WORLD - The African Mirror

Jul

09

2023

NATO flexes muscle to protect Vilnius summit near Russia, Belarus

WORLD

NATO has turned Vilnius into a fortress defended by advanced weaponry to protect U.S. President Joe Biden and other alliance leaders meeting next week only 32 km (20 miles) from Lithuania's razor-wire topped border fence with Russian ally Belarus. Sixteen NATO allies have sent a total of about 1,000 troops to safeguard the July 11-12 summit, which will take place only 151 km (94 miles) from Russia itself. Many are also providing advanced air defence systems which the Baltic states lack. "It would be more than irresponsible to have our sky unprotected as Biden and leaders of 40 countries are…

Jul

08

2023

By The African Mirror

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seize commercial ship in Gulf – U.S. Navy

WORLD

IRAN'S Revolutionary Guards "forcibly seized" a commercial ship in international waters in the Gulf and the vessel was possibly involved in smuggling, a U.S. Navy spokesperson said. The U.S. Navy had monitored the situation and decided not to make any further response, U.S. 5th Fleet spokesperson Commander Tim Hawkins said. British maritime security company Ambrey said it was aware of an attempted seizure by Iranian forces of a small Tanzanian-flagged tanker, around 59 nautical miles northeast of the Saudi Arabian port city of Dammam. "Iran regularly intercepts smaller tankers it suspects of smuggling oil," the company added in a note.…

Jul

08

2023

By ROBERT MULLER

NATO makes membership pledge to Ukraine as Zelenskiy drums up support

WORLD

THE head of NATO said the military alliance would unite at a summit next week on how to bring Kyiv closer to joining, while Ukraine's president drummed up support for its membership bid on a tour of several NATO states. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the Czech Republic and Slovakia a day after holding talks in Bulgaria and was due to travel to Turkey later on Friday. In Prague, he won a pledge of support for Ukraine to join NATO "as soon as the war (with Russia) is over", and in Sofia secured backing for membership "as soon as conditions allow".…

Jul

08

2023

By RACHEL NOSTRANT

Florida bans driver’s licenses of immigrants living in US illegally

WORLD

FLORIDA will no longer accept driver's licenses issued by some other U.S. states to immigrants living in the country illegally under a law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis as he seeks the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The Florida law, which took effect on July 1, is "the strongest anti-illegal immigration legislation in the country," the governor's office said in a press release on Wednesday. The out-of-state licenses, designed specifically for unauthorized immigrants and deemed invalid by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, are from Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island and Vermont. The list includes out-of-state licenses that…

Jul

07

2023

By GUY FAULCONBRIDGE

Mercenary chief Prigozhin back in Russia, Belarus’s Lukashenko says

WORLD

BELARUSIAN President Alexander Lukashenko said that the mutinous chief of Russia's Wagner group was still in Russia with thousands of fighters, but dismissed speculation that President Vladimir Putin would have Yevgeny Prigozhin killed. Lukashenko helped broker a deal to end last month's mutiny, the gravest challenge to Putin in his 23 years in power, under which Prigozhin was supposed to stand down his mercenaries and move to Belarus in exchange for Putin dropping charges. But in comments that raised questions about the deal, Lukashenko said Prigozhin and his fighters were still in Russia, and that it was possible they would…

Jul

07

2023

By JEFF MASON and STEVE HOLLAND

Cocaine found at White House: Cameras, visitor logs searched by Secret Service

WORLD

COCAINE discovered in the White House was found in a cubby hole in a West Wing entry area where visitors place electronics and other belongings before going on tours, a source familiar with the matter said. The Secret Service is investigating the matter, the White House said. "They're checking visitor logs and ... looking at cameras. Those are the next steps. Cross-checking" said the source. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: "Where this was discovered is a heavily travelled area where many ... West Wing visitors come through." Asked whether anyone had undergone drug testing as part of the…

Jul

07

2023

By DANIELLE BROADWAY

Coco Lee, Hong Kong-born singer-songwriter, dies at 48 after suicide attempt

WORLD

HONG Kong-born American singer Coco Lee died at 48 following a suicide attempt that left her in a coma, Lee's two sisters, Carol and Nancy Lee, said in a statement posted on Instagram and Facebook. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nancy Si Lin Lee (@nancy_yauyetei) Lee died in Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, where she had been living. "Although Coco sought professional help and did her best to fight depression, sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her," the statement said. "On 2 July, she committed suicide at home and was sent…

Jul

06

2023

By KANISHKA SINGH and RAPHAEL SATTER

Ten dead, 38 wounded in three US mass shootings

WORLD

TEN people were killed and 38 wounded in mass shootings in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Fort Worth ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, officials said, prompting a fresh call from President Joe Biden to pass gun control legislation. In Fort Worth, three people were killed and eight wounded in a mass shooting after a local festival to mark the U.S. Independence Day holiday, police said on Tuesday. In a separate mass shooting in Philadelphia on Monday evening, five people were killed and two were wounded, including a 2-year-old boy and 13-year-old boy, both of whom were shot in the legs, when a suspect in…

Jul

06

2023

By ALI SAWAFTA

Palestinians defiant and angry after Israel’s Jenin raid

WORLD

PALESTINIAN militant fighters paraded in Jenin and angry crowds confronted senior Palestinian Authority officials, accusing them of weakness, after one of the largest Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank in years. The two-day operation, which the Israeli military said targeted infrastructure and weapons depots of militant factions in the Jenin refugee camp, left a trail of wrecked streets and burned-out cars and sparked fury across the Arab world. At least 12 Palestinians, most confirmed as militant fighters, were killed and around 100 wounded in an incursion that began with late-night drone strikes, followed by a sweep involving more than 1,000 Israeli troops.…

Jul

06

2023

By The African Mirror

In Kremlin stunt, Putin and girl, 8, lobby minister for budget funds

WORLD

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin hosted an eight-year-old girl in the Kremlin and got her to join him in a bizarre phone call to his finance minister to ask for a budget grant for her home region. The Kremlin released a video of Putin welcoming the girl, Raisat Akipova, in the latest of a series of appearances since a brief armed mutiny last month that seem designed to show him as caring, concerned and in control. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov initially sounded bemused by the call and failed to respond to the girl's greeting, but quickly agreed to the extra funding…