riots
"The kids are not to blame"
A protest in Belgrade of 150,000 people against the independence of Kosovo turned into a mass riot yesterday. Our Observer from Serbia says that the government is only adding fuel to the fire. Read more…
In Kenya, hate media has found a new home
The message Mashada posted on their forum page
One of Kenya's
most popular discussion forums had to close its doors yesterday because
of a barrage of abusive and hate-inciting comments left by web-users. James X
runs the ‘Mashada' project. He explains that the
site's once relatively peaceful discourse had taken a decisively violent turn since
the elections. It seems that the internet is being used to fuel ethnic
loathing. Could this media become the
next Radio Mille Collines? Read more...
Misuse of power
These images were shown on Kenyan television on Tuesday. The scene was filmed in Kisumu (east), a stronghold of the opposition and where three protesters have been killed in two days (more on the riots). The film is now being circulated by Kenyan bloggers, who are condemning the national security forces for misuse of power.
Video posted on Youtube on 17 January 2007 - source : KTN
Kenyan web users gang together on ‘Google Maps’
Text messages played an important part in the Kenya protests at the end of last month. Now, Kenyan bloggers have found a new way to circulate information about the riots, rapes and murders that tear through their country. Our Observer Daudi Were, one of the project organisers, explains to us how it works. Read more...
“For the Camorra, trash is gold”
Photo by Sebastiano Sacco, via Dario Salvelli's blog, Jan. 9 2008.
We published a post on the 'trash crisis' in Naples, Italy, Saturday. The problem is far from over and the Neapolitans continue to confront the police force. Images of these riots have been circulating across the world, but there’s a lack of information on the context and the twists in this particularly complicated, internecine crisis. Why is Naples unable to manage its garbage disposal like other European cities? Our observer, Alessia Storia, worked for a public sector waste management company. She details the responsibilities of the local authorities and the might of the Camorra, the dreaded Sicilian mafia, in this crisis. Read more...
Our Observer takes a look around post-protest Nairobi
Raila Odinga supporters gave up their protests yesterday, when the Orange Democratic Movement members finally gave in to the fact that planned rally would not be going ahead due to police control. Our Observer Daudi Were followed the police as they blockaded entrances to the city and told people to go home. And William Woeri, who's on the scene today, updates us on the current situation. Read more...
35 burned alive in a church, a pastor bears witness
An angry crowd set fire to a church near Eldoret (west Kenya) on Tuesday killing at least 35 people including women and children. Our Observer for Kenya, Fredrick Onyango, put us in contact with a pastor from Langas, a small town in the suburbs of Eldoret. With all shops closed, he explains to us how he cannot feed the sixty refugees he's currently housing in the church. Read his testimony.
Rumours sent by text add to violence
While signs of electoral fraud accumulate, the country responds to the results and the death count creeps up (250 on Tuesday morning). Our Observer Fredrick Onyango, who was pleased with election procedures on Friday, reassesses the situation today. He is particularly concerned about the amount of rumours circulating, apparently by text message. Read more...
From our Observer in Karachi: “We can’t even leave the house. They’ve already burnt a thousand cars.”
Our Observer in Karachi (south Pakistan) keeps us updated on the unfolding of events. Read more...
Bolivia's new constitution is born into a chaotic climate
Material from our regional editor for South America, Cristiano de Sa Fagundes.
The Bolivian assembly approved a new constitution, which grants more power to President Evo Morales on Sunday. The approval was controversial, to say the least. There was an opposition boycott in the assembly, with only 164 out of 255 deputies present for the vote. What's more, the underlying tensions between supporters of Morales and mestizo Bolivians - who consider themselves descendants of Europeans - still run deep. In the run-up to Sunday's vote, there were violent protests in the central Bolivian city of Sucre, in which at least three people were killed. The extent of the violence can be seen in this video, filmed in Sucre on Nov. 23, where the constituent assembly had been meeting. We see opposition supporters tackling the police, and later, a policeman finds himself surrounded by rioters after his motorbike breaks down.
Post your questions to Cristiano de Sa Fagundes.
The video was filmed by Paul van Hooff, a Dutch freelance journalist, and posted on 23 November 2007.
