WORLD - The African Mirror

Jul

11

2026

US‑Iran ceasefire had a built‑in detonator. This week it went off

WORLD

THE breakdown of the ceasefire between the US and Iran was perhaps the least surprising news this week. The 14-point plan – AKA the memorandum of understanding (MoU) – signed by Donald Trump in Versailles at the end of the G7 summit on June 17 and by the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, the same day, had always felt dangerously impermanent. So the return to what analysts coyly refer to as “kinetic warfare” and journalists call “bang-bangs” seemed inevitable. For Ben Soodavar, an expert in decision-making in war at King’s College London, the agreement was “a ceasefire with a built-in detonator”,…

Jul

11

2026

By HOKBI TIUNN

Democracy from the front lines: How Taiwan and the Taiwanese diaspora combat global isolation

WORLD

A 2021 Pew Research Centre study on where people in different countries find meaning in life revealed something interesting about Taiwan. In most countries surveyed, family came first. In Taiwan, the most common answer was society, places and institutions. The finding provides a helpful starting point for understanding Taiwan’s democracy. It connects public life and shared institutions to the everyday experiences that people in Taiwan find meaningful. Embracing democracy Taiwan is also one of the clearest democratic success stories outside of traditional Western democracies. It now stands among the freest democracies in Asia. These achievements were not handed down by…

Jul

11

2026

By MARZIEH KOUHI-ESFAHANI

How Iran used Ali Khamenei’s funeral as a political and diplomatic tool

WORLD

ALI Khamenei, who served as Iran’s supreme leader until his assassination in a US-Israeli operation in February 2026, was finally laid to rest on July 9. His burial brings a week of public mourning ceremonies and processions to an end, and comes as hostilities between the US and Iran are escalating again. Islamic tradition calls for the prompt burial of the deceased. Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was buried within three days of his death in 1989. Qasem Soleimani, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who was assassinated by a US strike in 2020, was also laid to…

Jul

10

2026

By BRUCE WOLPE

Fire and ice: erratic Trump fulminates on Iran and lambasts (then embraces) Europe at NATO summit

WORLD

US President Donald Trump’s media conferences at the NATO summit in Ankara were the most disturbing since his session with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018. Back then, Trump stunned those assembled when asked whether he believed the conclusion of US intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the 2016 presidential election. “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be,” he replied. From that moment on, Trump’s credibility in standing for America First over Russia was in doubt. The president’s media performances at NATO were even more destabilising and erratic. In the…

Jul

10

2026

By The African Mirror

South Lebanon’s fragile ceasefire: UNIFIL warns returns to “Destroyed villages” as violations continue

WORLD

THE ceasefire between Beirut and Tel Aviv has sharply reduced large-scale combat in southern Lebanon, but fragile calm and continuing violations leave returning communities facing profound insecurity and destruction, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Wednesday. UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel told journalists that while “the level of violence has been reduced, we continue to record a number of violations of Resolution 1701 on a daily basis.” That tension, she said, requires sustained peacekeeping work: “Peacekeepers are working, including through our liaison and coordination mechanisms, to consolidate the stability gains we’ve seen and continue efforts towards security and…

Jul

10

2026

By TEESTA PRAKASH

Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia will be a display of strategic pragmatism

WORLD

INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Melbourne today. This marks his third official visit to Australia, making him the most frequent visiting Indian Prime Minister in the history of the bilateral relationship. It also reflects the remarkable transformation of the Australia–India relationship. While once contentious – largely a result of differing Cold War ideologies – the strategic partnership is now firmly cemented. But as political priorities shift in both Australia and India, maintaining momentum in the bilateral relationship will require continued engagement and policy coordination. Countering Chinese ambition Signed in 2020, the comprehensive strategic partnership is underpinned by a…

Jul

09

2026

By BEN SOODAVAR

Iran ceasefire was always going to break – here’s why

WORLD

LESS than a month after a ceasefire was signed between the US and Iran, conflict has returned to the Middle East. The peace agreement Donald Trump signed at the Palace of Versailles in France on June 18 – which he hailed as Iran’s “unconditional surrender” – is now, in the US president’s own words, “over”. I recently argued that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Washington and Tehran was best understood not as a peace agreement but as a “deferred crisis” – a ceasefire with a built-in detonator. That detonator has now gone off. Trump’s declaration that further talks with…

Jul

09

2026

By RASHA ABOU JALAL

How we are trying to reclaim life amid rubble and fear in Gaza

WORLD

IT'S now been 1,000 days since Israel's genocidal war in Gaza began, and nearly nine months since last October's ceasefire. Today, life in Gaza still feels frozen at the very moment that the deal was signed. Nothing has truly returned to normal. Even the sound of bombardment has not fully stopped. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Rasha Abou Jalal When I walk through the streets, I sometimes feel as though I am wandering inside a city that has just survived a massive earthquake. Rubble still fills the roads and destroyed buildings stand like giant skeletons bearing…

Jul

09

2026

By TERRI RUPAR

Gen Z women are the most pessimistic about the American dream

WORLD

GEN Z women often show up in polling as the most progressive group. They’re also the most pessimistic about the American dream. That’s according to a new analysis of polling data by PRRI. Americans overall have become more pessimistic about the American dream — defined in the poll as “if you work hard, you’ll get ahead” — in the past two years. Now 49 percent agree, down from 55 percent in 2024. But some groups are more likely than others to agree, including Republicans and older Americans. While numbers dropped in all age groups, the biggest decline came among young…

Jul

08

2026

By MARK WEBBER and STEFAN WOLFF

NATO summit will reveal how alliance plans to manage European security as US cuts back its support

WORLD

TWO massive Russian attacks on Kyiv in less than a week, renewed Iranian threats in the Strait of Hormuz, and a security crackdown in Turkey are just three of the immediate issues shaping the context of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8. While Ukraine and Iran will be on NATO's agenda, the authoritarian drift of its host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will be politely overlooked. But as ever, the summit outcome will be determined by the position of the United States. At last year’s Hague summit, the NATO -sceptical US president, Donald Trump, was placated by the…