WORLD - The African Mirror

Feb

12

2025

Gaza: a return to war must be avoided at all costs, insists UN chief

WORLD

A return to war in Gaza must be avoided at all costs, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has insisted, amid fears that the three-week-old ceasefire agreement between Hamas fighters and Israel is about to end. “We must avoid at all costs the resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to an immense tragedy,” said the UN chief, in a statement relayed to journalists by UN Geneva spokesperson Rolando Gomez. “I appeal to Hamas to proceed with the planned liberation of hostages next Saturday. Both sides must fully abide by their commitments in the cease-fire agreement and resume serious negotiations in…

Feb

12

2025

By ABDUL-GAFAR TOBI OSHODI

Power vacuum in west Africa’s Sahel: 3 ways China could fill the gap as west exits

WORLD

WITH France fast losing its influence in West Africa’s Sahel region and an unpredictable US president in power, will China fill the vacuum? The Sahel region covers 10 countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. French troops have been expelled from three of these – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – after military coups. Chad, Senegal and Ivory Coast have also expelled French troops. The troops were there because of the security threat from extremist groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province. Niger also ended an agreement to keep about…

Feb

11

2025

By TABITA ROSENDAL

US pressure has forced Panama to quit China’s Belt and Road Initiative – it could set the pattern for further superpower clashes

WORLD

FOLLOWING Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the US needs to “take back” the Panama Canal from Chinese control, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, visited Panama to demand the country reduce China’s influence. On the surface, it seems Rubio has succeeded. On February 3, the Panamanian authorities withdrew from China’s international infrastructure programme, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This makes Panama the first Latin American country to endorse and to end cooperation with the BRI. On February 4, local lawyers urged the country’s supreme court to cancel the concession given to Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Port Holdings which…

Feb

12

2025

By ANA CAROLINA GARRIGA and BRIAN J. PHILLIPS

Will multinational companies flock to Syria? Maybe, if foreign aid arrives first

WORLD

SYRIA’S new foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, recently appeared at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in the Swiss resort of Davos. He announced that his country is open for business and seeking foreign investment. After more than 13 years of civil war and decades of dictatorship that saw Syria become a pariah state, the country needs all the financial support it can get. But will foreign firms set up shop in Syria? Countries like Syria, emerging from conflict, face the challenge of convincing investors they are a safe environment for investment. Our research suggests companies look at what governments are…

Feb

11

2025

By SUDIPTA SEN

Reverence for the sacred waters of the Ganga and belief in its power to wash away sins bring millions to India’s Maha Kumbh festival

WORLD

MILLIONS of people have been visiting Prayagraj, a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, to take part in the Maha Kumbh festival – a six-week-long event that began on Jan. 13, 2025. Called the world’s largest religious gathering, the event has already drawn 148 million people. Attendance is expected to exceed 400 million by the time it ends on Feb. 26, and surging crowds have already claimed dozens of lives at the sacred site. Attendees range from Indian business tycoons and members of parliament to social media personages, film stars and celebrities, including the philanthropist billionaire Laurene…

Feb

09

2025

By The African Mirror

A global crisis looms: US aid cuts threaten millions living with HIV/AIDS

WORLD

The sudden freeze in US foreign assistance has sent shockwaves through the global HIV/AIDS response, threatening to unravel decades of progress in the fight against one of humanity's deadliest epidemics. "This isn't just about numbers on a spreadsheet – it's about lives hanging in the balance," warns Christine Stegling, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, her voice carrying the weight of twenty million stories – each one a person depending on US aid for their very survival. While an Emergency Humanitarian Waiver offers a temporary lifeline, ensuring critical medication continues flowing for 90 days, the ground beneath the global AIDS response is…

Feb

09

2025

By ANNE IRFAN and JO KELCEY

Trump plans to ‘permanently resettle’ Palestinians outside Gaza – the very reason Unrwa was originally created

WORLD

DONALD Trump shocked much of the world when he announced plans for the US to “take over” Gaza. Speaking at a press conference with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the US president outlined a plan to “resettle” Gaza’s population of nearly 2.2 million Palestinians elsewhere in the Arab world. Several officials later added that this resettlement would be temporary while Gaza was rebuilt. Governments around the world were quick to condemn the plan – with politicians and human rights advocates pointing out that it would amount to ethnic cleansing. Conversely, Netanyahu praised Trump for “thinking outside the box with…

Feb

08

2025

By MARK SHANAHAN

How Trump’s Gaza plan does – and doesn’t – fit in with his pledge to put America first

WORLD

DONALD Trump welcomed the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to the White House on February 4 as the first foreign leader to visit Washington since his reelection as US president. At their post-meeting press conference, an unscripted Trump launched into his vision for a post-conflict Gaza. In just a few sentences, he expunged any remaining Palestinian hopes for a two-state solution in Israel. Trump suggested flattening what remains of the Palestinian settlement after 15 months of total war and forcing nearly 2 million people out of Gaza to make way for a US-controlled “Riviera of the Middle East”. As ever,…

Feb

08

2025

By RITA BAROUD

“I fear this calm”: Life during Gaza’s uncertain ceasefire

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Rita Baroud IT has been almost three weeks since the ceasefire – as the media are calling it – began, and I still cannot believe it. I cannot believe that the war has stopped, even temporarily. I cannot believe that we survived 15 months of hell. I cannot believe that I am still here. But the past weeks have also not brought the relief we dreamed of nor the sense of security we longed for. We waited for this day for so long. It was supposed to be a turning point,…

Feb

08

2025

By The African Mirror

More refugees risk dangerous sea journeys from Myanmar as crisis worsens

WORLD

SINCE the boat he was travelling on reached a beach in East Aceh, Indonesia, a month ago, Ali, 30, has been staying at a crowded site with some 380 other stateless Rohingya refugees who risked similar sea journeys in recent months. He is worried about his parents and siblings, who remain in the camp for internally displaced people in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State where he spent the last 13 years. Life there was never easy, but since late 2023, residents of the camp and communities throughout Rakhine State have been paying a heavy price amid a resurgence of conflict. …