WORLD - The African Mirror

Feb

10

2021

Trump’s impeachment trial proceeds, but conviction may prove elusive

WORLD

DAVID MORGAN and RICHARD COWAN A divided U.S. Senate voted largely along party lines on Tuesday to move ahead with Donald Trump's impeachment trial on a charge of inciting the deadly assault on the Capitol, but conviction appears unlikely barring a major shift among Republicans. The Senate voted 56-44 to proceed to the first-ever trial of a former president, rejecting his defence lawyers' argument that Trump was beyond the reach of the Senate after having left the White House on January 20. Democrats hope to disqualify Trump from ever again holding public office, but Tuesday's outcome suggested they face long…

Feb

10

2021

By The African Mirror

Video of violence at Capitol open Trump’s historic impeachment trial

WORLD

DAVID MORGAN and RICHARD COWAN DONALD Trump's historic post-presidency impeachment trial began in the Senate on Tuesday, with Democrats who are hoping to disqualify him from ever again holding public office showing graphic video of last month's deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol that he is charged with inciting. The dramatic proceedings in the 100-seat Senate focused upon the question of whether holding a trial after Trump has left office, as he did on January 20, violates the U.S. Constitution, which allows for impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors." House of Representatives Democrats serving as prosecutors opened their case by…

Feb

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Kremlin critic Navalny loses appeal against jail term

WORLD

POLINA NIKOLSKAYA and ANDREW OSBORN KREMLIN critic Alexei Navalny lost his appeal on Saturday against what he said was a politically motivated decision to jail him for nearly three years, but said his faith in God and belief in the rightness of his cause was sustaining him. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, was jailed earlier this month for parole violations that he said were trumped up. Western countries have condemned the case and are discussing possible sanctions on Russia. A Moscow court swiftly rejected Navalny's appeal on Saturday, while shortening his original jail term by six weeks. The…

Feb

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Biden draws sharp contrast with Trump in presidential debut on world stage

WORLD

ANDREA SHALAL and STEVE HOLLAND U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday drew a sharp contrast with the foreign policy of his much-derided predecessor, Donald Trump, and urged democracies to work together to challenge abuses by autocratic states such as China and Russia. In his first big appearance as president on the global stage, an online "virtual visit" to Europe, Biden sought to re-establish the United States as a multilateral team player after four years of divisive "America First" policies under Trump. Speaking to the Munich Security Conference, the Democratic president distanced himself from the more transactional foreign policy of Republican…

Feb

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Two killed in Myanmar city of Mandalay in another day of protests

WORLD

TWO people were killed in Myanmar's second city Mandalay yesterday when police fired to disperse protesting opponents of a February 1 military coup, emergency workers said. "Twenty people were injured and two are dead," said Ko Aung, a leader of the Parahita Darhi volunteer emergency service agency in the city. Opponents of the coup took to the streets in several Myanmar cities and towns with members of ethnic minorities, poets and transport workers among those demanding an end to military rule and the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others. Some protesters fired catapults at police in…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

At Biden’s G7 debut, leaders look beyond COVID to trade and China

WORLD

WILLIAM JAMES and GUY FAULCONBRIDGE THE Group of Seven leaders, who control a little under half of the world's economy, on Friday sought to look beyond the COVID-19 pandemic towards rebuilding their battered economies with free trade and to countering China's "non-market oriented" policies. U.S. President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi debuted at the G7 virtual leaders' meeting which was chaired by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The leaders called for stronger defences against a future pandemic, including exploring a global health treaty, but the focus was on a green recovery - on the same day that…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Lawsuits seen having ‘chilling effect’ on #MeToo movements in South Asia

WORLD

ANURANDHA NAGARAJ THE threat of jail under India's criminal defamation law has had a "chilling effect" on the country's #MeToo movement, the lawyer who successfully defended a female journalist sued by a former government minister has warned. M. J. Akbar stepped down as a minister in 2018 after he was accused of sexual misconduct during his earlier career as a newspaper editor by a number of women, including the journalist Priya Ramani. Akbar, who denies all the allegations, filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against Ramani accusing her of having "fabricated" her story. This week a court in New Delhi found…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

It is official: U.S. back in the Paris climate club

WORLD

VALERIE VOLCOVICI THE United States officially rejoined the Paris climate agreement on Friday, reinvigorating the global fight against climate change as the Biden administration plans drastic emissions cuts over the next three decades. Scientists and foreign diplomats have welcomed the U.S. return to the treaty, which became official 30 days after President Joe Biden ordered the move on his first day in office. Since nearly 200 countries signed the 2015 pact to prevent catastrophic climate change, the United States was the only country to exit. Former President Donald Trump took the step, claiming climate action would cost too much. U.S.…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Myanmar protester dies after 10 days on life support; pressure grows on army

WORLD

A young woman protester in Myanmar died yesterday after being shot in the head last week as police dispersed a crowd, her brother said, the first death among opponents of the February 1 military coup since demonstrations began two weeks ago. News of the death came as baton-wielding police and soldiers broke up a procession of people carrying banners of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the northern town of Myitkyina and thousands returned to the streets of the main city of Yangon. Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, who had just turned 20, had been on life support since being…

Jul

31

2021

By The African Mirror

‘War has changed’, CDC says, calling for new response to Delta variant

WORLD

THE "war has changed" against COVID-19 because of the highly contagious Delta variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, proposing a clearer message, mandatory vaccines for health workers and a return to universal masking. An internal CDC document said the variant, first detected in India and now dominant across the globe, is as contagious as chickenpox and far more contagious than the common cold or flu. It can be passed on even by vaccinated people and may cause more serious diseases than earlier coronavirus strains. The document, entitled "Improving communications around vaccine breakthrough and vaccine effectiveness", said the…