WORLD - The African Mirror

Jan

08

2026

‘Neither Gaza nor Lebanon!’ Iranian unrest is about more than the economy − protesters reject the Islamic Republic’s whole rationale

WORLD

A familiar slogan has echoed through the streets of various Iranian cities in recent days: “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I sacrifice my life for Iran.” That phrase has been chanted at protests that have sprung up around Iran since December 28, 2025. The spark of the uprising and bazaar strikes has been economic hardship and government mismanagement. But as an expert of Iranian history and culture, I believe the slogan’s presence signals that protests go deeper than economic frustration alone. When people in Iran chant “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon,” they are, I believe, rejecting the theocratic system in Iran entirely.…

Jan

07

2026

By JULIETTE MCINTYRE and TAMSIN PHILLIPA PAIGE

Venezuela, Gaza, Ukraine: is the UN failing?

WORLD

THE United Nations turned 80 in October last year; a venerable age for the most significant international organisation the world has ever seen. But events of recent years – from last weekend’s Trumpian military action to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine in 2022, to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza – represent major challenges to the UN system. Many are now asking whether the United Nations has any future at all if it cannot fulfil its first promise of maintaining international peace and security. Has the UN reached the end of its lifespan? The…

Jan

07

2026

By OWN CORRESPONENT

UN rights office condemns US military intervention in Venezuela as violation of international law

WORLD

THE United Nations human rights office on Tuesday condemned the United States military operation that resulted in the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, calling it a violation of international law that undermines global security. Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva that the operation "violates a fundamental principle of international law… it violates the UN Charter," which prohibits states from threatening or using force against the territorial integrity or political independence of other nations. Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High…

Jan

07

2026

By MONICA DUFFY TOFT

Can the US ‘run’ Venezuela? Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political authority or legitimacy

WORLD

AN image circulated over media the weekend of Jan. 3 and 4 was meant to convey dominance: Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, blindfolded and handcuffed aboard a U.S. naval vessel. Shortly after the operation that seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would now “run” Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” could be arranged. The Trump administration’s move is not an aberration; it reflects a broader trend in U.S. foreign policy I described here some six years ago as “America the Bully.” Washington increasingly relies on coercion – military, economic and…

Jan

06

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Trump’s seizure of Maduro: an unprecedented gambit that has shaken the global order

WORLD

THE world is witnessing what may be the most audacious assertion of American power in a generation, as deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro sits in a Brooklyn detention cell awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges following an extraordinary weekend military raid that has sent shockwaves through international diplomacy. The operation, U.S. Special Forces descending on Caracas by helicopter to extract a sitting head of state, represents the most dramatic American intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion. But unlike that Cold War-era action, this raid comes at a moment when the post-World War II international order appears increasingly…

Jan

06

2026

By DONALD ROTHWELL

Trump’s intervention in Venezuela: the 3 warnings for the world

WORLD

THE January 3 US military operation in Venezuela, seizing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, was in equal measure audacious and illegal under international law. It’s even more breathtaking that the Trump administration now says it “will run” Venezuela on an interim basis. The US will also seek to control the country’s vast oil interests. Irrespective of its contested domestic politics and the chequered record of the Maduro regime, Venezuela remains a recognised sovereign state under international law. This includes permanent sovereignty over its natural resources. Any US seizure of Venezuelan oil would be a…

Jan

06

2026

By JENNIFER GERSON

The making of a MAGA martyr

WORLD

IN the wake of the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, President Donald Trump quickly took up the cause of a 35-year-old veteran named Ashli Babbitt. “Who killed Ashli Babbitt?” he asked in a one-sentence statement on July 1, 2021. This story was originally reported by Jennifer Gerson of The 19th. Meet Jennifer and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. “An innocent, wonderful, incredible woman, a military woman,” Trump said during a Fox News interview a few weeks later. To Trump and his Make America Great Again movement, Babbitt was not an insurrectionist shot…

Jan

05

2026

By JUAN ZAHIR NARANJO CÁCERES

The US has invaded countries and deposed leaders before. Its military action against Venezuela feels different

WORLD

IN the early hours of Saturday morning, US special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his home in Caracas and flew him out of the country. US President Donald Trump announced that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face federal narco-terrorism charges in New York. For anyone familiar with the history of US interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean, the basic pattern is grimly familiar: a small state in Washington’s “backyard, a leader deemed unacceptable, military force applied with overwhelming effect, and a government removed overnight. Yet what makes Venezuela’s case different – and profoundly alarming –…

Jan

05

2026

By JUAN LUIS MANFREDI

Trump’s new world order is taking shape in Venezuela. Five keys to understanding the US military attacks

WORLD

ON the back of every dollar bill, the phrase Novus Ordo Seclorum (“New order of the ages”) hints at the principle guiding the US’s new security strategy. The attack on Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro herald the decoupling of Trump’s United States from the rules-based international order, and the end of liberal order as a whole. A new international order is now emerging, based on the use of force, revisionism and security on the American continent. Here are five keys to understanding the outcomes of the military intervention and the new order it ushers in. 1. Expanded…

Jan

05

2026

By The African Mirror

Gaza crisis: Eight-nation coalition demands humanitarian access as winter storms expose catastrophic conditions

WORLD

A coalition of eight Arab and Islamic nations has issued an urgent appeal for immediate, unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza, warning that severe winter weather has exposed the catastrophic fragility of conditions for nearly 1.9 million displaced Palestinians living in inadequate shelters. The joint statement from the foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt represents a significant multilateral pressure campaign on Israel to lift constraints on aid delivery as heavy rainfall, storms, and plummeting temperatures compound an already dire humanitarian emergency. Crisis Reaches Breaking Point The ministers painted a grim picture…