Australia braced for May day protests

Police increased security and deployed riot squads in major Australian cities today as left-wing activists vowed to shut down big business by besieging stock exchanges and major companies on May Day.

The M1 group, whose members disrupted a World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne last year, said tens of thousands of people will try to shut down financial districts across Australia tomorrow. M1 is short for May 1, a traditional workers’ holiday.