WORLD - The African Mirror

Oct

27

2020

Trump celebrates at White House as Supreme Court nominee confirmed

WORLD

LAWRENCE HURLEY and JEFF MASON PRESIDENT Donald Trump revelled in one of his signature achievements at a White House ceremony to celebrate U.S. Senate confirmation of his third Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, eight days before the election. The made-for-TV prime-time event on the White House lawn mirrored one a month ago, when Barrett's nomination was announced, which preceded a coronavirus outbreak among top Republicans including Trump himself. It came little more than an hour after the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Barrett to the lifetime appointment on a 52-48 vote, with Democrats unified in opposition. Her confirmation as successor to…

Oct

26

2020

By The African Mirror

“Rebirth”: Chileans vote by millions to tear up Pinochet’s constitution

WORLD

AISLINN LAING and FABIAN CAMBERO CHILEANS poured into the country's main squares on Sunday night after voters gave a ringing endorsement to a plan to tear up the country's Pinochet-era constitution in favour of a new charter drafted by citizens. In Santiago's Plaza Italia, the focus of the massive and often violent social protests last year which sparked the demand for a new Magna Carta, fireworks rose above a crowd of tens of thousands of jubilant people singing in unison as the word "rebirth" was beamed onto a tower above. With more than three quarters of the votes counted, 78.12%…

Oct

26

2020

By The African Mirror

Packed bars and mask-less catwalks: With Covid curbs fading, China set for consumption rebound

WORLD

STELLA QUI and RYAN WOO OVER the weekend, crowds packed a former industrial warehouse in Beijing as the China Fashion Week got underway, with models strutting mask-less on a square runway and guests oblivious to social distancing norms. Similarly vibrant scenes are being seen elsewhere in China as consumers return to cinemas, live performances and restaurants. To many, they indicate a late-summer recovery in Chinese household spending is broadening and propelling the next stage of the economic recovery. "This August, sales in the domestic (apparel) market turned from negative to positive," Zhang Qinghui, chairman of the China Fashion Designers Committee,…

Oct

26

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump, Biden in final full week of campaigning as virus looms large

WORLD

MICHAEL MARTINA US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are down to the final full week of campaigning before the November 3 election, as surging coronavirus cases and a COVID-19 outbreak within Vice President Mike Pence's staff keep the focus of the race on the pandemic. Trump claimed progress in combating the disease even as the United States set records in recent days for daily infections, while Pence forged ahead with campaigning on Sunday despite close aides testing positive. Biden accused the president of surrendering to the pandemic that has killed about 225,000 people in the United States.…

Oct

25

2020

By The African Mirror

Brussels edges towards lockdown as Belgian COVID-19 cases hit record high

WORLD

KATE ABNETT and MARINE STRAUSS SPORT and cultural facilities in Brussels must close and residents will face a longer curfew from Monday, the regional government has announced, as COVID-19 infections in Belgium continued to surge to record highs. Belgium, one of the European countries worst hit by COVID-19, is grappling with a new wave of the virus. The country's rate of new cases is at the highest since the start of the pandemic, with a record 15,432 infections recorded on Tuesday, the latest official figures show. The capital city Brussels, home to the European Union and NATO, is among the…

Oct

25

2020

By The African Mirror

Jared and Ivanka threaten lawsuit over Times Square billboards

WORLD

JONATHAN LANDAY PRESIDENT Donald Trump's daughter and son-in-law, both top White House aides, are threatening to sue a group of anti-Trump Republicans for posting billboard ads in New York City's Times Square linking them to the country's almost 225,000 coronavirus deaths. A lawyer representing Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, made the threat in a letter to the Lincoln Project, calling the ads "false, malicious and defamatory" and saying they constituted "outrageous and shameful libel." "If these billboard ads are not immediately removed, we will sue you for what will doubtless be enormous compensatory and punitive damages," Marc Kasowitz…

Oct

24

2020

By The African Mirror

Israel hails ‘new era’ with Sudan but Palestinians lament ‘new stab in the back’

WORLD

ISRAEL has hailed a new era in its relations with the Arab world after the announcement of plans to normalize ties with Sudan, an agreement the Palestinians described as a "new stab in the back". "This is a new era. An era of true peace. A peace that is expanding with other Arab countries - three of them in recent weeks," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement. Israel reached normalization agreements last month with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. "In Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, the three principles of the Arab League were adopted in…

Oct

24

2020

By The African Mirror

Texas may not limit ballot drop boxes for U.S. election -appeals court

WORLD

MAKINI BRICE and TIM REID A Texas appeals court on Friday ruled the Republican governor cannot limit drop-off sites for mail ballots to one per county, a setback for U.S. President Donald Trump. Upholding a lower court decision, the appeals court ruled against Texas Governor Greg Abbott. The Texas 3rd Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court that limiting the number of drop boxes would increase the risk that voters could get infected with COVID-19, and would infringe on their right to vote. Abbott has informed the voting rights groups who oppose his move to limit drop boxes that…

Oct

24

2020

By The African Mirror

New clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh after Washington talks

WORLD

NAILA BARIGOVA and VLADIMIR SOLDATKIN NEW clashes broke out between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over Nagorno-Karabakh a day after talks in Washington to try to end the deadliest fighting in the mountain enclave in more than a quarter of a century. Azerbaijan's defence ministry reported fighting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijan populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians. Local officials accused Azerbaijan's forces of shelling buildings in Stepanakert, the largest city in the region, which Baku denied. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met separately with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Friday in a…

Oct

23

2020

By The African Mirror

In final Trump-Biden showdown, less chaos but plenty of clashes

WORLD

U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden offered sharply contrasting views on the still-raging coronavirus pandemic at today’s final presidential debate, seeking to persuade the few remaining undecided voters 12 days before their November 3 contest. Trump, a Republican, adopted a more restrained tone than he did during a chaotic first debate in September, when he repeatedly interrupted Biden. But Thursday's clash still featured plenty of personal attacks between two men who evince little respect for each other, and Trump kept fact-checkers busy by leveling unfounded corruption accusations at Biden and his family. The absence of disruptions yielded…