aiming a firework.
Two bangs can be heard in the video as the police scramble into the crowd to grab the person.
The large crowd of protests quickly scatter as panicked screams and shouting can be heard.
The cash would be extended as emergency financial aid to households, small businesses and state governments.
The vote comes in the same week the US passed 500,000 coronavirus-related deaths - the largest figure of any nation in the world.
The Democrats only have a thin, 10-seat majority in the House, but they found sufficient numbers - 219 to 212 - in a vote that went into the early morning on Saturday.
But Republicans say the plan is unnecessarily large and stuffed with Democratic priorities unrelated to the pandemic.
The Democrats will face a bigger battle in the Senate when the package is debated there, probably next week.
On Thursday, Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian - who interprets its rules - said that raising the minimum wage would violate the budgetary limits allowed in this kind of measure.
The bill that passed in the House does still include the increase in the minimum wage.
It remains unclear how this can be solved. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the rest of the bill will still pass, even if this section is taken out by the Senate.
But the minimum wage rise remains a key Democrat goal, particularly for the party's progressive wing, and some top Democrats are considering a measure to penalise employers who pay less than $15 an hour.
Republicans argue the minimum wage increase would be too heavy a toll on firms struggling to rebuild following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs says US intel claiming MBS approved the hit on Khashoggi is ‘negative, false and unacceptable’.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected a report by US intelligence agencies released on Friday that assigns accountability to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia completely rejects the negative, false and unacceptable assessment in the report pertaining to the Kingdom’s leadership and notes that the report contained inaccurate information and conclusions,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued by the Saudi Press Agency.
The US intelligence community report, produced by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, confirms that US spy agencies had concluded MBS “approved an operation” to capture or kill the Saudi journalist in Istanbul, Turkey.
Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. His body has never been recovered.
“This was an abhorrent crime and a flagrant violation of the Kingdom’s laws and values,” the ministry statement said.
“This crime was committed by a group of individuals that have transgressed all pertinent regulations and authorities of the agencies where they were employed,” the statement said.
“The concerned individuals were convicted and sentenced by the courts in the kingdom and these sentences were welcomed by the family of Jamal Khashoggi.”
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaks during a news conference on December 15, 2014, in Manama, Bahrain [File: Hasan Jamali/AP Photo]The four-page US report, required by Congress, had been held back from public view by former President Donald Trump but was released by new President Joe Biden who had pledged during his 2020 political campaign to hold the Saudis accountable for Khashoggi’s murder.
US spy agencies, including the CIA, based their assessment of MBS’s role on his “control of decision making” and the “direct involvement of a key adviser” and members of his “protective detail” in the operation.
Saudi Arabia has long denied MBS had direct knowledge of Khashoggi’s murder.
After the report’s release on Friday, the Biden administration officials announced travel bans on 76 Saudi nationals and imposed financial sanctions on Saudi Major General Ahmad Hassan Mohammad Asiri, a close confidant of MBS.
#STATEMENT | The Government of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Completely Rejects the Assessment in the Report Submitted to US’ Congress Regarding Murder of Saudi Citizen Jamal Khashoggi pic.twitter.com/VQwYpBjvvX
“It is truly unfortunate that this report, with its unjustified and inaccurate conclusions, is issued while the kingdom has clearly denounced this heinous crime, and the Kingdom’s leadership took the necessary steps to ensure that such a tragedy never takes place again,” the Saudi statement said.
“The Kingdom rejects any measure that infringes upon its leadership, sovereignty, and the independence of its judicial system.”
Asked about the Saudi denial of the report’s findings, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Washington “the report speaks for itself” and the Biden administration is “trying to bring transparency to this issue and share with the American people what we know”.
The kingdom had given “multi-million-dollar houses” and “monthly five-figure payments” to Khashoggi’s four children, according to a 2019 report by The Washington Post, the US newspaper where Khashoggi had been a columnist.
Khashoggi wrote in his last column before he was killed about the need for a free press in the Arab world.
“A state-run narrative dominates the public psyche, and while many do not believe it, a large majority of the population falls victim to this false narrative,” Khashoggi said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs says US intel claiming MBS approved the hit on Khashoggi is ‘negative, false and unacceptable’.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected a report by US intelligence agencies released on Friday that assigns accountability to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia completely rejects the negative, false and unacceptable assessment in the report pertaining to the Kingdom’s leadership and notes that the report contained inaccurate information and conclusions,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued by the Saudi Press Agency.
The US intelligence community report, produced by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, confirms that US spy agencies had concluded MBS “approved an operation” to capture or kill the Saudi journalist in Istanbul, Turkey.
Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. His body has never been recovered.
“This was an abhorrent crime and a flagrant violation of the Kingdom’s laws and values,” the ministry statement said.
“This crime was committed by a group of individuals that have transgressed all pertinent regulations and authorities of the agencies where they were employed,” the statement said.
