WORLD - The African Mirror

Jul

20

2024

Poliovirus detected in Gaza sewage puts thousands at risk amid increasing ‘anarchy’

WORLD

IN Gaza, tests conducted by the Global Polio Laboratory Network have confirmed the presence of poliovirus in six sewage samples collected on 23 June from Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.The latest health threat has been exacerbated by severe overcrowding caused by repeated forced displacement, scarce and contaminated water supplies, accumulated garbage and limited access to humanitarian aid into Gaza, including hygiene supplies. Polio is a very contagious viral disease that attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis within hours, warned the UN World Health Organization (WHO). For the time being, however, “the virus has been isolated from the…

Jul

19

2024

By MADELINE EDWARDS and JOÃO SOUSA

In Lebanon, Shia mark a fraught Ashura in a time of war

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. By Madeline Edwards and João Sousa THE reciter’s mournful voice echoes through the electric amplifier, soaring over the south Beirut living room full of 15 women, all clad in black. “Oh, Hussein!” cries Soukaina Issa. She is a longtime reciter at these annual religious gatherings – hosted by a neighbour – where some of the women cover their faces with their hands, as others gently sway, crying into tissues handed to them at the door. Fighting back tears, Issa continues the tradition of chanting the story of Hussein ibn Ali, grandson…

Jul

18

2024

By The African Mirror

Thailand investigates shocking cyanide poisoning at luxury hotel, raising concerns for tourism industry

WORLD

A tragic incident at a luxury Bangkok hotel has sparked a high-level investigation in Thailand, potentially threatening the country's tourism industry which aims to attract 35 million visitors this year. According to Reuters, Thai authorities have confirmed that cyanide poisoning caused the deaths of six foreigners, including the suspected perpetrator, whose bodies were discovered in a room at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel. Reuters reports that traces of the deadly chemical were found during autopsies and on drinking glasses and a teapot in the hotel room. The victims, all of Vietnamese ethnicity, included two U.S. nationals. Thai police, with assistance…

Jul

18

2024

By ERIC REIDY

US Gaza pier to close after costing $230m for a day’s worth of aid

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. By Eric Reidy THE United States will soon permanently shut down the floating pier it constructed earlier this year to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip, bringing to a premature end an ill-fated $230 million project beset from the start by unrealistic expectations and logistical problems. Billed as an effort to drastically increase the amount of aid entering the enclave, the temporary pier project was mired in controversy right from the get-go. “It was a boondoggle from start to finish,” Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, told The New Humanitarian. The…

Jul

18

2024

By The African Mirror

Salvadoran minors pay price of gang crackdown

WORLD

ALMOST 3,000 children have been arrested and 1,000 convicted over mostly gang membership-related charges in El Salvador as part of President Nayib Bukele’s so-called “war on gangs”, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. The report includes testimonies of 90 people, among them 66 victims of abuse. Documented are several instances of human rights violations against minors, including coercion into false confessions and, at times, mistreatment and torture. The arrests began in March 2022, when Bukele announced a state of exception and a set of “mano dura” (“iron fist”) policies aimed at tackling gang violence in what was then…

Jul

17

2024

By The African Mirror

Trump poised for White House return as Democrats falter

WORLD

FORMER President Donald Trump appears headed for a return to the White House after securing the Republican nomination, while Democrats face their most challenging campaign in recent memory. At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Trump made a dramatic entrance to thunderous applause, days after surviving an assassination attempt that has reshaped the presidential race. The former president, sporting a bandaged ear from the bullet that grazed him, was officially nominated as the party's 2024 standard-bearer. The assassination attempt, which claimed the life of a Trump supporter, has thrust the deeply divided political landscape into sharp focus ahead of the…

Jul

17

2024

By The African Mirror

Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 17, Palestinian health officials say

WORLD

AT least 17 Palestinians were killed in a multipronged attack by Israeli forces in Gaza. The Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas has accused Israel of intensifying attacks in Gaza to undermine efforts by Arab mediators and the United States to reach a ceasefire deal. Israel maintains that its operations aim to eliminate Hamas fighters. In Rafah, a southern border city where Israeli forces have been active since May, five Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on a house. In nearby Khan Younis, a man, his wife, and their two children were killed in another airstrike. In the historic Nuseirat camp…

Jul

16

2024

By IVÁN REYES

As election looms, Venezuelans see-saw between hope and fear

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. By Iván Reyes WEEKS before polling day in Venezuela’s pivotal presidential election, the gulf in outcome is too wide for many to process: Either Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian rule will continue or – whisper it quietly – an opposition outsider could be allowed to triumph. If the increasingly unpopular Maduro steals the election, many Venezuelans say they would consider migrating. The ongoing economic and humanitarian crisis has already led more than 7.7 million people to leave since 2015. On 30 June, thousands of Venezuelans headed to the polls for an election rehearsal.…

Jul

15

2024

By The African Mirror

World leaders react with shock to assassination attempt on former US President Trump

WORLD

FORMER US presidents and world leaders have expressed their shock and condemnation following an assassination attempt on ex-US president Donald Trump. The incident occurred on Saturday during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was speaking to supporters. Reuters reports that shots were fired from approximately 150 yards away, striking Trump's right ear and leaving his face streaked with blood. Despite the attack, Trump appeared to have suffered no major injuries beyond a wound to his upper right ear. The FBI has identified the alleged shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks was fatally shot…

Jul

14

2024

By The African Mirror

Hollywood star Baldwin breaks down after dramatic acquittal

WORLD

ALEC Baldwin broke down in tears and hugged his wife Hilaria as other family members wept in the public gallery after a New Mexico judge dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against him. The judge agreed with Baldwin's lawyers that prosecutors and police had withheld evidence on the source of the live round that killed "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. According to Reuters, New Mexico district court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out the case just three days into Baldwin's trial. The actor's lawyers alleged a "cover up" by prosecutors, who have faced numerous challenges since first filing charges 18 months…