September 1 was the first, day of school in the sleepy North Ossetian town of Beslan, when parents, teachers and children celebrate The Day of Knowledge’ by wearing their best clothes and school uniforms. Instead of a party with music and dancing, they stepped into a brutal nightmare. Clubbed and beaten into the school gym …
As the millennium loomed, Christianity in Africa blossomed to equal or surpass the number of its European adherents. African Christians are especially attracted by charismatic offshoots of the Catholic and Anglican creeds, and Uganda’s traditional culture of obedience, respect and loyalty makes it unusually fruitful for new sects. The more exciting, the better. Hoping to …
The Columbine massacre was one of the deadliest school shootings in US history, its circumstances and aftermath inflicting untold trauma on American culture. Eric Harris, aged 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, armed themselves with homemade bombs, sawn-off shotguns, semi-automatic rifles, pistols and knives. Their objective was an all-out assault on the Columbine High School in …
In March 1997 in a house in California police found 39 bodies lying neatly in their bunk beds, their heads and torsos covered by purple cloths. All were wearing black shirts and trousers; in their pockets they each had a $5 note and three quarter coins; each had an armband patch reading ‘Heaven’s Gate Away …
There were 29 small children in the gymnasium of Dunblane Primary School when Thomas Hamilton walked in and opened fire at point-blank range. Using several automatic firearms, he sprayed and re-sprayed the room. In just three minutes 16 children were dead or dying along with their teacher, and 12 were wounded. Just one of the …
The euphoria of independence didn’t last long in most Balkan countries. As the former Yugoslavia fragmented, age-old sectarian, ethnic and tribal rivalries were revived. In 1993 UN forces called in to buffer the antagonism between Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Muslims had designated several ‘Safe Areas’ for civilians. One of these was Srebrenica. By July 1995, …