WORLD - The African Mirror

Mar

25

2021

Myanmar military frees hundreds of detained protesters, child victim buried

WORLD

MYANMAR’S ruling junta yesterday freed hundreds of people arrested in its crackdown on protests against the overthrow of the elected government, while businesses in Yangon were shut and streets deserted in a strike called by anti-coup activists. Several buses full of prisoners drove out of Yangon's Insein Prison in the morning, lawyers and other witnesses said. There was no word from authorities on how many prisoners were freed. A spokesman for the military did not answer calls. "All the released are the ones arrested due to the protests, as well as night arrests or those who were out to buy…

Mar

25

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S. won’t force NATO allies into ‘us or them’ choice on China

WORLD

ROBIN EMMOTT THE United States will not force any NATO ally to choose sides between Washington and Beijing, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, although he warned that the West needed to show authoritarian states that democracy was superior. European allies France and Germany are looking for a strategic balance in relations with Beijing and Washington that ensures the European Union is not so closely allied with one of the world's two big powers that it alienates the other. "The United States won't force allies into an 'us-or-them' choice with China," Blinken, on his maiden voyage to…

Mar

25

2021

By The African Mirror

EXPLAINER-After Israel’s tight election, who matters and what happens next?

WORLD

MAAYAN LUBELL PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's prospects for another term looked uncertain on Wednesday after partial results from Israel's fourth national election in two years projected no clear path to victory. The right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu's Likud party had a slight edge but was in a tight race with a grouping of centre, left and right-wing parties looking to unseat him. WHO ARE THE MAIN PLAYERS? NETANYAHU, 71, campaigned on Israel's world-beating COVID-19 vaccine rollout, but such is the polarisation in Israeli politics that even this could not break the stalemate. Critics accuse him of mismanaging pandemic lockdowns that…

Mar

24

2021

By The African Mirror

West sanctions China over Xinjiang abuses, Beijing hits back at EU

WORLD

ROBIN EMMOTT and DAVID BRUNNSTROM THE United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada have imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the first such coordinated Western action against Beijing under new U.S. President Joe Biden. Beijing hit back immediately with punitive measures against the EU that appeared broader, including European lawmakers, diplomats, institutes and families, and banning their businesses from trading with China. Western governments are seeking to hold Beijing accountable for mass detentions of Muslim Uighurs in northwestern China, where the United States says China is committing genocide. China denies all accusations of abuse.…

Mar

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Slain Colorado officer, father of seven, sought new life away from front line dangers

WORLD

ALEXANDRA ULMER A U.S. police officer killed in a mass shooting at a Colorado supermarket on Monday had seven children and had been looking for a new job in order to protect his family, his father said. The shooting in Boulder, Colorado, left nine other people dead while a suspect injured in the violence was arrested, authorities told a news conference late on Monday. Officer Eric Talley was the first on the scene, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said, lauding his intervention as "heroic." Talley, 51, had joined the police just over a decade ago and had been looking to…

Mar

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Israel votes as Netanyahu hopes vaccine rollout overcomes corruption trial

WORLD

JEFFREY HELLER and STEPHEN FARRELL ISRAELIS began voting yesterday in a fourth election in two years, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hoping a world-beating COVID-19 vaccine rollout will win him another term. With coronavirus precautions at polling booths across the country - and ballots at the airport for quarantined Israelis coming home to vote - opinion polls show the race yet again too close to call. Israel's longest-serving head of government, Netanyahu has managed to hold on to power through two years of inconclusive elections despite facing corruption allegations. He is now on trial on bribery and abuse of power…

Mar

31

2021

By The African Mirror

U.N. seeks $10 billion for Syrians as humanitarian needs soar

WORLD

ROBIN EMMOTT THE United Nations has urged international donors to pledge up to $10 billion to help Syrians fleeing a decade of civil war in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the need for humanitarian support has never been so great. In the fifth annual conference to keep Syrians from starvation, the event hosted by the European Union is seeking $4.2 billion for people inside Syria and $5.8 billion for refugees and their hosts in the Middle East. Some 24 million people need basic aid, a rise of 4 million over the past year and the highest number…

Mar

31

2021

By The African Mirror

Myanmar insurgents warn of growing conflict as neighbours press junta

WORLD

ONE of Myanmar's main ethnic minority rebel groups has warned of a growing threat of major conflict and called for international intervention against a military crackdown on opponents of last month's coup. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, detaining her and reimposing military rule after a decade of tentative steps towards democracy. While cities and towns across the country have been consumed by protests against the military, fighting has also flared between the army and insurgents in frontier regions and refugees are spilling…

Mar

31

2021

By The African Mirror

China warns firms not to engage in politics over Xinjiang

WORLD

CATE CADELL CHINESE officials on Monday said Sweden's H&M and other foreign brands should not make rash moves or step into politics after the companies raised concerns about forced labour in Xinjiang, sparking a furious online backlash and boycotts. H&M, Burberry, Nike, Adidas and other Western brands have been hit by consumer boycotts in China since last week over comments about their sourcing of cotton in Xinjiang. The growing rift comes as the United States and other Western governments increase pressure on China over suspected human rights abuses in the Chinese province. "I don't think a company should politicize its…

Mar

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Thousands take to the streets in Myanmar as five more protesters killed

WORLD

MYANMAR security forces killed at least five protesters yesterday, three of them in the main city of Yangon, witnesses and media reported, as activists called on ethnic minority forces in the diverse nation to back their campaign against military rule. After the bloodiest day since the February 1 military coup with 114 deaths on Saturday, thousands took to the streets in towns across the country, determined to show their opposition to the relapse into military rule after a decade of democratic reform. At least two people were killed in the Yangon district of South Dagon when security forces moved in…