WORLD - The African Mirror

Dec

06

2020

S.Korea diplomat says hard to believe N.Korea has no COVID-19 cases

WORLD

GHAIDA GHANTOUS SOUTH Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-Wha cast doubt on Saturday over North Korea's claim that it has no coronavirus cases while offering the South's help in combating the pandemic. In an unusually clear official statement, Kang told the annual IISS Manama Dialogue security conference that Pyongyang has not been very responsive to Seoul's offer to help. "They still say they don't have any cases, which is hard to believe," Kang said. "All signs are that the regime is very intensely focused on controlling the disease that they say they don't have, so it's a bit of an odd…

Dec

06

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump campaign files election lawsuit in Georgia, suffers more legal defeats

WORLD

MICHAEL MARTINA DONALD Trump's campaign has filed a lawsuit in Georgia state court, seeking to invalidate the presidential election results there, the latest in a series of legal challenges aimed at reversing his loss that have so far gone nowhere. The Trump campaign said in a statement its new lawsuit would include sworn statements from Georgia residents alleging fraud. Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, like Trump, and other state officials have said repeatedly they have found no evidence of widespread fraud in the November 3 election won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump's team and various individuals backing…

Sep

19

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S. says Kabul drone strike killed 10 civilians, including children, in ‘tragic mistake’

WORLD

PHIL STEWART and IDREES ALI A drone strike in Kabul last month killed as many as 10 civilians, including seven children, the U.S. military has revealed, apologizing for what it called a "tragic mistake". The Pentagon had said the August 29 strike targeted an Islamic State suicide bomber who posed an imminent threat to U.S.-led troops at the airport as they completed the last stages of their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Even as reports of civilian casualties emerged, the top U.S. general had described the attack as "righteous". The head of U.S. Central Command, Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie, said that…

Sep

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Kin of Philippines ‘drug war victims’ hope for justice as ICC approves probe

WORLD

ADRIAN PORTUGAL FAMILIES of people killed in the Philippines' war on drugs are hopeful that a formal investigation into possible crimes against humanity approved by judges from the International Criminal Court earlier this week will result in justice for the victims. Rights groups say Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte incited deadly violence and accuse police of murdering unarmed suspects on a massive scale as part of the anti-narcotics campaign launched in 2016. "I am grateful that our situation and the killing of my brother are being paid attention to," Mary Jane Gerangco, 40, told Reuters in Manila. "Our hope is that…

Sep

19

2021

By The African Mirror

China enters Taiwan air defence zone a day after military budget boost

WORLD

TAIWAN’S air force scrambled on Friday to warn away 10 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, Taiwan's defence ministry said, the day after the island announced a $9 billion boost to military spending to counter the threat from China. Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands. The latest Chinese mission involved 6 J-16 and 2 J-11 fighters plus one anti-submarine and one reconnaissance aircraft, the Taiwan ministry said.…

Sep

18

2021

By The African Mirror

France says Biden acted like Trump to sink Australia defence deal

WORLD

JOHN IRISH, MICHEL ROSE and TIM HEPHER France accused U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday of stabbing it in the back and acting like his predecessor Donald Trump after Paris was pushed aside from a historic defence export contract to supply Australia with submarines. The United States, Britain and Australia announced they would establish a security partnership for the Indo-Pacific that will help Australia acquire U.S. nuclear-powered submarines and scrap the $40 billion French-designed submarine deal. "This brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me a lot of what Mr Trump used to do," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told franceinfo…

Sep

18

2021

By The African Mirror

Brazil official wants a halt to teen COVID-19 shots after death

WORLD

LISANDRA PARAGUASSU BRAZIL’S federal government wants to halt COVID-19 vaccinations for most adolescents, citing a death under investigation and adverse events after some 3.5 million teens have already been immunized, but several state governments vowed to press on. At a news conference, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga criticized states and cities for jumping the gun by vaccinating 12- to 17-year-olds without health issues that put them at risk of severe COVID-19, which he said was only supposed to start on Wednesday. Queiroga said healthy adolescents who have already taken one shot should not take a second - effectively seeking to halt…

Jan

31

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Bomb-making manuals’ found in home of Proud Boy who stormed U.S. Capitol

WORLD

JAN WOLFE U.S. law enforcement agents found bomb-making instructions inside the home of a member of the Proud Boys right-wing extremist group who was charged with participating in the January 6 siege of the Capitol, prosecutors have said. Dominic Pezzola, 43, had "weapons- and bomb-making manuals" on a thumb drive device found within his home near Rochester, New York, prosecutors said in a court filing arguing that he should be jailed pending trial. More than 135 people have been arrested so far in connection with the rampage by supporters of then-President Donald Trump that interrupted the formal congressional certification of…

Jan

31

2021

By The African Mirror

After outcry, EU reverses plan to restrict vaccine exports through Irish border

WORLD

ANDY BRUCE, KATE HOLTON and MARINE STRAUSS THE European Union has abruptly reversed a plan to use emergency Brexit measures to restrict exports of COVID-19 vaccines from crossing the Irish border into the United Kingdom after it sent shockwaves through Northern Ireland, London and Dublin. In a steep escalation of the EU's fight to secure vaccine supplies, Brussels had said it would trigger clauses in the Northern Irish Protocol to prevent the vaccines from moving across the open border between EU-member Ireland and the British-run province. Following an outcry in London, Belfast and Dublin, the EU published a statement just…

Jan

31

2021

By The African Mirror

U.N. condemns Iran execution spree, worried about minorities

WORLD

THE United Nations human rights office has condemned an alleged spree of 28 executions in Iran, including several prisoners from minority groups, and called on Tehran to halt the hanging of an ethnic Baluchi man. Iran has often faced criticism from world bodies and Western human rights group for its rights record and high number of executions - the world's highest after China, according to Amnesty International. Tehran has dismissed the criticism as baseless and due to a lack of understanding of its Islamic laws. "#Iran: We strongly condemn the series of executions – at least 28 – since mid-December,…