WORLD - The African Mirror

Jun

25

2023

Rebel Russian mercenaries will turn back to avoid bloodshed, leader says

WORLD

MUTINOUS Russian mercenaries who surged most of the way to Moscow have agreed to turn back to avoid bloodshed, their leader said, in a de-escalation of what had become a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin's grip on power. The fighters of the Wagner private army were just 200 km (125 miles) from the capital, said the leader, former Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin. The rebels had captured the city of Rostov hundreds of miles to the south before racing across the country. "They wanted to disband the Wagner military company. We embarked on a march of justice on June 23. In…

Jun

25

2023

By The African Mirror

Turmoil in Russia: Reactions from foreign governments

WORLD

FOLLOWING are reactions from foreign governments to the news from Russia, where President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush what he called an armed mutiny after rebellious mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had taken control of a southern city and then barrelled toward Moscow. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY "Anyone who chooses the path of evil destroys themselves. "For a long time, Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it. "Russia's weakness is obvious. Full-scale weakness. And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries…

Jun

25

2023

By The African Mirror

US special counsel seeks delay to start of Trump documents trial until December

WORLD

U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith asked a federal judge to delay the start of former President Donald Trump's trial on charges of willful retention of classified government records and obstruction of justice until December 11, a court filing showed. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set an initial trial date of August 14. But Smith, in the filing, said the August 14 date "would deny counsel for the defendant or the attorney for the Government the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation." Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president for the 2024 election, was arraigned in federal court…

Jun

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Relatives mourn Titanic sub deaths after ‘catastrophic implosion’

WORLD

JOSEPH AX and STEVE GORMAN RELATIVES and colleagues mourned the five people who died when their submersible imploded in the North Atlantic during a deep dive to the Titanic wreck, prompting questions about safety rules for such adventures into the ocean depths. Debris from the Titan submersible, which had been missing since Sunday, was detected on Thursday by a robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship as part of an international rescue effort. Remains of the submersible, which lost contact with a surface ship about 1 hour and 45 minutes into a 2-hour descent, were discovered on the seabed about 1,600 feet (488 meters)…

Jun

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Indian PM Modi meets tech CEOs as Washington visit concludes

WORLD

STEVE HOLLAND and SIMON LEWIS INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with U.S. and Indian technology CEOs in Washington, the final day of a state visit marked by pledges of deeper U.S.-India cooperation on areas including space, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. President Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet for Modi on Thursday, declaring after about 2 -1/2 hours of talks that their countries' economic relationship was "booming." Trade has more than doubled over the past decade. Biden and Modi gathered with CEOs including Apple's Tim Cook, Google's Sundar Pichai and Microsoft's Satya Nadella. Also present were Sam Altman of OpenAI, NASA astronaut Sunita…

Jun

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Pakistan’s economic meltdown spurs more people to risk lives to reach Europe

WORLD

GIBRAN NAIYYAR PESHIMAM HAMEED Iqbal Bhatti had prospered over two decades working in Saudi Arabia, but after returning to Pakistan three years ago, he was getting desperate. The economy had suffered in the pandemic and his restaurant business closed. With work avenues drying up and sky-high inflation blowing a hole in his budget, the 47-year-old cobbled together $7,600 for a trafficker to smuggle him into Europe, where he hoped to rebuild the life he once had, his brother Muhammad Sarwar Bhatti, 53, told Reuters. "He told me that he would start afresh for his children's future and the life he…

Jun

23

2023

By JOSEPH AX and STEVE GORMAN

Titanic sub suffered ‘catastrophic implosion,’ all five aboard dead

WORLD

THE five people aboard a missing submersible died in a "catastrophic implosion," a U.S. Coast Guard official said on Thursday, bringing a grim end to the international search for the vessel that was lost during a deep-sea voyage to the wreck of the Titanic. "These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans," OceanGate Expeditions, the U.S.-based company that operated the Titan submersible, said in a statement. "Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time." An unmanned…

Jun

23

2023

By The African Mirror

Six people in critical condition, one still missing after Paris blast

WORLD

SIX people remained in critical condition and one person was believed still missing, one day after a blast ripped through a street near Paris' historic Latin Quarter, the city's public prosecution office said. "These figures may still change," prosecutor Maylis De Roeck told Reuters in a text message, adding that around 50 people had been injured in the blast, which set buildings ablaze and caused the front of one to collapse onto the street. Flames and smoke erupt from a building following a gas explosion in the fifth arrondissement of Paris, France June 21, 2023, in this screen grab obtained…

Jun

23

2023

By The African Mirror

Greece boat tragedy: At least 209 Pakistanis were on board, data suggests

WORLD

GIBRAN NAIYYAR PESHIMAM AT least 209 Pakistanis were on an overloaded boat that capsized and sank in open seas off Greece last week, according to data shared with Reuters by a Pakistani investigative agency. The figure of 209 is based on information provided by families who came forward to say a relative of theirs had boarded the boat heading from Libya towards Greece and were still missing, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said. The official death toll from the accident still stands at 82 and the number of survivors at 104, of whom 12 were Pakistanis. "An investigation to verify this is…

Jun

22

2023

By The African Mirror

Titanic sub: Rescuers race against time after hearing undersea sounds

WORLD

RESCUE teams were racing to trace the origin of sounds heard from the depths of the North Atlantic in a search for a tourist submersible with five people on board that vanished on its descent to the century-old wreck of the Titanic. The U.S. Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicle (ROV) searches were deployed in the area where Canadian aircraft detected the undersea noises on Tuesday, as the clock ticked in the last 24 hours of the missing craft's presumed air supply. "Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue," the U.S. Coast Guard wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. The 21-foot…