WORLD - The African Mirror

Mar

02

2023

China scoffs at FBI claim that Wuhan lab leak likely caused COVID pandemic

WORLD

THE FBI has assessed that a leak from a laboratory in the central Chinese city of Wuhan likely caused the COVID pandemic, director Christopher Wray said, a claim China said had "no credibility whatsoever". "The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," Wray told Fox News. His comments follow a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had assessed with low confidence the pandemic resulted from an unintended lab leak in China. Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence…

Feb

25

2023

By The African Mirror

Russia’s Medvedev floats idea of pushing back Poland’s borders

WORLD

FORMER Russian president Dmitry Medvedev that the only way for Moscow to ensure a lasting peace with Ukraine was to push back the borders of hostile states as far as possible, even if that meant the frontiers of NATO member Poland. Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, made the comments in a message on his Telegram account exactly a year after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what it called a "special military operation" to protect Russian speakers and ensure its own security. Ukraine says it is defending itself from an unprovoked…

Feb

25

2023

By The African Mirror

Blinken says India, South Africa are on slow trajectory away from alignment with Russia

WORLD

KANISHKA SINGH and SIMON LEWIS U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said countries like India and South Africa, which have not joined the West in denouncing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, were likely on a trajectory away from alignment with Moscow but that process would not happen "in one fell swoop." "There are countries that have long-standing, decades-long relationships with Russia, with the Soviet Union before, that are challenging to break off in one fell swoop. It's not flipping a light switch, it’s moving an aircraft carrier," Blinken said in an interview with The Atlantic, marking the one-year anniversary of the…

Mar

22

2023

By The African Mirror

New York City braces for Trump indictment after ex-president urges protests

WORLD

KAREN FREIFELD and LUC COHEN WORKERS erected barricades around a Manhattan courthouse as New York City braced for a possible indictment of Donald Trump over an alleged hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. It would be the first-ever criminal case against any U.S. president. On Saturday, Trump urged followers on social media to protest what he said was his looming arrest. In his call for protests, Trump raised concerns for law enforcement that supporters might engage in violence similar to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Fearing a trap, however,…

Mar

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Israeli minister says “no such thing” as Palestinian people

WORLD

AN Israeli minister with responsibility for the administration of the occupied West Bank drew condemnation after he said there was no Palestinian history or culture and no such thing as a Palestinian people. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who triggered global outrage earlier this month when he called for a Palestinian town to be "erased", made the remarks on Sunday in a conference speech during a visit to France. "Is there a Palestinian history or culture? There is none," he can be heard saying in footage of the speech shared widely on social media. "There is no such thing as a…

Mar

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Putin flaunts alliance with Xi as ‘dear friends’ meet in Kremlin

WORLD

VLADIMIR Putin hosted his "dear friend" Xi Jinping for dinner in the Kremlin, showing off his relationship with his most powerful ally just days after an international court called for the Russian President's arrest for war crimes in Ukraine. Washington denounced Xi's visit, saying the timing showed Beijing was providing Moscow with "diplomatic cover" to commit further crimes. It was the first trip abroad for Xi since he obtained an unprecedented third term last month. The Chinese leader has been trying to portray Beijing as a potential peacemaker in Ukraine, even as he deepens economic ties with his closest ally.…

Mar

01

2023

By The African Mirror

Russians tighten noose on Ukraine’s Bakhmut, Putin warns of Western espionage

WORLD

DAN PELESCHUK RUSSIAN forces pressed forward their weeks-long drive to encircle and capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where the commander of Ukraine's ground forces described the situation as "extremely tense". Taking Bakhmut, the scene of some of the war's bloodiest battles, would be Russia's first major prize in more than six months and open the way to seizing the last remaining urban centres in the Donetsk region, one of four Moscow claims to have annexed in its "special military operation" in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the FSB security service on Tuesday to bolster security in the four regions…

Mar

01

2023

By The African Mirror

Exclusive: White House sets deadline for purging TikTok from federal devices

WORLD

DAVID SHEPARDSON The White House gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have the Chinese-owned app TikTok on federal devices and systems. In a bid to keep U.S. data safe, all federal agencies must eliminate TikTok from phones and systems and prohibit internet traffic from reaching the company, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young told agencies in a guidance memorandum seen by Reuters. The ban, ordered by Congress late last year, follows similar actions from Canada, the EU, Taiwan and more than half of U.S. states. The device ban — while impacting a tiny portion of TikTok's…

Mar

20

2023

By The African Mirror

Putin visits Russian-occupied Mariupol after ICC issues arrest warrant

WORLD

LIDIA KELLY and MARK TREVELYAN A day after being accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the scene of some of the worst devastation of his year-old invasion. State television showed extended footage of Putin being shown around the city on Saturday night, meeting rehoused residents and being briefed on reconstruction efforts by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin. The port city of Mariupol became known around the world as a byword for death and destruction as much of it was reduced to ruins in the first…

Mar

01

2023

By The African Mirror

Sunak in Belfast to sell new Brexit deal

WORLD

AMANDA FERGUSON and SACHIN RAVIKUMAR BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in Northern Ireland to sell his new deal with the European Union to ease post-Brexit trade, a measure he hopes will finally break the political deadlock in the province. Sunak is trying to secure the backing of all sides in Northern Ireland so he can reset relations with the EU - and the United States - without angering lawmakers in his own party and in Belfast who are most wedded to Brexit. His deal seeks to resolve the tensions caused by the Northern Ireland protocol, a complex agreement which set the…