WORLD - The African Mirror

Jul

07

2022

Britain hit by its biggest political crisis in years

WORLD

A group of cabinet ministers are about to tell Prime Minister Boris Johnson to quit, including the man who has just been appointed as the new finance minister, media reports said. BBC Political Editor Chris Mason said Transport Minister Grant Shapps would lead a delegation on Wednesday evening. Other media reports said that Nadhim Zahawi, appointed as finance minister late on Tuesday as Johnson's government started to collapse, would be part of the delegation. Zahawi had told reporters earlier on Wednesday that he fully supported Johnson. The Times newspaper reported that Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng had also told party officials…

Jul

07

2022

By The African Mirror

Highland Park shooting suspect admits to deadly attack, prosecutor says

WORLD

BRENDAN O'BRIEN THE man accused of killing seven people and wounding dozens of others at an Independence Day parade outside of Chicago admitted to authorities that he carried out the shooting, a prosecutor said on Wednesday during the suspect's first court appearance. Robert Crimo, the 21-year-old suspect facing seven counts of first-degree murder, appeared at the bond hearing via a video link from jail, two days after the attack in Highland Park, Illinois. Dressed in black and wearing shoulder-length hair, Crimo was denied bail by Judge Theodore Potkonjak. Ben Dillon, a county prosecutor, told the court that the suspect confessed…

Apr

05

2022

By The African Mirror

‘War crime’ killings near Kyiv raise international outcry, as frontline shifts

WORLD

MARKO DJURICA and ABDELAZIZ BOUMZAR INTERNATIONAL outrage spread over civilian killings in northern Ukraine, where a mass grave and tied bodies of people shot at close range were found in a town taken back from Russian forces, as Moscow shifted the focus of the fighting elsewhere. The deaths in Bucha, outside Kyiv, are likely to galvanise the United States and Europe into additional sanctions against Moscow, possibly including some restrictions on the billions of dollars in energy that Europe still imports from Russia. The discoveries overshadowed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine that were due to resume on Monday against…

Apr

05

2022

By The African Mirror

Shanghai to extend lockdown of 26 million people as it reviews COVID test results

WORLD

SHANGHAI will remain under lockdown as it reviews results of an exercise to test all of its 26 million residents for COVID-19, authorities said. The city began its two-stage lockdown on March 28, initially in Shanghai's eastern districts, and later expanded to cover the whole city. The curbs, which have massively disrupted daily life and business operations in China's financial hub, were initially scheduled to end at 5 a.m. local time (9 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday. "The city will continue to implement seal and control management and strictly implement 'staying at home', except for medical treatment," the city government said…

Apr

05

2022

By The African Mirror

Jury selection begins for man facing death for Florida mass school shooting

WORLD

JURY selection began in the penalty phase of the trial of the man who killed 17 students and staff at a Florida high school on Valentine's Day in 2018, one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S history. Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty in November to the premeditated murder of 14 students and three members of the staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, about 30 miles north of Fort Lauderdale. A jury will now determine whether the judge should sentence him to life in prison or the death penalty. Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who is presiding…

Apr

04

2022

By The African Mirror

Explainer: How could Russia’s Putin be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine?

WORLD

JACQUELINE THOMSEN and MIKE SCARCELLA UKRAINE has accused Russia of war crimes in the town of Bucha just outside Kyiv, with Germany, France and others expressing outrage at the images of dead civilians. The mayor of Bucha said on Saturday that 300 residents had been killed by Russian troops during a month-long occupation. Victims were seen by Reuters in a mass grave and lying in the streets. Russia's defence ministry denied the Ukrainian allegations, saying footage and photographs showing bodies in Bucha were "yet another provocation" by the Ukrainian government. Russia has previously denied targeting civilians and rejected allegations of…

Apr

04

2022

By The African Mirror

Fresh turmoil for Pakistan as Imran Khan dodges ouster, opposition vows fight

WORLD

ASIF SHAHZAD and GIBRAN NAIYYAR PESHIMAM PAKISTAN'S political turmoil deepened when Prime Minister Imran Khan avoided an attempt to oust him and sought fresh elections after dissolving parliament, a move the opposition called treasonously and vowed to fight. The deputy speaker of parliament, a member of Khan's party, blocked an opposition no-confidence motion that Khan had widely been expected to lose, ruling it was part of a foreign conspiracy and unconstitutional. That stymied the opposition's attempt to come to power and set up a potential legal showdown over the Constitution in the country of 220 million people. Opposition leader Shehbaz…

Apr

04

2022

By The African Mirror

Pope struggles with leg pain in Malta, defends migrants

WORLD

PHILIP PULLELLA POPE Francis, struggling with leg pain, said countries should always help those trying to survive "amidst the waves of the sea" as he wrapped up a trip to Malta, which is at the heart of Europe's migration debate. At the start of the last day of his trip to the Mediterranean island, Pope Francis visited the grotto in the town of Rabat. According to tradition, St. Paul lived there for two months after he was among 75 people shipwrecked on their way to Rome in the year 60 AD. The Bible says they received unusual kindness. "No one…

Apr

03

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine forces retake areas north of Kyiv as Russians look eastward

WORLD

JAMES MACKENZIE UKRAINIAN forces were advancing into areas north of Kyiv littered with debris and destroyed Russian tanks as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused departing Russian soldiers of leaving behind mines. Ukrainian presidential adviser Okeksiy Arestovych said Ukrainian troops had retaken more than 30 towns and villages in the region since Russia announced this week it would scale down operations around the capital to focus on battles in the east. British military intelligence said Russian troops had abandoned Hostomel airport in a northwestern suburb of the capital, where there had been fighting since the first day of the invasion. In…

Apr

03

2022

By The African Mirror

Pakistan PM Khan suggests he might not accept vote to oust him

WORLD

GIBRAN NAIYYAR PESHIMAM and ASIF SHAHZAD PAKISTANI Prime Minister Imran Khan suggested that he might not accept a vote to oust him, a move he alleged was being orchestrated by the United States. Opposition parties say Khan has failed to revive an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic or fulfil promises to make his government more transparent and accountable, and have put forward a no-confidence motion due to be voted on Sunday. "How can I accept the result when the entire process is discredited?" Khan told a select group of foreign journalists at his office. "Democracy functions on moral authority…