Monday, 16 November 2015

Millions are sharing attack stories that aren't about Paris

07:35  Dema Al-rizki  No comments

A woman is led away from the scene of an attack at Garissa University in April. A story about that massacre, which killed 147 people, went viral on social media after the Paris attacks on FridayImage copyrightEPA
Image captionA woman is led away from the scene of an attack at Garissa University in April. A story about that massacre, which killed 147 people, went viral on social media after the Paris attacks on Friday
The most-read story on the BBC News website on Sunday was about a terror attack - but not the one currently dominating the news.
Nearly 7 million people clicked on the headline Kenya university attack kills 147 - a story about an attack on Garissa University, in the north-east of the country, by the Somali militant group al-Shabab. It happened in April 2015.
About three-quarters of the hits on the story came from social media, rather than from the front page of the BBC News website. When older stories resurface in the top 10 list on the BBC News front page, they appear with a date stamp:
The date stamp on an older BBC News story - red circle added for emphasis
Image captionThe date stamp on an older BBC News story - red circle added for emphasis
In the always-now world of social media though, it appears many people clicked the link their friends had shared, didn't notice the April date on top of the page, and got confused, thinking the Kenya attack was a breaking story.
First Paris now Kenya - I beg please let it stop
But while some of those clicking on the story were mistaken about timing, others shared it to make a point. They were criticising Western media organisations for allegedly failing to cover the Kenya massacre as prominently as they covered events in Paris. (Other commenting saw the irony of using a BBC story to make that point).
who are somalia's al-shabab?

Read more about Garissa

Media captionThe BBC's Karen Allen reports from inside Garissa University College
So who was interested in the Garissa story after the Paris attacks? The attention wasn't being driven primarily from Kenya. Around half of the hits on the story came from North America, with another quarter from the UK. In total, the story attracted more than 10 million page views over two days - or about four times as many as it did when the attack actually happened in April.
Meanwhile on Twitter, similar conversations were happening about attacks and natural disasters in other places. The hashtag "Pray For the World" has been used over 400,000 times since Friday, with some trying to broaden the conversation away from just remembering the Paris attacks, and using it to highlight recent violent attacks with high death tolls in Mexico and Baghdad.

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The hashtag "Pray for Lebanon" - a reference to suicide blasts that killed at least 41 in Beirut the day before the Paris attacks - was in particular used more than 800,000 times on Twitter. The vast majority of those tweets came not at the time of the bombs in Lebanon, but after the Paris attacks ("Pray for Paris" hashtag has been used more than 10 million times).
The "Pray for..." trend also lumped in other events. More than 1.6 million people tweeted "Pray for Japan" when news broke of a massive undersea earthquake - but no-one was killed or injured.
other events
Facebook was criticised by many of its own users who asked why it had turned on its "Safety Check" feature, which allows users to alert their networks that they are OK, in response to the events in Paris, but not after the Beirut bombs. In a post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the feature had only been used for natural disasters prior to Friday.
"We just changed this and now plan to activate Safety Check for more human disasters going forward as well," he wrote.
Nigerians also used social media to highlight the situation there. One popular postby a Nigerian commentator decried numerous massacres committed in that country by the militant group Boko Haram.

Paris attacks: Many arrested in raids across France

07:34  Dema Al-rizki  No comments

Media captionLive: French President Francois Hollande addresses congress in Versailles

The crackdown follows multiple attacks on bars, restaurants, a concert hall and a stadium in Paris on Friday, in which 129 people were killed.A total of 23 people have been arrested and dozens of weapons seized in a series of raids on suspected Islamist militants across France, officials say.
Belgian police say two people arrested on Saturday have been charged with "participating in a terrorist attack".
They were among seven people detained in Belgium at the weekend.
Five of them were later released, including Mohammed Abdeslam, the brother of two suspects - Brahim Abdeslam, killed during the attacks, and Salah Abdeslam, who is on the run.
France held a nationwide minute of silence at midday local time (11:00 GMT) for the victims.
President Francois Hollande led the minute's silence from the Sorbonne University - an acknowledgement of the young age of so many of the 129 who died, the BBC's Hugh Schofield reports from Paris.
The country has been slowly, awkwardly getting itself back into some form of routine, but because of the feelings triggered by Friday's horror, life still does not feel normal, our correspondent adds.
French PM Manuel Valls said the attacks had been organised from Syria.
He added that the authorities believed new terror attacks were being planned in France and other European countries.
Minute's silence in Place de la Republique (16 November)Image copyrightGetty Images
Image captionThousands filled the Place de la Republique, in Paris, for the minute's silence
Media captionIan Pannell reports from Molenbeek, Belgium where police conducted house-to-house searches as part of the raid
Two more Paris attackers have been named, along with five already identified.
One is confirmed to have entered Greece as a migrant earlier this year, leading the head of the far-right Front National Marine Le Pen to demand that France immediately stop accepting new migrants "as a precaution".
She said that the government and opposition were "irresponsible" for agreeing to what she called "the flood of migrants".
As well as the attackers themselves, investigators are also reported to be focusing on a Belgian of Moroccan descent who is described as the possible mastermind of the attacks.
Abdelhamid Abaoud, 27, lived in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, as did two of the attackers, and is now believed to be based in Syria, where he has risen through the ranks of IS.
Police have named Brussels-born Salah Abdeslam, 26, as a key suspect, and a manhunt is under way. He was reportedly stopped by officers in the wake of the attacks while crossing into Belgium but then let go.
Belgian police carried out a raid in the Molenbeek neighbourhood on Monday morning in an attempt to capture Salah Abdeslam, but no arrests were made.
Italian police have said they are searching in the Turin province for a 32-year-old French national named Baptiste Burgy, who is "suspected of being involved" in the attacks, the Ansa news agency reported.
Map of Brussels
Meanwhile, French aircraft have attacked Raqqa, the stronghold in Syria of the Islamic State group, which has said it carried out the attacks.
IS has issued a statement saying the raid targeted empty locations and that there were no casualties.
Mr Valls said France was dealing with a "terrorist army", rather than a single terrorist group.
"We know that operations were being prepared and are still being prepared, not only against France but other European countries too," he said.
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Suspected Paris attackers

