WORLD - The African Mirror

May

12

2024

Pharmacy exec sentenced in Michigan over deadly 2012 meningitis outbreak

WORLD

A former owner of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy whose mold-tainted drugs sparked a deadly U.S. fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 was sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for his role in the deaths of 11 Michigan residents. Barry Cadden, the former president of New England Compounding Center (NECC), was sentenced by Judge Matthew McGivney in Howell, Michigan, after pleading no contest in March to involuntary manslaughter charges related to the 11 deaths. The 10- to 15-year sentence will run concurrently with an already-imposed 14-1/2 year federal prison term that Cadden, 57, is serving after he was convicted in 2017 on racketeering and…

May

11

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

UN sounds alarm over aid as Israel pushes assault into Rafah

WORLD

THE United Nations warned that aid for the Gaza Strip could grind to a halt in days, as Israeli troops took their ground war with Palestinian fighters into the crowded city of Rafah, a key aid corridor for the famine-threatened strip. Israeli tanks captured the main road dividing the eastern and western sections of Rafah, effectively encircling the eastern part of the city in an assault that has caused Washington to block some military aid to its ally. Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and northeast of the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip on…

May

11

2024

By LUC COHEN and JODY GODOY

Trump lawyer questions Stormy Daniels’ account of sex with Trump

WORLD

Donald Trump's lawyer sought to show inconsistencies in porn star Stormy Daniels' various tellings of a 2006 sexual encounter she has said she had with Trump, part of an effort on Thursday to undermine her credibility as a witness in the first criminal trial of a sitting or former U.S. president. Her unflattering account of a sexual encounter with Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite while he was married to his wife Melania riveted jurors on Tuesday and reminded U.S. voters of some of the more lurid aspects of his 2017-2021 presidency as he campaigns to win back the White House this year.…

May

11

2024

By The African Mirror

China military says it ‘drove away’ US destroyer in South China Sea

WORLD

CHINA'S military closely monitored and "drove away" USS Halsey that entered the territorial waters of Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on May 10, the Southern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement. The U.S. move "seriously infringed on China's sovereignty and security," the military said. "It is yet another iron proof of its navigation hegemony and militarization of the South China Sea," it said, adding its troops would stay on high alert and safeguard national security. The U.S. Navy said in a statement the destroyer asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China…

May

10

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI, MOHAMMAD SALEM and JARRETT RENSHAW

Israel strikes eastern Rafah as US warns a major assault could halt arms

WORLD

ISRAELI tanks and warplanes bombarded areas of Rafah, Palestinian residents said after U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to withhold weapons from Israel if its forces launch a major invasion of the southern Gaza city. As ceasefire talks continued in Cairo, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli tanks massed on the eastern outskirts of the city. Residents and medics in Rafah, the biggest urban area in Gaza not yet overrun by Israeli ground forces, said an Israeli attack by a mosque killed at least three people and wounded others in the eastern Brazil neighbourhood.…

May

10

2024

By LUC COHEN

Who is Stormy Daniels, a key prosecution witness in Trump’s hush money cover-up trial?

WORLD

ADULT film star Stormy Daniels says her life descended into chaos after news broke of her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Donald Trump. Now, she is a crucial prosecution witness in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president. Trump, 77, is accused of covering up his reimbursement to former lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to Daniels to buy her silence before the 2016 election about the alleged sexual encounter, which took place while he was married to his third wife, Melania. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up the…

May

09

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI, STEVE HOLLAND and MOHAMMAD SALEM

U.S. pauses some weapons to Israel as battles rage around Rafah

WORLD

HAMAS said it was battling Israeli troops on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip's crowded southern city of Rafah after a U.S. official said Washington had halted a shipment of powerful bombs that Israel could use in a full-scale assault. The United States, which is seeking to stave off an Israeli invasion of Rafah, said it believes a revised Hamas ceasefire proposal may lead to a breakthrough in an impasse in negotiations, with talks resuming in Cairo on Wednesday. Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there, but Western nations…

May

09

2024

By LUC COHEN

Stormy Daniels’ testimony at Donald Trump’s trial: Five takeaways

WORLD

STORMY Daniels took the witness stand at Donald Trump’s criminal trial and described in lurid detail her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with the former U.S. president. Trump has pleaded not guilty to Manhattan prosecutors’ charges he falsified business records to cover up his former lawyer’s $130,000 payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, for her silence before the 2016 election. Here are five takeaways from the first day of Daniels’ testimony: * Daniels testified confidently Daniels appeared at ease in recounting for the jury her story of a sexual encounter with Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel room in 2006. She spoke in…

May

09

2024

By ASIF SHAHZAD

Wife of Pakistan’s Imran Khan moved to jail on her request, lawyer says

WORLD

A court in Pakistan granted a request by the wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan to be moved to jail, her lawyer said, instead of the house arrest ordered by the government. In her petition to the Islamabad High Court, Bushra Bibi had accused authorities of violating her privacy and serving contaminated food in her home cell, which she and her lawyers said was dominated by men, a charge the prison staff has denied. Bibi says she has been detained in one room at Khan's hilltop mansion in Islamabad since the couple's January conviction on charges of illegally selling state gifts. Through…

May

08

2024

By KYLIE MACLELLAN, STEPHEN FARRELL, BARBARA LEWIS, VIN SHAHRESTANI and FAROUQ SULEIMAN

Israel-Gaza Live: Israel takes control of Rafah Crossing aid route

WORLD

The day so far A Palestinian man watches as smoke rises in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip May 7, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled Israel's military seized control of Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt The crossing, a vital route for aid into the devastated enclave, was closed Israeli tanks and planes attacked several areas and houses in Rafah overnight Israel said its operation was meant to kill fighters and dismantle Hamas infrastructure Egypt and Hamas said the Israeli operation threatened ceasefire efforts The offensive took place as mediators struggled to secure a ceasefire agreement Hamas said on Monday it…