WORLD - The African Mirror

Apr

15

2023

Spanish athlete emerges into daylight after 500 days in cave

WORLD

ELENA RODRIGUEZ A 50-year-old Spanish extreme athlete emerged on Friday from a 500-day challenge living 70 metres (230 feet) deep in a cave outside Granada with minimal contact outside. Wearing dark glasses and smiling as she adjusted to the light of spring in southern Spain, elite mountaineer Beatriz Flamini told reporters that time had flown by and she did not want to come out. "When they came in to get me, I was asleep. I thought something had happened. I said: 'Already? Surely not.' I hadn't finished my book," she said. Flamini's support team said she broke a world record…

Apr

14

2023

By The African Mirror

Japan says evacuation warning for North Korea missile was not a mistake

WORLD

THE Japanese government said the emergency evacuation warning it issued and later retracted against residents of the northern island of Hokkaido after a North Korean missile launch was appropriate and not an error. "We did not correct the information issued by the J-Alert" emergency broadcasting system, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference. He said the North Korean missile disappeared from Japan's radar immediately after detection, and further analysis found that there was no possibility of its landing in Japan's territory, leading to the lifting of the evacuation warning. "The J-Alert warning was issued to inform citizens of…

Apr

14

2023

By RUPAM JAIN

Dalai Lama ‘unfairly labelled’ over tongue video – Tibet govt-in-exile

WORLD

THE head of Tibet's government-in-exile has defended the Dalai Lama over footage of him asking a boy to suck his tongue, saying the incident had demonstrated the country's spiritual leader's innocent and affectionate side. The Nobel peace laureate apologised after the footage from a public event, which also shows him apparently giving the boy a peck on the lips, went viral, leading to a wave of comments on social media that his behaviour amounted to abuse. Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong (political leader) of the exiled Central Tibetan Administration, said the Dalai Lama had been "unfairly labelled with all kinds of names that…

Apr

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Kyiv compares Russia to Islamic State after beheading video

WORLD

UKRAINE compared Russia to Islamic State and called on the International Criminal Court to investigate after a video emerged online showing apparent Russian soldiers filming themselves beheading a Ukrainian captive with a knife. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity or provenance of the video on social media, which showed a man in uniform beheading a man who wears the yellow arm band used by Ukrainian soldiers. The Kremlin described the video as "awful" but said its authenticity needed to be checked. Moscow has denied in the past that its troops carry out atrocities during the conflict. "There is something…

Apr

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Exclusive: Iran exploits earthquake relief mission to fly weapons to Syria

WORLD

IRAN has used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into its strategic ally Syria, nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli and Western sources said. The sources told Reuters that the goal was to buttress Iran's defences against Israel in Syria and to strengthen Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Reuters is the first to report this development. After the Feb. 6 earthquake in northern Syria and Turkey, hundreds of flights from Iran began landing in Syria's Aleppo, Damascus and Latakia airports bringing supplies, and this went on for seven weeks, the sources said. More than 6,000 people died in all of…

Apr

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Access, printouts and glue: Tracing the source of leaked US secrets

WORLD

IDREES ALI, JONATHAN LANDAY and SARAH N. LYNCH A probe into the leak of secret U.S. documents likely will require investigators to examine those who had access and scrutinize details like objects captured in photos of the materials, former U.S. officials told Reuters, as pressure grows to find the person or group responsible. The Department of Justice opened a formal criminal probe last week after the matter was referred by the Pentagon, which is assessing the damage done by what may be the most damaging release of classified U.S. information in years. Reuters has reviewed more than 50 of the documents, labelled "Secret" and…

Apr

12

2023

By The African Mirror

Ukraine cities pounded, US scrambles to find source of leaked documents

WORLD

PAVEL POLITYUK RUSSIAN forces pounded frontline cities in eastern Ukraine with air strikes and artillery attacks, while U.S. officials attempted to locate the source of a leak of classified U.S. documents, including those on Ukrainian counter-offensive plans. The Russians pressed on with their offensive in the eastern Donetsk region where several cities and towns came under heavy bombardment, Ukraine's general staff said on Tuesday. Ukrainian forces repelled several attacks, it said, as the Russian military kept up its effort to take control of Bakhmut. A top Ukrainian commander accused Moscow of using "scorched earth" tactics. "The enemy switched to so-called scorched…

Apr

12

2023

By The African Mirror

Bank worker kills five co-workers in Louisville, Kentucky shooting

WORLD

BRENDAN O'BRIEN A 23-year-old bank employee armed with a rifle shot dead five colleagues and wounded nine other people at his workplace in Louisville while livestreaming the attack on social media, police said. The gunman was fatally shot at the scene, Louisville police said. It was unclear whether he was slain by police or took his own life. The incident marked the latest in a long series of mass shootings in the U.S. Louisville police identified the shooter as Connor Sturgeon, who joined the downtown branch of the Old National Bank as a full-time employee last year. Police said they…

Apr

12

2023

By The African Mirror

Thousands of Israelis march to illegal West Bank outpost as tensions mount

WORLD

THOUSANDS of Israelis, including ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government, marched to an evacuated Jewish outpost in the West Bank in support of settlements viewed as illegal under international law. As tensions mounted between Israelis and Palestinians, Israelis from across the country travelled to the outpost of Evyatar while waving Israeli flags and chanting religious songs and slogans during the holiday week of Passover. Israeli troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in nearby Beita, injuring 17 people with rubber bullets and two with gas canisters to the head, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.…

Apr

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants Clarence Thomas impeached

WORLD

KANISHKA SINGH DEMOCRATIC U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she wants Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to be impeached and his advisers probed after a media report described luxury trips he has taken over decades, funded by a Republican donor. "It is the House's responsibility to pursue that investigation in the form of impeachment," she told CNN in an interview. However, she acknowledged progress was unlikely since the House of Representatives has a Republican majority that would not want to take action against a conservative justice. Ocasio-Cortez said the timeline of Thomas's relationship with Republican donor and real estate magnate Harlan…