  • Salah Abdeslam, 26 - urgently sought by police
  • Brahim Abdeslam, 31 - named as attacker who died near Bataclan concert hall
  • Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29, from near Paris - died in attack on Bataclan
  • Bilal Hadfi, 20 - named as attacker who died at Stade de France
  • Ahmad al-Mohammad, 25, from Idlib, Syria - died at Stade de France (unverified)
  • Samy Amimour, 28, from near Paris - suicide bomber at Bataclan
  • Two other attackers died during the assaults in the city
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The prime minister said more than 150 raids on militant targets had been carried out in different areas of France early on Monday.
"We are making use of the legal framework of the state of emergency to question people who are part of the radical jihadist movement... and all those who advocate hate of the republic," he said.
Police sources told news agencies that properties in the Paris suburb of Bobigny, as well as the cities of Grenoble, Toulouse and Lyon, had been targeted.
Media captionParisians at Place de la Republique sum up how they feel after the attacks - in one word
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said 23 people had been arrested and dozens of weapons seized, including a Kalashnikov assault rifle and rocket launchers. More than 100 people have been placed under house arrest.
Seven attackers died in the assault on the French capital, most of them after detonating suicide belts.
Five were identified over the weekend. On Monday another two were named by the Paris prosecutor as Ahmad al-Mohammad and Samy Amimour.
  • Al-Mohammad is the name on a Syrian passport found with the remains of one of the attackers, though the man's identity has not yet been verified. What has been confirmed is that his fingerprints match those taken by the Greek authorities after he arrived with migrants on the island of Leros in October 2015
  • Amimour was said to be facing terrorism charges in France. He was placed under judicial supervision while under investigation for terrorist conspiracy - he planned to go to Yemen. An international arrest warrant was issued against him when he broke bail in autumn 2013. Three of his relatives were among those detained this morning
One of the main lines of investigation concerns Molenbeek, which has a reputation as being a haven for jihadists.
France is currently marking a second day of national mourning. A state of emergency declared by President Hollande remains in force. Thousands of extra police and troops are on the streets of Paris.
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Main attack sites:

Bataclan concert venue, 50 Boulevard Voltaire, 11th district - 89 dead when stormed by gunmen, three of whom were killed; another gunman died nearby
La Belle Equipe, 92 rue de Charonne, 11th district - 19 dead in gun attacks
Le Carillon bar and Le Petit Cambodge restaurant at rue Alibert, 10th district - 15 dead in gun attacks
La Casa Nostra restaurant, 92 rue de la Fontaine au Roi, 11th district - five dead in gun attacks
Stade de France, St Denis, just north of Paris - three attackers and a bystander killed
Map

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

Montreal begins massive sewage dump into St Lawrence river

17:52  Dema Al-rizki  No comments

A man fishes in the St Lawrence RiverImage copyrightAP
Montreal has begun a controversial dump of 8bn litres (2.1bn gallons) of raw sewage into the St Lawrence River.
Officials in the Canadian city say that the project is necessary in order to replace old infrastructure in the sewage treatment system.
The operation has drawn the ire of people in Canada and in the US who have concerns that the river will be polluted with condoms and nappies.
The dump was delayed during the recent Canadian election.
Officials began releasing the raw sewage into the river just after midnight local time (05:00 GMT) on Wednesday, and say it could last about a week.
Citizens are being asked not to flush medication, condoms or tampons down the toilet while the operation goes on.
The diversion of the raw waste is needed so that workers can replace a snow chute - a large opening that funnels water from melting snow to a facility used to treat the sewage.
Officials at the city of Montreal have said the dump will have little effect on the fish population and will not affect the quality of drinking water for citizens.
A sign says Image copyrightReuters
Image captionA sign reading "Don't touch the water" can be seen near the river
The plan was approved by Canada's new environment minister on the condition that a host of conditions including extensive monitoring were abided by.
However, the plan has drawn ire on both sides of the US-Canada border.
Mathieu Traversy, a provincial legislator of Parti Quebecois, said cities were concerned that riverbanks would be marred by "diapers, condoms and syringes".
Across the border, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has asked the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to intervene.
For its part, the EPA has said it has no regulatory authority over the river, which lies entirely in sovereign Canadian territory.

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