WORLD - The African Mirror

May

2024

China’s Xi Jinping to talk Ukraine, investment on last European stop Hungary

HUNGARIAN soldiers on horseback joined President Tamas Sulyok to give Chinese President Xi Jinping a warm welcome in the grounds of Budapest's spectacular Buda Castle on the third and final stop on Xi's first European tour in five years. Hungary under right-leaning Prime Minister Viktor Orban has become an important trade and investment partner for China, in contrast with some other EU nations that are considering becoming less dependent on the world's second-largest economy. Xi arrived in Budapest late on Wednesday after visiting France and Serbia. In Paris, President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen pressed him…

May

2024

By LUC COHEN, JACK QUEEN and ANDY SULLIVAN

Stormy Daniels offers unflattering testimony about sex with Trump

WORLD

PORN star Stormy Daniels described her 2006 encounter with Donald Trump in unflattering terms at his criminal trial, testifying she tried not to think about the sex while it took place and feared it would become public. For several hours Daniels, 45, offered riveting details on the witness stand about her encounter with Trump, 77, and the hush-money deal she reached to stay quiet about it ahead of the 2016 election when he won the White House. She told jurors that her life descended into "chaos" after the arrangement was made public in 2018, saying she was ostracized and harassed at her…

May

2024

By GUY FAULCONBRIDGE

‘Tsar’ Putin tells the West: Russia will talk only on equal terms

WORLD

VLADIMIR Putin honoured like a Russian tsar at his swearing-in for a new six-year presidential term, had a double-edged message for the West: the Kremlin is ready to talk but Russia is girding for victory in Ukraine. Putin, who rose to the top of the Kremlin just eight years after the fall of the Soviet Union, will overtake Josef Stalin and become Russia's longest-serving ruler since Empress Catherine the Great if he completes the term. The 71-year-old former KGB spy exuded confidence in the carefully choreographed inauguration which the West and opponents, who are mainly in jail or abroad, cast as…

May

2024

By MOHAMMED SALEM, NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and ARI RABINOVITCH

Israel plays down Hamas move on Gaza ceasefire, hits Rafah

WORLD

ISRAEL played down the likelihood of a ceasefire in Gaza after Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from mediators, even as residents fled the city of Rafah in fear of an Israeli assault. The last-minute moves towards a ceasefire came as Israeli forces struck Rafah on Gaza's southern edge and ordered residents out of parts of the city, which has served as the last refuge for more than a million displaced Gazans. Hamas said in a brief statement that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire. The…

May

2024

By JACK QUEEN, LUC COHEN and ANDY SULLIVAN

Judge warns Trump of potential jail time for violating gag order

WORLD

The judge in Donald Trump's criminal trial fined him $1,000 and held him in contempt of court for a 10th time for violating a gag order and warned that further violations could land the former president in jail. Justice Juan Merchan said the nine $1,000 fines he had imposed so far did not seem to be deterring the wealthy business mogul from violating the order, which bars him from speaking publicly about jurors and witnesses in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. “I do not want to impose a jail sanction and have done everything I can to…

May

2024

By GUY FAULCONBRIDGE

Putin orders tactical nuclear weapon drills to deter the West

WORLD

RUSSIA said that it would practise the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the United States. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Russia has repeatedly warned of rising nuclear risks - warnings which the United States says it has to take seriously though U.S. officials say they have seen no change in Russia's nuclear posture. Russia says the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of confrontation between nuclear powers by supporting Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars…

May

2024

By MOHAMMED SALEM and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

Israel strikes Gaza city of Rafah after evacuation order

WORLD

ISRAEL'S military carried out airstrikes in Rafah, residents said, hours after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the southern Gaza City where more than a million people uprooted by the war have been sheltering. Fears are growing of a full-blown assault in Rafah, long threatened by Israel, against holdouts of the Palestinian militant group Hamas as ceasefire talks in Cairo stall. Hamas official Izzat al-Rashiq said in a statement that any Israeli operation in Rafah would put the truce talks in jeopardy. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV said had targeted areas in eastern Rafah near neighbourhoods given…

May

2024

By The African Mirror

Reaction to Israel’s Rafah evacuation call

WORLD

ISRAEL has told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the Gazan city of Rafah it says harbours Hamas fighters, in possible preparation for an assault that foreign powers fear could bring a big civilian toll. Here are some reactions: HAMAS Statement: "We confirm that any military offensive in Rafah will not be a picnic to the fascist occupation army. Our brave resistance on top of them, the Qassam Brigades, is fully prepared to defend our people and defeat this enemy." Official Sami Abu Zuhri: "This is a dangerous escalation that will have consequences. The U.S. administration, alongside the occupation, bears responsibility for this…

May

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

Hopes for Gaza ceasefire appear slim as Cairo talks continue

WORLD

PROSPECTS for a Gaza ceasefire appeared slim as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled that out. The two sides blamed each other for the impasse and the Hamas delegation said it would leave Cairo truce talks on Sunday night to consult with its leadership. In their second day of talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, Hamas negotiators maintained their stance that any truce agreement must end the war, Palestinian officials said. Israeli officials have not travelled to Cairo to take part in indirect diplomacy, but…

May

2024

By The African Mirror

Australian police shoot boy dead after stabbing with ‘hallmarks’ of terrorism

WORLD

AUSTRALIAN police said that they had shot dead a boy after he stabbed a man in Western Australia's capital Perth, in an attack authorities said indicated terrorism. There were signs the 16-year-old, armed with a kitchen knife, had been radicalised online, state authorities said, adding they received calls from concerned members of the local Muslim community before the attack, which occurred late on Saturday night. The attack, in the suburb of Willetton, had "hallmarks" of terrorism but was yet to be declared a terrorist act, police said. "At this stage, it appears that he acted solely and alone," Western Australia…