WORLD - The African Mirror

Apr

29

2024

Colorado paramedic sentenced to 14 months of work release in Elijah McClain’s death

WORLD

A Colorado judge sentenced a paramedic convicted in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain to 14 months in a work-release program and four years of probation. The Black 23-year-old died after police slammed him to the ground soon after stopping him and put him in a chokehold at least twice. Paramedics injected him with an excessive dose of ketamine, an anesthetic used for sedation, after police said he was in a state of "excited delirium." McClain was not suspected of wrongdoing when he was walking on the street and police stopped him. The sentencing of Jeremy Cooper, 49, who had…

Apr

29

2024

By SERHIY CHALYI

Ukrainian ‘Grandpa’ leads over-60s unit fighting Russian forces for free

WORLD

OLEKSANDR Taran's mobile artillery unit isn't officially part of Ukraine's military, but that hasn't stopped his men from destroying Russian targets on their own dime. "We ... get by thanks to the pension fund," the 68-year-old commander - whose call sign is "Grandpa" - said with a chuckle. Taran's all-volunteer unit, the Steppe Wolves, is comprised of dozens of Ukrainian men mostly over 60 years old who are considered too old to be drafted but still want to fight. Roving behind the front line with truck-mounted rocket launchers, they take orders from field commanders and work with other troops, contributing…

Apr

28

2024

By MOHAMMAD SALEM and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

Gazans mourn baby who dies after rescue from dead mother’s womb

WORLD

RELATIVES gathered by a tiny sandy grave in Gaza, where they had buried a baby girl, who lived just a few days after doctors delivered her from the womb of her dying mother following an Israeli airstrike. The baby had been given the names Sabreen, after her dead mother, and Rouh, which means "soul". Her mother, Sabreen al-Sakani al-Sheikh, 30 weeks pregnant, was seriously injured when the Israeli strike hit the family home in Rafah, the southernmost city in the besieged Gaza Strip, on Saturday night. The baby's father Shukri and three-year-old sister Malak were killed. Doctors delivered the baby…

Apr

28

2024

By JACK QUEEN, JODY GODOY and ANDY SULLIVAN

At Trump trial, Pecker says he killed story of affair even though it cost him

WORLD

FORMER testified at Donald Trump's criminal trial that he suppressed a story about an alleged affair to help Trump's 2016 presidential bid, even though it would have boosted sales of his tabloid. Testifying for a third day, Pecker, 72, agreed with a prosecutor who asked whether it would have been "National Enquirer gold" to publish the story of former Playboy model Karen McDougal's claim that she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007. But Pecker said he opted not to run the story after paying McDougal for it, because it would have hurt the Republican Trump's chances of winning…

Apr

28

2024

By MICHAEL HOLDEN

King Charles to resume public duties after cancer diagnosis

WORLD

BRITAIN'S King Charles will return to public duties next week for the first time since being diagnosed with cancer as he makes good progress following treatment and a period of recuperation, Buckingham Palace said. In February, the palace revealed that the 75-year-old king had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer detected in tests after a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate. Although Charles continued with official state business, the diagnosis led him to postpone public engagements to begin treatment and rest. "His majesty’s treatment programme will continue, but doctors are sufficiently pleased with the progress made so far that the king is now able…

Apr

27

2024

By JOHN KRUZEL and ANDREW CHUNG

US Supreme Court justices in Trump case lean toward some level of immunity

WORLD

THE Supreme Court's conservative justices signaled support for U.S. presidents having some level of protection from criminal charges for certain acts taken in office as it tackled Donald Trump's claim of immunity from prosecution for trying to undo his 2020 election loss. During about 2-1/2 hours of arguments in the case, most of the justices seemed unlikely to embrace Trump's most far-reaching argument that presidents have "absolute immunity" for official acts - an assertion that appeared to wilt under hypothetical questions involving selling nuclear secrets, taking a bribe or ordering a coup or political assassination. But the conservative justices, who hold a…

Apr

27

2024

By The African Mirror

Ireland says UK’s Rwanda policy drives migrants over its border

WORLD

THE threat of deportation to Rwanda is causing migrants to head for Ireland instead of staying in Britain, Ireland's deputy prime minister told a British newspaper on Friday. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's flagship programme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda if they arrive in Britain illegally was approved by parliament earlier this week and the government wants the first flights to take off in 10-12 weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin told The Daily Telegraph that the policy was already affecting Ireland because people were "fearful" of staying in Britain. He said asylum seekers were seeking "to get sanctuary here and…

Apr

27

2024

By BRENDAN PIERSON

Why Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction was overturned and what happens next

WORLD

THURSDAY'S ruling overturning Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction gives the one-time film mogul a chance at a new trial and calls into question what evidence prosecutors can use in future sex crime cases. Here is a look at what happened to the case, which helped define the #MeToo movement, and what might happen next. WHY WAS WEINSTEIN'S CONVICTION OVERTURNED? Weinstein, 72, was found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another after both testified in court. But a 4-3 majority of the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, found that the trial judge should not have permitted three…

Apr

26

2024

By The African Mirror

Hamas issues video showing Israeli-American hostage Goldberg-Polin

WORLD

THE Islamist movement Hamas published a video apparently showing Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American seized during Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel and taken into Gaza, alive. The short, undated video showed the 23-year-old missing a lower arm, but otherwise apparently healthy. He was shown saying he had sustained serious injuries during the Oct. 7 attack "after I tried using my body as a shield to protect myself and other fearful civilians". His mother Rachel Goldberg-Polin has been campaigning for the release of her son, who was abducted at the Nova music festival and is one of 133 Israeli hostages still in captivity…

Apr

26

2024

By ANDREW GOUDSWARD and DANIEL TROTTA

Giuliani charged in Arizona case; Trump an unindicted co-conspirator

WORLD

RUDY Giuliani, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, is among 18 people charged in Arizona with illegally seeking to claim the state's 2020 electoral votes for the then-U.S. president, in an indictment that names Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator. The indictment, reached on Tuesday and unsealed on Wednesday, stems from the attempt by Trump and his allies to pressure election officials in several states to overturn the presidential election won by Joe Biden, efforts for which Trump has been indicted in Georgia and in federal court. The court papers list "a former U.S. president," referring to Trump, as an unindicted co-conspirator. The…