WORLD - The African Mirror

Jan

27

2026

Lebanon’s orchards have been burnt, wildlife habitat destroyed by Israeli strikes – raising troubling international law questions

WORLD

MORE than a year after a ceasefire nominally ended active fighting, much of southern Lebanon bears the ecological scars of war. Avocado orchards are gone, and beehives destroyed. So, too, are the livelihoods they supported. Meanwhile, fields and forests have disappeared under the intense fire caused by white phosphorus shelling. Shrapnel and unexploded bombs, however, remain. Such grim realities are a window into the massive ecological destruction brought to Lebanon as a result of the 2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel. The number of Israeli airstrikes from October to November of that year ranked among the highest globally in the…

Jan

26

2026

By SPECIAL CORRESPONENT

Federal agents kill U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, igniting crisis over Trump immigration crackdown

WORLD

THE fatal shooting of an intensive care nurse by federal immigration agents has plunged Minneapolis into crisis, with Minnesota's governor activating the National Guard and assuming control of the investigation after authorities say a U.S. citizen was killed while protesting the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was shot multiple times by Border Patrol agents Saturday during confrontations between protesters and federal officers conducting immigration raids. His death - the second killing of an American citizen by federal agents in Minneapolis this month - has transformed simmering tensions over President Trump's immigration crackdown into open conflict between…

Jan

26

2026

By MAHSA GHAFFARI

Iran protests are not just about economics – they’re a full-blown ideological crisis

WORLD

IRAN’S latest wave of unrest is often explained in familiar terms: economic collapse, sanctions, inflation, or sudden political anger. But this framing misses what is actually unfolding. What we are witnessing is not simply another protest cycle. It is the result of a decades-long erosion of belief in the ideological foundations of the Islamic Republic. It is about the slow disintegration of a worldview that once claimed to explain everything: how people should dress, think and live. Totalitarian systems rarely fall through dramatic revolutions alone. More often, they unravel from within, as the distance grows between what the state demands…

Jan

26

2026

By PAULINE SOPHIE HEINRICHS

Russian knowledge of Soviet-era energy systems has helped it to target Ukraine’s heating and homes

WORLD

IN the middle of Ukraine’s fiercest winter of the war, many Ukrainians are unable to prepare hot meals or are unable to heat their homes while temperatures have dipped as low as -20C in the past few weeks. Harsher weather is forecast. Russia has once again targeted Ukraine with sustained attacks on power stations, energy grids and heating nodes affecting electricity, as well as heating systems and water pumps. Following the Russian strikes on January 20, around 5,600 apartment buildings in Kyiv were left without heating, and almost half of Kyiv was believed to be without heat and power, affecting…

Jan

24

2026

By STEFAN WOLFF

Donald Trump’s ‘board of peace’ looks like a privatised UN with one shareholder: the US president

WORLD

IT is hard to believe that Donald Trump has only been back in the White House for a year. His accomplishments are many – but most of them are of questionable durability or benefit, including for the United States. Even his UN-endorsed 20-point ceasefire and transition plan for Gaza, released on September 29 2025 is now in danger of being subsumed in yet another grandiose fantasy of the American president: the so-called “board of peace” to be chaired by Trump. This group of international dignitaries was originally intended to oversee the work of a more technical committee, comprising technocrats responsible…

Jan

24

2026

By ERIC LOB

The rise of Reza Pahlavi: Iranian opposition leader or opportunist?

WORLD

DURING the protests that ripped through Iran in January, one person who gained attention was Reza Pahlavi. Pahlavi, who lives in Los Angeles, is the son of the late shah of Iran, who ruthlessly ruled the country before being deposed during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Pahlavi emerged during the recent upheaval as a prominent political dissident in exile who encouraged and inspired Iranians to demonstrate. It remained unclear, however, what level of popular support he commanded inside Iran, not to mention whether he was, in fact, dedicated to democracy as the descendant of a monarch. While some Iranians perceived…

Jan

24

2026

By GRACE PANETTA and JASMINE MITHANI

‘They sold my pain for clicks’: Paris Hilton urges lawmakers to act on nonconsensual deepfakes

WORLD

WASHINGTON, D.C. — When an explicit video of 19-year-old Paris Hilton having sex was leaked by her ex-boyfriend in 2003, the world turned on her. She was pilloried in the press, called “horny” and “trashy.” “Sex video gives Paris Hilton publicity money can't buy,” The Guardian declared. This story was originally reported by Grace Panetta and Jasmine Mithani of The 19th. Meet Grace and Jasmine and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. Nowadays, the reaction would probably be different. Hilton’s ex-boyfriend, who was 12 years her senior, shared the video online a decade before the first…

Jan

23

2026

By The African Mirror

UN war crimes investigators vow to continue probe despite new Gaza peace initiative

WORLD

INDEPENDENT UN human rights investigators have pledged to maintain their investigation into alleged war crimes in the Hamas-Israel conflict, even as President Trump announced an international peace plan for Gaza. The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory will continue examining human rights violations by all parties despite the establishment of a new Board of Peace for Gaza's redevelopment, according to commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar. "As a Commission of Inquiry, we see our task as investigating into violations of human rights. And that task we understand to be the mandate that the UN has given us - and we…

Jan

23

2026

By MARK SHANAHAN

One venue, two speeches – how Mark Carney left Donald Trump in the dust in Davos

WORLD

THE meeting and venue were the same, but the style and tone of the two most anticipated keynote speeches at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos could not have been more different. On Tuesday, January 20, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the assembled political and business leaders as one of them: a national leader with deep expertise in finance. He spoke about a “rupture” in the world order and the duty of nations to come together through appropriate coalitions for the benefit of all. It was a paean to multilateralism, but one that recognised that…

Jan

23

2026

By PARDIS MAHDAVI

Iran’s universities have long been a battleground, where protests happen and students fight for the future

WORLD

IRAN’S current wave of protests continues to spread across the country, as the United States weighs military intervention. Meanwhile, many Iranian people continue to struggle to pay for basic necessities amid a collapsing currency. The anti-government demonstrations began in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, in December 2025. From there, they quickly reached Iran’s university campuses. The government’s response was swift and familiar: Authorities ordered universities to move classes online, citing weather concerns. When students continued organising, the regime closed universities entirely. I am an Iranian-American who has studied Iranian social movements…