WORLD - The African Mirror

Jul

11

2022

Candidates jostle to replace UK PM Johnson in packed race

WORLD

ALISTAIR SMOUT THE contest to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gathered pace as five more candidates declared their intention to run, with many pledging lower taxes and a clean start from Johnson's scandal-ridden premiership. Johnson on Thursday said he would resign as prime minister, after lawmakers and cabinet colleagues rebelled over his handling of a series of scandals, including breaches of lockdown rules in gatherings at his Downing Street office. He said he would stay on until a new leader was elected. A member of a Conservative party committee which sets the rules for leadership elections said on Sunday…

Jul

11

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine tells residents to leave occupied south due to counter-attack plans

WORLD

MAX HUNDER UKRAINE'S deputy prime minister urged civilians in the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson to urgently evacuate as Ukraine's armed forces were preparing a counter-attack there. Ukraine lost control of most of the Black Sea region of Kherson, including its eponymous capital, in the first weeks after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion. "It's clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling... and we, therefore, urge (people) to evacuate urgently," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on national television. She said she could not say when exactly the counter-offensive would happen. "I know for sure that there should not…

Jul

10

2022

By The African Mirror

Shinzo Abe’s killer wielded homemade gun, grudge over mother’s bankruptcy

WORLD

TIM KELLY THE man who killed Shinzo Abe believed the former Japanese leader was linked to a religious group he blamed for his mother's financial ruin and spent months planning the attack with a homemade gun, police told local media. Tetsuya Yamagami, an unemployed 41-year-old, identified as the suspect on suspicion of murder on Friday after a man was seen in videos repeatedly shown on Japanese television calmly approaching Japan's longest-serving prime minister from behind and firing. Wiry and bespectacled with shaggy hair, the suspect was seen stepping into the road behind Abe, who was standing on a riser at…

Jul

10

2022

By The African Mirror

Russia threatens broad Ukraine offensive as U.S. presses China over war stance

WORLD

PAVEL POLITYUK UKRAINIAN defenders battled to contain Russian forces along several fronts, officials said, as the United States urged China to align itself with the West in opposing the invasion following an ill-tempered G20 meeting. A missile strike on the northeastern city of Kharkiv wounded three civilians, its governor said, though Russia's main attacks appeared focused southeast of there in Luhansk and Donetsk. Those two provinces, parts of which were held by pro-Russian separatists before the conflict began in February, comprise the eastern industrial region of the Donbas. Ukrainian officials reported strikes in both on Saturday, while Britain's Ministry of…

Jul

10

2022

By The African Mirror

Two more minsters join lengthening list of candidates vying to be UK PM

WORLD

KYLIE MACLELLAN TWO cabinet ministers have joined the race to succeed Boris Johnson as British prime minister, as the committee overseeing the contest looks to speed up the process of whittling down candidates in what is expected to be a crowded field. The Conservative Party's so-called 1922 Committee of legislators will set out the exact rules and timetable for the contest next week after Johnson was forced to quit by his own party. Many lawmakers are pushing for a fast-tracked process. On Saturday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and finance minister Nadhim Zahawi became the latest Conservative lawmakers to officially declare…

Jul

16

2022

By The African Mirror

Biden begins sensitive Saudi trip with fist bump for crown prince, handshake for king

WORLD

STEVE HOLLAND, AZIZ EL YAAKOUBI and MAHA EL DAHAN JOE Biden began a visit to Saudi Arabia by giving Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a fist bump and shaking hands with King Salman as Washington looks to reset its relationship with a country that the U.S. president once pledged to make a "pariah" on the global stage. Energy and security interests prompted Biden and his aides to decide not to isolate the Gulf oil giant that has been strengthening ties with Russia and China. But the U.S. national security adviser dampened expectations of any immediate oil supply boost to help…

Jul

16

2022

By The African Mirror

Buffalo mass shooting suspect indicted on federal hate, firearms charges

WORLD

TYLER CLIFFORD THE man accused of shooting dead 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on May 14 has been indicted on 27 federal hate crimes and firearms offences, the U.S. Justice Department announced. The indictment returned by a federal grand jury tacks on an additional hate crime count against Payton Gendron, 19, in a criminal complaint filed last month. He is now charged with 14 hate crimes violations and 13 firearms offences. Authorities say the suspect, who broadcast the attack in real-time to the live-streaming service Twitch, is a white supremacist who targeted the store…

Jul

16

2022

By The African Mirror

Are you kidding? Baby goat wows fans with 22-inch ears

WORLD

SYED RAZA HASSAN SOME social media stars win their fame through their looks, others through their jokes. Simba the baby goat has won over the web with his astonishingly long ears - 22 inches and growing. The tawny-coated kid goat has attracted thousands of followers on YouTube and other channels since he was born in Karachi, Pakistan on June 4. His breeder, Mohammad Hassan Narejo, has sent Simba's details to the Guinness Book of Records, though he is not sure it keeps track of such measurements. He is still waiting for an answer. When Simba was born, his ears were…

Mar

07

2022

By The African Mirror

Evacuation of Ukraine’s Mariupol fails again, stranding civilians under siege

WORLD

AN attempt to evacuate residents from the besieged southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol collapsed for a second day, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said, blaming an insufficiently clear agreement between the two sides. "Amid devastating scenes of human suffering in Mariupol, a second attempt today to start evacuating an estimated 200,000 people out of the city came to a halt," the ICRC said in a statement. Days of heavy bombardment have left residents of the coastal city trapped without heat, power and water. The city had about 400,000 inhabitants before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on…

Mar

07

2022

By The African Mirror

“They’re so young”: Residents of Ukrainian orphanage flee to safety

WORLD

ANDREW R.C. MARSHALL MORE than 200 children evacuated from an orphanage in Ukraine's conflict zone arrived in the western city of Lviv on Saturday after a 24-hour train journey with their carers. The 215 children, ranging from toddlers to teenagers, left their orphanage in Zaporizhzhia, in southeast Ukraine, on the day Russian troops attacked a nearby nuclear power station. "My heart is being torn apart," said Olha Kucher, director of the Zaporizhzhia Central Christian Orphanage. Then she started sobbing. "I'm sorry . . . I simply lack words. And I feel so sorry for these children. They're so young." As…