Workers and activists around the world hold May Day rallies urging greater rights and more pay WSOC TV [Video]

ISTANBUL — (AP) — Workers, activists and others across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia took to the streets on Wednesday to mark May Day with protests over the global pressure of rising prices and calls for greater labor rights. Pro- Palestinian sentiments were also on display.

Police in Istanbul used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to disperse thousands of people who tried to break through a barricade and reach the main Taksim square in defiance of a government ban on celebrating Labor Day there. At least 30 people, mostly members of a left-wing party, were earlier detained for trying to break through another blockade.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has long declared Taksim off-limits for rallies and demonstrations on security grounds, but the square holds symbolic value for labor unions. In 1977, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a May Day celebration at Taksim, causing a stampede and killing 34 people.

On Wednesday, a …