WORLD - The African Mirror

Sep

07

2021

Poland condemns jailing of Belarus protest leaders

WORLD

POLISH Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz has condemned prison sentences imposed on Belarusian opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak. Kolesnikova and Znak were sentenced to 11 years and 10 years in prison, respectively, leading to an outcry from Western countries. "The decision of the Belarusian authorities ... deserves firm condemnation. This is an open crushing of human rights and another step intended to intimidate Belarusian society. This repression should not go unanswered," Przydacz said on Twitter. Polish President Andrzej Duda expressed solidarity with Kolesnikova and Znak. "Poland demands the unconditional release of all political prisoners. These people are imprisoned…

Jan

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Biden signs orders to reverse Trump’s legacy

WORLD

TED HESSON, MIMI DWYER, MICA ROSENBERG and KRISTINA COOKE U.S. President Joe Biden has signed half a dozen executive orders to reverse several hardline immigration policies put in place by former President Donald Trump, although migration experts warn that it will take months or longer to unravel many of the restrictions imposed in the past four years. In a sharp departure from his Republican predecessor, Biden, a Democrat, just hours after being sworn in, also sent an immigration bill to Congress that proposes opening a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants living in the United States unlawfully. The executive…

Jan

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Kamala Harris breaks barriers, makes history

WORLD

JAMES OLIPHANT KAMALA Harris made history when she was sworn in as Joe Biden's vice president, becoming the first woman, the first Black American and the first Asian American to hold the second-highest U.S. office. Looking ahead, Harris, 56, is seen as an obvious contender for the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential nomination should Biden, 78, decide not to seek a second term. Harris has yet to weigh in publicly on such speculation. A U.S. senator from California the past four years, Harris has shattered many a glass ceiling. She served as San Francisco's first female district attorney and was California's…

Jan

21

2021

By The African Mirror

‘We must end this uncivil war’ – Biden

WORLD

TREVOR HUNNICUTT, PATRICIA ZENGERLE and JOE RENSHAW JOE Biden was sworn in as president of the United States, offering a message of unity and restoration to a deeply divided country reeling from a battered economy and a raging coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 Americans. Standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol two weeks after a mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the building, Biden called for a return to civic decency in an inaugural address marking the end of Trump's tempestuous four-year term. "To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future…

Jan

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Trump vows to ‘be back in some form’ as tumultuous presidency ends

WORLD

STEVE HOLLAND and JEFF MASON Donald Trump left the White House and Washington for a final time as commander-in-chief yesterday after a tumultuous presidency stained by two impeachments, deep political divisions, and a pandemic that caused 400,000 U.S. deaths. The Republican president departed the White House with his wife, Melania, saying it had been a great honor to serve and giving a final wave as he boarded the Marine One helicopter for Joint Base Andrews, where he delivered farewell remarks. "So just a goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form," Trump told supporters before boarding Air…

Sep

06

2021

By The African Mirror

After messy pullout, Blinken to intensify Afghanistan diplomacy in Qatar, Germany

WORLD

HUMEYA PAMUK A week after declaring America's "new chapter" of engagement with Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will aim to form a united front with allies this week on how to tackle the Taliban and ensure continued support for U.S. bid to help evacuate Americans and at-risk Afghans who remained behind. In a trip to Qatar and Germany, Blinken will be overlapping with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who is also departing for a wider Gulf visit covering Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. The visit by the top two U.S. national security officials comes as the Biden administration…

Jan

21

2021

By The African Mirror

India, ‘pharmacy of the world’, starts COVID vaccine shipments to neighbours

WORLD

INDIA has started delivering coronavirus vaccines to its neighbours, the foreign ministry said, flagging off a drive to garner goodwill in an often fractious region with the first shipment sent to the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Bangladesh and Nepal said they expected deliveries on Thursday. The only neighbour absent from India's list apart from China, is regional rival Pakistan, which had not requested assistance, according to an Indian government official. Many low and middle-income countries are relying on India, the world's biggest vaccine maker, for supplies to start COVID-19 immunisation programmes and bring an end to their outbreaks. "The…

Sep

06

2021

By The African Mirror

Syrian army resumes shelling of rebel enclave after collapse of deal

WORLD

SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI SYRIAN army units backed by Iranian-backed militias resumed the shelling of a rebel enclave in southern Syria on Sunday after the collapse of a Russia-brokered deal to allow the government to reinstate full control over the area. Russian generals brokered the deal late on Tuesday to avert bloody urban warfare after the heaviest bombardment by elite army units of the rebel core of the city of Deraa in a two-month siege that has forced many of the 50,000 inhabitants to flee. The deal collapsed on Friday after disagreements over the extent of army control and disarming former rebels.…

Jan

21

2021

By The African Mirror

The silent epidemic: Abuse against Spanish women rises during lockdown

WORLD

CLARA-LAEILA LAUDETTE FEWER Spanish women were killed by their partner or ex-partner in 2020 than in previous years, but that statistic masks a rise in gender-based violence as COVID lockdowns left victims confined with their abusers, rights groups and officials say. Emails to abuse helplines soared nearly six-fold in April, the first full month of Spain's lockdown. "Control-based violence - which doesn't murder, but is insidious and devastating - grew, because violent partners already had women under their physical control," Victoria Rosell, the ministry's top official on gender abuse issues, told reporters on Wednesday. In 2020 overall, calls to the…

Sep

06

2021

By The African Mirror

Born conjoined back-to-back, Israeli twins finally see each other after surgery

WORLD

ONE-year-old twin Israeli girls who were born conjoined at the head, back to back, can make eye contact for the first time after undergoing rare separation surgery. The more than 12-hour operation at the Soroka Medical Centre took months of preparation and involved dozens of experts from Israel and abroad, the hospital said on Sunday. "This was a rare and complex surgery that has been conducted only 20 times worldwide and now, for the first time, in Israel," said Mickey Gideon, Soroka's chief pediatric neurosurgeon. Photos in Israeli media showed the twins - whose names were not provided - facing…