WORLD - The African Mirror

Feb

23

2021

Doctors disclose Tiger Woods’ injuries after crash

WORLD

RORY CARROLL, DAN WHITCOMB and AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER DOCTORS have revealed the full extent of golf great Tiger Woods' serious injuries following a single-car accident during which his car rolled several times. Woods a 15-time grand slam winner whose popularity transcends golf, underwent long but successful surgery on his lower right leg and ankle at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Centre. Doctors said he is awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room. Dr Anish Mahajan, managing director and chief medical officer at the hospital gave a full description of Woods' injuries: "Mr Woods suffered significant orthopaedic injuries to his right lower…

Jul

22

2021

By The African Mirror

At least 25 dead as rains deluge central China’s Henan province

WORLD

RYAN WOO and STELLA QIU AT least 25 people have died in China's flood-stricken central province of Henan, a dozen of them in a subway line in its capital Zhengzhou, and more rains are forecast for the region. About 100,000 people have been evacuated in Zhengzhou, an industrial and transport hub, where rail and road links were disrupted. Dams and reservoirs have swelled to warning levels and thousands of troops are taking part in the rescue effort in the province. Twelve people died and more than 500 were pulled to safety after a subway tunnel flooded, state media reported, while…

Jul

22

2021

By The African Mirror

US holds UNICEF monopoly for 74 years – in a world body where money talks

WORLD

THALIF DEEN With Henrietta Fore’s decision last week to step down as UNICEF Executive Director, her successor is most likely to be another American since that post has been held– uninterruptedly — by US nationals for almost 74 years, an unprecedented all-time record for a high-ranking job in the UN system. The seven U.S. nationals who have headed the UN children’s agency since its inception in 1947 include Maurice Pate, Henry Labouisse, James Grant, Carol Bellamy, Ann Veneman, Anthony Lake and Henrietta Fore. Pate held the job for 18 years, from 1947 to 1965, and Labouisse for 14 years, from…

Jul

22

2021

By The African Mirror

Israel’s National Security Council looking into NSO spyware allegations -source

WORLD

DAN WILLIAMS ISRAEL has set up a senior inter-ministerial team to look into growing allegations that spyware sold by an Israeli cyber firm has been abused on a global scale, an Israeli source has said, while adding that an export review was unlikely. The team is headed by Israel's National Security Council, which answers to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and has broader areas of expertise than the Defence Ministry, which oversees exports of NSO Group's Pegasus software, the source said. "This event is beyond the Defence Ministry purview," the source said, referring to potential diplomatic blowback after prominent media reports…

Feb

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Politics contributed to 500 000 COVID-19 deaths in US

WORLD

JULIE STEENHUYSEN DR. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said political divisiveness contributed significantly to the "stunning" U.S. COVID-19 death toll, which on Monday surpassed 500,000 lives lost. The country had recorded more than 28 million COVID-19 cases and 500,054 fatalities as of Monday afternoon, according to a Reuters tally of public health data. In an interview with Reuters, Fauci on Monday said the pandemic arrived in the United States as the country was riven by political divisions in which wearing a mask became a political statement rather than a public health measure. "Even under the best of…

Feb

24

2021

By The African Mirror

David Attenborough to U.N.: ‘Climate change a threat to global security, I don’t envy you’

WORLD

MICHELLE NICHOLS BRITISH naturalist David Attenborough warned on Tuesday that climate change is the biggest security threat that modern humans have ever faced, telling the U.N. Security Council: "I don't envy you the responsibility that this places on all of you." Attenborough, 94, the world's most influential wildlife broadcaster, addressed a virtual meeting of the 15-member council on climate-related risks to international peace and security, chaired by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. "If we continue on our current path, we will face the collapse of everything that gives us our security: food production, access to fresh water, habitable ambient temperature…

Feb

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Gas to Gaza? The pipeline that might provide a lifeline

WORLD

ARI RABINOVITCH and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI TALKS on a gas pipeline that would cross political faultlines and deliver reliable energy to the impoverished Gaza Strip have moved from the abstract to the concrete in recent weeks, three officials with knowledge of the process told Reuters. For years the project was a distant prospect because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - peace talks between the two sides broke down in 2014 and never resumed, amid mutual suspicion and outbreaks of violence. But Israeli, Palestinian, Qatari and European interests have converged in recent weeks with the aim of getting gas flowing to Gaza in…

Jul

21

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S. military carries out air strike in Somalia

WORLD

THE United States yesterday carried out an air strike against al Shabaab militants in Somalia, the first strike in the country since President Joe Biden came into office. Al Qaeda-linked insurgent group al Shabaab is seeking to topple the government and establish its own rule in Somalia based on its own strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. In a statement, the Pentagon said the strike took place near Galkayo, Somalia. While the United States has frequently carried out air strikes in Somalia against al Shabaab, this was the first since Jan. 20 when Biden took office. The group's campaign of…

Jul

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Merkel heads to flood zone facing questions over preparedness

WORLD

HOLGER HANSEN GERMAN authorities have faced a mounting outcry over deadly floods that engulfed large parts of the country last week, catching Europe's richest economy flat-footed in a disaster that had been predicted days earlier. As Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to the disaster zone for the second time, there were growing questions about how well prepared local and national authorities were for the floods that swept through defenceless towns and villages last week. "There were warnings about the masses of debris and floodwaters that were rolling towards these people and these warnings were not handled at all in the way…

Jul

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Haj pilgrims face growing heat stroke risks with global warming

WORLD

MAYA GEBEILY AS thousands of devout Muslims flock to Islam's holiest sites in Saudi Arabia for the annual haj pilgrimage this week, scientists warn the sacred rite is under threat due to deadly rising heat. The risk of pilgrims suffering life-threatening heatstroke could rise five-fold with global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial times, found the study in the journal Environmental Research Letters. With an increase of 2C - the less ambitious goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement - the probability becomes 10 times higher, said Climate Analytics, a Berlin-based think-tank. "The region is already susceptible…