WORLD - The African Mirror

Mar

29

2021

Indonesian church bombed by suspected Islamist militants

WORLD

AGUSTINUS BEO DA COSTA ND STANLEY WIDIANTO TWO suicide bombers believed to be members of an Islamist militant group attacked a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Sunday on the first day of the Easter Holy Week, wounding 19 people, police said. The mass was finishing when the attackers detonated at least one device outside the church. The two suspects were the only fatalities. Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the bombers were both believed to belong to the Islamic State-inspired Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which is suspected of suicide attacks on churches and a police post…

Mar

29

2021

By The African Mirror

Cubans stage caravan to protest U.S. trade embargo, sanctions

WORLD

HUNDREDS of Cubans took to Havana's famous seaside drive yesterday in a colourful caravan of cars, motorcycles and bicycles to demand the United States lift its 60-year-old embargo on the Caribbean island nation. The caravan was part of a weekend of small protests and caravans in more than 50 cities around the world, including in the United States, supported by local authorities in hopes of influencing the Biden administration to change U.S. policy and to counter a campaign by Cuban exiles to keep the embargo in place. Horns blared, Cuban flags fluttered and masked protesters yelled "down with the blockade"…

Mar

28

2021

By The African Mirror

More than 90 killed in Myanmar in one of bloodiest days of protests

WORLD

SECURITY forces killed more than 90 people across Myanmar yesterday in one of the bloodiest days of protests since a military coup last month, news reports and witnesses said. The lethal crackdown came on Armed Forces Day. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade in the capital Naypyitaw to mark the event that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy. State television had said on Friday that protesters risked being shot "in the head and back". Despite this, demonstrators against the February 1 coup came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay…

Mar

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Chinese apps join celebs in backlash against Western fashion brands over Xinjiang

WORLD

RYAN WOO, ANNA RINGSTROM and VICTORIA WALDERSEE CHINA's top ride-hailing app dropped Swedish fashion retailer H&M from its listings as Chinese celebrities stopped endorsing foreign labels in a growing uproar over Western accusations of forced labour in Xinjiang. H&M faced a public backlash in China when social media users in the country circulated a statement the company made last year announcing it would no longer source cotton from Xinjiang after reports of the use of forced labour by Uighur Muslims. Western governments and rights groups have accused authorities in the farwestern region of detaining and torturing Uighurs in camps, where…

Mar

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Facebook freezes Venezuela president’s page over COVID-19 misinformation

WORLD

BRIAN ELLSWORTH FACEBOOK has frozen Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's page for violating policies against spreading misinformation about COVID-19 by promoting a remedy he claims, without evidence, can cure the disease, a company spokesman said on Saturday. Maduro in January described Carvativir, an oral solution derived from thyme, as a "miracle" medication that neutralizes the coronavirus with no side effects, a claim doctors say is not backed by science. Facebook has taken down a video in which Maduro promotes the medication because it violates a policy against false claims "that something can guarantee prevention from getting COVID-19 or can guarantee recovery…

Mar

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Suez Canal steps up efforts to remove blockage as shipping rates surge

WORLD

FLORENCE TAN, JESSICA JAGANATHAN, ROSLAN KHSAWNEH and GAVIN MAGUIRE THE Suez Canal stepped up efforts yesterday to free a giant stuck container ship and end a blockage that has sent shipping rates for fuel tankers soaring and disrupted global supply chains for everything from grains to baby clothes. Shipping rates for oil product tankers have nearly doubled after the 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given ran aground in the vital trade waterway on Tuesday. Efforts to free it may take weeks and be complicated by unstable weather conditions, threatening costly delays for companies already dealing with COVID-19 restrictions. Shoei Kisen, Ever…

Mar

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Four killed in Myanmar protests; military warns of ‘danger’ of demonstrations

WORLD

MYANMAR’S ruling military junta warned on Friday that pro-democracy protesters risked being shot in the head or back as activists called for a huge show of defiance against the generals on the country's Armed Forces Day on Saturday. Troops killed four more people in demonstrations on Friday, adding to a reported death toll of more than 320 people in the crackdown that has followed the coup against Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government on February 1. A broadcast on the state MRTV news channel said: "You should learn from the tragedy of earlier ugly deaths that you can be in…

Mar

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Germany protest reflects democratic values, German govt backs protest

WORLD

THE German government-backed a move by the country's players to show support for migrant workers building 2022 World Cup stadiums in Qatar, a government spokesman said, saying it reflected their commitment to democratic values. "The national team ... is a good part of Germany and therefore it is good when they commit to the values of our liberal democracy," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told journalists at a regular government news conference in Berlin. "That is something good, in times when democracy is not really on the rise worldwide," he added. Germany lined up before kickoff in their opening Group J…

Mar

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccine failings cast shadow over EU summit as third wave surges

WORLD

SABINE SIEBOLD and PHILIP BLENKINSOP EUROPEAN Union leaders have met to navigate a common path out of the COVID-19 pandemic as infections surge in many of their countries, seeking agreement on how to ramp up supplies of vaccines after a slow start to immunisations. With distribution of shots uneven across the bloc and member states divided over whether to take a tougher line on vaccine exports, French President Emmanuel Macron spelt out the frustration over inoculation programmes that are running far behind those of Britain and the United States. "We didn't shoot for the stars. That should be a lesson…

Mar

26

2021

By The African Mirror

World should be back to normal by end of 2022 – Bill Gates

WORLD

THE world should be back to normal by the end of 2022 thanks to COVID-19 vaccines, Bill Gates said in an interview for Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and television broadcaster TVN24. "This is an incredible tragedy," the Microsoft co-founder said on the pandemic, adding that the only good news was the access to vaccines. "By the end of 2022 we should be basically completely back to normal," Gates said. Gates, a billionaire who stepped down as chairman of Microsoft Corp in 2014, has through his philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed at least $1.75 billion to the global response…