“The concerned individuals were convicted and sentenced by the courts in the kingdom and these sentences were welcomed by the family of Jamal Khashoggi.”
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaks during a news conference on December 15, 2014, in Manama, Bahrain [File: Hasan Jamali/AP Photo]The four-page US report, required by Congress, had been held back from public view by former President Donald Trump but was released by new President Joe Biden who had pledged during his 2020 political campaign to hold the Saudis accountable for Khashoggi’s murder.
US spy agencies, including the CIA, based their assessment of MBS’s role on his “control of decision making” and the “direct involvement of a key adviser” and members of his “protective detail” in the operation.
Saudi Arabia has long denied MBS had direct knowledge of Khashoggi’s murder.
After the report’s release on Friday, the Biden administration officials announced travel bans on 76 Saudi nationals and imposed financial sanctions on Saudi Major General Ahmad Hassan Mohammad Asiri, a close confidant of MBS.
#STATEMENT | The Government of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Completely Rejects the Assessment in the Report Submitted to US’ Congress Regarding Murder of Saudi Citizen Jamal Khashoggi pic.twitter.com/VQwYpBjvvX
“It is truly unfortunate that this report, with its unjustified and inaccurate conclusions, is issued while the kingdom has clearly denounced this heinous crime, and the Kingdom’s leadership took the necessary steps to ensure that such a tragedy never takes place again,” the Saudi statement said.
“The Kingdom rejects any measure that infringes upon its leadership, sovereignty, and the independence of its judicial system.”
Asked about the Saudi denial of the report’s findings, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Washington “the report speaks for itself” and the Biden administration is “trying to bring transparency to this issue and share with the American people what we know”.
The kingdom had given “multi-million-dollar houses” and “monthly five-figure payments” to Khashoggi’s four children, according to a 2019 report by The Washington Post, the US newspaper where Khashoggi had been a columnist.
Khashoggi wrote in his last column before he was killed about the need for a free press in the Arab world.
“A state-run narrative dominates the public psyche, and while many do not believe it, a large majority of the population falls victim to this false narrative,” Khashoggi said.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince is likely to have approved an operation to kill or capture a US-based journalist inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a newly-declassified intelligence report.
Jamal Khashoggi, an exiled journalist who was a frequentcritic of the crown prince, was murdered in October 2018.
The report, contributed to mostly by the CIA, said: "We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"We base this assessment on the Crown Prince's control of decision making in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammad bin Salman's protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince's support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi," the report added.
Image:Riyadh says the journalist was killed as part of a 'rogue' extradition operation that went wrong
The report said the crown prince's "absolute control" of the kingdom's intelligence organisations would make it highly unlikely that such an operation could have been carried out without his authorisation.
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The Saudi foreign ministry rejected the accusation, calling the report's assessment "negative, false and unacceptable" and its conclusion "unjustified and inaccurate".
A statement called the murder "an abhorrent crime and a flagrant violation of the kingdom's laws and values".
More from Jamal Khashoggi
The central conclusion of the report was widely expected given that intelligence officials were said to have reached it soon after the brutal murder of Mr Khashoggi, who wrote opinion columns for the Washington Post critical of the crown prince's policies.
But it will be seen as an extraordinary rebuke of the ambitious 35-year-old Saudi leader and is likely to set the tone for the new American administration's relationship with a country President Joe Biden has previously criticised, but which the White House also regards in some contexts as a strategic partner.
Following the release of the report, a statement from US secretary of state Antony Blinken described it as a "horrific killing" and announced new visa restrictions.
The statement said: "The Khashoggi Ban allows the State Department to impose visa restrictions on individuals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, are believed to have been directly engaged in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities..."
"...including those that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work, or who engage in such activities with respect to the families or other close associates of such persons.
"Family members of such individuals also may be subject to visa restrictions under this policy, where appropriate."
Image:Joe Biden wants to realign US-Saudi relations
It added: "While the United States remains invested in its relationship with Saudi Arabia, President Biden has made clear that partnership must reflect US values.
"To that end, we have made absolutely clear that extraterritorial threats and assaults by Saudi Arabia against activists, dissidents, and journalists must end. They will not be tolerated by the United States."
Mr Khashoggi, 59, had visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, planning to pick up documents needed for his wedding.
Once inside, he died at the hands of more than a dozen Saudi security and intelligence officials and others who had assembled ahead of his arrival.
Surveillance cameras had tracked his route and those of his alleged killers in Istanbul in the hours leading up to his killing.
Image:Jamal Khashoggi was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018
A Turkish bug planted at the consulate reportedly captured the sound of a forensic saw, operated by a Saudi colonel who was also a forensics expert, dismembering Mr Khashoggi's body within an hour of him entering the building.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaks during a news conference on December 15, 2014, in Manama, Bahrain [File: Hasan Jamali/AP Photo]
