WORLD - The African Mirror

Sep

26

2024

UNHCR scales up support as people flee Lebanon for Syria

WORLD

THOUSANDS of Lebanese and Syrian people are fleeing Lebanon for Syria in desperation as Israeli airstrikes continue to devastate civilian lives. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is scaling up its support to the growing number of displaced people. Hundreds of vehicles are backed up in queues at the Syrian border. Many people are also arriving on foot, carrying what they can. Large crowds, including women, young children and babies are waiting in line after spending the night outdoors in falling temperatures. Some carry fresh injuries from the recent bombardments. “This bloodshed is extracting a terrible toll, driving tens of thousands…

Sep

25

2024

By The African Mirror

Lebanon escalation: Have we not learned anything from Gaza, UN humanitarians ask

WORLD

AS Lebanon mourns the victims of a wave of Israeli airstrikes believed to have left hundreds dead, UN humanitarians warned against a return to the “dark days of 2006” when full-scale war broke out, calling for an urgent de-escalation and the protection of civilians. Speaking from Beirut in the aftermath of Lebanon’s “worst day in 18 years”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF’s) deputy representative in the country, Ettie Higgins, insisted that “this violence has to stop immediately, or the consequences will be unconscionable”. The wide-ranging Israeli strikes conducted on Monday in retaliation to attacks by the armed group Hezbollah killed…

Sep

25

2024

By The African Mirror

Harris holds a big lead with Asian-American voters, new survey shows

WORLD

MORE Asian-American voters are planning to support the Democrat at the top of the presidential ticket now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the nominee, according to the 2024 AAPI Voter Survey released Tuesday. Harris, whose campaign has been specifically reaching out to Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters, has a 38-point lead over Republican former President Donald Trump among Asian Americans. It’s a significantly wider advantage than the 15-point lead President Joe Biden had with Asian-American voters in a spring survey, before Biden dropped out of the presidential race and Harris became the Democrats’ standard-bearer. In May, Biden led…

Sep

24

2024

By ZEINA SHAHLA

In Syria and beyond, holding our breath for what might to be come

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. By Zeina Shahla “HOW do you feel today?” This was the seemingly simple question posed to me and a group of other women from Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine who have been spending the last week together outside our home countries – mine is Syria – reflecting on topics like our work, peace, and how they intersect. After nearly a year of war in Gaza, during which Israel has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, and recent events including the July assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, last week’s deadly pager bombings,…

Sep

24

2024

By HAMISH BEATH

Powering Africa: new model compares options for off-grid solar in 43 countries

WORLD

SUB-SAHARAN Africa, home to 80% of the global population without electricity access, is unlikely to reach the United Nations’ goal of access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. The region is significantly behind the rest of the world. Globally, access to electricity increased from 79% of the population in 2000 to 90% in 2019. In sub-Saharan Africa, access to electricity rose from 26% to 47%, and most who don’t have access live in rural areas, according to World Bank data. The World Bank predicts that, based on current electricity connection and population growth trends, sub-Saharan…

Sep

24

2024

By AMANDA BECKER

Trump, contending with unpopular GOP abortion bans, turns focus to women

WORLD

THERE was one group of voters that Donald Trump couldn’t seem to get off his mind over the weekend: women. In overnight social media posts and at a rally in a battleground state, the Republican presidential nominee said that if elected, he would “protect” and “take care of” women and they will “no longer be thinking about abortion.” In between, he called MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle a “dumb as a rock bimbo” after she criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric during an appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher” and said Oprah Winfrey, who has endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the White House race, wasn’t the…

Sep

22

2024

By The African Mirror

Israeli strike in Beirut escalates conflict, kills dozens

WORLD

A devastating Israeli airstrike on a suburb of Beirut has resulted in at least 37 deaths, including three children and seven women, according to the Lebanese health ministry. This attack marks a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, raising fears of a wider regional confrontation. Reuters reports that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, confirmed 16 of its members were among the casualties. The group announced the deaths of two senior leaders: Ibrahim Aqil, described as "one of its top leaders," and Ahmed Wahbi, a high-ranking commander who oversaw military operations of the elite Radwan forces during…

Sep

22

2024

By JENNIFER GERSON

‘Preventable’ and ‘predictable’: In Atlanta, Harris addresses deaths tied to Georgia abortion ban

WORLD

VICE President Kamala Harris told an Atlanta area audience Friday that “Trump abortion bans” were to blame for the “preventable” deaths of two Georgia women in the news this week, “and those are only the stories we know.” Friday’s event in this key state was scheduled just days ago, after ProPublica reported that Amber Nicole Thurman, a 28-year-old nursing assistant and mother of a 6-year-old son, died in August 2022 after doctors at an Atlanta area hospital delayed necessary care due to the state’s six-week abortion ban. On Thursday, Harris met privately with Thurman’s family before she appeared on stage at a live-streamed…

Sep

20

2024

By The African Mirror

Kaitlyn Joshua is on the road telling her post-Roe story

WORLD

ON a warm September Saturday, Kaitlyn Joshua stepped off the Fight for Reproductive Freedoms bus into the parking lot of an office park off a busy stretch of highway in Northern Virginia. The assembled crowd there had come to hear her and Amanda Zurawski, two of the most visible surrogates for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, share their stories of losing wanted pregnancies in red states that have banned abortion. They’re travelling around the country to key election battlegrounds to talk about the impact of the end of federal abortion rights — and warn that former President Donald Trump’s election…

Sep

20

2024

By The African Mirror

Climate crisis: New technologies offer hope for global action, says UN weather agency

WORLD

AMID renewed warnings from leading climate scientists that global warming could reach 3°C above pre-industrial levels this century, the head of the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) insisted on Wednesday that new technologies and AI offer the opportunity to implement the drastic action needed to resist the existential crisis. “The science is clear: we are far off track from achieving global climate goals,” said Celeste Saulo, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General. Speaking to journalists in Geneva, she noted that 2023 was the warmest year on record “by a huge margin. Leading international data sets say that the first…