WORLD - The African Mirror

Jan

19

2026

Mass killings in Iran: Security forces open fire on protesters as death toll reaches thousands

WORLD

IRANIAN security forces have massacred thousands of protesters across the country in a coordinated crackdown following nationwide demonstrations that erupted earlier this month, according to a new investigation by Human Rights Watch. Videos verified by the human rights organisation show at least 400 bodies piled in and around a morgue south of Tehran, with witnesses describing scenes of families desperately searching through body bags for missing loved ones. The footage, along with testimony from survivors and medical personnel, points to what researchers are calling an unprecedented wave of state violence. "The mass killings by Iranian security forces since January 8…

Jan

19

2026

By EBONY JJ CURRY

Detroit heard King’s dream first. These Black women are carrying it forward

WORLD

DETROIT was the first place Dr Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an early version of what would become his “I Have a Dream” speech. He recited it on June 23, 1963, at the end of Detroit’s Walk to Freedom, a march that happened weeks before he spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. This story was originally reported by Ebony JJ Curry of The 19th. Meet Ebony and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. This piece of Detroit-first history sharpens what Martin Luther King Jr. Day asks of the city. It’s harder…

Oct

07

2025

By ROD THORNTON and MARINA MIRON

European countries are now turning to landmines to create new deadly defensive barriers from Russia

WORLD

FIVE Nato countries neighbouring Russia or its ally, Belarus, have announced that they are to opt out of the Ottawa treaty of 1997. This treaty bans the use by signatories of anti-personnel (AP) landmines. These states – Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia – now have plans to create a 2,000-mile stretch of mined areas as part of a defensive effort against any possible attack from Russia. The move to create such minefields comes as the result of both a recognition of the perceived growing threat from Russia and of the important defensive effect – as proved during the current…

Jan

17

2026

By MICHELE TESTONI

US-Greenland negotiations have hit a wall. Here are three ways the crisis could end

WORLD

A “fundamental disagreement” persists. This was the only concrete outcome of the meeting at the White House between US, Danish and Greenlandic officials on January 14, as each side maintained its original position on Greenland’s sovereignty. The Trump Administration argued that the US has to take direct control of the island, while both Danish and Greenlandic officials firmly rejected the idea. This was perhaps to be expected. The recently released US National Security Strategy made one thing very clear: US foreign policy is now defined by an assertive approach towards the entire Western Hemisphere. Washington claims the right to intervene…

Jan

17

2026

By CANDICE NORWOOD

ICE violence against women is increasingly visible — and largely untracked

WORLD

A mother was shoved to the ground in front of her children in the hallways of an immigration courthouse in New York. A young woman was pulled from her car and handcuffed on a busy street in Key Largo, Florida. A child care worker was dragged out of her workplace in Chicago, in front of parents and children. A pregnant woman was yanked by one arm through the snowy streets of Minneapolis. In each of these cases, the aggressors were men working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and their actions were caught on video and widely shared online. Then…

Jan

17

2026

By DANIELA MOHOR

What next for the humanitarian crisis and response in Venezuela?

WORLD

MORE than 10 days after the US military strikes on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Caracas on 3 January, there is still no clarity about long-term US plans for Venezuela and its population. As citizens cautiously resume their daily activities amid anxiety over the future and fear of more violence and state repression, aid groups are also struggling to figure out what the US control over the country will mean for their work and how it will impact humanitarian needs. On 6 January, President Donald Trump’s administration announced an energy deal with Venezuelan…

Jan

16

2026

By BLESSING KAVHU

Human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe is a crisis: who is in danger, where and why?

WORLD

IN the fishing villages along Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe, near the border with Zambia, everyday routines that should be ordinary – like collecting water, walking to the fields or casting a fishing net – now carry a quiet, ever-present fear. A new national analysis shows that human-wildlife conflict in rural Zimbabwe has intensified to the point where it has become a public safety crisis, rather than simply an environmental challenge. Between 2016 and 2022, 322 people died in wildlife encounters. Annual fatalities climbed from 17 to 67: a fourfold increase in just seven years. These fatal encounters are concentrated…

Jan

16

2026

By ALI MAMOURI

One uprising, two stories: how each side is trying frame the uprising in Iran

WORLD

SINCE the outbreak of the current wave of protests in Iran, two sharply competing narratives have emerged to explain what is unfolding in the streets. For the ruling establishment, the unrest is portrayed as a foreign-engineered plot. They argue it is an externally-driven attempt to destabilise the state through manipulation, infiltration, and psychological operations. For the opposition, the same events are framed as a nationwide uprising rooted in long-standing grievances. They argue the protests signal a rupture between society and the political system. How the “story” of a conflict is told is a key component in warfare. The Iranian protests…

Jan

16

2026

By EDUARDO GAMARRA

The ‘drug threat’ that justified the US ouster of Maduro won’t be fixed by his arrest

WORLD

DONALD Trump has flagged Venezuelan drug trafficking as a key reason for the U.S. military operation on Jan. 3, 2026, that captured President Nicolás Maduro and whisked him to New York to face federal drug charges. Trump has described Maduro as “the kingpin of a vast criminal network responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and illicit drugs into the United States.” In 2025, the administration presented the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and repeated strikes on alleged drug trafficking vessels off Venezuela’s coast as necessary to counter the flow of cocaine into the United States. But as an…

Jan

16

2026

By LEONIE FLEISCHMANN

Amid a rocky truce, Israel and Hamas prepare to resume fighting

WORLD

PROGRESS towards achieving Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza is stalling. Israeli strikes across the territory on January 9 killed 13 Palestinians, with new raids days later claiming three more lives. The situation has now reached a critical juncture, with both Israel and Hamas reportedly preparing for a resumption in fighting. The first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect in October, has mostly been completed. Israel’s military has withdrawn to the eastern half of the Gaza Strip, as required by the agreement. And dozens of Israeli hostages, living and dead, have been exchanged for hundreds of…