WORLD - The African Mirror

Feb

05

2021

Tokyo Olympics chief retracts sexist comments, refuses to resign

WORLD

SAKURA MURAKAMI TOKYO Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori has apologised for sexist comments about women talking too much, but said he would not resign, as his remarks sparked a storm of criticism on social media and risked tainting public opinion of the Games. Mori, 83, apologised at a hastily called news conference, but when pressed on whether he really thought women talked too much, he said: "I don't listen to women that much lately so I don't know". The hashtag "Mori, please resign" was trending on Twitter in Japan yesterday and some users on the platform were calling on sponsors to…

Feb

10

2021

By The African Mirror

Myanmar police fire to disperse protest, four hurt, one critical

WORLD

MYANMAR police used force yesterday to disperse protests against military rule and one woman was in critical condition and not expected to survive after being shot in the head with a bullet, a doctor said. Police fired guns, mostly into the air, and used water cannon and rubber bullets to try to clear protesters in the capital Naypyitaw, and four people were taken to hospital with what doctors initially said they believed were wounds caused by rubber bullets. One of them, a woman, had what was most likely a fatal head wound, said a doctor who declined to be identified.…

Feb

10

2021

By The African Mirror

Tehran could seek nuclear arms if ‘cornered’ by West

WORLD

IRAN’S intelligence minister said persistent Western pressure could push Tehran to fight back like a "cornered cat" and seek nuclear weapons, which the Islamic Republic has for years insisted it has no intention of ever developing. The remarks made in a television interview are a rare suggestion that Iran might have an interest in nuclear weapons, which Western nations have accused Iran of pursuing. Iranian officials have repeatedly dismissed this charge, citing a fatwa or religious decree issued in the early 2000s by the Islamic Republic's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that bans the development or use of…

Feb

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Netanyahu pleads not guilty to corruption as trial resumes

WORLD

JEFFREY HELLER ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleaded not guilty to corruption charges at the resumption of his trial, six weeks before voters again head to the polls to pass judgment on his leadership. "I confirm the written answer submitted in my name," Netanyahu said, standing before the three-judge panel in the heavily guarded Jerusalem District Court. He was referring to a document his lawyers gave the court last month in which they argued that Netanyahu, 71, was not guilty of charges of bribery, breach of trust and fraud. Wearing a coronavirus mask, Netanyahu, the first serving Israeli leader to…

Feb

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Search on for more than 200 after India glacier fractures, sweeping away all before it

WORLD

SAURABH SHARMA INDIAN rescuers continued with the search yesterday for the more than 200 people missing after part of a remote Himalayan glacier broke away, sweeping away bridges, breaking dams and sending a torrent of water, rocks and construction debris down a mountain valley. Sunday's disaster below Nanda Devi, India's second-highest peak, swept away the small Rishiganga hydro-electric project and damaged a bigger one further down the Dhauliganga river being built by state firm NTPC. Eighteen bodies had been recovered so far, officials said. Most of the missing were people working on the two projects, part of the many the…

Feb

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Myanmar general repeats pledge of new election

WORLD

MYANMAR's military leader yesterday said his junta would hold a new election and hand power to the winner as tens of thousands of people took to the streets for a third day to protest against the coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was speaking in a televised address, his first to the country since last Monday's military takeover. He repeated claims that last November's election, won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, had been fraudulent. But in the capital Naypyitaw, crowds of protesters chanted anti-coup slogans and told police they should…

Feb

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Protests sweep Myanmar to oppose coup, support Suu Kyi

WORLD

TENS of thousands of people rallied across Myanmar yesterday to denounce last week's coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in the biggest protests since the 2007 Saffron Revolution that helped lead to democratic reforms. In a second day of widespread protests, crowds in the biggest city, Yangon, sported red shirts, red flags and red balloons, the colour of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party (NLD). "We don't want military dictatorship! We want democracy!" they chanted. Yesterday afternoon, the junta ended a day-long blockade of the internet that had further inflamed anger since the…

Feb

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Himalayan glacier breaks in India, around 125 missing in floods

WORLD

DEVJYOT GHOSHAL aand MANOJ KUMAR AROUND 125 people were missing in northern India after a Himalayan glacier broke and swept away a small hydroelectric dam yesterday, with floods forcing the evacuation of villages downstream. A wall of dust, rock and water hit as an avalanche roared down the Rishiganga valley deep in the mountains of Uttarakhand, a witness said. "It came very fast, there was no time to alert anyone," Sanjay Singh Rana, who lives on the upper reaches of the river in Raini village, told Reuters by phone. "I felt that even we would be swept away." Uttarakhand Chief…

Feb

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Leon Spinks, boxing’s former heavyweight champion, dead at 67

WORLD

BILL TROTT LEON Spinks, the gap-toothed fighter from the St. Louis slums who pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in boxing history in 1978 by defeating Muhammad Ali to take the undisputed world heavyweight title, has died at the age of 67 after a long battle with cancer, a spokesman said on Saturday. Spinks passed away with only a few close friends and family present due to COVID-19 restrictions. "Leon fought his battle with numerous illnesses resiliently, never losing his trademark smile,' The Firm PR said in a statement sent to Reuters. "Showing true Spinks determination, he never…

Feb

07

2021

By The African Mirror

International Criminal Court rules it has jurisdiction over Palestinian Territories

WORLD

THE International Criminal Court has ruled that it has jurisdiction over war crimes or atrocities committed in the Palestinian Territories, paving the way for a criminal investigation, despite Israeli objections. Judges said their decision was based on jurisdictional rules in the Hague-based court's founding documents and does not imply any attempt to determine statehood or legal borders. Israel, which is not a member of the court, has rejected its jurisdiction. The court's prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said in December 2019 there was "a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including…