Peretty Miriama ekes out a living selling handmade greeting cards to tourists on this Indian Ocean island paradise where buildings went up in flames during last week’s anti-government rioting in the capital.
The violence caught her and her husband by surprise. A homeless couple, they hid their precious stock of souvenirs but when they went back, the cards were gone.
“It’s not been good,” a dazed Miriama said on Friday while leaning against a tree. “We’re poor. Always poor.”
At least 43 people were killed in unrest which began on Monday when protesters set the government broadcasting complex ablaze, along with an oil depot, shopping mall and a private TV station linked to Malagasy President Marc Ravalomanana.
The protests were sparked by government’s decision that day to close a radio station, owned by the capital’s mayor, Andry Rajoelina. He accuses Ravalomanana’s government of misspending funds and threatening democracy.
By Friday the violence had subsided. But Rajoelina called for another anti-government rally yesterday, and that has left many people bracing for the possibility of more violence.
For two days police had battled to control looters who roamed the streets of the capital. Tourists were advised to stay in their hotels. Most of the casualties were people caught up in the chaos or trapped in burning buildings. By Friday, the violence had subsided.
“Business has been bad this week,” said Fula Bao, who sells pink garnets at her roadside stall. “Even foreigners aren’t stopping much at the moment.”
Madagascar, off Africa’s southeast coast, is known for its rare wildlife and eco-tourism — but also for its history of political unrest and infighting. It is one of Africa’s poorest nations, with more than half the population living on less than US$1 per day.
Ravalomanana clashed with former president Didier Ratsiraka when both claimed the presidency after a disputed December 2001 election.
After low-level fighting split the country between two governments, two capitals and two presidents, Ratsiraka fled to France in June 2002. Ravalomanana won re-election in 2006, though two opposition candidates tried to challenge the validity of the vote.
In the sweltering streets of Jakarta, buskers carry towering, hollow puppets and pass around a bucket for donations. Now, they fear becoming outlaws. City authorities said they would crack down on use of the sacred ondel-ondel puppets, which can stand as tall as a truck, and they are drafting legislation to remove what they view as a street nuisance. Performances featuring the puppets — originally used by Jakarta’s Betawi people to ward off evil spirits — would be allowed only at set events. The ban could leave many ondel-ondel buskers in Jakarta jobless. “I am confused and anxious. I fear getting raided or even
Kemal Ozdemir looked up at the bare peaks of Mount Cilo in Turkey’s Kurdish majority southeast. “There were glaciers 10 years ago,” he recalled under a cloudless sky. A mountain guide for 15 years, Ozdemir then turned toward the torrent carrying dozens of blocks of ice below a slope covered with grass and rocks — a sign of glacier loss being exacerbated by global warming. “You can see that there are quite a few pieces of glacier in the water right now ... the reason why the waterfalls flow lushly actually shows us how fast the ice is melting,” he said.
RISING RACISM: A Japanese group called on China to assure safety in the country, while the Chinese embassy in Tokyo urged action against a ‘surge in xenophobia’ A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo. The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries. It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents. Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese
RESTRUCTURE: Myanmar’s military has ended emergency rule and announced plans for elections in December, but critics said the move aims to entrench junta control Myanmar’s military government announced on Thursday that it was ending the state of emergency declared after it seized power in 2021 and would restructure administrative bodies to prepare for the new election at the end of the year. However, the polls planned for an unspecified date in December face serious obstacles, including a civil war raging over most of the country and pledges by opponents of the military rule to derail the election because they believe it can be neither free nor fair. Under the restructuring, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is giving up two posts, but would stay at the
RSS