WORLD - The African Mirror

Nov

07

2023

UN leaders say Gaza war must ‘stop now’ as reported death toll tops 10,000

WORLD

U.N. agency leaders saying "enough is enough" demanded a humanitarian ceasefire nearly a month into Gaza's war, as health authorities in the enclave said the death toll from Israeli strikes now exceeded 10,000. Israel has rebuffed mounting international pressure for a ceasefire, saying hostages taken by Hamas militants during their rampage in southern Israel on October 7 should be released first. "An entire population is besieged and under attack, denied access to the essentials for survival, bombed in their homes, shelters, hospitals and places of worship. This is unacceptable," the U.N. chiefs said in a joint statement. "We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It's been…

Nov

07

2023

By LUC COHEN and JACK QUEEN

Trump defiant at NY fraud trial, judge threatens to cut off testimony

WORLD

DONALD Trump complained of unfair treatment in defiant and rambling testimony on the witness stand at his New York civil business fraud trial, prompting the judge to threaten to cut his testimony short. Under questioning about his company's accounting practices, the former U.S. president repeatedly clashed with Judge Arthur Engoron, who is weighing whether to impose hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and other penalties that could hobble the real estate empire that vaulted Trump to prominence. Engoron warned Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 election, that he might remove him from the witness stand if…

Nov

07

2023

By HANNAH MCKAY and BARBARA LEWIS

British Somali women’s theatre gives the ‘Side eYe’ to exclusion

WORLD

MEMBERS of Britain's community of Somali women have cast aside the conventional roles they say are expected of them for the ones they really want with the help of a theatre company set up to combat exclusion in performing arts. Artistic director Hannah Abdule, a civil servant, co-founded Side eYe Productions in 2019 to create opportunities she felt were denied to people like her. She loved drama at school, but as an adult found herself thinking: "Surely I can't perform in my headscarf, and if I do, there 'll be content at odds with the stories that I want to…

Nov

06

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI, ALI SAWAFTA and SIMON LEWIS

Gaza evacuations suspended as Palestinian president presses US for ceasefire

WORLD

EFFORTS were underway to resume evacuations of foreign nationals and injured Gazans through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, suspended since Saturday after a deadly attack on an ambulance, Egyptian, U.S. and Qatari officials said. Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel said that all communications and internet services had once again been cut in the Gaza Strip amid continued bombardment while Gaza's health ministry said dozens died in a strike on a refugee camp overnight. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas demanded an immediate Israeli ceasefire at a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah. Blinken, who has dismissed the idea of a ceasefire by…

Nov

06

2023

By The African Mirror

New York judge widens Trump case gag order; limits in criminal case lifted

WORLD

A judge issued an expanded gag order in the New York state civil fraud case against Donald Trump, while a federal appeals court temporarily lifted similar restrictions in a criminal case against the former U.S. president in Washington. The order issued by Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan bars public statements by lawyers in the case about the judge's communications with his staff. The case brought by New York state's attorney general accuses Trump of inflating his assets and net worth to obtain favourable bank loans and lower insurance premiums. Engoron first imposed a gag order on Oct. 3…

Nov

06

2023

By The African Mirror

Hamburg airport hostage standoff over, suspect arrested, police say

WORLD

POLICE arrested a man and rescued a child at the centre of a hostage standoff at Hamburg airport, ending a crisis that had forced authorities to close the busy air hub. A man, who police said was suspected of carrying a gun, and possibly explosives, drove a vehicle through the gates of the airport on Saturday night, officers said. Police said the 35-year-old man was with his four-year-old daughter and was thought to be involved in a custody dispute. "The hostage situation is over," the city's police force wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, early on Sunday afternoon. "The…

Nov

05

2023

By MIKE SPECTOR, RICHA NAIDU and KRISTINA COOKE

Thousands of Black women claim hair relaxers gave them cancer

WORLD

SHEILA Bush, a cosmetologist, was lounging in the recliner at her St. Louis-area home last winter when an advertisement from a law firm flashed up on her television screen, urging viewers to call a toll-free number if they or a loved one had used hair relaxers and been diagnosed with uterine cancer. After seeing the ad three times, Bush, who said she had used hair relaxers every six weeks for most of her life and was diagnosed with uterine cancer about a decade ago, decided to pick up the phone. The ads Bush saw, on television as well as on…

Nov

05

2023

By SAMIA NAKHOUL, LAILA BASSAM and MATT SPETALNIC

How Hamas aims to trap Israel in Gaza quagmire

WORLD

HAMAS has prepared for a long, drawn-out war in the Gaza Strip and believes it can hold up Israel's advance long enough to force its arch enemy to agree to a ceasefire, two sources close to the organization's leadership said. Hamas, which rules Gaza, has stockpiled weapons, missiles, food and medical supplies, according to the people, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. The group is confident its thousands of fighters can survive for months in a city of tunnels carved deep beneath the Palestinian enclave and frustrate Israeli forces with urban guerrilla tactics, the…

Nov

05

2023

By STEVE GORMAN

British performer Russell Brand accused of sexual assault in New York lawsuit

WORLD

BRITISH actor-comedian Russell Brand was accused in a lawsuit filed of sexually assaulting a film extra on the New York City set of the 2011 romantic comedy "Arthur," in which he starred as a boozing, philandering heir to a fortune. The suit follows a recent flurry of allegations reported in the British news media against the 48-year-old performer by several women accusing him of sexual assault and inappropriate behaviour, some dating back 20 years. British police have said they were investigating a number of the allegations, but the New York lawsuit filed on Friday marks the first such accusation levelled in court.…

Nov

04

2023

By PATRICIA ZENGERLE and MAKINI BRICE

US House passes Republicans’ Israel-only aid bill, faces dead end in Senate

WORLD

THE U.S. House of Representatives passed a Republican plan to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel and cut funding of the Internal Revenue Service, despite Democrats' insistence it has no future in the Senate and the White House's promise of a veto. The measure passed 226 to 196, largely along party lines, a shift from typical strongly bipartisan congressional support for providing aid to Israel. Twelve Democrats voted with 214 Republicans for the bill, and two Republicans joined 194 Democrats in objecting. The bill's introduction, as lawmakers rushed to respond to the attack on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas militants,…