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November 21, 2008 8:34:34 PM CST


witches

witches news stories

5 Stories

ANALYSIS

 Downturns Spark 'Witch 
 Hunts' Against Elderly 

People lash out during tough times, researchers explain

(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 their own families: "The machete is the weapon of choice," Harford writes. More »

More about:  poverty economics Tanzania witchcraft witches

Swiss Pardon Europe's
Last Executed Witch

Housemaid accused of casting spells was beheaded in 1782

(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 spells to make a young girl convulse and spit pins. More »

More about:  Switzerland pardon witchcraft witches exonerate

 JK Rowling Pens Potter Prequel 

800-word manuscript to be auctioned for charity

(Newser) - Harry Potter fans mourned when JK Rowling ended the enormously popular schoolboy wizard saga with the seventh and final book last year. But now she has written a surprise short prequel likely to trigger a bidding frenzy. Rowling has donated an 800-word handwritten manuscript to the British bookseller Waterstone's to be auctioned for charity. More »

More about:  Harry Potter JK Rowling Harry Potter Lexicon witches

Kenya Mob Torches 11
for Witchcraft

'Sorcerers' accused
of casting spells
on villagers

(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 and burned in their homes in the notoriously superstitious district. More »

More about:  Africa Kenya witchcraft witches lynching

Africa's Child 'Witches' Abused, Abandoned

Superstition, poverty take ugly toll on Angolan, Congolese youth

(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 hundreds of children alone into the streets of cities like Kinshasa and Luanda. More »

More about:  children Africa Democratic Republic of Congo witchcraft witches

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