04/04/2013 / SOUTH KOREA
Kim Jong-un’s warmongering exasperates S. Korean citizens
As North Korea grows more bellicose by the day, its neighbour and sworn enemy to the south is trying to keep cool. However, South Korea’s government has warned that it would strike back with force should North Korea try to launch an attack. Three of our Observers in Seoul talk about what it’s like to live under the threat of war. Read more...
04/04/2013 / EGYPT
On the menu at Egypt’s most prestigious university: maggots and nails
Students at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo are furious. They have been protesting against the dismal hygienic conditions at their university after several hundred students fell ill due to food poisoning. Read more…
Contributors
03/04/2013 / CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE
Outcry at police sex assault video in Congo Brazzaville
A video showing a group of policemen sexually assaulting two women in Congo-Brazzaville’s capital city has caused a public outcry since being uploaded to YouTube last Sunday. We spoke to an Observer who told us this shocking footage puts the spotlight on police brutality, which he says is widespread in his country. Read more...
Contributors
03/04/2013 / UNITED STATES
Exxon spill: 'I saw a river of oil heading down my street'
This past weekend, the tranquillity of a suburban housing development in Arkansas was brutally interrupted by a strange flood – one not of water, but of oil. Watch video…
Contributors
02/04/2013 / BURMA
Burmese Muslims sceptical of ‘accidental’ deadly Islamic school fire
At least thirteen children were killed early Tuesday in a blaze at an Islamic boarding school in Rangoon, Burma’s biggest city. Police immediately blamed the fire on an electrical failure, but according to reports, hundreds of local Muslims who gathered near the scene expressed suspicion that this could have been done intentionally. Read more...
Contributors
01/04/2013 / LIBYA
Libyans try to rebuild community after holy Sufi site destroyed
Last Thursday, unknown persons set off explosives that destroyed the mausoleum of Sidi Al-Andaloussi, a five-century-old Sufi holy site in Tajura, near Tripoli. Refusing to give in to religious extremism, local residents immediately launched a fundraising effort to rebuild this sacred site. Read more…
Contributors
01/04/2013 / BRAZIL
Indigenous camps sacrificed in Rio to make way for World Cup
A group of indigenous Brazilians had been camping out in an old run-down building in Rio for nearly seven years, when heavily-armed military police kicked about 30 of them and their supporters out on March 22. The authorities plan to turn this building – formerly Rio’s Indian Museum, now dubbed Maracana village – into a large sports-themed mall ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. Read more...
Contributors
01/04/2013 / EGYPT
Egypt hit by spate of mob killings
Over the past few months, several Egyptian villages have borne witness to extremely cruel lynchings, in which bodies are often hung in public for all to see. Two Observers, still shaken, describe the executions they witnessed in these remote regions, where such extreme violence seems to be becoming increasingly commonplace. Read more...
29/03/2013 / SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka police stand by as Buddhist monks attack Muslim-owned store
An angry mob of hundreds of people, led by Buddhist monks, attacked a warehouse belonging to a Muslim-owned clothing chain in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo on Thursday. This comes as Buddhist hardliners ramp up their campaigns against Muslims’ lifestyles. Read more…
28/03/2013 / SOMALIA
Somalilander's lifelong dream: building his own helicopter
It all started when Said Abdi Jidheh, a car mechanic in Somaliland, heard about a fire in which several people died. The local authorities didn’t have a helicopter to assist in a rescue. This tragedy inspired Jidheh to build one himself – from scratch. Read more…
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