WORLD - The African Mirror

Apr

03

2021

Sao Paulo exhumes old graves to make space for surging COVID-19 burials

WORLD

EDUARDO SIMOES and AMANDA PEROBELLI BRAZIL’S biggest city on Thursday sped up efforts to empty old graves, making room for a soaring number of COVID-19 deaths as Sao Paulo city hall registered record daily burials this week. Gravediggers in the Vila Nova Cachoeirinha cemetery in the city's northern reaches worked in white hazmat suits to open the tombs of people buried years ago, bagging decomposed remains for removal to another location. Relocating remains is standard in cemetery operations, said the municipal secretary responsible for funeral services, in a statement. But it has taken on new urgency as Brazil suffers its…

Apr

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Russia says Myanmar sanctions could lead to civil war, but EU plans more

WORLD

RUSSIA has warned that the West risked triggering civil war in Myanmar by imposing sanctions on the military junta that has seized power in a coup, but France said the European Union will step up restrictions on the generals. The Kremlin's show of support was a boost to the junta that overthrew Aun San Suu Kyi's elected civilian government on Feb. 1. But it still faces a sustained campaign of pro-democracy demonstrations and civil disobedience across the country, and condemnation and more sanctions from the West. In Myanmar's main city Yangon on Tuesday, protesters sprayed red paint on roads, symbolising…

Jul

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Cuba blames unrest on U.S. sanctions, social media campaigns

WORLD

SARAH MARSH and MARC FRANK CUBAN President Miguel Diaz-Canel has blamed U.S. sanctions, tightened in recent years, for the medicine shortages, power outages and other economic shortcomings that fueled unusual protests this weekend. Appearing alongside his Cabinet in a televised address, he also blamed a social media campaign for weaponizing the shortages against what he called Communist-run Cuba's revolution. Diaz-Canel denounced vandalism across various cities on Sunday in Cuba's biggest anti-government demonstrations in decades. "They threw stones at foreign currency shops, they stole items ... and at police forces, they turned over cars - a totally vulgar, indecent and delinquent…

Apr

07

2021

By The African Mirror

‘King Bibi’ or ‘Crime Minister’? Netanyahu’s political and legal troubles

WORLD

MAAYAN LUBELL ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was given the first crack at forming a government yesterday, even as his corruption trial moved into its second day of evidence. After a fourth inconclusive election in two years, there is no guarantee that Netanyahu will succeed in unblocking the political stalemate. Meanwhile, judges will continue to hear testimony in the first of three cases involving charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust against Israel's longest serving prime minister. CAN NETANYAHU BE ON TRIAL AND REMAIN PRIME MINISTER? Under Israeli law, a prime minister is under no obligation to stand down…

Jul

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Taliban surround central Afghan city of Ghazni

WORLD

TALIBAN fighters have surrounded the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan, taking over civilians' homes to fight security forces, officials have said, the latest urban centre under threat from the insurgents. The offensive was the latest on a provincial capital as the Taliban make a fresh push to surround cities and gain territory, emboldened by the departure of foreign forces. "The situation in Ghazni city is very critical...the Taliban use civilian houses as hideouts and fire upon the ANDSF (Afghan security forces), this makes the situation very difficult for the ANDSF to operate against the Taliban," said Hassan Rezayi, a…

Jul

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Jamaica plans to seek reparations from Britain over slavery

WORLD

KATE CHAPPELL JAMAICA plans to ask Britain for compensation for the Atlantic slave trade in the former British colony, a senior government official said, under a petition that could seek billions of pounds in reparations. Jamaica was a centre of the slave trade, with the Spanish, then the British, forcibly transporting Africans to work on plantations of sugar cane, bananas and other crops that created fortunes for many of their owners. "We are hoping for reparatory justice in all forms that one would expect if they are to really ensure that we get justice from injustices to repair the damages…

Apr

10

2021

By The African Mirror

41 gun salute in 41 minutes to honour Prince Philip

WORLD

NATALIE THOMAS The British Royal Navy warships today led a worldwide gun salute in honour of Prince Philip, as tributes flooded in for a man who was a pillar of strength for Queen Elizabeth during her 69-year reign. Flowers were piled high outside royal residences as sombre mourners paid their respects to the 99-year-old prince who had spent more than seven decades at the heart of the British monarchy. "We're all weeping with you, Ma'am," read the front page of the Sun tabloid, while its rival the Daily Mail ran a 144-page tribute to Philip, who died on Friday at…

Apr

10

2021

By The African Mirror

Arrest videos undercut Derek Chauvin’s murder trial defense, pathologist tells jury

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN A forensic pathologist testified on Friday that the sheer volume of videos of George Floyd's arrest helped confirm the finding that oxygen deprivation caused his death, not an opioid overdose, as argued by lawyers for the former Minneapolis officer on trial for his murder. Dr Lindsey Thomas said she agreed with the findings of the Hennepin County medical examiner who ruled Floyd's death was a homicide caused by the way Derek Chauvin and other officers pinned him to the ground on May 25, 2020. "There's never been case I was involved in that had videos over such a…

Apr

10

2021

By The African Mirror

WHO warns on Brazil COVID-19 outbreak as Bolsonaro blasts Senate inquiry

WORLD

BRAZILIAN President Jair Bolsonaro yesterday blasted a pending Senate inquiry on his handling of a record-breaking COVID-19 outbreak, which global health officials compared to a "raging inferno." Supreme Court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso ruled late on Thursday that enough senators had signed on to a proposed inquiry on the government's pandemic response to launch the probe despite stalling by Senate leadership. "It's a stitch-up between Barroso and the leftists in the Senate to wear out the government," Bolsonaro told supporters outside his residence, accusing the judge of "politicking." A Senate investigation represents the most severe political consequence to date for…

Apr

10

2021

By The African Mirror

‘My romance, your adultery’

WORLD

HYONHEE SHIN SOUTH Koreans disillusioned with President Moon Jae-in's ruling Democratic Party had a single word to sum up their disgust with political leaders they perceive as hypocritical and inept. "Naeronambul" translates to "If I do it, it's a romance. If you do it, it's adultery." The taunt began ringing in Democrats' ears last year, and they heard it a lot while campaigning for mayoral elections in Seoul and Busan this week, contests they lost by embarrassing margins. Limited to one term in office, Moon enters his last year with a majority in parliament, but his government has made damaging…