WORLD - The African Mirror

Dec

24

2022

Putin says Russia wants end to war in Ukraine

WORLD

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin said that Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this would inevitably involve a diplomatic solution. Putin made the comments a day after U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the White House and promised him continued and unwavering U.S. support. "Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war," Putin said. "We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course." White House spokesman John Kirby said Putin has "shown absolutely zero indication that he's willing…

Dec

28

2022

By The African Mirror

Ringleader in plot to kidnap Michigan governor sentenced to 16 years in prison

WORLD

KANISHKA SINGH and STEVE GORMAN THE leader of a foiled plot by members of right-wing militia groups to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Tuesday in a U.S. District Court, prosecutors said. Adam Fox, 39, was found guilty in August by a federal court jury in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on one count each of conspiring to abduct Whitmer, a Democrat, and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction in a scheme prosecutors said was intended to spark a "second American Revolution." Co-defendant Barry Croft Jr., 47, like Fox a member of the Three Percenters…

Dec

23

2022

By The African Mirror

U.S. Patriot system won’t thwart Russia’s plans for Ukraine, says Kremlin

WORLD

STEVE HOLLAND and PAVEL POLITYUK U.S. supplies of advanced Patriot missile systems to Ukraine announced during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's visit to Washington, will not help settle the conflict or prevent Russia from achieving its goals, Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that there had been no signs of readiness for peace talks during Zelenskiy's visit, proving that the United States was fighting a proxy war with Russia "to the last Ukrainian". "This is not conducive to a speedy settlement, quite the contrary," Peskov said of the Patriot system. "And this cannot prevent the Russian Federation from achieving its goals…

Dec

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Shanghai hospital warns of ‘tragic battle’ as COVID spreads

WORLD

ZOEY ZHANG and BERNARD ORR A Shanghai hospital has told its staff to prepare for a "tragic battle" with COVID-19 as it expects half of the city's 25 million people will get infected by the end of next week, while the virus sweeps through China largely unchecked. After widespread protests against strict mitigation measures, China this month began dismantling its "zero-COVID" regime, which had taken a great financial and psychological toll on its 1.4 billion people. China's official death count since the pandemic began three years ago stands at 5,241 - a fraction of what most other countries faced -…

Dec

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Trump paid no income tax in 2020, reported losses in office

WORLD

ANDY SULLIVAN DONALD Trump paid no income tax during the final full year of his presidency as he reported a loss from his sprawling business interests, according to tax figures released by a congressional panel. The records, released late on Tuesday by the Democratic-led House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee after a years-long fight, show that Trump's income, and his tax liability, fluctuated dramatically during his four years in the White House. The records cut against the Republican ex-president's long-cultivated image as a successful businessman as he mounts another bid for the White House. Trump and his wife, Melania,…

Dec

22

2022

By The African Mirror

Hearses queue at Beijing crematorium, even as China reports no new COVID deaths

WORLD

THOMAS PETER and ALESSANDRO DIVIGGIANO DOZENS of hearses queued outside a Beijing crematorium, even as China reported no new COVID-19 deaths in its growing outbreak, sparking criticism of its virus accounting as the capital braces for a surge of cases. After widespread protests, the country of 1.4 billion people this month began dismantling its unpopular "zero-COVID" lockdown and testing regime, which largely kept the virus under control for three years though at a great economic and psychological cost. The abrupt change caught a fragile health system unprepared, with hospitals scrambling for beds and blood, pharmacies for drugs and authorities racing…

Dec

22

2022

By The African Mirror

Magnitude 6.4 quake shakes northern California, leaves 2 dead, thousands without power

WORLD

NATHAN FRANDINO and STEVE GORMAN A powerful magnitude 6.4 earthquake jolted the extreme northern coast of California before dawn, crumpling homes and roads, rupturing utility lines and leaving thousands of residents without running water and electricity. At least a dozen people were injured, and two others died from "medical emergencies" that occurred during or just after the quake, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office. The tremor, which struck at 2:30 a.m. PST and was followed by about 80 aftershocks, was centred 215 miles (350 km) north of San Francisco offshore of Humboldt County, a largely rural area known for…

Dec

22

2022

By The African Mirror

Former concentration camp secretary, 97, convicted of Nazi war crimes

WORLD

A 97-year-old woman who worked as a Nazi concentration camp secretary was convicted for her role in the murder of thousands of people, in what could be one of the country's last trials for World War Two crimes. The district court in the northern town of Itzehoe handed Irmgard Furchner a two-year suspended sentence for aiding and abetting the murder of 10,505 people and the attempted murder of five people, a court spokesperson said. A statement from the court said the prisoners were "cruelly killed by gassings, by hostile conditions in the camp, by transports to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp…

Dec

27

2022

By The African Mirror

Former Maldives president Yameen to appeal 11-year jail term

WORLD

MOHAMED JUNAYD FORMER Maldives president Abdulla Yameen will appeal as soon as possible against his conviction and jailing for 11 years on corruption and money laundering charges, said his lawyer. Yameen, the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate for the next election due in 2023, was sent to a prison on Maafushi island on Sunday to start his sentence following the order from the Maldives criminal court. Yameen, 63, has denied any wrongdoing and will serve his time in a special compound in the prison which has been previously used to jail other high-profile politicians. Former Maldives vice president…

Dec

21

2022

By The African Mirror

China races to bolster health system as COVID surge sparks global concern

WORLD

BERNARD ORR and XINGHUI KOK CITIES across China scrambled to install hospital beds and build fever screening clinics as authorities reported five more deaths and international concern grew about Beijing's surprise decision to let the virus run free. China this month began dismantling its stringent "zero-COVID" regime of lockdowns and testing after protests against curbs that had kept the virus at bay for three years but at a big cost to society and the world's second-largest economy. Now, as the virus sweeps through a country of 1.4 billion people who lack natural immunity having been shielded for so long, there is growing…