WORLD - The African Mirror

Mar

12

2023

Indian police arrest three after man killed for possessing beef

WORLD

POLICE in India have arrested three men in eastern Bihar state in connection with the death of a Muslim man who was attacked because he was suspected of carrying beef, a police official said. The victim, Naseem Qureshi, 56, died earlier this week after being attacked by a mob on suspicion of carrying beef, the sale and consumption of which is restricted in some parts of the country by local governments. Cows are sacred in Hinduism, and there have been frequent attacks on those accused of killing them for meat or leather, predominantly people from the minority Muslim population or…

Feb

26

2023

By The African Mirror

Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes Central Turkey region – EMSC

WORLD

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Central Turkey on Saturday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said. The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), EMSC said. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Feb

26

2023

By The African Mirror

Florida bill would ban gender studies majors, diversity programs at universities

WORLD

SHARON BERNSTEIN FLORIDA Governor Ron DeSantis would gain more influence in the state's public university system, and majors involving gender studies or critical race theory would be eliminated if a bill filed this week wins support from the Republican-controlled legislature. The new measure, which largely reflects a legislative agenda announced by DeSantis in January, also would ban consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the hiring of faculty. It would require each institution's board of trustees to approve hires, giving DeSantis greater influence over those decisions because the governor appoints a significant number of board members. The wide-reaching legislation…

Feb

26

2023

By The African Mirror

Factbox: The countries in the grip of debt crises

WORLD

MEETINGS being held in India will see top officials from the Group of 20 leading economies discuss how to help the growing number of countries now in the grip of debt crises. The United Nations estimates that over 50 countries, accounting for more than half of the world’s poorest people, are in need of immediate relief to avoid even more extreme poverty while analysts estimate that as much as $400 billion of international market debt could be at the heart of the problems. Below is a list of countries that have either defaulted on their international debt or are seen…

Feb

16

2023

By PAVEL POLITYUK

Russia declares battlefield gains as Ukraine urges faster military aid

WORLD

RUSSIA said it had broken through two fortified Ukrainian defence lines on the eastern front, with Kyiv describing conditions there as difficult and Western allies announcing more military aid including artillery rounds. The Russian Defence Ministry said the Ukrainians had retreated in the face of Russian attacks in the Luhansk region, although it gave no details and Reuters was not able to independently verify this and other battlefield reports. "During the offensive ... the Ukrainian troops randomly retreated to a distance of up to 3 km (2 miles) from the previously occupied lines," the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. "Even…

Feb

16

2023

By The African Mirror

Pilot of crashed Nepal plane reported no power in engines -preliminary report

WORLD

GOPAL SHARMA THE pilot of a Yeti Airlines plane which crashed in Nepal killing 71 people said before the crash there was no power from the aircraft's engines, a preliminary investigation report said. The plane crashed just before landing in the tourist city of Pokhra on January 15 in one of Nepal's worst aeroplane accidents in 30 years. There were 72 passengers on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines, including two infants, four crew members and 10 foreign nationals. Rescuers recovered 71 bodies, with one unaccounted person presumed to be dead. The report said the pilot…

Feb

15

2023

By The African Mirror

Jury urged to sentence to death man who killed 8 on New York bike path

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN A federal prosecutor urged a New York jury to sentence Sayfullo Saipov to death as the penalty phase of his trial began on Monday, saying his execution would be the only just punishment after he killed eight people in his 2017 attack on a Manhattan bike path. It marked the first time jurors have been asked to vote for the federal death penalty since U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in January 2021 after promising voters he would abolish the punishment. Defence lawyers for the Uzbek immigrant called the death penalty barbaric and urged the jurors…

Mar

11

2023

By The African Mirror

German gunman kills six, unborn child, at Jehovah’s Witness hall – police

WORLD

RIHAM ALKOUSAA and JAN SCHWARTZ A gunman in Germany shot dead six people before killing himself at a Jehovah's Witness worship hall in Hamburg, authorities said, in an attack that is bound to renew calls for stricter gun controls. Eight other people were wounded, including a seven-month pregnant woman who lost her unborn daughter, police and prosecutors said at a news conference. Officials said they had been tipped off about the perpetrator but had not taken away his legally-owned gun before the shooting at an event on Thursday night. The killer's motive remained unknown but a political reason had been…

Feb

15

2023

By The African Mirror

Dutch F-35s intercept three Russian military aircraft near Poland

WORLD

TWO Dutch F-35 fighters intercepted a formation of three Russian military aircraft near Poland and escorted them out, the Netherlands' defence ministry said in a statement late. "The then unknown aircraft approached the Polish NATO area of responsibility from Kaliningrad," according to Reuters' translation of the ministry's statement. Kaliningrad is a Russian Baltic coast enclave located between NATO and European Union members Poland and Lithuania. "After identification, it turned out to be three aircraft: a Russian IL-20M Coot-A that was escorted by two Su-27 Flankers. The Dutch F-35s escorted the formation from a distance and handed over the escort to…

Mar

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Mexican cartel says sorry for attack on Americans, bodies return to US

WORLD

DANIEL BECERRIL SUSPECTED drug cartel members handed over five purported henchmen as a would-be apology for the abduction of four Americans in the border city of Matamoros, according to media and a source familiar with the investigation. Two of the Americans and a Mexican woman died after gunmen opened fire on the U.S. citizens shortly after their arrival in Matamoros on Friday. The four Americans were found on Monday on the edge of the city, by which time two of them were dead. Mexican officials gave the bodies of the two dead men, identified as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, to U.S.…