WORLD - The African Mirror

Nov

13

2020

With scant power or freezers, Pfizer vaccine brings little cheer to coronavirus-hit India

WORLD

ANNIE BANERJI DESPITE hopes raised by Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, it will take huge efforts for India to defeat the coronavirus, with its 1.3 billion population and the world's second-highest caseload. Pfizer Inc's Monday announcement that initial trials showed their experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective sparked cheer across the world, scarred by a pandemic has killed 1.2 million people and infected 50.7 million. But the Pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at temperatures matching an Antarctic winter - a logistical nightmare for India with heatwaves exceeding 50 degrees Celsius (122°F), few ultra-cold freezers, patchy power and a largely…

Nov

12

2020

By The African Mirror

Man admits killing three in UK stabbing spree – BBC

WORLD

A man has admitted killing three people during a stabbing spree in the southern English town of Reading in June, an attack police declared a terrorism incident, BBC has reported. Khairi Saadallah, 26, was accused of murdering the men and stabbing three others with a five-inch knife during the attack in a park in the town on the evening of June 20. The BBC said Saadallah, who a security source told Reuters at the time of the incident was a Libyan national, had admitted murder and attempted murder at a hearing at London's Old Bailey Central Criminal Court. However, while…

Nov

12

2020

By The African Mirror

Germany criticizes China for dismissal of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers

WORLD

GERMANY, holder of the European Union's rotating presidency, has criticized China for the dismissal of several pro-democracy opposition lawmakers from the city assembly in Hong Kong. A foreign ministry spokesman said the decision to remove four opposition members of Hong Kong's legislative council was the latest step of a "deeply worrying" trend which was aimed at undermining pluralism and freedom of expression. The Chinese parliament earlier adopted a resolution allowing the city's executive to expel lawmakers deemed to be advocating Hong Kong independence, colluding with foreign forces or threatening national security, without having to go through the courts. Shortly afterwards,…

Nov

12

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump files new election challenge as Biden focuses on transition

WORLD

SUSAN HEAVEY and STEVE HOLLAND PRESIDENT Donald Trump's has campaign filed a lawsuit in Michigan as part of its long-shot legal strategy to upend Joe Biden's November 3 election win, even as the former vice president focused on laying the foundation of his incoming administration. The Republican president's team went to federal court to try to block Michigan, a Midwestern battleground state that he won in 2016 but lost to the Democrat in media projections, from certifying the results. Trump trailed by roughly 148,000 votes, or 2.6 percentage points, in unofficial Michigan vote totals. Trump has declined to concede the…

Nov

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Armenia fights war with COVID-19 complicated by Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

WORLD

NVARD HOVHANNISYAN and MARIA TSVETKOVA EMMA Mkrtchyan died at home, bedridden and showing severe symptoms of COVID-19. Even though the 83-year-old Armenian's blood oxygen levels were far below normal, the ambulance called by her family refused to take her to hospital. "Even if they had taken her to hospital, there would anyway have been a queue and no places available," her daughter-in-law, Gayane Mkrtchyan, told Reuters. Armenia's healthcare system is dangerously overstretched as it deals with one of the world's worst COVID-19 outbreaks on top of an influx of refugees and soldiers wounded in Nagorno-Karabakh during the region's bloodiest fighting…

Nov

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Tributes to PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat

WORLD

ALI SAWAFTA and NIDAL al-MUGHRABI TRIBUTES came from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and from around the world after the death of Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator who has died in Jerusalem after contracting COVID-19. - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: "The departure of the brother and the friend, the great fighter Saeb Erekat, represents a big loss for Palestine and for our people. "We feel deep sorrow for losing him, especially at such difficult times the Palestinian cause is living through." - Nickolay Mladenov, U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process: "I extend my deepest condolences…

Nov

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Harris’ VP win makes history, but attitudes to women’s leadership shows room to grow

WORLD

EMMA BATHA FROM New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern to Germany's Angela Merkel, women leaders have won praise for their handling of the COVID-19 crisis, but more than half of men are still unconvinced about having a woman at the helm, a study showed on Monday. The survey found only 52% of people across the G7 group of wealthy countries - 46% of men and 59% of women - would feel "very comfortable" with a woman as head of their government. While that did mark a six-point rise from 2019, research company Kantar said its Reykjavik Index for Leadership showed no change…

Nov

10

2020

By The African Mirror

Face for sale: Leaks and lawsuits blight Russia facial recognition

WORLD

UMBERTO BACCHI WHEN Anna Kuznetsova saw an ad offering access to Moscow's face recognition cameras, all she had to do was pay 16,000 roubles ($200) and send a photo of the person she wanted spying on. The 20-year-old - who was acting as a volunteer for a digital rights group investigating leaks in Moscow's pervasive surveillance system - sent over a picture of herself and waited. Two days later and her phone buzzed. The seller had forwarded the paralegal a detailed list of all the addresses in the Russian capital where she had been spotted by cameras over the previous…

Nov

10

2020

By The African Mirror

Pakistan court orders arrests over Christian teen’s forced marriage

WORLD

ZOFEEN T EBRAHIM A Pakistani court ordered several arrests on Monday in the case of a Christian teenager who was allegedly forced to convert to Islam and marry a 44-year-old Muslim man, an incident that sparked street protests by church groups and rights activists. The high court in Sindh province - where the legal marriage age is 18 - instructed police to arrest suspects including the cleric who conducted the wedding ceremony. Court-appointed doctors said the girl was about 14. "This being the case... it was not possible for her to enter into a legally valid marriage," the judges said…

Nov

10

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump fires defence secretary after clash over using military against U.S. protesters

WORLD

PHIL STEWART and IDREES ALI U.S. President Donald Trump has "terminated" Defense Secretary Mark Esper, appearing to use his final months in office after his election defeat to settle scores within his administration. Trump had split with Esper over a range of issues and was particularly angered by Esper's public opposition to Trump's threats to use active-duty military forces this summer to suppress street protests over racial injustice after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis. Trump, on Twitter, said Christopher Miller, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will become acting secretary of defense. The Senate would be highly unlikely to…