Sunday, September 11, 2005

Rioting and disorder erupted in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday because of a controversial decision to reroute the Orange Order parade. Loyalists attacked the police and army with blast bombs (homemade grenades) and petrol bombs. There was widespread stone-throwing, and barricades were erected on some roads that caused traffic disruptions in the city. In some places, automatic gunfire was heard, with police returning live fire.

Half a dozen police were injured, and two men were taken to hospital — one with a gunshot wound, and another was caught in the blast of an explosion.

The parade route was altered by the Parades Commission. The intended path of the original parade route was through a Nationalist part of Springfield Road, with the potential to result in rioting and violence (the route would have had to pass through a 30 foot high security barrier, one of the “Peace Lines“. Unionists called for the decision to be reconsidered by the Commission; however, no change was made. Instead of passing through Springfield Road, the Orange Order parade was required to proceed through the site of the engineering firm Mackies.

The streets of northern and western Belfast echoed with sounds of violence not commonly heard since the late 1990s and the Troubles. Petrol and blast bombs were used by rioters, and water cannon and plastic bullets were used by police. Several cars and a bus were hijacked, and roads were closed off by mobs of people. A number of buildings were set alight with fire around the outskirts of the city.

Throughout the night, violence spread to outlying towns around Belfast, including Ballymena, Ballyclare, Carrickfergus and Larne.

Police Chief Constable Hugh Orde described the rioting as perhaps the worst such situation ever seen in the United Kingdom – particularly because of the use of firearms in a public order situation. He controversially held the Orange Order responsible for the disorder, and complained about the politicians who called for people to protest. The Rev. Ian Paisley had threatened at the time of the parade rerouting decision by the Parades Commission that it “could be the spark which kindles a fire there would be no putting out”.

The response of Unionist politicians has been to accuse the police of brutal and heavy-handed tactics. Hugh Orde has praised the police for being “heroes”, and suggested that no other police force in the UK, Europe, and perhaps even the US has had to deal with such ferocity in a public order situation. Unionists described the Chief Constable’s comments as “inflammatory”.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Police in Jersey City, New Jersey in the United States say that they have found a 20 year old rocket launcher tube, capable of shooting down planes, on the front yard of a home that is reported to be directly in the path of Newark Liberty International Airport. Police say that the weapon was not in operating condition.

“I was shocked. I read it and it and [there was the word missile] on it. There was little ‘missile’ writing on it. I was afraid because of what people want to do to this country,” said Niranjana Besai who was born in India and has lived in the U.S. for 25 years who discovered the weapon at about 8:00 a.m EDT (UTC-4) when she was leaving the house to go to work.

According to Modern Firearms, the weapon can only be used once, saying it “is a disposable, single shot, recoilless weapon” and can hit a target with a range of “up to 150 meters [to use] against moving targets, and about 300 meters against stationary targets.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirms that the weapon is of military issue and has been identified as a model AT-4, primarily used as an anti-tank weapon. It is manufactured by Saab Bofors Dynamics in Sweden. No explosive devices have been located at the scene. The Associated Press says that the weapon was made to be used during training missions and anti-tank artillery. The U.S. Army at Fort Monmouth in Oceanport, New Jersey is now in possession of the weapon.

“The device has been turned over to United States Army officials at Fort Monmouth,” said Jersey City police in a statement to the press which also confirmed the weapon was a U.S. military issued launcher and was “no longer operable and not considered to be a hazard to public safety.”

It is not known how the weapon ended up in Besai’s yard. The Joint Terrorism Task Force and FBI have confiscated the weapon, before turning it over to the army, and they are investigating the incident.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

The Kenyan government has dismissed 25,000 striking health workers, mostly nurses, citing failure to heed government orders to recommence work and concern for the welfare of hospital patients. Speaking on behalf of the government, Alfred Mutua stated the workers were dismissed “illegally striking” and “[defying] the directive … to report back to work”, which he called “unethical”. The government asks that “[a]ll qualified health professionals, who are unemployed and/or retired have been advised to report to their nearest health facility for interviews and deployment”, Mutua stated.

The workers, who had been on strike for four days, were wishing to have improvements made to their wages, working conditions, and allowances. The strikes have caused a significant number of Kenyan hospitals to cease operations. According to Kenya Health Professionals Society spokesperson Alex Orina, the average monthly wage plus allowances for health workers in Kenya is KSh25,000 (£193, US$302 or €230) approximately. With an increasing number of reports of patients neglected in hospitals emerging, two trade unions met with the Kenyan government yesterday and negotitated a return to work, although a significant proportion of demonstrators defied the agreement, The Guardian reported.

Orina told Reuters the dismissals were “cat-and-mouse games, you cannot sack an entire workforce. It is a ploy to get us to rush back to work, but our strike continues until our demands are met”. Frederick Omiah, a member of the same society, believed the government’s actions would “make an already delicate and volatile situation worse”, expressing concern that demonstrations may continue in the capital Nairobi, amongst other locations. Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union chairperson Dr. Victor Ng’ani described government actions as “reckless”.

Mutua said the health workers were “no longer employees of the government” and had been eliminated from the payroll. While Ng’ani told the BBC of difficulties with finding other workers as skilled and experienced, Mutua reportedly stated that this would not be an issue. “We have over 100,000 to 200,000 health professionals looking for work today,” Mutua commented. “There will be a lag of a day or two … but it is better than letting people die on the floor, at the gate, or suffer in pain”.