More than 200,000 campaigners formed a human chain around Scotland's medieval capital, demanding that the world's most powerful nations lift Africa out of poverty.[...]
A river of protesters clad in white streamed through the cobbled streets of the Old Town, over the Royal Mile and through the commercial district, encircling Edinburgh Castle with a giant human bracelet in white, the symbol of the anti-poverty campaign.
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Waving banners, blowing whistles and clutching balloons, the marchers called for a massive increase in aid, an end to trade tariffs that hobble impoverished countries and for Africa's debts to be wiped out. Their peaceful but powerful message was echoed by rock stars and celebrities as a series of Live 8 concerts took place around the world.
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The atmosphere in Edinburgh was festive, with a percussion band from Ghana playing and some demonstrators wearing masks depicting the faces of G-8 leaders including Bush, Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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That oughta keep those clowns out.Police and protesters scuffled in Edinburgh ahead of Wednesday's G8 summit as officials braced for more demonstrations and the possibility of a terrorist attack.
Helmeted police and officers on horseback stopped a march by about 300 black-clad anarchists and antiglobalization protesters as helicopters circled overhead Monday.
In a second standoff in Scotland's medieval capital, riot police stood three-deep to stop a mix of about 150 anarchists, clowns and local people, The Associated Press reported.[...]
One clown waved a carrot at a police horse, while other protesters kissed police riot shields, leaving lipstick marks.
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At Gleneagles, the rural site for the Group of Eight summit north of Edinburgh, 10,000 police were on standby amid watchtowers, surveillance cameras, a no-fly zone and a five-mile ring of steel around the hotel and country club.
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"It is a potential terrorist target," Vine told AP. "All our planning has been based on it both being a terrorist target and of course a target for public protest, so there is a necessity for us to have an exclusion zone."
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Operation Sorbus -- named after the berry of the rowan tree, which according to folklore wards off evil spirits -- includes a 6-foot-high steel mesh fence around the hotel's perimeter.
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