WORLD - The African Mirror

Apr

09

2026

How Artemis II’s Earthset photo compares with the iconic Earthrise image from 1968

WORLD

AS Nasa’s Artemis II mission completed its lunar flyby, the astronauts sent back a stunning image of the colourful Earth setting behind the Moon. This breathtaking photo, called Earthset, draws inevitable comparisons with the original Earthrise photo from the Apollo 8 flight in 1968. The Apollo-era photo showed our planet climbing above the lunar horizon. It revealed Earth as a bright blue oasis, standing out against the vast blackness of space and the barren Moon. As I described in my book, Earthrise: a Short History of the Whole Earth, the effect of this image (actually part of a set) was…

Apr

08

2026

By AYA S. CHACAR

Hormuz closure threatens the global food supply – why grocery price hikes are coming

WORLD

THE global energy crisis caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is only the beginning of the economic cost of the war with Iran. I study how institutions affect businesses and supply chains, and I expect food prices to rise next, with high prices lasting even after whatever point hostilities end. Along with about 20% of the world’s crude oil trade and a similar share of the world’s liquefied natural gas shipments, shipping traffic through the strait also carries roughly a third of internationally traded fertiliser, which is key to bountiful crops around the world. Modern agriculture depends…

Apr

08

2026

By DONALD ROTHWELL

How might the Strait of Hormuz be reopened? Here are 3 scenarios

WORLD

THE Strait of Hormuz crisis has reached a critical juncture. President Donald Trump has demanded Iran reopen the Strait or the United States will further intensify its military assault. While the strait has not been totally closed to shipping, it has been substantially disrupted, and transits have effectively slowed to a trickle. The Strait is economically and strategically unique due to the access it provides to the Persian Gulf, from which there is no exit point. All shipping passes through a single waterway. The key navigational choke point borders Iran to the north and Oman to the south. It’s only…

Apr

08

2026

By CRAIG FEHRMAN

Astronaut Victor Glover is the latest in a long line of Black American explorers

WORLD

IN April 2026, four astronauts are scheduled to fly around the Moon. As part of NASA’s Artemis II mission, they will become the first humans to do so in half a century. One crew member, pilot Victor Glover, will become the first Black astronaut to ever orbit the Moon. Glover’s achievement is worth celebrating. But it’s also worth remembering that he belongs to a long and underappreciated history. America’s first Black explorer didn’t fly an Apollo rocket or sail with the U.S. Exploring Expedition. He travelled with Lewis and Clark, and he was known by a single name: York. I’m…

Apr

07

2026

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS

Bombs, bluster and back-channels: The elusive search for peace in Iran

WORLD

AS Tuesday's deadline loomed over a war zone stretching from the Persian Gulf to southern Lebanon, American and Iranian negotiators were quietly studying the outlines of a peace plan that neither side had yet endorsed - and both retained the capacity to shatter at a moment's notice. The proposed framework, brokered by Pakistan after an intense night of shuttle diplomacy, calls for an immediate halt to hostilities followed by broader peace negotiations to be concluded within 15 to 20 days. It is, by any measure, an ambitious timeline for a conflict that has already killed more than 3,500 Iranians -…

Apr

07

2026

By JÉRÔME VIALA-GAUDEFROY

From cowboy to crusader: how Trump distorts American mythology in the conflict with Iran

WORLD

THE United States’ Operation Epic Fury against Iran does more than mark a military escalation. It shows how Trump revives old national myths: the American frontier, the cowboy, regenerative violence, and Providence – while stripping them of their civic dimension and turning them into narratives of domination. That is what distinguishes him from earlier presidents: he does not draw on these myths to celebrate collective effort or democratic purpose, but to stage domination, purification, and personal omnipotence. A conflict fuelled by myths Since the start of the war on Iran, Trump has sounded less like a President than a conqueror.…

Apr

07

2026

By GORDON OSINSKI

I watched Artemis II lift off — and witnessed the first humans venture to the Moon since 1972

WORLD

EVEN from a distance of several kilometres, the Artemis II rocket looked huge. Then, there was a moment that felt like an eternity, as around 2,600 metric tons of spacecraft lifted off. I was honoured to receive an invitation from the Canadian Space Agency to attend this historic launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. I am a professor, an explorer and a planetary geologist. As a member of the First Artemis Lunar Surface Science Team, I have been supporting NASA in developing the geology training for Artemis astronauts. This launch was one of the most thrilling, but stressful few minutes…

Apr

03

2026

By The African Mirror

Fog of war: Trump’s Iran address long on rhetoric, short on roadmap

WORLD

US Donald Trump took to the airwaves promising victory in Iran, but what his 19-minute primetime address actually delivered was a masterclass in strategic ambiguity dressed as decisive command. The United States is now five weeks into a war it began on 28 February alongside Israel, and the president who launched it still cannot - or will not - say when, how, or on what terms it ends. Trump's core claim - that the United States had destroyed Iran's navy, air force, and crippled its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes - was delivered with characteristic bluster. The military scorecard, taken…

Apr

03

2026

By EMILY A. MARGOLIS

Artemis II’s long countdown – a space historian explains why it has taken over 50 years to return to the Moon

WORLD

WHILE I was leading a tour of the National Air and Space Museum in January 2026, a visitor posed this insightful question: “Why has it taken so long to return to the Moon?” After all, NASA had the know-how and technology to send humans to the lunar surface more than 50 years ago as part of the Apollo program. And, as another tour guest reminded us, computers today can do so much more than they could back then, as evidenced by the smartphones most of us carry in our pockets. Shouldn’t it be easier to get to the Moon than…

Apr

02

2026

By SHANNON BOSCH

New Israeli law could mean death penalty by default for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks

WORLD

ISRAEL’S parliament, the Knesset, this week passed legislation that would vastly expand capital punishment in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories. The changes, made via an amendment to Israel’s penal law, allow for executions without proper appeal, pardons or meaningful judicial discretion. According to media reports, 62 of 120 Knesset members voted in favour of the bill on Monday, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and 48 voted against. The remainder absented themselves from the vote or abstained. UN experts and Amnesty International have warned that these new death sentencing rules would apply almost exclusively to Palestinians. It would, they…