WORLD - The African Mirror

Jan

27

2024

Reactions to World Court ruling on Israel’s war in Gaza

WORLD

THE World Court ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide as it wages war against Hamas militants in Gaza and do more to help civilians, but it stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire as requested by South Africa. Following are reactions to the ruling by the U.N.-affiliated International Court of Justice in The Hague: SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN MINISTRY "Today marks a decisive victory for the international rule of law and a significant milestone in the search for justice for the Palestinian people. "There is no credible basis for Israel to continue to claim that its military…

Jan

27

2024

By The African Mirror

Alabama gasses prisoner with nitrogen in first new execution method in decades

WORLD

ALABAMA executed convicted murderer Kenneth Smith, who held his breath in vain as officials asphyxiated him with nitrogen gas, the first use of a new method of capital punishment since lethal injections began in the U.S. four decades ago. Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, was a rare prisoner who had already survived one execution attempt. In November 2022, Alabama officials aborted his execution by lethal injection after struggling for hours to insert an intravenous line needle in his body. The state has called its new closely watched protocol "the most painless and humane method of execution known to man." It predicted…

Jan

27

2024

By PARISA HAFEZI and ANDREW HAYLEY

Exclusive: China presses Iran to rein in Houthi attacks in Red Sea, sources say

WORLD

CHINESE officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said. The discussions about the attacks and trade between China and Iran took place at several recent meetings in Beijing and Tehran, the Iranian sources said, declining to provide details about when they took place or who attended. "Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran. So tell the Houthis to show restraint',"…

Jan

26

2024

By FADI SHANA, NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and DAN WILLIAMS

Israeli tanks pound hospital districts in south Gaza, displaced set to flee anew

WORLD

ISRAELI tanks battered areas around two hospitals in Gaza's main southern city Khan Younis on Thursday, forcing displaced people into a new desperate scramble for safety, residents said, in an escalating offensive Israel says is targeting Hamas militants. In Gaza City in the north of the embattled enclave, 20 Palestinians were killed and 150 injured when were hit by an Israeli strike while queuing to collect food aid, said Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson for Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report. Gaza health officials said at least 50 Palestinians had been killed in the…

Jan

26

2024

By AZIZ EL YAAKOUBI

Exclusive: Saudi Arabia prepares to open first alcohol store for diplomats

WORLD

SAUDI Arabia is preparing to open its first alcohol store in the capital Riyadh which will serve exclusively non-Muslim diplomats, according to a source familiar with the plans and a document. Customers will have to register via a mobile app, get a clearance code from the foreign ministry, and respect monthly quotas with their purchases, said the document, which was seen by Reuters. The move is a milestone in the kingdom's efforts, led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to open the ultra-conservative Muslim country for tourism and business as drinking alcohol is forbidden in Islam. It is also…

Jan

26

2024

By The African Mirror

Austrian incest-rapist Fritzl to transfer to regular prison, lawyer says

WORLD

AN Austrian court ordered the conditional transfer of 88-year-old incestuous rapist Josef Fritzl to a regular prison from a prison psychiatric unit, his lawyer told reporters after the hearing. Fritzl, who has now changed his name to one not made public, raped his daughter as he held her captive for 24 years, fathering her seven children. He has been in a prison for "mentally abnormal" inmates since his conviction in 2009 for incest, rape, enslavement, coercion and the murder, by neglect, of his newborn son in a dungeon he secretly built under his house. "He was a bit close to…

Jan

25

2024

By SALEH SALEM

Gaza florist selling red roses aims to spread smiles, joy amid devastation

WORLD

HUSSAM Abdulhadi walks around tent camps and outside hospitals in Rafah, southern Gaza, selling freshly picked red roses to try to comfort Palestinians displaced by an Israeli offensive that has pummelled much of the enclave to rubble. "I am here selling flowers to spread joy among people during the war in the hope that this changes their mood, makes them happy and puts a smile on their faces," said Abdulhadi, who like most Gazans has himself been displaced by the conflict. He said many of his customers bought the flowers for injured family members, for relatives in hospital or for…

Jan

25

2024

By WILL DUNHAM

Atomic scientists keep ‘Doomsday Clock’ as close to midnight as ever

WORLD

ATOMIC scientists kept their "Doomsday Clock" set as close to midnight as ever before, citing Russia's actions on nuclear weapons amid its invasion of Ukraine, nuclear-armed Israel's Gaza war and worsening climate change as factors driving the risk of global catastrophe. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, as they did last year, set the clock at 90 seconds to midnight - the theoretical point of annihilation. Scientists set the clock based on "existential" risks to Earth and its people: nuclear threats, climate change and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and new biotechnology. "Conflict hot spots around the world carry the threat of…

Jan

25

2024

By JU-MIN PARK

‘Dior bag scandal’ lands South Korea’s Yoon, ruling party in disarray ahead of election

WORLD

HIDDEN camera footage appearing to show South Korea's First Lady accepting a Dior bag as a gift has plunged President Yoon Suk Yeol and his party into a controversy that may threaten their bid to reclaim a parliamentary majority in April's election. Some members of Yoon's conservative People Power Party (PPP) have urged the president and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, to apologise for the incident dubbed by local media "Dior bag scandal" and admit receiving the purse was, at least, inappropriate, in the hope of putting the matter to rest. Yoon's office said it had no information to share.…

Jan

24

2024

By STEVE GORMAN and DANIEL TROTTA

Suspect in 8 Chicago-area slayings turns up dead in Texas

WORLD

A man suspected of shooting eight people to death and wounding another in suburban Chicago has turned up dead hundreds of miles away in Texas, where he apparently took his own life after an encounter with law enforcement there, police said. The death of 23-year-old Romeo Nance near the town of Natalia, Texas, about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of San Antonio, ended a manhunt that began with the slaying of one man and the wounding of another in two Chicago-area shootings on Sunday, police said. The search for a suspect in Sunday's gun violence led police to the discovery…