WORLD - The African Mirror

Mar

18

2021

Six women of Asian descent among eight killed in shootings at Atlanta day spas

WORLD

RICH McKAY EIGHT people, six of them women of Asian descent, were shot dead in a string of attacks at day spas in and around Atlanta, and a man suspected of carrying out the killings was in custody on Wednesday in southern Georgia, police said. Although authorities in the southern U.S. state declined to offer a motive for the violence, the attacks on Tuesday prompted the New York Police Department's counter-terrorism unit to announce the deployment of additional patrols in Asian communities there as a precaution. South Korea's foreign ministry said its consulate-general in Atlanta had confirmed that the victims…

Mar

18

2021

By The African Mirror

Pope’s desperate plea for peace in Myanmar

WORLD

MYANMAR’S most powerful Buddhist monks' association called on the junta to end violence against protesters and accused an "armed minority" of torture and killing innocent civilians since last month's coup, according to local media. In its most forthright condemnation of the military's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations, the government-appointed organisation also said in a draft statement its members intended to halt activities, in an apparent protest. The State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee planned to release a final statement after consulting the religious affairs minister on Thursday, the Myanmar Now news portal said, citing a monk who attended a meeting of…

Mar

18

2021

By The African Mirror

Cambodian policewoman showered with gifts after being shamed for breastfeeding at work

WORLD

MATT BLOMBERG A Cambodian police woman has been showered with gifts and messages of support after she was shamed online by superiors and forced to apologise over a photo of her breastfeeding at work went viral on social media last week. The working mother this week received $2,500 from the wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen - the latest public overture to her following intense public backlash over her treatment by superiors at the Stung Treng provincial police department. "The support from Bun Rany Hun Sen instills pride in the woman to be a mother while working and breastfeeding her…

Mar

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Health experts pore over AstraZeneca safety data as Europe reels from vaccine suspensions

WORLD

CAROLINE COPLEY, MATTHIAS BLAMONT and GUILIA SEGRETI GLOBAL health experts have come under increasing pressure to clear up questions over the safety of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot, as Sweden and Latvia joined countries suspending their use in a further blow to Europe's vaccination rollout. So far, a handful of cases of bleeding, blood clots and low platelet counts have arisen, compared with 45 million doses of various vaccines given in the European Union and its near neighbours. Germany has reported seven such cases, of which three died, out of 1.6 million people who received AstraZeneca. A World Health Organization (WHO) committee…

Mar

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Myanmar families hold funerals for crackdown victims as activists defy security crackdown

WORLD

THE families of dozens of people killed in demonstrations against military rule in Myanmar attended their funerals yesterday as more protesters defied the security forces and at least one man was shot dead. The political and economic crisis over the February 1 overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government could also force the poor into hunger as food and fuel prices rise, the United Nations food agency said. Security forces shot dead at least 20 people on Monday after 74 were killed a day earlier, including many in a suburb of Yangon where Chinese-financed factories were torched, according to…

Mar

17

2021

By The African Mirror

UK’s Prince Philip, 99, leaves hospital after four-week stay

WORLD

MATTHEW CHILDS BRITAIN’S Prince Philip, the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth, left a London hospital yesterday after a four-week stay for treatment for an infection and to have a heart procedure. Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was admitted to the private King Edward VII's Hospital on February 16 after he felt unwell and was given treatment for an unspecified, but not COVID-19-related, illness. He was transferred briefly at the start of this month to a specialist cardiac centre at another London hospital, where he underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition. A Reuters witness said the duke left…

Mar

16

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO calms concerns over AstraZeneca vaccines

WORLD

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and JACOB GRONHOLT-PEDERSEN THE World Health Organization has appealed to countries not to pause vaccination campaigns after two more European nations and one in Asia joined a handful that has suspended the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine over safety fears. Thailand announced plans on Monday to go ahead with the Anglo-Swedish firm's shot but Indonesia said it would wait after Ireland and the Netherlands announced suspensions on Sunday. Denmark and Norway have reported isolated cases of bleeding, blood clots and a low platelet count after the AstraZeneca vaccine. Iceland and Bulgaria had earlier suspended its use while Austria…

Mar

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Security forces fire on Myanmar protests after deadliest day since coup

WORLD

MYANMAR security forces fired on pro-democracy demonstrators yesterday, killing six people, media and witnesses said, a day after dozens of protesters were shot dead and attackers torched several Chinese-financed factories in the city of Yangon. Supporters of detained democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi marched again, including in the second city of Mandalay and in the central towns of Myingyan and Aunglan, where police opened fire, witnesses and media reported. "One girl got shot in the head and a boy got shot in the face," an 18-year-old protester in Myingyan told Reuters by telephone. "I'm now hiding." The Myanmar Now…

Mar

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Born into conflict, 10-year old Syrian child is family’s breadwinner

WORLD

MAHMOUD and HASSANO MOHAMMED Abu Rdan has known nothing but conflict throughout his short life. Born in rural Aleppo in 2011 when peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government began, his childhood is anything but typical. The protests quickly turned into a multi-sided conflict that has sucked in world powers, killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions more and with it upended Abu Rdan's life. Now living in a displaced peoples' camp in northern Aleppo, Abu Rdan has become his family's main breadwinner after heart disease rendered his father unfit to work. Like for many other Syrian children,…

Mar

15

2021

By The African Mirror

17 die in Myanmar’s Bloody Sunday

WORLD

SECURITY forces killed at least 14 protesters in a poor, industrial suburb of Myanmar's main city yesterday and at least three people in other parts of the country, according to local media. State television said a policeman had also been killed in one of the bloodiest days of protests against the February 1 coup. China's embassy called on Myanmar to protect its property and citizens after saying two Chinese-financed garment factories were set ablaze by unknown attackers. Protests are now in their sixth week since the coup toppled elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and plunged the Southeast Asian country…