WORLD - The African Mirror

Dec

30

2024

“Like a Bird Struck from the Sky: The Tragedy of Flight 2867”

WORLD

WHAT began as a routine Sunday morning at South Korea's Muan International Airport turned into one of the nation's deadliest aviation disasters, as a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 carrying 181 passengers and crew plummeted from the sky, leaving only two survivors in its wake. According to witnesses at the scene, the morning's calm was shattered by a series of explosions. "I saw big dark smoke and heard multiple explosions," local restaurant owner Im Young Hak told Reuters. Initially mistaking the commotion for an oil tanker accident, the reality of what he was witnessing soon became clear. "It happened right here, not…

Dec

30

2024

By JASMIN LILIAN DIAB

‘Lebanon wanted us gone … it was a risk to leave’ − Syrian refugees who fled Israeli bombs face hostility and uncertainty on return

WORLD

THE ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has brought a cautious sense of relief to a Lebanese population battered by a yearlong conflict, not least the more than 1 million people displaced during the escalation of violence between September and November 2024. But for the 1.5 million Syrian refugees already in Lebanon – many of whom lived in precarious conditions, having earlier fled civil war in their homeland – the pause in hostilities, announced on Nov. 27, 2024, is far from a straightforward reprieve. Rather, it introduces new uncertainties. Syrians who temporarily fled Lebanon or were displaced within its borders now…

Dec

30

2024

By JOSEPH J. GONZALEZ

Marco Rubio is no friend of Havana − but does Trump’s pick for secretary of state mean Cuba policy is set?

WORLD

THE U.S. looks set to have its first-ever Cuban American secretary of state in 2025, after President-elect Donald Trump nominated U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for the role. But don’t expect that to mean cosier relations between Havana and Washington. Rubio, who if confirmed by the Senate will also be the first Latino to hold the post, is one of the most hawkish members of Congress when it comes to the communist-run island. Indeed, one recent profile of Trump’s pick for top diplomat described Rubio as “Cuba’s worst nightmare.” So how will Rubio’s antipathy for the communist government in…

Dec

28

2024

By RAVINDRA JAYARATNE and TOMOYA SHIBAYAMA

Boxing Day tsunami: here’s what we have learned in the 20 years since the deadliest natural disaster in modern history

WORLD

ON Boxing Day 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean near Indonesia set off a tsunami which killed almost 250,000 people. It was the deadliest natural disaster this century and was probably the deadliest tsunami in human history. As coastal engineers who specialise in tsunamis and how to prepare for them, we have seen how the events of 2004 reshaped our global disaster management systems. Among the lessons learned since that day, three themes stand out. First, the importance of early warning systems, providing time to escape impact zones. Second, the importance of local preparations and educating people about the…

Dec

28

2024

By STEFAN WOLFF and TETYANA MALYARENKO

Trump wants China’s help in making peace in Ukraine – he’s unlikely to get it

WORLD

US President-elect Donald Trump has invited China’s President Xi Jinping to his inauguration on January 20 in a surprise move which appears to be part of a plan to involve Beijing in ceasefire negotiations in Ukraine. Just after his recent meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris, Trump posted, “There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin,” and “China can help.” That latter remark has suddenly gained more significance after Trump extended the unusual invitation for the foreign leader to attend the January 20 ceremony. Leaving aside whether Xi will accept Trump’s invitation to Washington DC (he…

Dec

28

2024

By AMIN SAIKAL

A bitter rivalry is emerging in the Middle East between two old adversaries over the future of Syria

WORLD

THE fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has opened a new front for geopolitical competition in the Middle East. Now, however, instead of Iran and Russia playing the most influential roles in Syria, Israel and Turkey see an opportunity to advance their conflicting national and regional security interests. Under their respective leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply in recent years. This sets the stage for a bitter showdown over Syria. A new rivalry is emerging Turkey is widely reported to have backed the offensive led by the…

Dec

27

2024

By UNHCR Staff

As winter bites, needs grow for refugees and displaced people

WORLD

AS cold winter weather arrives in many parts of the world, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is working to protect the forcibly displaced through the cold months. At this time of the year, your donations can make all the difference to help protect people who are already vulnerable. Here are the stories of some of those forced to flee as winter approaches. Afghanistan: living in a cave In Afghanistan, and neighbouring countries including Pakistan, families have been subjected to decades of conflict, poverty, and hunger, as well as recurring natural disasters. To protect people from the region’s harsh winters, UNHCR is building…

Dec

27

2024

By MAHMOUD ABO RASS and MELISSA PAWSON

Joy and pain in Aleppo as residents ask: What’s next?

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Mahmoud Abo Rass and Melissa Pawson THE residents of Aleppo are still in a celebratory mood. But more than three weeks after it became the first major city to fall to the rebels who went on to oust President Bashar al-Assad, they’re also eager to find out what life in a post-Assad Syria will look like, and what it might mean for them. Led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), rebels entered the city for the first time in years on 29 November. Russian and Syrian bombs hit back, but…

Dec

27

2024

By PRECIOUS CHATTERJE-DOODY

Times journalists deemed ‘legitimate military targets’ – how Russia muzzles criticism at home and abroad

WORLD

RUSSIA’S former president and current deputy head of its security council, Dmitry Medvedev, has declared that the editors of the Times newspaper in the UK are now “legitimate military targets”. Medvedev, who is one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, was responding to the newspaper’s coverage of the recent assassination of Russia’s chemical weapons chief, Igor Kirillov, in Moscow on December 17. The paper’s leading article referred to his killing by an explosive device hidden in a scooter as a “legitimate act of defence by a threatened nation”. Medvedev took to Telegram to denounce the article, writing: “Those who carry out…

Dec

24

2024

By The African Mirror

The real president? Musk vs. Trump in the new era of power politics

WORLD

IN America's unpredictable political landscape, few could have foreseen the power dynamics unfolding between two polarising figures: President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. Both men, larger-than-life and brimming with confidence, now find themselves in a subtle, tense dance over who truly holds the reins of power in Washington, D.C. This drama, fueled by ego, influence, and timing, has sparked fierce debate: Is Donald Trump—the "comeback kid" and twice-elected commander-in-chief—still the most powerful man in American politics? Or has the world's richest man become the true shadow president, steering the nation's agenda through his unmatched wealth and social media influence?…