WORLD - The African Mirror

Feb

11

2026

In Gaza, my homeland is being transformed into an engineering project

WORLD

FOR two years, Gaza has been a place of mass death, starvation, disappearances, attempted erasure, genocide. Now, almost without warning, it is being transformed, rhetorically, into a management problem. Plans have appeared. Phase one has transitioned into phase two. Committees have been established. A future is being presented, fully formed and designed, while the core questions of rights and accountability are swept under the rug as inconvenient complications. I’m writing this from Europe while my family is still in Gaza. From here, I watch the West switch registers, from horror to “stabilisation”, from mourning to “governance”, from humanitarian catastrophe to…

Feb

11

2026

By STEFAN WOLFF

Farcical peace talks in Abu Dhabi resolve nothing as Ukraine shivers under Russia’s winter onslaught

WORLD

RUSSIA, Ukraine and the US met for a second time this week for trilateral talks to discuss a possible cessation of hostilities. Once again, little was resolved apart from a prisoner swap, something that has happened several times over the four years of the full-scale conflict between the two countries. The lack of any substantive breakthrough was fairly predictable, given the circumstances. This week’s meeting got off to the same depressing start as the first one had the week before. On February 3, the night before the three sides gathered in Abu Dhabi, a massive barrage of 521 drones and…

Feb

10

2026

By The African Mirror

Israeli settlement expansion threatens Palestinian statehood, UN warns

WORLD

A sweeping Israeli military campaign and settlement drive across the occupied West Bank is imperilling any prospect of Palestinian statehood, the United Nations human rights office warned this week, as operations that displaced scores of families and demolished dozens of structures raise alarm over potential war crimes. The aggressive expansion comes despite multiple rulings by the International Court of Justice demanding Israel halt settlement activities, evacuate existing settlements, and end its occupation of Palestinian territories—orders that have gone unheeded as settlement growth accelerates at what UN officials describe as an "unprecedented pace." Mass Demolitions, Evictions Signal Intensified Campaign Israeli security…

Feb

10

2026

By JEREMY HORDER

What exactly is misconduct in public office and could Peter Mandelson be convicted?

WORLD

PETER Mandelson, former UK ambassador to the United States, is currently under investigation by the Metropolitan Police concerning an allegation of criminal misconduct in public office. The allegation centres on evidence that Mandelson passed sensitive, confidential information – received in his capacity as a minister – to Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. If that is true, then it is, of course, not the first time that ministerial confidences have been breached. However, what makes this case potentially serious is the possibility that the information passed to Epstein was known to be likely to assist Epstein financially and that this favour…

Feb

10

2026

By SARAH TROTT

Melania: how the role of US first lady has changed over the years

WORLD

THE first lady of the US, a title typically held by the wife of the president, has never been a fixed cultural figure. Instead, she has functioned as a screen onto which the nation projects its ideals, anxieties and evolving ideas about womanhood and power. With the release of Amazon’s new Melania documentary, which details Melania Trump in the 20 days before her husband’s second presidential inauguration in January 2025, that long tradition of reinterpretation is once again visible. It reminds us that the first lady is as much a cultural symbol as a political presence. The earliest first ladies…

Feb

09

2026

By THOMAS CAYGILL

How much trouble is Keir Starmer in?

WORLD

KEIR Starmer is in the middle of his worst crisis yet following further damaging revelations about Peter Mandelson’s friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Emails released by the US government revealed the depth of Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein and confirmed that it continued after Epstein’s conviction in 2008. Starmer insists that Mandelson lied to him and to the team responsible for vetting him as a candidate to be the UK ambassador to the United States. According to Starmer, Mandelson’s answers gave the impression that he barely knew Epstein. When emails came to light in September showing that the relationship was…

Feb

09

2026

By BAMO NOURI

Why it would be a big mistake for the US to go to war with Iran

WORLD

REPORTS of a growing US naval presence in the Gulf have prompted speculation that the US could be preparing for another Middle East war, this time with Iran. The US president, Donald Trump, has warned of “serious consequences” if Iran does not comply with his demands to permanently halt uranium enrichment, curb its ballistic missile program and end support for regional proxy groups. Yet, despite the familiar language of escalation, much of what is unfolding appears closer to brinkmanship than preparation for war. The US president’s own political history offers an important starting point for understanding why this is. Trump’s…

Feb

07

2026

By MINA FAKHRAVAR

‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ hasn’t faded in Iran — it’s being actively eliminated

WORLD

Anti-government protests in Iran have killed thousands of people. The relative calm in the country today was imposed by force. Protests that began over economic collapse quickly evolved into an overt political uprising, as chants moved from demands for survival to outright rejection of the regime. Since early January, repression has intensified sharply. Human rights organisations report thousands killed and tens of thousands arrested, while warning that the real toll is likely far higher, concealed through enforced disappearances, secret burials and executions carried out without due process. The absence of reliable figures is one of repression’s central techniques. Disposing of…

Feb

07

2026

By CALEB H. WHEELER

Could Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor be compelled to testify in US Epstein investigation?

WORLD

THE release of more Jeffrey Epstein files has again brought Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his friendship with the convicted paedophile sex offender back into the spotlight. The tranche of files contains emails between the former prince, his wife, Sarah Ferguson, and Epstein, including after the latter’s house arrest for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Also included is a photo of Mountbatten-Windsor kneeling over an unidentified woman on the ground. A second woman, said to be in her 20s at the time, has now come forward with allegations that Epstein sent her to the UK for a sexual encounter with Mountbatten-Windsor. The…

Feb

07

2026

By AMIR NAEEM

Pakistan’s Baloch students are vanishing, and no one is held accountable

WORLD

PAKISTAN’S Balochistan has just witnessed one of the province’s deadliest ever episodes: a wave of attacks and clashes across several cities that left dozens of civilians, fighters, and security personnel dead, with official but unconfirmed tolls as high as 200 overall. It marked the latest escalation in decades of conflict between separatist groups and the Pakistani state in Balochistan, where the central government has long been accused of exploiting rich resources while marginalising the local population. But before the region came under the shadow of the recent violence, public attention was focused on the abduction of a young Baloch student,…