WORLD - The African Mirror

Apr

12

2022

East Ukraine focus of new Russian assaults

WORLD

MARIA STARKOVA UKRAINIAN troops have repulsed several Russian assaults in the country's east, the focus of a new offensive by the invading forces, British intelligence said on Monday, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week will be crucial to the course of the war. Austrian leader Karl Nehammer planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday and will call for an end to the conflict. It would be Putin's first face-to-face meeting with a European Union leader since Russia's invasion started on Feb. 24. Russian forces were also pushing their offensive to establish control over the southern…

Apr

12

2022

By The African Mirror

Khan lawmakers quit en masse as Pakistan parliament elects Sharif PM

WORLD

ASIF SHAHZAD and GIBRAN NAIYYAR PESHIMAM MORE than 100 lawmakers loyal to Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan resigned, creating a headache for the new, Western-friendly incumbent Shehbaz Sharif as he tries to drag his country out of the political and economic crisis. Parliament's election of Sharif, 70, as prime minister on Monday followed a week-long constitutional crisis that reached a climax on Sunday when Khan, 69, lost a no-confidence vote in parliament. His departure from power sparked street protests and the mass resignation of MPs from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party in protest at the impending change of government. If…

Apr

12

2022

By The African Mirror

Explainer: Macron or Le Pen: why it matters for France, the EU and the West

WORLD

MICHEL ROSE THE French will decide on April 24 whether to re-elect pro-business centrist President Emmanuel Macron or blow up decades of mainstream consensus in favour of far-right Marine Le Pen. Here's what to expect from them on major issues: - THE ECONOMY: LE PEN: The far-right heiress has transformed the former National Front, turning her father's free-market, small-government party into a big-spending, protectionist one. She wants to implement a "Buy French" policy for public tenders, cut the minimum retirement age to 60 for those who started work before 20, scrap income tax for those aged under 30 and cut…

Apr

11

2022

By The African Mirror

As battle looms in Ukraine’s east, Austrian leader to meet Putin

WORLD

ELIZABETH PIPER and ZOHRA BENSEMRA RUSSIAN forces pounded targets in eastern Ukraine with missiles and artillery on Sunday as Austria's leader planned to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Washington pledged to give Ukraine "the weapons it needs" to defend itself against a new Russian offensive. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he would meet with Putin on Monday in Moscow for the Russian leader's first face-to-face meeting with a European Union counterpart since Russia's invasion began on February 24. "We are militarily neutral, but (have) a clear position on the Russian war of aggression against #Ukraine," Nehammer wrote of…

Apr

11

2022

By The African Mirror

Israel, West Bank on edge after more bloodshed

WORLD

JEFFREY HELLER ISRAELI forces killed two Palestinian women after one ran towards troops and the other stabbed a soldier in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank, Israeli security officials said. The bloodshed follows a string of deadly Arab attacks in Israel. There have also been Israeli raids in and around the West Bank city of Jenin, a militant stronghold, against what Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has called "a new wave of terrorism". No weapon was found on the body of the woman shot in Bethlehem after she ignored soldiers' calls and warning fire to stop approaching, the Israeli military…

Apr

11

2022

By The African Mirror

Macron and Le Pen head for French election runoff, projections show

WORLD

MIMOSA SPENCER, SYBILLE DE LA HAMAIDE and TASSILO HUMMEL FRANCE'S incumbent leader Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen are heading for an April 24 presidential election runoff, projections showed after first-round voting. Macron garnered 28.1-29.5% of votes in the first round while Le Pen won 23.3-24.4%, according to separate estimates by pollsters Ifop, OpinionWay, Elabe and Ipsos. Those estimates, published as voting ended, are usually very reliable in France. If confirmed, that outcome would set up a duel between an economic liberal with a globalist outlook in Macron and a deeply eurosceptic economic nationalist who, until the Ukraine…

Apr

10

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine faces ‘hard battle’ in eastern regions, Zelenskiy says

WORLD

ELIZABETH PIPER UKRAINE is ready for a tough battle with Russian forces amassing in the east of the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, a day after a missile attack in the east that officials said killed more than 50 civilians trying to evacuate. Air-raid sirens sounded in cities across eastern Ukraine, which has become the focus of Russian military action following a withdrawal from areas close to the capital, Kyiv. After Friday's strike on a train station crowded with women, children and the elderly in the Donetsk region city of Kramatorsk, officials urged civilians in the neighbouring Luhansk region to…

Apr

10

2022

By The African Mirror

Israeli forces kill Palestinian militant in West Bank clash

WORLD

ALI SAWAFTA ISRAELI soldiers killed a Palestinian militant in clashes that broke out in the occupied West Bank during a raid in the hometown of a gunman who had carried out a deadly shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israeli and Palestinian sources said. Israeli-Palestinian tensions have soared in the run-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with both sides warning against escalation. Deadly incidents have since surged. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 13 people were wounded in Saturday's exchange of fire in the city of Jenin. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed the man killed was a member of the…

Apr

10

2022

By The African Mirror

Iran imposes sanctions on 15 U.S. officials as nuclear talks stall

WORLD

IRAN said that it had imposed sanctions on 15 more U.S. officials, including former Army Chief of Staff George Casey and former President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani, as months of talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal have stalled. Almost all the officials named served during Trump's administration which imposed sanctions on Iranian officials, politicians and companies and withdrew the United States from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. In a statement carried by local media, the Iranian foreign ministry accused the U.S. officials of supporting “terrorist groups and terrorist acts” against Iran, and Israel’s “repressive acts” in the…

Apr

19

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine says civilians killed in Lviv, new Russia push seen in east

WORLD

OLEKSANDR KOZHUKHAR and PAVEL POLITYUK UKRAINE said a Russian missile attack killed seven people in Lviv, the first civilian victims in the western city, and reported signs that Russia had started its anticipated new offensive in the east. Maksym Kozytskyy, the governor of Lviv which lies 60 km (40 miles) from the Polish border, said preliminary reports suggested there were four strikes, three on warehouses that were not in use by the military and another on a car service station. "It was a barbaric strike at a service station, it's a completely civilian facility," he told a news conference. Andriy…