Punish looters, but fix the root cause of UK riots

While television coverage of riots and looting in London evoked memories of Kenya's saddest chapter in early 2008, Ravi Somaiya, a reporter with the New York Times had this to say: "A couple of months ago Britain was Harry Potter and the Royal Wedding. Now it is phone-hacking and riots in the street."

Depending on their position in the global political divide, some media commentators reflected the bias, others the disjointed reactions and others, the polarisation playing out in the streets.