WORLD - The African Mirror

Oct

31

2024

With UNRWA under pressure, another aid lifeline for Palestinians fears it may be next

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Michelle Langrand IN northern Gaza, Israel is conducting one of its deadliest offensives yet, entrapping some 100,000 people. There, some 30 staff and volunteers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) have been rushing their ambulances to every attack site across damaged roads, and providing emergency care to the wounded with minimal supplies. “We are the only organisation that has not left the north, not even for a single day,” Marwan Jilani, PRCS vice-president, told Geneva Solutions. The seasoned humanitarian is in Geneva for the International Conference of the Red Cross…

Oct

31

2024

By Manfred Zwecker

Harris warns of ‘petty tyrant,’ promises to work for and with all Americans

WORLD

VICE President Kamala Harris delivered her “closing argument” Tuesday on the National Mall, focusing on the future and drawing a sharp contrast with former President Donald Trump on fitness for office. “America: I know that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. That’s why I’m in this race, to fight for the people,” Harris said and pointed to Americans who fought in wars and in pushes to expand civil rights. “They did not struggle, sacrifice, and lay down their lives, only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms, only to see us…

Oct

31

2024

By FILIPPO GRANDI

Lebanon: “Let’s act now, a further expansion of the conflict carries unimaginable dangers”

WORLD

THE disaster in Lebanon has multiple humanitarian consequences. Displacement, as we heard, is one of the most catastrophic. Parts of the country have been depopulated. A fifth of the population has been displaced. And 430,000 people have crossed into Syria — 30 per cent Lebanese, 70 per cent Syrians: people who fled a war and are now fleeing another. I have seen myself a few days ago families at the border carrying what they can on their backs along a road destroyed by Israeli airstrikes. Of course, the solution is a ceasefire, followed by a political and military agreement that…

Oct

30

2024

By The African Mirror

‘If UNRWA can’t operate, humanitarian system in Gaza will collapse’ – UN

WORLD

THE UN humanitarian and human rights community reacted forcefully on Tuesday to the vote by the Israeli Knesset banning the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), warning of the devastating impact on millions of Palestinians who depend on it. They joined their voices to UN chief António Guterres who said after the vote on Monday that if implemented, the two new Israeli laws impacting the agency “would likely prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as mandated by the UN General Assembly. He insisted that “there is no alternative to UNRWA”. UN Migration Agency (IOM)…

Oct

30

2024

By The African Mirror

Storm leaves more than 120 dead in the Philippines

WORLD

FLOODING and landslides in the Philippines have killed more than 120 people after Tropical Cyclone Trami tore through the archipelagic Pacific nation, displacing almost one million people across Luzon, the Visayas, and northern Mindanao. Trami, the deadliest and most destructive storm to hit the Southeast Asian nation this year, made landfall on 24 October and put 6.7 million people at risk across 17 of the country’s 18 regions. The storm reportedly dumped more than two months of rain in a 48-hour period, with 160 municipalities declaring a state of calamity. Aid organisations say access to food in many areas is still limited due to the…

Oct

30

2024

By GRACE PANETTA

Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally caps off a campaign defined by racist and sexist attacks

WORLD

ON Sunday, former President Donald Trump held a rally at New York City’s iconic Madison Square Garden that was supposed to serve as a splashy show of strength and support in his hometown. What happened instead was a barrage of inflammatory comments built on months of racist and gendered attacks and online disinformation that Trump and his top allies have lobbed against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris, who is Black and Indian-American, would be the first woman president if elected. Then came a television ad calling Harris “the c-word,” paid for by the super PAC created by businessman Elon Musk, the…

Oct

29

2024

By The African Mirror

In a rare political speech, Beyoncé endorses Kamala Harris at a Houston rally

WORLD

SUPERSTAR Beyoncé delivered a rare political speech on Friday as she introduced Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign rally in the singer’s hometown of Houston, issuing a call to action to get out and vote. “It’s time for America to sing a new song. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song?” Beyoncé said. “Let’s do this. Ladies and gentlemen, give a big, loud Texas welcome to the next president of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris.” Harris entered the stage to Beyoncé’s 2016 song — and Harris’ campaign anthem and slogan — “Freedom.” …

Oct

29

2024

By The African Mirror

Social media campaign tackles misinformation about treacherous Darién jungle

WORLD

AYALUZ sits exhausted under the shade of a tent. Her feet are swollen and tender; her hands are covered in scratches. She has just spent nearly eight days walking through the Darién jungle – a 100-kilometre dense rainforest between Colombia and Panama that is considered one of the most treacherous migration pathways in the world. “At first, I didn’t see it as risky … but then we started to see a lot of crazy things. Many mountains, many hills … I started to see dead people, all kinds of things,” she says. “Many people lose their lives there.” While she…

Oct

29

2024

By The African Mirror

Greenhouse gases reached another record high in 2023, warns UN weather agency

WORLD

NEW data released by the UN on Monday indicating that greenhouse gases have hit a record high shows once again that urgent action and not words is needed from the world’s major polluters to protect us all from climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) insisted. The appeal comes as global leaders prepare to gather for the UN’s Climate Change Conference in Baku next month, amid repeated dire warnings about the human cost of ignoring the existential crisis from UN Secretary-General António Guterres and others. Echoing the UN chief’s longstanding appeals, WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett told journalists that carbon dioxide (CO2) – one of the…

Oct

28

2024

By GRACE PANETTA

In a race defined by gender, Michelle Obama pleads with men to step up

WORLD

FORMER First Lady Michelle Obama rallied voters for Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday, painting a stark portrait of the stakes if former President Donald Trump wins a second term. In a nearly 40-minute speech to an arena packed with over 7,000 attendees, Obama called out the double standards she believes Harris faces and spoke plainly but impactfully about the significance of the 2024 election, particularly for women and girls. She talked at length about women’s reproductive health and issued a warning to men, telling them that the lives of the women they love hang in the balance. “To anyone…