WORLD - The African Mirror

Mar

15

2021

London police criticised for clashes at vigil for murdered woman

WORLD

ZOE TABARY and SONIA ELKS LONDON police faced criticism and calls for investigations after clashing with crowds at a memorial for murder victim Sarah Everard whose death has sparked widespread anger and fear about women's safety. Police told organisers of events to honour Everard planned in London and around the country that public gatherings would be in breach of COVID-19 restrictions and could lead to fines up to 10,000 pounds ($14,000). Organisers at Reclaim These Streets said they had cancelled a vigil on Clapham Common in south London near where Everard, 33, was last seen 10 days ago. Other events…

Mar

15

2021

By The African Mirror

Fauci hopes Trump will push his supporters to get COVID-19 vaccine

WORLD

DR Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, hopes former President Donald Trump will push his supporters to get the COVID-19 vaccine and emphasized that pandemic-related restrictions should not be lifted prematurely. In a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released last week, about half of U.S. men who identified themselves as Republicans said they had no plans to get the vaccine. Asked whether Trump should speak to his supporters directly, given those poll numbers, Fauci said on the "Fox News Sunday" program: "I think it would make all the difference in the world." Trump, Fauci said, "is a such a strongly…

Mar

14

2021

By The African Mirror

At least 12 killed in protests in Myanmar; civilian vice-president vows resistance to junta

WORLD

MYANMAR security forces killed at least 12 people, witnesses and media reported, as the acting leader of a civilian parallel government vowed in a first public address on Saturday to pursue a "revolution" to overturn the February 1 military coup. Five people were shot dead and several injured when police opened fire on a sit-in protest in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city, witnesses told Reuters. Another person was killed in the central town of Pyay and two died in police firing in the commercial capital Yangon, where three were also killed overnight, domestic media reported. "They are acting like they are…

Mar

14

2021

By The African Mirror

Minneapolis to pay $27 million for George Floyd’s death

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN THE US city of Minneapolis will pay $27 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of George Floyd over his death in police custody, a case that stirred national protests over racial injustice and police brutality. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died in May as Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd's dying pleas for help were captured on widely seen bystander's video, which helped spark one of the largest protest movements ever seen in the United States. The trial of Chauvin, who was fired by the police…

Mar

13

2021

By The African Mirror

A decade after Syria’s war began, memories haunt a family it tore apart

WORLD

SEHAMU Hamu lost her husband, son and grand-daughter on the same night in 2016 when a missile struck their home in Douma, a rebel stronghold near the Syrian capital that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the civil war. Now, aged 74 and confined to a wheelchair because of a heart condition, she looks after her son's four surviving children, a widowed daughter and a second daughter along with her husband and their children. Their plight is not unusual in a country where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed during a decade of violence and millions more…

Mar

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Malala Yousafzai says educate girls to fight climate change

WORLD

Lin TAYLOR KEEPING girls in school and taking young climate leaders seriously are keys to tackling climate change, according to Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. Speaking to a virtual panel, Malala, 23, said educating girls and young women, particularly in developing countries, would give them a chance to pursue green jobs and be part of solving the climate crisis in their communities. "Girls' education, gender equality and climate change are not separate issues. Girl's education and gender equality can be used as solutions against climate change," Malala told an online event by British think-tank Chatham House. Before the COVID-19…

Mar

13

2021

By The African Mirror

From sex workers to HIV patients, Myanmar unrest poses ‘huge’ health risks

WORLD

BEH LIH YI POLITICAL turmoil in Myanmar poses "huge risks" to the health of vulnerable people including sex workers and HIV patients, aid groups said, warning that medical supplies could be disrupted as the public healthcare system struggles to operate normally. The Southeast Asian nation plunged into crisis after the army ousted Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in a February 1 coup, declaring a year-long state of emergency that has sparked strikes and protests - including by doctors. Myanmar's public hospitals and clinics, which were already under pressure due to COVID-19, are in disarray, according to medical…

Mar

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Obama, Bush, Clinton, Carter and First Ladies promote vaccine in new advertisements

WORLD

SHEILA DANG FORMER U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter will star in two new public service announcements (PSA) for the coronavirus vaccine alongside former First Ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton and Rosalynn Carter, the Ad Council announced on Thursday. "The science is clear. These vaccines will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease," said President Bush in one of the PSAs with Obama and Clinton, urging Americans to get vaccinated. "That's the first step to ending the pandemic and moving our country forward," said Obama. Noticeably absent…

Mar

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Lebanese sexologist lambasts ridicule by ‘childish’ TV hosts

WORLD

SEXOLOGIST Sandrine Atallah thought she had been asked on TV to debate sex education in Lebanon - instead, she was ridiculed by her male hosts, unleashing a firestorm about misogyny in the Middle East. In a country where sex education is all but absent from schooling and discussions on sex remains taboo, Atallah hoped to bring facts to the table and dispel disinformation. But even before she went on air, a panel of mostly male hosts tore into educational videos she had posted online, including one about arousal and another on masturbation. "Sometimes it's sexual education, sometimes it's sexy, I…

Mar

11

2021

By The African Mirror

Dumped British TV host Morgan pours more scorn on Meghan suicide, racism claims

WORLD

ESTELLE SHIRBON PIERS Morgan, the pugnacious British TV presenter who lost his job over his attacks on Prince Harry's wife Meghan, said on Wednesday he still did not believe what she had said during her Oprah Winfrey interview. Morgan, 55, left ITV's Good Morning Britain on Tuesday after a backlash against his comments on Meghan's interview with Winfrey, in which she revealed she had felt suicidal while living as a royal in Britain. "On Monday, I said I didn't believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I've had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don't. If you…