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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: witchcraft

witchcraft stories: 11 news summaries

(Newser) - A British tourist attraction is seeking to conjure up a new resident witch, the BBC reports. Wookey Hole Caves has advertised for a witch willing to live in the site's caverns and practice her—or his—trade for an annual salary of $75,000. Applicants need to have strong cackling... More »

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Britain • witchcraft • witches

Tanzania Opens Trials in Killings of Albinos

Dozens arrested in 40 murders; body parts used for witchcraft

Jun 9, 09 8:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tanzania is trying seven people for murdering albinos and selling their body parts for use in witchcraft, the BBC reports. Dozens have been arrested in some 40 murders over the past year and a half, but so far no one has been convicted. Witch doctors sell “albino potions” for... More »

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Africa • crime • murder • Tanzania • trial • witchcraft • albino

 Abuse of 
 Child 'Witches' 
 Burgeoning 

Growing number of kids suspected of witchcraft worldwide

May 18, 09 10:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - Children dubbed “witches” are facing increasing abuse in Nigeria and elsewhere, advocates say. “They would take my clothes off, tie me up and beat me,” said a 14-year-old, whose grandfather concluded he was a “witch” 2 years ago when he cried at the threat of being... More »

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torture • Nigeria • child abuse • Nepal • witchcraft • witches • beatings

(Newser) - The Pope urged Catholics in Angola to reach out and convert witchcraft believers frightened by “evil powers,” the AP reports. “In today's Angola, Catholics should offer the message of Christ to the many who live in the fear of spirits,” a fear that can lead them... More »

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Africa • Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic • witchcraft • conversion • Angola

'Witch' Burned
Alive in Papua New Guinea

Girl said to spread AIDS; outbreak fuels such sorcery killings

Jan 7, 09 4:00 PM CST
(Newser) - A young woman accused of witchcraft was doused with gasoline and burned to death on a pyre of car tires in Papua New Guinea, reports the Telegraph. The girl, aged between 16 and 21, was accused of spreading AIDS to one of her murderers in an extra-marital affair. Black magic... More »

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women • Papua New Guinea • murder • HIV/AIDS • witchcraft • AIDS epidemic • black magic

Murders Terrify Tanzanian Albinos

Killers sell
body parts for
use in witchcraft

Nov 4, 08 2:03 PM CST
(Newser) - Tanzanian Albinos are living in fear, "unsure of waking up in one piece," said one, as 30 have been killed this year for their body parts, the Guardian reports. Their pigment-free hair, skin, genitals, and extremities are used in witchcraft to bring enrichment, a “stupid belief,... More »

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crime • murder • Tanzania • witchcraft • albino

ANALYSIS

 Downturns Spark 'Witch 
 Hunts' Against Elderly 

People lash out during tough times, researchers explain

Sep 20, 08 8:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - "Witch-hunting” is a hot term these days as angry Wall Street investors pine for revenge—but in some countries they take it literally, Tim Harford writes in Slate. In Tanzania, Bolivia, and India, elderly women are often targeted as witches when resources are scarce. Tanzanian women are killed by... More »

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economics • Tanzania • poverty • witchcraft • witches

Congo Probes Witchcraft Stampede Deaths

13 killed after accusations of sorcery provoke fighting, panic

Sep 16, 08 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Accusations of witchcraft led to a deadly stampede at a soccer game in the Congo, the BBC reports. Fighting broke out between rival teams after players from one team accused the rival team's goalkeeper of casting spells. Police intervened but were pelted with rocks by the crowd. They fired tear... More »

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soccer riots • soccer • Democratic Republic of Congo • Kivu • witchcraft • stampede • Congo

Swiss Pardon Europe's
Last Executed Witch

Housemaid accused of casting spells was beheaded in 1782

Aug 28, 08 4:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - It's 226 years too late to restore her head to her body but the Swiss have decided to restore the good name of convicted witch Anna Goeldi, the Independent reports. Goeldi, the last person in Europe to be executed for witchcraft, was tortured and killed after being accused of casting... More »

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Switzerland • pardon • exonerate • witchcraft • witches

Kenya Mob Torches 11
for Witchcraft

'Sorcerers' accused
of casting spells
on villagers

May 22, 08 8:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - A mob in western Kenya hunted down and killed 11 people they accused of being witches and wizards, AP reports. The gang went from house to house with a list of suspected sorcerers and the spells they had cast. The eight men and three women, most over 70, were lynched... More »

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Africa • Kenya • lynching • witchcraft • witches

Africa's Child 'Witches' Abused, Abandoned

Superstition, poverty take ugly toll on Angolan, Congolese youth

Nov 15, 07 1:34 PM CST
(Newser) - Thousands of children in Angola, Congo, and the Congo Republic are being abused, abandoned, and even killed after being accused of witchcraft, the New York Times reports. Such accusations—born from tribal superstition and poverty that leaves some families unable to care for children—are a "massive" problem, sending... More »

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Africa • children • Democratic Republic of Congo • witchcraft • witches

11 Stories


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