WORLD - The African Mirror

Nov

17

2024

Everyone has a role in press freedom, insists Narcos star Diego Luna

WORLD

MEXICAN actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”. Speaking to journalists at UN Geneva ahead of a screening of his new documentary State Of Silence, Mr. Luna insisted that the issue of their safety was everyone’s responsibility. “I think it's time for us to come out, us citizens, to come out and protect journalism around the world and protect these voices that are crucial for us to experience freedom, to experience democracy…

Nov

16

2024

By The African Mirror

Where Trump HHS pick RFK Jr. stands on vaccines, abortion and LGBTQ+ issues

WORLD

PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump intends to nominate anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services. “The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country,” Trump wrote in an email and on his platform, TruthSocial, on Thursday. The ascent of Kennedy, who became a top Trump adviser during the 2024 campaign, has…

Nov

16

2024

By The African Mirror

Famine and ‘genocide’ in Gaza

WORLD

WHILE a famine hasn’t yet been officially declared, the analysis warned that government decision-makers shouldn’t wait for an official classification and should take immediate action to “facilitate large-scale, sustained delivery of food and nutrition assistance”. The intentional starvation of the population and mass civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip is “consistent with the characteristics of genocide”, according to a separate 14 November report by a UN special committee investigating Israel’s conduct in the enclave. Since early October, Israel has blocked almost all food supplies from entering the three northernmost areas of the Gaza Strip – Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahia –…

Nov

16

2024

By The African Mirror

Refugee activists at COP29 call for funding and support to withstand climate threats

WORLD

REFUGEES and other forcibly displaced people living on the frontlines of the global climate crisis had a clear message for leaders and delegates attending the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan this week: as the climate crisis makes their lives ever more precarious, they need more funding and support to survive and adapt. “No matter how hard we try to build the lives we want for ourselves, the fight gets harder with each passing day because of climate change,” said Grace Dorong, a former refugee from South Sudan and founder of the NGO, Root of Generations. She listed the multiple hazards her…

Nov

14

2024

By The African Mirror

Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA

WORLD

BESIEGED northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday. Briefing reporters in Geneva from central Gaza, UNRWA senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge warned that amid looming famine in the Gaza Strip, as winter approaches, those forcibly displaced are sleeping on the floor in makeshift shelters surrounded by sewage. “We are extremely concerned when the rains come to the Gaza Strip, what will happen to 500,000 people who are in areas of…

Nov

13

2024

By The African Mirror

Enduring the Onslaught: Ukraine’s people refuse to surrender amid Russia’s relentless attacks

WORLD

AS the grim milestone of 1,000 days since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, the plight of Ukrainian civilians has only intensified. With Russia's systematic destruction of the country's energy infrastructure, the people of Ukraine now face a deepening humanitarian crisis, struggling to survive the onslaught amid the looming hardships of another brutal winter. "The intense attacks on critical infrastructure and civilian sites – and constant air-raid warnings – are exacting a grave toll on physical and mental health," lamented Kelly T. Clements, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, during her recent visit to the war-torn nation. The devastation is…

Nov

13

2024

By The African Mirror

Here’s what we know about how Trump will tackle these major issues

WORLD

THROUGHOUT his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump has made big promises on issues of enormous consequence to Americans, from the economy to reproductive health care — but offered few details on how he would see those promises through. What he’s said in his campaign and what he did during his first term offer some clues, as does Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump term written by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Though Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, saying he has “no idea who is behind it” and that he has not read it, six of his former cabinet…

Nov

13

2024

By JAMES HORNCASTLE

Amid the West’s wavering aid to Ukraine, North Korea backs Russia in a mutually beneficial move

WORLD

UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently accused North Korea of plans to send 10,000 soldiers to fight for Russia in Ukraine. South Korean intelligence later gave credence to Zelenskyy’s assertion, as the country’s legislators noted that North Korea has already dispatched 3,000 soldiers to Russia. North Korea lending a helping hand to Russia is nothing new. The country has already provided Russia with significant munitions to supplement its depleted reserves. North Korean soldiers, in fact, are likely already fighting in the conflict. North Korea’s alleged decision to send additional soldiers to fight demonstrates the inadequacy of the West’s actions. Wavering western…

Nov

12

2024

By ERIC REIDY

‘More people will die’: How Israel’s UNRWA ban affects Palestinians in Gaza and beyond

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Eric Reidy The outcome of the US presidential election “is going to be a key factor in how the situation across the region is going to move forward, including implications on UNRWA”, Juliette Touma, communications director for the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees, told The New Humanitarian as voting was taking place on 5 November. Now that Donald Trump has secured a second presidential term following a four-year hiatus from power, there is even more to unpack about the broader implications of another Trump presidency for the Middle East, and specifically…

Nov

12

2024

By The African Mirror

Cash as hope for northwest Syria’s most vulnerable

WORLD

NINE-YEAR-OLD Musa is passionate about learning. But the impact of 13 years of war means his mother, Um Mousa, can barely cover the basic expenses for his education. He and his mother have been displaced for years, living in a camp in an old, worn-out tent that doesn’t protect them from harsh weather. “My husband, who was the only breadwinner, passed away seven years ago. Since then, it just has been us. We have faced many difficulties,” says Um Mousa. As a single mother, she constantly has many things on her mind. Most urgently, she wonders where to get warm…