WORLD - The African Mirror

Oct

09

2024

EXCLUSIVE: UK agrees to admit some Diego Garcia asylum seekers

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Jacob Goldberg THE UK government has offered to accept at least six Sri Lankan asylum seekers who were stranded for years on Diego Garcia, according to interviews with two of them and government documents seen by The New Humanitarian. Five are currently receiving medical treatment in Rwanda, while the sixth is still on the remote Indian Ocean island. The offers, which came just as Britain agreed to transfer sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) to Mauritius, mark a departure from previous statements by UK officials that none of the…

Oct

08

2024

By BRIAN BRIVATI

Azerbaijan is using Cop29 to ‘peacewash’ its global image

WORLD

AZERBAIJAN is hosting the next UN climate summit, Cop29, in November. Their proposed agenda omits discussions on phasing out fossil fuels and excludes civil society participation. This is not a surprise. Azerbaijan has recently increased oil and gas production, and aims to diversify its economy by expanding mining. The country has instead called for a global truce to coincide with the conference. In an open letter on September 21, the president of Cop29, Mukhtar Babayev, wrote: “[Cop29] is a unique chance to bridge divides and find paths towards lasting peace … The devastation of ecosystems and pollution caused by conflicts…

Oct

08

2024

By DALAL HARB and HOUSSAM HARIRI

Displaced families in Lebanon yearn for peace and a return home

WORLD

AT a school in the Burj Hammoud neighbourhood of the Lebanese capital Beirut, classrooms and corridors that once rang with the sound of schoolchildren are now filled with exhausted families fleeing two weeks of deadly airstrikes that have killed hundreds and displaced an estimated 1.2 million people across the country. One of the classrooms is now home to Umm Hassan Baisi, a Lebanese woman from the southern city of Nabatieh who fled with her daughter and grandchildren after their home was badly damaged. Following an arduous two-day journey by car to reach the capital, she and her daughter spent several…

Oct

08

2024

By The African Mirror

Escaping airstrikes in Eastern Ukraine: an 82-year-old’s journey to safety

WORLD

AS fighting raged around her village in the north of Ukraine’s Donetsk region in August, 82-year-old Nina Ryazantseva – affectionately known as 'Baba Nina' – was hiding in the basement of her house. She had been there for weeks, hungry and isolated, since rumours began spreading that Russian forces were advancing towards the village. In early August, the Ukrainian authorities began evacuating villagers, but Nina was reluctant to leave the house she had spent years building, brick-by-brick. She was still in the basement on 9 August when an explosion reduced her house to rubble. Shaken and deafened by the blast,…

Oct

07

2024

By The African Mirror

Main road connecting Lebanon to Syria closed to vehicles after Israeli strike, says UN refugee agency

WORLD

THE major road connecting Lebanon to Syria was hit by Israeli airstrikes overnight near the key Masnaa border crossing where tens of thousands have been fleeing Lebanon into Syria in the past two weeks, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday. Speaking from Amman to journalists in Geneva, UNHCR spokeswoman Rula Amin said that the large crater left by the shelling “put a halt on traffic, effectively closing off the route for vehicles at this crossing”. According to the UN agency’s senior adviser for the Middle East, people walked across the destroyed area, desperate to flee Lebanon. Although three…

Oct

07

2024

By JASMINE MITHANI

Gender parity in Congress is a two-party game, and Republicans are lagging

WORLD

THE number of women running for House seats dropped 20 percent this year — and far fewer Republican women made it past their primaries than in 2022, according to analysis from the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). There’s still a chance that the number of women in the chamber passes the current record of 126. At least 112 women running this year are favoured to win their races, according to Cook Political Report, and 27 are in competitive races. With shorter terms and a larger chamber, the House of Representatives usually has the most potential to up women’s representation in Congress. However,…

Oct

07

2024

By The African Mirror

Deadly flooding hits Nepal after record rains

WORLD

THE rains that caused the flooding, including in the capital Kathmandu, were the most intense recorded in the country in the past 50 years. Survivors are criticising the government’s response, saying it failed to adequately respond to the needs of those affected. Among the complaints is the fact that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was visiting the United States at the time of the flooding and failed to cut his trip short, even as the toll continued to rise. "At a sensitive time like this we all have to work together realistically, not criticise just for the sake of it," Oli said…

Oct

05

2024

By ERIC REIDY

One year of war in Gaza

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Eric Reidy EVENTS in the Middle East are spinning toward a terrifying precipice with alarming speed. Following the relentless pace of expanding conflict, destruction, and death is both mind-bending and soul-crushing for anyone with some sort of connection to the region or who cares about the well-being of its people. Amid the torrent, the fact that Israel has been waging total war against the entirety of the Gaza Strip and its population for one year now is at risk of somehow – unimaginably – being overshadowed. Where is the time to…

Oct

04

2024

By The African Mirror

Israel’s Lebanon assault: A double suffering for Syrian refugees

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. As Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon intensifies, forcing more than a million people from their homes, among the most vulnerable communities are Syrian refugees, who have faced a long history of hostility and discrimination. Fleeing two weeks of Israeli airstrikes and a growing ground assault, around 100,000 people have crossed the border into Syria from Lebanon, according to UN figures. Syrian authorities have put the number higher, saying in a social media post that 132,000 Lebanese and 54,000 Syrians have crossed since last week. But for many of the roughly 1.5…

Oct

05

2024

By BARBARA RODRIGUEZ

Political expectations for celebrities are changing. Enter Chappell Roan

WORLD

CHAPPEL Roan announced last week that she had cancelled two festival performances, shortly after the rising pop megastar faced backlash over her views on political endorsements. “Things have gotten overwhelming over the past few weeks and I am really feeling it,” the 26-year-old singer wrote to fans after the cancellation. “I feel pressure to prioritize a lot of things right now and I need a few days to prioritize my health.” In an interview with the Guardian in September, Roan said she did not “feel pressured” to endorse anyone for president, citing problems on “both sides.” Internet users began circulating out-of-context clips, prompting the…