WORLD - The African Mirror

Sep

22

2021

Biden pledges $10 billion to fight global hunger

WORLD

PRESIDENT Joe Biden told the United Nations General Assembly that the United States would commit $10 billion toward ending hunger in his country and around the world. Nearly one in three people did not have access to adequate food last year, Biden said in his speech to the annual gathering of world leaders, and the United States is committing to rally partners to address malnutrition. "To that end, the United States is making a $10 billion commitment to end hunger and invest in food systems at home and abroad," Biden said. He did not provide details on the program. On…

Sep

22

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Fashion is resistance’: The Afghan designers championing traditional dress

WORLD

SONIA ELKS KABUL-BORN fashion designer Anjilla Seddeqi has long drawn inspiration for her formalwear collections from the bright, intricate and embellished traditional dress of Afghan women. But now, with the Taliban back in power, she and other emigre Afghan women are championing their homeland's rich clothing heritage to protest against a new dress code for female students, and help women affected by the movement's return. "I feel like what the Taliban are trying to do is to eradicate Afghan women from society in general, and then to also eradicate our culture. And part of that is our dress," Seddeqi, 39,…

Sep

22

2021

By The African Mirror

The third man: UK charges another Russian for nerve attack on double agent

WORLD

MICHAEL HOLDEN BRITISH police have announced that a third Russian had been charged in absentia with the 2018 Novichok murder attempt on former double agent Sergei Skripal, saying they could also now confirm the three suspects were military intelligence operatives. The attack on Skripal, who sold Russian secrets to Britain, caused one of the biggest rows between Russia and the West since the Cold War, leading to the tit-for-tat expulsion of dozens of diplomats after Britain pointed the finger of blame at Moscow. Russia has rejected any involvement, casting the accusations as anti-Russian propaganda. Skripal and his daughter Yulia were…

Dec

07

2020

By The African Mirror

“I was interested in everything that boys played” Meet Nona Gaprindashvili, chess’s first female grandmaster

WORLD

UMBERTO BACCHI SHE is the only real female chess champion featured in the hit Netflix series 'The Queen's Gambit', but Georgia's Nona Gaprindashvili is none too happy about how the show dismisses her Soviet-era heyday. Gaprindashvili, the first woman to be awarded the title of grandmaster by the World Chess Federation, is mentioned in passing in the period drama as a female world champion who "has never faced men" - something the 79-year-old said made her "very angry". "I felt insulted," Gaprindashvili told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview, adding that by 1968, when the scene is set, she…

Dec

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Coal mine accident in China’s Chongqing kills 23

WORLD

TWENTY-THREE people died after being trapped in a mine in China's southwestern city of Chongqing, the region's second such accident in just over two months, the official Xinhua news agency has revealed. The dead were among 24 people trapped underground by excessive levels of carbon monoxide gas at the Diaoshuidong coal mine, the agency said, adding that one survivor had been rescued, after more than 30 hours of search and rescue efforts. The incident, which occurred in a mine shut for more than two months as the company dismantled underground equipment, is being investigated, it added. China on Sunday ordered…

Dec

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Venezuela votes for parliament as opposition denounces fraud

WORLD

BRIAN ELLSWORTH and SARAH KINOSIAN VENEZUELAN have started voting to choose a new congress that the opposition is boycotting and most Western nations call a fraud by President Nicolas Maduro to retake the last state institution, not in the hands of the ruling Socialist Party. The vote is almost certain to return congress to Maduro's allies despite his government struggling with an economy in ruins, aggressive U.S. sanctions that stifle the OPEC nation's oil exports, and the migration of some 5 million citizens. Members of the new congress will have few tools to improve the lives of Venezuelans whose monthly…

Sep

21

2021

By The African Mirror

UK PM Johnson calls on rich countries to meet $100 billion climate pledge

WORLD

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for wealthy countries to meet a pledge to spend $100 billion a year to tackle climate change as he prepares to host a United Nations summit starting at the end of October. Johnson and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will hold a roundtable of world leaders on Monday to get rich countries to deliver on the unmet pledge, made in 2009. "Richer nations have reaped the benefits of untrammelled pollution for generations, often at the expense of developing countries," Johnson said in a statement. "As those countries now try to grow their economies in…

Sep

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Pacquiao faces toughest fight yet in run for Philippines presidency

WORLD

NEIL JEROME MORALES and ADRIAN PORTUGAL BOXING legend Manny Pacquiao may have signed up for his toughest fight yet in running for president of the Philippines, facing doubts about his leadership and commitment as a lawmaker that could dent his appeal and deal a big blow to his ambitions. The 42-year-old announced his candidacy on Sunday, declaring his readiness to "rise to the challenge of leadership" and battle poverty and corruption. As an eight-division world champion, Pacquiao is a national treasure, but analysts say he faces a huge challenge to convince the electorate he can lead a nation beset by…

Sep

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Tallest teen, fastest hair skipping among 2022 Guinness World Records

WORLD

FROM the dog with the longest ears to the world's tallest teenager, Guinness World Records reveals its latest record breakers in the 2022 edition of the popular book. The annual publication, out on Thursday, features an array of records and feats, including the fastest walking on hands and the most skips over a person's own hair in 30 seconds. Briton Bethany Lodge, a gymnast since a young age, scored the titles of fastest 100 metre forward rolls – in 42.64 seconds - and the most backwards somersault burpees by a female in 30 seconds - five. "It feels incredible to…

Sep

20

2021

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE: Malaysia’s Najib may seek re-election to parliament despite conviction

WORLD

A. ANATHALAKSHMI and ROZANNA LATIFF FORMER Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has not ruled out seeking re-election to parliament within the next two years, he told Reuters in an interview, despite a corruption conviction that would block him from running. Najib's graft-tainted party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), clinched the premiership last month after it was ousted from power three years ago over a multi-billion-dollar scandal. Opponents had expressed fears that party leaders facing criminal charges could secure leniency once back in control. Najib, who served as premier for nine years until 2018, was found guilty of corruption last…