WORLD - The African Mirror

Jan

01

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI, ARAFAT BARBAKH and DAN WILLIAMS

Israeli jets pound central Gaza as Netanyahu indicates longer war

WORLD

ISRAELI jets intensified attacks on central Gaza, residents and medics said, as battles raged through the rubble of towns and refugee camps in a war that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said would take "many more months" to end. Netanyahu's comments signal no let-up in a campaign that has killed many thousands and levelled much of Gaza, while his vow to restore Israeli control over the enclave's border with Egypt raises new questions over an eventual two-state solution. Air strikes pounded al-Maghazi and al-Bureij in the centre of Gaza, killing 10 people in one house and driving more to flee…

Jan

01

2024

By ISMAEL LOPEZ

Nicaragua arrests four more priests, intensifies crackdown on Catholic Church

WORLD

NICARAGUAN police detained four more priests, bringing the total number to 12 over the past three days, according to a high-ranking member of the Catholic Church with knowledge of the matter and local media. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who has governed the Central American country since 2007, has started a crackdown on the Catholic Church and political opponents. Priests Mikel Monterrey, Gerardo Rodriguez and Raul Zamora, along with Monsignor Miguel Mantica, the son of one of the richest families in Nicaragua, were taken from their respective homes, the source said. "They're all from the Archdiocese of Managua," said the source,…

Jan

01

2024

By The African Mirror

‘American Idol’ star Paula Abdul sues producer Nigel Lythgoe for sexual assault

WORLD

U.S. singer, dancer and "American Idol" star Paula Abdul filed a lawsuit accusing British television executive Nigel Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her when they worked together on two popular talent shows, according to court documents. Abdul, who rose to fame as a chart-topping singer in the late 1980s, alleged in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday that Lythgoe sexually assaulted her in an elevator during the early seasons of the TV singing competition series "American Idol." Lythgoe, the producer of several hit television talent competitions, allegedly groped Abdul's breasts and genitals, among other unwanted physical contact in…

Dec

31

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI, ARAFAT BARBAKH and DAN WILLIAMS

Israeli tanks advance deeper into Gaza districts, 12 weeks into war

WORLD

ISRAELI forces pushed deeper into central and southern Gaza with heavy air and artillery fire, residents said, pressing a deadly offensive that has razed much of the enclave and that Israel has said may last months more. Fighting was focused in al-Bureij, Nuseirat, Maghazi and Khan Younis, backed by intensive air strikes that filled hospitals with wounded Palestinians. The bombardment has killed 165 people and wounded 250 others in Gaza over the past 24 hours, health authorities in the Hamas-run territory said. At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the biggest and most important medical facility in the south of the tiny,…

Dec

31

2023

By The African Mirror

Chinese military purge exposes weakness, could widen

WORLD

A sweeping purge of Chinese generals has weakened the People's Liberation Army, exposing deep-rooted corruption that could take more time to fix and slow Chinese leader Xi Jinping's military modernization drive amid geopolitical tensions, analysts say. China's top lawmakers ousted nine senior military officers from the national legislative body on Friday, state media reported a step that typically precedes further punishment for wayward cadres. Many of these were from the Rocket Force - a key arm of the PLA overseeing tactical and nuclear missiles. The purges are a setback for Xi who has pumped billions into buying and developing equipment…

Dec

31

2023

By JOANNA PLUCINSKA and KRISZTINA THAN

Hooked on volcanoes? Tourists vie to catch Iceland’s eruptions

WORLD

AS the glowing river of lava from a volcano that erupted last week in Iceland ebbed, not everyone was happy. Hazel Lane, a 49-year-old dental practice manager in London, had booked a ticket to Reykjavik as soon as she saw footage of the eruption on television, hoping to witness spectacular lava flows beneath molten red skies. Lane had already visited Iceland the previous month, but it was too soon. Although authorities had by that time evacuated the nearly 4,000 inhabitants of the nearby town of Grindavik, weeks passed before the volcano - which lies about 40 km (25 miles) southwest…

Dec

30

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and ARAFAT BARBAKH

Displaced Gazans flee again as Israel launches more tank, air assaults

WORLD

TENS of thousands of newly displaced Gazans huddled under tarpaulins in the centre of the Palestinian enclave after fleeing an Israeli tank offensive, while warplanes attacking the south flattened homes and buried families as they slept. Israel is closing the year with new assaults in central and southern Gaza, unleashing a fresh exodus of people already driven from other areas, in what Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called an essential stage of its mission to destroy Hamas. Twelve weeks after Hamas militants stormed Israeli towns, killing 1,200 people and seizing 240 hostages, Israeli forces have laid much of the Gaza Strip…

Dec

30

2023

By The African Mirror

Iran executes four accused of sabotage, links to Israel’s Mossad

WORLD

IRAN executed four people, including a woman, whom it accused of being "saboteurs" with links to Israel's Mossad intelligence service, the Mizan news agency affiliated to the judiciary said. The executions took to five the number of people put to death this month in a decades-long shadow war that has seen Iran accuse Israel of attacks on its nuclear effort, charges the latter has never confirmed or denied. "Four members of a sabotage team associated with the Zionist regime ... were executed this morning following legal procedures," the news agency said, accusing them of "extensive" actions, guided by Mossad officers,…

Dec

30

2023

By JACK KIM and JIMIN JUNG

South Korea police defend probe of ‘Parasite’ actor who was found dead

WORLD

THE head of the district police force that investigated South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun over allegations of illegal drug use defended the tough questioning of him before he was found dead. Incheon Metropolitan Police Chief Kim Hui-jung told a news briefing the entire process was justified and done with Lee's consent. He expressed "deep regret" over his death and offered his condolences to his family. Lee, 48, who played the wealthy patriarch in the Oscar-winning film "Parasite", died on Wednesday. His death brought an outpouring of sympathy from the film industry and the public alike as well as questions over the apparently…

Dec

28

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI, BASSAM MASOUD and DAN WILLIAMS

Israel pounds central Gaza, dozens more Palestinians killed

WORLD

PALESTINIAN authorities reported dozens more deaths, including 20 in one attack as Israeli forces pounded central Gaza by land, sea and air. Reflecting Israeli resolve to wipe out Hamas despite international calls for a ceasefire amid a humanitarian crisis, Israel's military chief Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday the war would last many months. There were "no shortcuts in dismantling a terrorist organization," he said. A Gaza health ministry statement said an Israeli air strike killed 20 Palestinians on Wednesday near the Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. A telecommunications…