WORLD - The African Mirror

Jan

31

2023

Analysis: Israel and Palestinians risk deeper conflict in a distracted world

WORLD

HENRIETTE CHACAR and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI AFTER the bloodshed in Jerusalem and the West Bank and a month since Israel's most right-wing government took office, Israel and the Palestinians risk sliding into a cycle of wider confrontation with pressure on both sides for retaliation, analysts say. A Palestinian gunman shot dead seven people near a synagogue in Jerusalem's outskirts on Friday evening, a day after Israeli forces carried out a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin which killed 10 people including seven gunmen. Israel said on Saturday it was sending army reinforcements to the West Bank and promised…

Jan

29

2023

By The African Mirror

Video shows Memphis police officers kicking, beating Tyre Nichols

WORLD

ALYSSA POINTER and STEVE GORMAN TYRE Nichols repeatedly cried, "Mom! Mom!” as the five Memphis police officers now charged with the Black motorist's murder pummeled him with kicks, punches and baton blows after a Jan. 7 traffic stop, video released by the city on Friday showed. The video from police body-worn cameras and a camera mounted on a utility pole were posted online a day after the officers were charged with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and oppression in Nichols' death. The officers, all Black, were dismissed from the police department last week. Nichols, 29, was hospitalized and died of…

Jan

29

2023

By The African Mirror

Afghan female students not allowed to sit university entrance exam

WORLD

THE Taliban-run Ministry of Higher Education ordered private universities in Afghanistan not to allow female students to sit university entrance exams next month, underscoring its policy to restrict women from tertiary education. A letter from the ministry was addressed to institutions in Afghanistan's northern provinces, including Kabul, where exams are due to take place from the end of February. The letter said those institutions that did not observe the rules would face legal action. The Higher Education Ministry in December told universities not to allow female students "until further notice". Days later, the administration stopped most female NGO workers from…

Jan

29

2023

By The African Mirror

India’s Gautam Adani: Asia’s richest man in the eye of a storm

WORLD

SHIVAM PATEL, ADITI SHAH and ADITYA KALRA INDIA'S Gautam Adani, the school drop-out turned billionaire who rose to become Asia's richest man, faces possibly the biggest challenge of his career after a U.S. short-seller cast doubts on his business practices, hammering shares in his companies and his reputation. Adani, whose home state is Gujarat in western India, built his business empire from scratch after starting as a commodities trader. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails from the same state and their relationship has come under intense scrutiny by Modi's opponents for years. Adani's business empire grew rapidly and his wealth…

Jan

28

2023

By The African Mirror

Five ex-Memphis police officers charged with murder in death of Tyre Nichols

WORLD

TYLER CLIFFORD FIVE former Memphis police officers were charged with murder in the death of a Black motorist, Tyre Nichols, from injuries he sustained in a violent encounter following a traffic stop, prosecutors said. Nichols, a 29-year-old father, died while hospitalized on January 10, three days after the confrontation during his arrest by the five police officers. Officials were expected on Friday evening to release police body-worn camera video of the incident, which a lawyer for Nichols' family likened to the notorious footage of Los Angeles police officers beating Black motorist Rodney King more than 30 years ago. "We're here…

Jan

28

2023

By The African Mirror

Seven killed in synagogue attack as West Bank violence spirals

WORLD

JAMES MACKENZIE and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI A gunman killed at least seven people and wounded 10 others in a synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem in an attack that heightened fears of a spiral in violence, a day after the deadliest Israeli raid in the West Bank in years. Police said the gunman arrived at around 8.15 p.m. and opened fire, hitting a number of people before he was killed by police. TV footage showed several victims lying in the road outside the synagogue being tended to by emergency workers. The attack, which police described as a "terrorist incident", underlined fears…

Jan

28

2023

By The African Mirror

Actor Alan Cumming gives back his OBE award over ‘toxicity of empire’

WORLD

SCOTTISH actor Alan Cumming said he was giving back his OBE - Officer of the Order of the British Empire - award, saying his eyes had been "opened" over "the toxicity of empire". Writing on his Instagram page, the "Instinct" and "The Good Wife" actor, who also has U.S. citizenship, said that while he had been "incredibly grateful" to receive the recognition in the 2009 Queen’s birthday honours list, he had recently changed his mind. Cumming said he was awarded the OBE for his work as an actor as well as "for activism for equal rights for the gay and…

Jan

27

2023

By The African Mirror

EU wants to send more migrants away as irregular arrivals grow

WORLD

GABRIELA BACZYNSKA EUROPEAN Union ministers sought ways to curb irregular immigration and send more people away as arrivals rose from pandemic lows, reviving controversial ideas for border fences and asylum centres outside of Europe. EU border agency Frontex reported some 330,000 unauthorised arrivals last year, the highest since 2016, with a sharp increase on the Western Balkans route. "We have a huge increase of irregular arrivals of migrants," Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told talks among the 27 EU migration ministers. "We have a very low return rate and I can see we can make significant progress here."Advertisement · Scroll…

Jan

27

2023

By The African Mirror

Kremlin says U.S.-supplied tanks will ‘burn’ in Ukraine

WORLD

THE Kremlin said that any Abrams battle tanks supplied to Ukraine by the United States would "burn", dismissing the expected delivery as an expensive folly. U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday that Washington was poised to send dozens of its M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, reversing its previous position. The report comes after Germany looked set to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after initially resisting the request. Speaking at a daily briefing with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that while the Abrams shipments were not confirmed, they would be a waste of money. "I am certain that many…

Jan

27

2023

By The African Mirror

Immigrant farm worker charged with 7 murders in northern California shooting

WORLD

JORGE GARCIA and STEVE GORMAN A 66-year-old immigrant farm worker was formally charged with premeditated murder in the fatal shooting of seven co-workers near San Francisco, the second of two gun rampages in California in recent days in which 18 people were killed. Chunli Zhao, a Chinese citizen and the lone suspect in Monday's massacre at two mushroom farms in the seaside town of Half Moon Bay, was formally presented with seven counts of murder and a single count of attempted murder during his first court appearance in nearby Redwood City. Zhao, wearing red-coloured jail garb and enclosed behind a…