WORLD - The African Mirror

Sep

08

2021

Sergeant Bee, immortalized in Afghanistan photo, reflects on war’s legacy

WORLD

MAURICE TAMMAN TODAY, on a leafy cul-de-sac in North Carolina, his hair is streaked with grey, and he wears his beard long. But on that day 13 years ago, as he sat tucked behind a mud wall in Afghanistan, his head was close-cropped, bare and vulnerable. Retired U.S. Marine Sgt. Billy Bee is sharing a smoke with Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic on the deck of Bee's home. The smoke hangs in the humid, still air, just as it did on May 18, 2008, when their lives were stitched together in a single moment of explosive violence and unlikely survival. They…

Jan

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Trump’s impeachment charge to be delivered on Monday

WORLD

THE Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will deliver an impeachment charge against former President Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, rejecting Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's request for a delay. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who displaced McConnell as the chamber's leader after Democrats won two Georgia runoff elections this month, announced the move on the Senate floor but did not say when Trump's second impeachment trial would begin. "The House will deliver the article of impeachment to the Senate. The Senate will conduct a trial of the impeachment of Donald Trump. It will be a full trial.…

Jan

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Modi says India self-reliant on COVID-19 vaccines as 1 mln inoculated

WORLD

KRISHNA N. DAS PRIME Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday India was completely self-reliant on coronavirus vaccine supplies as the world's second-most populous country inoculated more than one million people within a week of starting a massive campaign. On Saturday, India began what the government calls the world's biggest vaccination programme, using two shots made locally: one licensed from Oxford University and AstraZeneca Plc , and another developed at home by Bharat Biotech in partnership with the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research. "Our preparation has been such that vaccine is fast reaching every corner of the country," Modi said…

Jan

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Clear the tracks: Russia’s first female train driver takes the wheel after decades-long ban lifted

WORLD

UMBERTO BACCHI ELENA Lysenko-Saltykova loves trains so much she got married on one. Yet fulfilling her childhood dream of working as a train driver has proved challenging. In fact, until December 31 she was legally barred from doing so. 25-year-old Lysenko-Saltykova last week became the first female driver in Russia to operate a passenger train, chartering her maiden voyage from Moscow, following the lifting of a ban preventing women from working in hundreds of jobs. "I still can't believe it's true," said Lysenko-Saltykova. Getting in the driver's seat had been a "rather difficult" journey, she explained. For decades, laws have…

Jan

22

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S. inauguration turns poet into best seller

WORLD

The US president's poet woke up a superstar yesterday, after a powerful reading at the U.S. inauguration catapulted 22-year-old Amanda Gorman to the top of Amazon's best-seller list. Hours after Gorman's electric performance at the swearing-in of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, her two books - neither out yet - topped Amazon.com's sales list. "I AM ON THE FLOOR MY BOOKS ARE #1 & #2 ON AMAZON AFTER 1 DAY!" Gorman, a Los Angeles resident, wrote on Twitter. Gorman's debut poetry collection 'The Hill We Climb' won top spot in the online retail giant's sale charts, closely…

Jan

22

2021

By The African Mirror

Biden launches COVID-19 initiatives on first full day in White House

WORLD

TREVOR HUNNICUTT and NANDITA BOSE US President Joe Biden has launched initiatives to rein in the raging COVID-19 pandemic, tackling his top priority on his first full day in the White House as he tries to turn the page on Donald Trump's tumultuous leadership. His administration plans a coordinated federal coronavirus response aimed at restoring trust in the government and focused on boosting vaccines, increasing testing, reopening schools and addressing inequalities thrown up by the disease. "We can and will beat COVID-19. America deserves a response to the COVID-19 pandemic that is driven by science, data, and public health —…

Sep

07

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Human toll was tremendous’: Ida’s death count rises while 600,000 still lack power

WORLD

BARBARA GOLDBERG HURRICANE Ida's death toll has continued to rise, with many in the U.S. Northeast holding out hope for people missing in the floodwaters, while nearly 600,000 customers in Louisiana still lacked power a week after the storm made landfall. Ida slammed into Louisiana on August 29 as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kph). The latest death toll there rose to at least 13 people on Sunday. The storm weakened as it moved north but still unleashed flash flooding on the East Coast that killed at least 50 more people,…

Jan

22

2021

By The African Mirror

With no self-pardon in hand, private citizen Trump faces uncertain legal future

WORLD

JAN WOLFE DONALD Trump issued a list of pardons during his final hours as U.S. president but did not include himself, his children, or personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, even though advisers said he had privately debated the extraordinary step of a self-pardon. Here is how the decision could impact his potential civil and criminal liability as a private citizen: What may have guided Trump's decision not to pardon himself and members of his inner circle? Presidential pardons can only accomplish so much. They can shut down prosecutions by the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal agency. But investigations brought by…

Sep

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Venice prepares to charge tourists, require booking

WORLD

SILVIA ALOISI and ALEX FRASER FROM a control room inside the police headquarters in Venice, Big Brother is watching you. To combat tourist overcrowding, officials are tracking every person who sets foot in the lagoon city. Using 468 CCTV cameras, optical sensors and a mobile phone-tracing system, they can tell residents from visitors, Italians from foreigners, where people are coming from, where they are heading and how fast they are moving. Every 15 minutes, authorities get a snapshot of how crowded the city is - alongside how many gondolas are sliding on the Canal Grande, whether boats are speeding and…

Jan

22

2021

By The African Mirror

Fire at India’s Serum Institute kills 5, AstraZeneca vaccine output unaffected

WORLD

A big fire at the Serum Institute of India has killed five people, a government official told reporters, but the world's biggest vaccine maker said it would not affect the production of the AstraZeneca coronavirus shot. Videos and pictures from Reuters partner ANI showed black smoke billowing from a multi-storey building in SII's massive headquarters complex in the city of Pune in Maharashtra state. "We have learnt that there has unfortunately been some loss of life at the incident," SII Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla said on Twitter. "We are deeply saddened and offer our deepest condolences to the family members…