WORLD - The African Mirror

Feb

19

2026

Iran-US nuclear talks may fail due to both nations’ red lines – but that doesn’t make them futile

WORLD

THE latest rounds of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are going well enough for now, according to the steady drip of public statements from the main parties involved. “I think they want to make a deal,” said U.S. President Donald Trump on the eve of the latest round of discussions held in Geneva on Feb. 17, 2026. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, noted progress over the “guiding principles” of the talks. Such optimism was similarly on display during initial talks in Oman earlier in the month. But as someone who has researched nonproliferation and U.S. national security for…

Feb

18

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Ukraine nears four-year war mark as UN warns of worsening humanitarian crisis

WORLD

WITH Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaching its four-year anniversary, United Nations humanitarians warn that civilian suffering continues unabated as attacks on energy infrastructure, blackouts and freezing temperatures compound the crisis. Speaking from a basement in Kherson on Tuesday, UNICEF representative in Ukraine Munir Mammadzade described the frontline city as "under constant fire," with daily attacks destroying homes, critical infrastructure and essential services. "I have been constantly hearing artillery shelling," Mammadzade said, reporting another "massive, coordinated attack" on civilian and energy infrastructure overnight. The city's children's hospital was attacked eight times on Tuesday morning alone. Of the roughly 60,000 children…

Feb

18

2026

By ADAM ALI

The IOC’s ban of a Ukrainian athlete over his helmet reveals troubling double standards

WORLD

ON February 12, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych from competition for wearing a helmet that featured images of fellow Ukrainian athletes who had been killed in Russia’s invasion of his home nation. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, close to 15,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, and 40,000 have been injured since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Over the past four years, more than 450 Ukrainian athletes — including those adorned on Heraskevych’s helmet — have been killed, with many more injured or left with long-term…

Feb

17

2026

By NICOLAS FORSANS

The US is starving Cuba of fuel – here’s what a deal between them could look like

WORLD

CUBA has reached a breaking point that even its crisis-hardened leadership cannot ignore. It is running out of fuel amid US pressure, having last received oil on January 9 from Mexico. This has prompted airlines such as Air Canada to cancel all flights to Cuba, hitting the tourism lifeline that accounts for most of the island’s foreign currency. Massive power outages are now routine, and the UN has warned of a possible “humanitarian collapse” if Cuba’s oil needs go unmet. For the first time in decades, Cuba’s 67-year-old regime faces a crisis where its traditional survival tools – external bailouts,…

Feb

17

2026

By JONATHAN ESTE

Why forcing Ukraine into an election could misfire for Trump

WORLD

BEFORE he sent his war machine into Ukraine nearly four years ago, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, talked of the need to rid the country of the “neo-Nazi cabal” which was holding it hostage and perpetrating a “genocide” of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine. This article was first published in The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email. Sign up to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox. Putin has doubled down on this regularly during the conflict, refusing to recognise Ukraine’s sitting president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as a legitimate negotiating partner and repeatedly calling…

Feb

17

2026

By CHRISTIAN EMERY

Trump insists Iran talks must continue, but military action is not off the table

WORLD

ISRAELI prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington on February 11 appears not to have achieved what many observers saw as its central purpose: to persuade Donald Trump to harden his demands on Iran to the point that negotiations between the countries fail. According to reports, Trump told Netanyahu he wanted talks with Iran to continue. What will be concerning Netanyahu is that while he can probably rely on Trump to take a hard line on limiting Iran’s nuclear programme, it is less clear where his unpredictable ally stands on limiting Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities and ending its support for…

Feb

16

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Epstein scandal claims European and Middle Eastern elite, but US accountability remains elusive

WORLD

THE cascading release of Jeffrey Epstein files has triggered a political earthquake across Europe and the Middle East, bringing down senior officials and forcing unprecedented criminal investigations. Yet in the United States, where Epstein operated for decades and maintained his most extensive connections, no comparable reckoning has materialised - raising questions about accountability and the politicisation of justice. The scandal has extracted its heaviest price abroad. In Britain, two major figures have fallen: Prince Andrew, stripped of his royal titles and evicted from his residence by King Charles III in October 2025, and Peter Mandelson, who resigned from the House…

Feb

16

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

UN warns Cuba’s economic crisis threatens human rights as power shortages cripple essential services

WORLD

THE United Nations human rights office expressed grave concern Tuesday over Cuba's worsening economic crisis, warning that widespread power outages are putting lives at risk by compromising hospitals, water systems, and other critical infrastructure. "We are extremely worried about Cuba's deepening socio-economic crisis," UN human rights spokesperson Marta Hurtado told reporters at a press briefing in Geneva. "This is having an increasingly severe impact on the human rights of people in Cuba." The crisis stems from multiple factors, including Cuba's decades-long U.S. financial and trade embargo, extreme weather events, and recent American measures restricting oil shipments to the island nation.…

Feb

16

2026

By RILEY SPARKS

Compliant aid: Who are the Israel-approved NGOs scaling up in Gaza?

WORLD

ATthe end of February, 37 aid organisations in the Gaza Strip – including nearly all established non-UN aid groups there – face a ban for refusing to comply with Israel’s new registration law. In their place, Israel has approved two dozen groups that have agreed to the requirements, which critics say aim to muzzle advocacy and manipulate the aid response to serve Israel’s political and military goals. To investigate further, The New Humanitarian combed through publicly available information about the Israel-approved aid groups, spoke to senior leaders from several of them, and interviewed more than a dozen other aid workers…

Feb

14

2026

By KATIE PRUSZYNSKI

Epstein files: why the Trump administration is taking a big gamble by releasing millions of documents

WORLD

THE death of Jeffrey Epstein in 2019 was never going to be the end of his menacing presence in the American political orbit. More than six years later, the Department of Justice (DoJ) has now released millions of the “Epstein files” to a hungry and impatient audience. But the DoJ’s conduct has set new questions in motion, this time about its own agenda in protecting powerful figures, including – according to his political opponents – the US president, Donald Trump. The unfolding saga reveals unsettling truths about elite power networks and our own ability to critically assess information in an…