Tanzania's rulers face tough challenge from opposition

Poll could end 54-year rule of country's CCM party as several opposition parties unite behind former PM Lowassa.

Polls have closed in Tanzania's presidential and parliamentary elections, with the ruling party facing its toughest test yet from opposition rivals led by former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa.

In the lead-up to Sunday's polls, opposition leader Lowassa tapped into mounting anger over corruption and the slow pace of change in East Africa's second most populous country.

With its 54-year rule, the Party of the Revolution (CCM) is the dominant party in Tanzania and the longest reigning ruling party in Africa.

However, CCM has faced growing pressure to speed up development of Tanzania's significant natural gas resources to spur economic growth and lower stubbornly high poverty rates.

Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi, reporting from Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salam, said polling stations opened early to allow the stream of voters who want to cast their ballot before the major crowds turn out.

"People have been coming since very early in the morning. They just want to vote early so they can go home and go about their business and wait for the result," Soi said.

"Things are smooth and people are patiently waiting to cast their vote. They want free and fair elections."

There are more than 63,000 polling stations in Tanzania, and each station is only allowed 450 voters. "This is to quicken the process." Soi added.

Education and healthcare

Many voters said education, healthcare and the economy were the major issues they based their choice on.

"I have voted for Lowassa because I want change. He knows what he has promised us, and we expect him to fulfil it. I want him to deal with education and health as he has promised," Asante Jumaine Kigawa, a voter in a suburb of Dar es Salam, told Al Jazeera.

"To be truthful, our education system is no good, and the health sector, especially for mothers and babies, is in a horrible state."

Other voters wanted the ruling party to continue its 54-year grip on power to fulfil its promises.

"I am voting for John Magufuli because CCM has brought us a lot of developments and his promises are very strong and I pray to God to help him fulfil them," Atubella Josephat, 25, a first-time voter, told Al Jazeera.

"Some of his promises are on education and dealing with youth unemployment."

There are more than 63,000 polling stations, and each station is only allowed 450 voters to speed up the polling process

Outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete, who will step down after serving two terms, has warned against violence in the lead-up to the polls.

"Anyone who tries to cause trouble will be dealt with," Kikwete said at a CCM rally on Saturday.

Both Magufuli of the ruling CCM party and the opposition coalition candidate Lowassa have drawn tens of thousands of people to lively rallies, vowing to curb frequent power outages and ensure future economic growth reaches the poor.

They have also pledged to tackle rampant corruption and improve crumbling infrastructure that hinders businesses and weighs on everyday life.

At a final rally on Saturday, Magufuli said he would focus on creating jobs and ensuring faster development of Tanzania's natural gas discoveries.

Tanzania's ambitious plans to build a multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant appear to have stalled, a major concern in a nation which is counting on its gas resources to turbo-charge its development.

The new president will also need to do more to encourage foreign investment and shake off Tanzania's reputation for letting bureaucracy hamper development.

The article talks about the elections held in Tanzania and the tensions it holds amongst the votes. It talks about how the 54 year old political party could possibly switched and the violence that might occur. Although Kikwete promises to block off and stop all violence, it is evident that it's hard to suppress the arising tension. I might be biased and might just be assuming things, but I think most African elections are violent and end up in a disaster. So hopefully like Kikwete's words things are going to be better and good change will be brought. Since most citizens are wishing and hoping for a better result and outcome. The author doesn't have a bias, just the fact that he supports Kikwete and presents him in a good light.

"Aljazeera." 25 Oct. 2015. Al Jazeera Media Network. 26 Oct. 2015 <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/polls-open-tight-tanzania-election-151025043304930.html>

Israel mob lynches Eritrean after bus station attack

Asylum seeker shot by security guard and beaten by bystanders after deadly shooting in Beersheba.

An Eritrean man has died after he was shot and beaten by a mob after he was mistaken for an attacker during a raid in southern Israel, Israeli police say. 

The attack on Sunday night at a bus station in the city of Beersheba saw a Palestinian man armed with a rifle and a knife kill an Israeli soldier and wound about 10 other people.

The Palestinian attacker was killed, while a security guard shot the Eritrean bystander, identified by Israeli media as 29-year-old Haftom Zarhum, thinking he was an accomplice of the assailant.

A video circulating online shows that a mob also beat Zarhum, who later died in hospital.

At least one Israeli soldier was filmed kicking Zarhum in the head as he lay bleeding on the floor of the terminal. Another man lifted a bench and dropped it on Zarhum's head as others tried to protect him by placing a bar stool over his body.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld confirmed Zarhum was "misidentified".

"The man was hit by bystanders and individual civilians who were in the area. Police are looking into it now and have obtained the CCTV footage of the incident."

The Israeli IBA network posted footage of the attack, purportedly recorded by a surveillance camera.

Rosenfeld said the "Palestinian attacker stabbed a soldier and stole his M-16 rifle," opening fire on the crowd at the bus terminal. The soldier died in hospital.

The attacker was named by police as Muhand Alukabi, 21, a resident of Hura in the Negev.

"The death of an asylum seeker at the hands of security guards and an angry mob is a tragic but foreseeable outgrowth of a climate in which some Israeli politicians encourage citizens to take the law into their own hands," said Sari Bashi, Israel-Palestine country director at Human Rights Watch. “The Israeli authorities should investigate and prosecute those responsible for the attack. Israel faces acute threats to public safety, but vigilantism will only lead to more innocent people being harmed or killed.”

Triggered by Israeli incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound last month, violence and protests against Israel's occupation have increased in frequency across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

Diplomatic moves to halt the more than two weeks of unrelenting violence has gained steam, with US Secretary of State John Kerry saying he plans to meet both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the coming days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, rejected an idea from France that would see international observers sent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Israeli forces have responded to the unrest with a crackdown on protesters, using tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition.

