WORLD - The African Mirror

Aug

06

2020

#OurHomesAreOpen: Lebanese offer spare beds to Beirut blast victims

WORLD

BAN BARKAWI USING social media, hundreds of Lebanese have offered shelter to strangers displaced by a devastating blast, which Beirut's governor said may have left 250,000 people homeless. Tuesday evening's explosion in port warehouses storing explosive material was the most powerful ever to rip through the capital, killing some 110 people, injuring about 4,000 and tearing the facades off buildings and overturning cars. Using the hashtag #OurHomesAreOpen in Arabic and English, social media users have freely offered up spare beds and empty properties to victims, providing their names, phone numbers and details on the size and location of the accommodation.…

Aug

05

2020

By The African Mirror

In a flash, a changed world: Remembering Hiroshima

WORLD

THE atomic bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945 killed tens of thousands and flattened the Japanese city in an instant. "Little Boy," as it was known, was the endpoint of years of research, wrangling a physics theory into a mechanism that would release the energy that binds together atoms. The concept was simple: driving together enough uranium or plutonium at high enough speeds would create a "critical mass" so quickly that it would start an uncontrolled, nearly instantaneous chain reaction of neutrons knocking apart atomic nuclei. Click https://tmsnrt.rs/2Pk2iKB to see an interactive graphic about developing…

Aug

04

2020

By The African Mirror

WHO says China team interviewed Wuhan scientists over virus origins

WORLD

A World Health Organization team in China to probe the origins of COVID-19 had "extensive discussions" and exchanges with scientists in Wuhan where the outbreak was first detected, a spokesman has said. The talks included updates on animal health research, he said. China shut down a wildlife market in Wuhan at the start of the outbreak, a day after discovering some patients were vendors or dealers. The WHO says the virus most likely came from bats and probably had another, intermediary animal "host". The results of the WHO investigation are keenly awaited by scientists and governments around the world, none…

Aug

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump gives Microsoft 45 days to clinch TikTok deal

WORLD

GREG ROUMELIOTIS, ECHO WANG and MATT SPETALNICK US President Donald Trump only agreed to allow Microsoft Corp to negotiate the acquisition of popular short-video app TikTok if it could secure a deal in 45 days, three people familiar with the matter have said. The move represents an about-face for Trump and prompted the U.S. tech giant to declare its interest in the blockbuster social media deal that could further inflame U.S.-China relations. Trump said on Friday he was planning to ban TikTok amid concerns that its Chinese ownership represents a national security risk because of the personal data it handles.…

Aug

10

2020

By The African Mirror

Donors pledge 253 mln euros in emergency aid for Lebanon after blast

WORLD

YIMING WOO AN mergency donor conference for blast-stricken Lebanon raised pledges worth nearly 253 million euros ($298 million) for immediate humanitarian relief, the French presidency said. Those commitments would not be conditional on political or institutional reform, President Emmanuel Macron's office said. There were also pledges made for longer-term support that would depend on changes brought in by the authorities, the Elysee Palace said. World powers promised not to fail the Lebanese people as the capital, Beirut, recovers from the massive explosion that killed 158 people and destroyed swathes of the city last Tuesday. Lebanon was already mired in political…

Aug

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump escorted from briefing after shooting near White House

WORLD

JEFF MASON THE U.S. Secret Service had to abruptly escort President Donald Trump out of the White House press room in the middle of a briefing because of a shooting outside the White House. Trump returned to the media room several minutes later and said a person had been shot by law enforcement and taken to the hospital. He said he understood the suspect had been armed. "It was a shooting outside of the White House," Trump said. "It seems to be very well under control. ... But there was an actual shooting, and somebody has been taken to the…

Aug

10

2020

By The African Mirror

HK tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under security law, bearing out ‘worst fears’

WORLD

GREG TORODE and JAMES POMFRET HONG Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai became the highest-profile person arrested under a new national security law on Monday, detained over suspected collusion with foreign forces as around 200 police searched the offices of his Apple Daily newspaper. Mainland-born Lai, who was smuggled into Hong Kong on a fishing boat when he was a penniless 12-year-old, has been one of the most prominent democracy activists in the Chinese-ruled city and an ardent critic of Beijing. His arrest comes amid Beijing's crackdown against pro-democracy opposition in the city and further stokes concerns about media and other…

Aug

13

2020

By The African Mirror

How Kamala Harris found the political identity that had eluded her

WORLD

JAMES OLIPHANT MONTHS after her presidential campaign collapsed amid questions over her political identity, Kamala Harris suddenly and forcefully found her voice – and at a fortuitous time. Harris, a 55-year-old U.S. senator from California, was chosen by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as his running mate on Tuesday, making history as the first Black woman and Asian-American on a major presidential ticket. Her selection came as little surprise. With the United States in the midst of a reckoning over its history of racial injustice, Biden had increasingly been pressed to select a woman of color. Harris, who became the…

Aug

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Israel to halt Palestinian land annexation in historic deal with UAE

WORLD

MAHA EL DAHAN, JEFFREY HELLER and STEVE HOLLAND ISRAEL and the United Arab Emirates have announced an agreement that will lead to a full normalization of diplomatic relations between the two states, a move that reshapes the order of Middle East politics from the Palestinian issue to Iran. Under the accord, which U.S. President Donald Trump helped broker, Israel has agreed to suspend annexing areas of the occupied West Bank as it had been planning to do, White House officials said. It also firms up opposition to regional power Iran, which the UAE, Israel and the United States view as…

Aug

20

2020

By The African Mirror

Four takeaways from Day Three of the Democratic National Convention

WORLD

JAMES OLIPHANT THE third night of the Democratic National Convention featured a lineup of high-wattage political star power: former President Barack Obama, 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and, lastly, 2020 vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Here are takeaways from Wednesday's program: THE BATTLE IS JOINED It was a night set aside for Harris' history-making turn as the first Black woman and Asian American on a major U.S. presidential ticket, but Obama's blistering indictment of President Donald Trump left the biggest mark. Dispensing with any notion of civility between those who have held the office, Obama painted his successor as a…