WORLD - The African Mirror

Nov

14

2023

Israel-Hamas war: Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital has tanks at its gates

WORLD

ISRAELI tanks took up positions at the gates of Gaza City's main hospital, the primary target in their battle to seize control of the northern half of the Gaza Strip, where medics said patients including newborns were dying for lack of fuel. Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra, who was inside Al Shifa hospital, said 32 patients had died in the past three days, including three newborn babies, as a result of the siege of the hospital and lack of power. At least 650 patients were still inside, desperate to be evacuated to another medical facility by the Red Cross or…

Nov

14

2023

By ELIZABETH PIPER

UK’s Sunak brings back Cameron, sacks Braverman

WORLD

BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak brought back former leader David Cameron as foreign minister in a reshuffle triggered by his firing of interior minister Suella Braverman after her criticism of police threatened his authority. It was the latest reset for a prime minister whose Conservative Party is badly lagging the Labour Party before an election expected next year. Cameron's return suggested Sunak wanted to bring in a more centrist, experienced hand rather than appease the populist right of his party which backed Braverman. It also reawakens divisive debate over Brexit: Cameron held the referendum on European Union membership in 2016…

Nov

14

2023

By RENJU JOSE

Australia to apologise half a century after ‘Thalidomide tragedy’

WORLD

AUSTRALIA will issue a national apology to all citizens affected by the "Thalidomide tragedy", Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, more than half a century after babies were born with birth defects when mothers took the morning sickness pill. Thalidomide was the active ingredient in a sedative widely distributed to many mothers in Australia and around the world in the early 1960s. It was found to cause malformation of limbs, facial features and internal organs in unborn children. "The thalidomide tragedy is a dark chapter in the history of our nation and the world," Albanese said in a statement. "The survivors,…

Nov

13

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and MAAYAN LUBELL

Major Gaza hospitals suspend operations as Israel hunts Hamas

WORLD

TWO major hospitals in northern Gaza closed to new patients, with staff saying that Israeli bombardment plus lack of fuel and medicine meant babies and others could die. Hospitals in the north of the Palestinian enclave are blockaded by Israeli forces and barely able to care for those inside, medical staff said. Israel says it is homing in on Hamas militants in the area and the hospitals should be evacuated. Gaza's largest and second-largest hospitals, Al Shifa and Al-Quds said they were suspending operations. With more people killed and wounded daily, there are ever fewer places for the injured to go. "My son was…

Nov

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Russia opens terrorist investigation after freight train derailed

WORLD

RUSSIAN investigators have opened a terrorism investigation after a major freight train was derailed due to what they said was a homemade bomb on the railway line in the Ryazan region, the investigative committee said. "According to the investigation, at 07:12 on November 11, 2023, an improvised explosive device exploded," the committee said. "As a result, 19 wagons of the freight train were derailed."

Nov

12

2023

By AZIZ EL YAAKOUBI and NAYERA ABDALLAH

Arab and Muslim leaders demand immediate end to Gaza war

WORLD

SAUDI Arabia and other Muslim countries called on Saturday for an immediate end to military operations in Gaza, rejecting Israel's justification of its actions against Palestinians as self-defence. The extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh urged the International Criminal Court to investigate "war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is committing" in the Palestinian territories, according to a final communique. Saudi Arabia has sought to press the United States and Israel for an end to hostilities in Gaza, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, gathered Arab and Muslim leaders to reinforce that message. Dozens…

Nov

12

2023

By PHILIP PULLELLA

In very rare move, Pope dismisses conservative US bishop Strickland

WORLD

POPE Francis has dismissed Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, one of his fiercest critics among U.S. Roman Catholic conservatives, a Vatican statement said on Saturday. It is very rare for a bishop to be relieved of his duties outright. Usually bishops in trouble with the Vatican are asked to resign before submitting a resignation, which the pope accepts. Popes make such moves, considered drastic, when a bishop refuses a request to resign. Strickland is 65, 10 years shy of the usual retirement age for bishops. Strickland had said earlier this year that he would refuse to resign if…

Nov

12

2023

By LISA RICHWINE and DAWN CHMIELEWSKI

Hollywood actors win streaming bonuses under new contract

WORLD

STREAMING services will pay bonuses of roughly $40 million per year as part of the tentative labor agreement reached between the SAG-AFTRA actors union and major Hollywood studios, union leaders said on Friday after their board backed the deal. The proposed three-year contract, which the union said was valued at more than $1 billion over three years, was endorsed by 86% of SAG-AFTRA's national board. Union members now must vote on whether to ratify the agreement with Netflix (NFLX.O), Walt Disney (DIS.N), Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) and other members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Voting is expected to end…

Nov

11

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

Gaza officials say Israeli strikes kill 27 amid US unease at death toll

WORLD

ISRAELI air strikes hit three Gaza hospitals and a school killing at least 27 people, and a ground battle was underway at another hospital, Palestinian officials said, as the U.S. voiced fresh disquiet at the war's mounting death toll. In his strongest comments to date on civilian suffering, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the number of Palestinians killed - put by Gaza authorities at more than 11,000. Blinken welcomed the four-hour humanitarian Israeli pauses that the White House announced on Thursday but told reporters more action was needed to protect Gaza's civilians. "Far too many Palestinians have been killed; far too…

Nov

11

2023

By TREVOR HUNNICUTT

Biden to meet Xi on Wednesday in San Francisco Bay area, US says

WORLD

PRESIDENT Joe Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping face-to-face for the first time in a year, the White House said, in high-stakes diplomacy aimed at curbing tensions between the world's two superpowers. The closely watched interaction, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the San Francisco Bay area, could last hours and involve teams of officials from Beijing and Washington. It is expected to cover global issues from the Israel-Hamas war to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, North Korea's ties with Russia, Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific, human rights, fentanyl, artificial intelligence, as well as "fair" trade and…