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South Africans awoke this morning to incredibly disturbing pictures reminiscent of the dark days of apartheid brutality. The xenophobic attacks has reached a crisis point as 12 immigrants have been killed so far.

In a country supposedly proud of its democratic system and with a constitution built on the respect of human rights, little has been done to stem the violence. It seems that history has not taught us much, if burning people alive is the way to deal with an immigrant problem. More worryingly, further negligence on the abuses in Zimbabwe by the South African government gets one asking whether we are heading down a slippery slope.

"For the first time in Bolivian history, the people will not only have
the right to choose but also to decide if the authorities are failing
them,"

Its not often we hear these words from politicians (take note Mr Mugabe) about the their own performance. But it seems that Bolivia's ruling party is living up to this stange concept called "accountability" and holding a referendum on whether regional governments should stay in power. Full story here

Another interesting read on the Bolivia's situation since the socialist re-revolution details the ups and downs of Morales' term thus far.

In today's roundup: China, USA, Russia, Cuba, Ireland, EU and Zimbabwe. Photo of a water tank in Cuba from the Generation Y blog.

Here's Jehane Noujaim, at the 2006 TED Conference, explaining her wish, which became Pangea Day. It's long (25 mins), but about as inspiring as inspiring gets. Pangea Day takes place around the world this Saturday, May 10, and it's free, wherever you are.

You may know John Hodgman as the PC from Apple's PC vs. Mac commercials, or from his appearances on the Daily Show, or from his work as editor of the New York Times Magazine's Funny Pages. Add Pangea Day supporter to the list.

Today's roundup includes China, Turkmenistan, Gabon, Bolivia, Iran, and Kenya. Photo of demonstrators in La Paz, Bolivia, by Flickr user GafferBee.

A handful of the people involved with Why Democracy have been part of the team working on Pangea Day, a project with a beautiful ambition: using film to bring the world closer together.

Pangea Day takes place on May 10, and chances are very good that there's a screening happening near you - follow this link for screening events around the world. Throughout the week we'll put up new video clips as we count down to the main event.

In today's roundup: Burma, Bolivia, China, Kosovo, USA, Zimbabwe, and Haiti and the global food crisis. Photograph of children in Haiti by Flickr user sagabardon.

The Guardian's Jack Shenker writes about the use of online technologies in the struggle against Egypt's repressive regime.