WORLD - The African Mirror

Jan

05

2024

Epstein accuser says Prince Andrew groped her, documents show

WORLD

A woman who has said she was victimized by late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein said Britain's Prince Andrew put his hand on her breast at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse in 2001, according to court documents from a civil lawsuit unsealed. The incident, which has been previously reported by other media outlets and Andrew has denied, was among the details described in an initial trove of previously redacted documents that otherwise revealed few new details about the extent of Epstein's alleged sex trafficking activities. More documents are expected to be unsealed or unredacted in the coming days. Prince Andrew could not immediately…

Jan

04

2024

By LAILA BASSAM, NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and ARAFAT BARBAKH

Hamas leader’s killing raises fears of wider war, Israel keeps up bombardment of Gaza

WORLD

ISRAELI forces kept up their assault on the Gaza Strip and told civilians to leave a refugee camp in the north of the Palestinian enclave after the war reached into Lebanon with the killing of the Hamas deputy leader in Beirut. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it killed Saleh al-Arouri in a drone strike in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday. But military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces were in a high state of readiness and prepared for any scenario. The assassination was a further sign that the nearly three-month war between Israel and Hamas was spreading across…

Jan

04

2024

By The African Mirror

UN experts sound alarm over planned first US execution by nitrogen gas

WORLD

UNITED Nations experts called on U.S. authorities not to go ahead with the planned execution of an inmate by nitrogen hypoxia, saying the method may subject him to "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or even torture". Kenneth Smith, convicted for a murder-for-hire committed in 1988, is scheduled to be executed in the U.S. state of Alabama on Jan. 25 using the method, which is intended to deprive him of oxygen by using a face mask connected to a cylinder of nitrogen. Smith, 58, is one of only two people alive in the U.S. to have survived an execution attempt after…

Jan

04

2024

By KIYOSHI TAKENAKA and SAKURA MURAKAMI

Japan quake survivors face freezing rain, threat of landslides

WORLD

RESCUERS raced against the clock searching for survivors of an earthquake in western Japan that killed at least 65, while evacuees continued to wait for further aid amid freezing temperatures and heavy rain. The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck the Noto peninsula on New Year's Day, levelling houses and cutting off remote areas from aid. Heavy rain was forecast in the quake-hit areas on Wednesday, raising fears of landslides that could further hinder efforts to free many more people still trapped under rubble. Severed roads, damaged infrastructure, and the remote location of the hardest-hit areas have complicated rescue efforts.…

Jan

03

2024

By DANIEL LEUSSINK and SATOSHI SUGIYAMA

Five dead after JAL airliner crashes into quake aid plane at Tokyo airport

WORLD

ALL 379 people aboard a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane escaped the burning airliner after a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo's Haneda airport that killed five of six crew on the smaller craft. Live footage on public broadcaster NHK showed the JAL Airbus A350 airliner burst into flames as it skidded down the tarmac shortly before 6 p.m. (0900 GMT). Video and images shared on social media showed passengers shouting inside the plane's smoke-filled cabin and running across the tarmac after escaping via an evacuation slide. At one point a child's voice can be heard shouting: "Let us get out…

Jan

03

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI, ARAFAT BARBAKH and MAAYAN LUBELL

Gaza death toll passes 22,000 with no let-up in fighting between Hamas and Israel troops

WORLD

ISRAELI forces attacked Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip with tank fire and air strikes, residents said, and Israeli ground troops and Hamas militants also battled in other parts of the shattered Palestinian enclave. Israel said its troops had killed dozens of militants in Gaza's north in the past day. Residents said Israeli tanks had shelled parts of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central area. The Gaza health ministry said 207 people had been killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total recorded Palestinian death toll to more than 22,000 in nearly three months of warfare in…

Jan

03

2024

By JESSIE PANG and DOROTHY KAM

Hong Kong tycoon Lai pleads not guilty in national security trial

WORLD

HONG Kong tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty in a landmark trial, where he is accused of endangering China's national security, as prosecutors laid out details of what they said was collusion with foreign forces. Lai, a leading critic of the Chinese Communist Party, faces two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces - including calling for sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials - under a China-imposed national security law. "Not guilty," Lai said three times as each charge was read, appearing calm as he sat in a glass dock surrounded by guards and a…

Jan

02

2024

By The African Mirror

World welcomes 2024 with New Year’s fireworks, reflection and a royal farewell

WORLD

THE world welcomed 2024 with a mix of celebration and sombre reflection. Sydney sparkled under a shower of silver and gold fireworks commemorating the 50th anniversary of its iconic Opera House, while the mood in Gaza remained bleak, with residents more concerned with survival. In Europe, Denmark's Queen Margrethe II announced her abdication after over half a century on the throne. Here's how places and people around the world bid farewell to 2023 and welcomed the New Year. AUSTRALIA - Sydney hailed 2024 with a dazzling fireworks display featuring silver and gold pyrotechnics to mark the 50th anniversary of its…

Jan

02

2024

By TIM KELLY, SATOSHI SUGIYAMA and SAKURA MURAKAMI

Powerful quake rocks Japan, nearly 100,000 residents ordered to evacuate

WORLD

A powerful earthquake struck central Japan, killing at least one person, destroying buildings, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and prompting residents in some coastal areas to flee to higher ground. The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 triggered waves of about 1 metre along Japan's west coast and neighbouring South Korea, with authorities saying larger waves could follow. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued tsunami warnings for the prefectures of Ishikawa, Niigata and Toyama. A major tsunami warning - the first since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan - was issued for…

Jan

02

2024

By PHILIP PULLELLA

Benedict would have banned same-sex blessings, aide says on anniversary

WORLD

THE Vatican marked the first anniversary of the death of Pope Benedict XVI, with one of his closest aides saying he never would have approved a recent declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples. Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, who was the Church's doctrinal chief under Benedict, and Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who was Benedict's private secretary, both German, were two headliners at an event marking the anniversary and organised by the conservative U.S.-based Catholic television network EWTN. "It never would have happened (under Benedict) because it was so ambiguous," Mueller said on the sidelines of the event when asked by Reuters…