Boston Bombings: The West’s Selective Grieving
Three dead as bombs rip through a crowd at the Boston marathon. The coming days and weeks will unpick what took place and who is responsible. My fellow journalists will seek to give a face and voice to the dead and injured. Their families and work colleagues will be interviewed, a picture of their lives […]
Eye witness accounts of Meiktila massacre; Beaten, burnt and stabbed
Reports of what actually took place in the Central Myanmar town of Meiktila are still emerging. IDPs are beginning to speak out and tell the world of what they witnessed with their own eyes. “They beat them in front of me. I was watching. I can still see it.” Noor Bi, is crying as she […]
Sittwe. Keep out!
We are being followed. Everyone we speak to is then in turn spoken to. We are being watched, our movements, what we buy, what we say, what we eat. The regime is scared of something. In Sittwe where the Rohingya Muslims were murdered last year the attitude towards us has further darkened. Some of the […]
Myanmar – 30 March
We are being followed. Everyone we speak to is then in turn spoken to. We are being watched, our movements, what we buy, what we say, what we eat. The regime is scared of something. In Sittwe where the Rohingya Muslims were murdered last year the attitude towards us has further darkened. Some of the […]
Listen to the Children
Muhammed sits sketching a stick man and then he picks up a green pencil crayon, colouring in the man he has drawn. No one has bothered to ask these children about what they witnessed during last year’s massacre of the Rohingya in Burma. No one seems to care what children have to say. Ten or […]
Mandalay massacres worse than originally feared
Following recent violence in central Myanmar reportedly between Buddhists and Muslims, the displaced have been fleeing to the central city of Mandalay. Buildings were burnt down and the ‘official’ death toll stood at 32, as angry mobs roamed the streets. The reality of events is very different from what we have heard on our TV […]
Massacre in Meiktila: That was my friend
Following recent attacks in central Myanmar against Muslims, the displaced have been fleeing to the central city of Mandalay. Buildings were burnt down and the ‘official’ death toll stood at 32, as angry mobs roamed the streets. The reality of events is very different from what we have heard on our TV screens. Burmese state […]
The Conflict in Mali Has Nothing to Do With Fighting Terrorists
Another Western nation and former colonial power, has engaged in yet another conflict with an African country, bombing from the air and attacking from the ground. We are told that France is fighting in Mali to push back ‘Islamist’ rebels (not too comfortable with the word ‘Islamist’, I’ve never heard of a Christianist) who are extremists,
During Times of Austerity Art is Just Middle-Class Decadence
A row has been ensuing since October after the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, announced that the Council would sell a Henry Moore sculpture, the Draped Seated Woman also known as Old Flo. The proposed sale of the sculpture is due to massive government cuts to the council’s budget. The sculpture has not been […]
Extradition; A Sad Day for Us All
The decision to extradite Talha Ahsan and Babar Ahmad is only one in a long line of subservient decisions that the UK judiciary has taken to please the US. These two men have languished in prison, without charge, without an end in sight, for six and eight years, respectively. Their families going through a difficult […]