WORLD - The African Mirror

Sep

24

2020

World becoming less tolerant of migrants – Gallup poll

WORLD

EMMA BATHA THE world is becoming less tolerant of migrants, according to a poll released on Wednesday as Europe prepared to unveil a new asylum plan in the wake of a blaze at an overcrowded camp in Greece that left thousands without shelter. Seven European countries, led by North Macedonia, Hungary, Serbia and Croatia, topped the Gallup index of the world's least-accepting countries. But the sharpest changes in attitudes were in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, which have seen an influx of Venezuelans fleeing turmoil at home. Canada was the most welcoming country toward migrants, followed by Iceland and New Zealand,…

Sep

23

2020

By The African Mirror

At U.N., Trump demands action against China over virus, Xi urges cooperation

WORLD

MICHELLE NICHOLS and STEVE HOLLAND U.S. President Donald Trump has used the U.N. General Assembly to attack China's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying it must be held accountable for having "unleashed this plague onto the world." By contrast, China's President Xi Jinping struck a conciliatory tone in his pre-recorded virtual address to the General Assembly, calling for enhanced cooperation over the pandemic and stressing that China had no intention of fighting "either a Cold War or a hot war with any country." The leaders of the world's two largest economies laid out their competing visions as relations have plunged…

Sep

23

2020

By The African Mirror

Russia’s Putin wants stronger WHO, proposes conference on coronavirus vaccine

WORLD

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has told the U.N. General Assembly that the World Health Organization should be strengthened to coordinate the global response to the coronavirus pandemic and proposed a high-level conference on vaccine cooperation. "We are proposing to hold an online high-level conference shortly for countries interested in cooperation in the development of anti-coronavirus vaccines," Putin said. "We are ready to share experience and continue cooperating with all states and international entities, including in supplying the Russian vaccine which has proved reliable, safe, and effective, to other countries," he said. Russia was the first country to grant regulatory approval…

Sep

23

2020

By The African Mirror

Rouhani says U.S. can impose neither negotiations nor war on Iran

WORLD

PARISA HAFEZI IRAN’S president has told the U.N. General Assembly that the United States could impose "neither negotiations nor war" on the Islamic Republic amid heightened tension between the longtime foes over Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with major powers. "Iran is not a bargaining chip in U.S. elections and domestic policy ... Any U.S. administration after the upcoming (U.S.) elections will have no choice but to surrender to the resilience of the Iranian nation," Hassan Rouhani told the annual U.N. gathering in a video message. The U.S.-Iranian confrontation has intensified since 2018 when President Donald Trump withdrew the United States…

Sep

21

2020

By The African Mirror

How RBG’s death could shift the Supreme Court – and American life – rightward

WORLD

LAWRENCE HURLEY THE death of liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has huge implications for the future of law and life in the United States, giving Republican President Donald Trump the chance to cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court. Here are several ways in which a rightward tilt would be felt if Trump gets to pick Ginsburg's successor: ABORTION AND OTHER SOCIAL ISSUES Ever since the Supreme Court legalized abortion in its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, conservative activists have sought to overturn the decision and always fallen just short. If Trump replaces Ginsburg with a…

Sep

21

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump will nominate a woman next week to succeed Ginsburg on Supreme Court

WORLD

ANDREA SHALAL and LAWRENCE HURLEY President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will nominate a woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, a move that would tip the court further to the right following the death of liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg. "I will be putting forth a nominee next week. It will be a woman," Trump said at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. "I think it should be a woman because I actually like women much more than men." As Trump spoke, supporters chanted: "Fill that seat." He praised Ginsburg as a "legal giant ... Her landmark…

Sep

20

2020

By The African Mirror

With candles, flowers and signs, mourners honour the legendary RBG on U.S. Supreme Court steps

WORLD

ANDY SULLIVAN ON a cool night in a heated political year in Washington, several hundred people clutching candles, flowers and signs quietly gathered on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to mark the death of liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A little before midnight, a woman sang the mourners' Kaddish, a traditional Jewish prayer for the dead, on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year. "It just feels so nice to be out here with other people who feel the same way," said Dominik Radawski, 46, standing on the steps that are…

Sep

19

2020

By The African Mirror

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg dies at age 87 from pancreatic cancer

WORLD

LAWRENCE HURLEY and ANDREW CHUNG JUSTICE Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1993, has died at age 87, the court said, giving President Donald Trump a chance to expand its conservative majority with a third appointment at a time of deep divisions in America with a presidential election looming. Ginsburg, a champion of women's rights who became an icon for American liberals, died at her home in Washington of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the court said in a statement. She was surrounded by her family, the court said. Her departure could dramatically alter…

Sep

19

2020

By The African Mirror

Climate strikers plan ‘safe’ return to protests, Greta Thunberg says

WORLD

LAURIE GOERING LEADERS of a youth climate strike movement launched by teen activist Greta Thunberg said on Friday they will return to mass protests - including street actions where possible - next week, as wildfires and other climate threats surge around the planet. "We are going to send a signal we must treat this crisis like a crisis. This is a global emergency," Thunberg told journalists in an online briefing. The protests will be carried out both on the streets and digitally, "whichever way is safe", she said from Sweden. More than 2,300 protest actions have been registered for the…

Sep

19

2020

By The African Mirror

More children wed, risk trafficking in Rohingya camps in pandemic – U.N.

WORLD

NAIMUL KARIM CHILD marriage is on the rise in Bangladesh's Rohingya refugee camps and the risk of human trafficking grows with every day the pandemic shuts youth services, according to a U.N.-led study that was released on Thursday. Bangladesh scaled back activities in the refugee camps in April and mainly focused on providing health and emergency food to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. It also restricted the movement of aid workers and refugees. The move closed many children's services and made it harder for them to get support, said the Child Protection sub-sector, which works with the United…