Late New Cross fire party members: courtesy Ligali
Thirteen black young people died in a fire at a birthday party in New Cross, South East London on 18 January 1981. It was a terrible event that shocked the black community in Britain. The incident occurred exactly 30 years ago today. Anthony Berbeck later died on 9 July 1983. May their souls continue to rest in peace, Amen! A few of the survivors escaped through the window with burns and broken limbs.
The party was a joint birthday celebration for Yvonne Ruddock (who died) and Angela Jackson (who survived) and was held at 439 New Cross Road, going on throughout the night. There was a fairly high degree of racial tension in the area and far right groups including the National Front were active; there had been early complaints about noise from the party. The initial police suspicion was that the party had been bombed either as a revenge attack or to stop the noise.
On 14 January 2011, the 30th anniversary of the fire took place at The Albany in Deptford, London with documentaries on the New Cross Fire. Henry Bonsu, the presenter of Shoot The Messenger on Vox Africa (Sky Channel 218) showed clips of a documentary. He also interviewed Anna Gardner and Alex Pascall OBE, on the tragedy.
According to online reports, Pascall “helped to raise valuable funds for the victims and their families”. Professor Gus John 'mobilised' people for the renowned Black People’s Action Day in London, on 2 March 1981. The documentary showed the Black People’s Action Day and thousands of participants were mostly sad black protesters from different parts of England. Pascall said black people in Britain have not amassed such support for one another since the 1981 New Cross Fire because they are no longer together. 
Plea to solve 1981 blaze mystery
Police accept New Cross fire may have been arson
Second New Cross fire inquest returns open verdict
Did the New Cross fire create a black British identity?
Tunisia: The Fall of Dictator Ben Ali
Former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, 74, of Tunisia fled after the masses led a revolution in the country. The jasmine revolution erupted before “the 5th suicide since December 17, when Mohamed Bouaziz (26) killed himself”.
Members of the Ben Ali family ran the country like their private property for over 23 years while the masses lived in poverty. A former Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Tunisia, Stephen Day told the BBC that Ben Ali and his family looted the banks and took over the telecommunications industry. For about five to six years, the masses were fed up of Dictator Ben Ali and his family of embezzlers.
The plan to revolt built up over the years and the WikiLeaks cable document on the country exposed the problems of corruption, unemployment and a nation in financial crisis. Ben Ali and his family fled to Saudi Arabia last Friday but some Saudi Arabians do not want Ben Ali to take refuge in their country and were disappointed by the government’s decision to host the failed ex-leader in exile.
Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi initially took over as the interim president of Tunisia and declared a state of emergency but “Tunisia's Constitutional Council has announced that under the constitution the speaker of parliament, not the prime minister, is interim president,” says RTE News.
The fall of Dictator Ben Ali of Tunisia is a lesson for all dictators, especially in Africa. What are highly practised by some leaders are civilian or democratic dictatorship, corruption and advanced poverty for the masses aka penury. Tunisians decided that enough was enough! The game is over for Ben Ali, who is next?