Sunday's attack brings the total number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the month to 44. Eight Israelis have been killed.

Checkpoints have been set up in the occupied East Jerusalem, where some of the attackers have come from, and about 300 soldiers on Sunday began reinforcing the police force.

African asylum seekers in Israel have long been the target of political incitement and discriminatory legislation.

In July, an Israeli court approved the deportation of refugees to countries such as Rwanda and Uganda, and gave a stamp of approval to the indefinite detention of asylum seekers who refuse deportation.

Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev, a member of Netanyahu's hardline Likud party, has in the past called African asylum seekers a "cancer in Israel's body".

Residences and schools servicing asylum seekers have also been targeted in attacks, including with firebombs, in recent years.

The article talks about how an Asylum seeker was shot by a security guard and was beaten by bystanders after a deadly shooting in Beersheba. Since it was an accident, I lawfully don’t think they should get punished as they were only trying to create order. Although I do think the chaos is getting out of hand with all the deaths increasing and mobs springing up. The asylum seekers protection is necessary although I do think they might cause problems with becoming targets and easy prey for attacks. I strongly think something should be done and think reinforcing the police force is a great move.  

“Aljazeera.” 19 Oct. 2015. Aljazeera.com. 19 Oct. 2015. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/eritrean-mistakenly-shot-israel-attack-dies-151019064200199.html>

Doctors Without Borders Hospital Bombing: Witnesses Recount Strikes

KABUL, Afghanistan — By the time Saifullah reached the Doctors Without Borders hospital, he had been transporting his wounded family members on donkey and horseback for six hours in search of medical treatment.

Not long after they arrived at the charity's facility in the Afghan battleground city of Kunduz, it would be devastated by "sustained bombing" from a U.S. warplane that killed 22 people including staff members, patients and children.

Saifullah's brother, one of his sons and a nephew were killed as they lay in their hospital beds, he said.

"All of sudden we heard loud explosions that shook the entire building and there were all shouts all over and everyone was running up and down," the 38-year-old told NBC News.

Saifullah, who did not give his last name, said he set off for the hospital Friday after two rockets hit his house. His 70-year-old mother and one of his brothers were killed the attack in the Chardara district of Kunduz province. One of his sons, a daughter and a nephew were injured, Saifullah said.

Carrying his wounded relatives on horses and donkeys, he and his family began the six-hour journey — crossing multiple front lines — and arrived late that night at the hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, which is also known as Médecins Sans Frontières.

His injured family members were rushed into an operating room and the rest were told to stay in a large waiting area. Despite the sound of gunfire and explosions around the building, they fell asleep.

Hours later, the bombardment began.

Saifullah was able to escape and hide behind some shops across the street.

"The bombing continued three or four times for about an hour and then stopped," he said, speaking outside a hospital in Kabul where his surviving families members were being treated Sunday. "But we did not leave our hiding place and could see parts of the building on fire and heavy firing all around."

Between the rocket attack on his home and the apparent U.S. airstrike, Saifullah lost five family members over the course of several hours.

A third brother lost his leg in the hospital bombing, and another of his sons, 5-year-old Fayaz, and his wife received injuries to their necks.

A nurse at the Doctors Without Borders hospital described the bombardment.

"There are no words for how terrible it was," Lajos Zoltan told the charity. "In the intensive care unit, six patients were burning in their beds. A patient was there on the operating table, dead, in the middle of the destruction."

Another patient, who identified himself only as Karim, had been brought to the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz having been injured in what he said was another bombing by "airplanes."

"The hospital was bombed and most of the patients and doctors were killed," Karim said from a hospital bed in Puli Khumri, 50 miles south of Kunduz, after being moved there. "Some relatives brought me here and I am here now for the past two days and don't know anything about my family."

Atta Mohammad, a community representative of an area in Kunduz city, was also at the hospital.

"They bombed the Doctors Without Borders hospital, which was the only hospital in Kunduz helping people," he said. "When the hospital is bombed by government itself then where is safe?"

Doctors Without Borders has called for an independent investigation into the incident." The charity has left the city as it said the hospital was "not functional anymore."

On Monday, the top commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan said the airstrike was requested by Afghan forces who reported being under Taliban fire. General John F. Campbell said he was correcting an initial U.S. statement that said the airstrike had been in response to threats against U.S. forces.

"If errors were committed we will acknowledge them," Campbell added.

President Barack Obama has offered his condolences to the victims and said he will be kept updated on any developments into the investigation of the bombing.

Taliban militants captured most of the city of 300,000 people last week but two days before the deadly hospital airstrike Afghan officials insisted they were in "full control" of Kunduz.

This article talks about how the only functional hospital in Afghanistan, doctors without borders hospital, was bombed by the U.S. Since the author, Rahim Fazul is an Afghanistan reporter I think he might be biased in sympathizing for the victims and putting the U.S. in a negative light. I would agree that the bombings weren't necessary and were horrible ideas, but since the U.S. might have reasons behind their actions I wouldn't go into complete disagreement. I just think the fact that the U.S. bombed a hospital was wrong, the fact that a strong country would attack a harmless place like a hospital in Afghanistan. Also, the fact that the reporter shared an explicit and extinguished story of one family and their losses help us relate to the incident and a distention towards to the U.S.

Rahim, Fazul. " NBC News." 5 Oct. 2015. CNBC. 5 Oct. 2015. <http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/doctors-without-borders-hospital-bombing-witnesses-recount-strikes-n438506>