WORLD - The African Mirror

Mar

03

2024

Israeli airstrike hits Gaza tent, killing 11, health ministry says

WORLD

AT least 11 Palestinians were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a tent in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, the Gaza health ministry said, in an area where people are seeking sanctuary from Israel's devastating offensive. The Gaza health ministry said another 50 people were wounded in the strike next to a hospital in the Tel Al-Sultan area of Rafah. One of the dead was a medic at the hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "The strike hit one tent, where people took shelter, directly, shrapnel came inside the hospital where me and friends…

Mar

03

2024

By The African Mirror

Russians lay flowers at Navalny’s grave, hail him as symbol of hope

WORLD

RUSSIANS queued to place flowers on the grave of late opposition politician Alexei Navalny, with mourners hailing him as a symbol of hope and perseverance the day after he was laid to rest in Moscow. Navalny's mother Lyudmila was among the mourners, visiting her son's grave for the second day, accompanied by the mother of Alexei's widow Yulia. Both women, dressed in black, stood quietly at the grave, before leaving. Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic inside Russia, died at the age of 47 in an Arctic penal colony on February 16. Supporters said he had been murdered.…

Mar

03

2024

By The African Mirror

Pope Francis asks aide to read ceremonial speech due to bronchitis

WORLD

POPE Francis, who has been suffering from influenza, said he delegated the reading of a speech at a ceremony to an aide because he was unable to read it due to bronchitis. "I have prepared a speech but as you can see I am unable to read it because of bronchitis. I have asked Monsignor (Filippo) Ciampanelli to read it for me," a hoarse-sounding pope said. The speech was for the opening ceremony of the judicial year of the Vatican tribunal. Afterwards, the pope was able to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during an audience at the Vatican. Francis, who…

Mar

02

2024

By The African Mirror

More than 100 killed while seeking aid in Gaza, overall death toll passes 30,000

WORLD

GAZA health authorities said Israeli forces shot dead more than 100 Palestinians as they waited for aid delivery, but Israel blamed the deaths on crowds that surrounded aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over. At least 112 people were killed and more than 280 wounded in the incident near Gaza City, Palestinian health officials said. The loss of civilian lives was the biggest in weeks. Hamas said the incident could jeopardise talks in Qatar aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages it is holding. When asked if he thought it would complicate the talks, U.S.…

Mar

02

2024

By RUMA PAUL

Bangladesh building fire kills 46, injures dozens

WORLD

A massive fire in Bangladesh that raged through a six-storey building home to restaurants where many families with children were dining has killed at least 46 people and injured dozens, the health minister said. Fire authorities said a gas leak or a stove could have caused Thursday's blaze in the capital, which spread quickly after breaking out in a biryani restaurant, and was only brought under control following two hours of effort by 13 units of firefighters. Hospitals were treating 22 people with burns, Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen told reporters. "All 22 people ... are in critical condition," Sen,…

Mar

01

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

Dozens killed waiting for aid in Gaza, overall death toll passes 30,000

WORLD

GAZA health authorities said more than 100 Palestinians had been shot dead by Israeli forces as they waited for aid delivery, but Israel challenged the death toll and said many of the victims had been run over by aid trucks. At least 112 people were killed and more than 280 wounded in the incident near Gaza City, Palestinian health officials said, as the death toll in nearly five months of war passed 30,000. Medics said they could not cope with the volume and severity of the injuries. Dozens were taken to Al-Shifa hospital, which is only partially operational after Israeli raids. The loss…

Mar

01

2024

By VLADIMIR SOLDATKIN and ANDREW OSBORN

Putin warns West of risk of nuclear war, says Moscow can strike Western targets

WORLD

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin told Western countries they risked provoking a nuclear war if they sent troops to fight in Ukraine, warning that Moscow had the weapons to strike targets in the West. The war in Ukraine has triggered the worst crisis in Moscow's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin has previously spoken of the dangers of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, but his nuclear warning on Thursday was one of his most explicit. Addressing lawmakers and other members of the country's elite, Putin, 71, repeated his accusation that the West was bent on…

Mar

01

2024

By The African Mirror

Key facts about Iran’s elections on Friday

WORLD

IRANIANS will vote in a parliamentary election on March 1 seen as a litmus test of the clerical establishment's popularity amid growing discontent over economic, political and social strains. Iran's clerical rulers are seeking a big turnout to shore up their legitimacy, damaged following months of mass protests ignited by the death in custody of a young woman in 2022. On the same day as the parliamentary vote, Iran holds elections to pick 88 members of a powerful clerical body known as the Assembly of Experts, which is tasked with appointing or dismissing the supreme leader. Following are some facts about Iran's election process:…

Feb

29

2024

By The African Mirror

Israel presses on with settlement plans despite US criticism

WORLD

ISRAELI Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pledged to continue expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, defying international pressure on Israel to stop building on land Palestinians see as the core of a future independent state. Late on Tuesday, Smotrich announced the approval of a new settlement called Mishmar Yehuda, in Gush Etzion, a cluster of Jewish settlements located south of Jerusalem, and said work would continue on authorizing further settlements. "We will continue the momentum of settlement throughout the country," he said in a statement. The move comes just days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington considered…

Feb

29

2024

By The African Mirror

Italy suspends army general over book disparaging minorities, lawyer says

WORLD

AN Italian army general reprimanded by the defence minister for publishing a book disparaging LGBT people, migrants, minorities and feminists has been suspended from duty for 11 months, his lawyer said. The opinions expressed in Roberto Vannacci's self-published book, "The World Upside Down" made headlines in the national press last year, winning applause from right-wing readers and sparking outrage among left-wing opposition parties. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in August the ministry would take disciplinary action, explaining that the book discredited the army, defence ministry and constitution. In a statement disclosing Vannacci's suspension, his lawyer Giorgio Carta said the ministry alleged the…