WORLD - The African Mirror

Apr

14

2021

Myanmar activists cancel new year festivities; U.N. urges end to ‘slaughter’

WORLD

OPPONENTS of military rule in Myanmar cancelled traditional new year festivities yesterday and instead showed their anger with the generals who seized power through low-key displays of defiance and small protests across the country. The United Nations human rights office said it feared that the military clampdown on protests since the Feb. 1 coup risked escalating into a civil conflict like that seen in Syria and appealed for a halt to the "slaughter". A Myanmar activist group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, says the security forces have killed 710 protesters since the ouster of an elected government led by…

Apr

14

2021

By The African Mirror

Black man killed by police in Minnesota was ‘amazing, loving kid’

WORLD

DAUNTE Wright, the 20-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a white police officer in a Minneapolis suburb during a traffic stop on Sunday, was kind, liked basketball and had a tight-knit family, according to media interviews with his relatives. Former U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for a "full and transparent investigation" into the death of Wright, who police say was shot when the officer mistakenly grabbed her pistol, rather than her Taser, after a routine traffic stop. Wright's mother, Katie Wright, told ABC News on Tuesday that her son was an "amazing, loving kid" who "had…

Apr

14

2021

By The African Mirror

Argentine town bears scars of poverty as pandemic sharpens economic crisis

WORLD

MIGUEL LOBIANCO and JUAN BUSTAMANTE IN a run-down part of Manzanares, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the scars of poverty are clear. People cook with firewood. Some have no electricity, gas or running water. Children play barefoot with old toys next to rudimentary homes. It is a stark reflection of a wider issue gripping Argentina, which a century ago was once of the richest countries in the world. By the end of last year, the poverty level was at 42%, up from 35.5% a year earlier, rising amid the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and three years of recession.…

Jul

06

2021

By The African Mirror

Hackers demand $70 mln to restore data held by companies hit in cyberattack

WORLD

RAPHAEL SATTER HACKERS suspected to be behind a mass extortion attack that affected hundreds of companies worldwide late on Sunday demanded $70 million to restore the data they are holding ransom, according to a posting on a dark website. The demand was posted on a blog typically used by the REvil cybercrime gang, a Russia-linked group that is counted among the cybercriminal world's most prolific extortionists. The gang has an affiliate structure, occasionally making it difficult to determine who speaks on the hackers' behalf, but Allan Liska of cybersecurity firm Recorded Future said the message "almost certainly" came from REvil's…

Jul

06

2021

By The African Mirror

Collapsed Florida condo demolished ahead of storm, search to resume

WORLD

FRANCISCO ALVARADO THE partially collapsed Miami-area condo where 24 people are confirmed dead was demolished, ahead of the possible arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa. Search-and-rescue efforts for 121 people missing have been suspended. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters earlier on Sunday that rescue efforts would resume after the demolition, noting it was 11 days since the collapse. Video footage showed the 12-story building collapsing downward and throwing up plumes of smoke. As of Sunday afternoon, Tropical Storm Elsa was off the coast of Cuba with winds of 60 miles per hour (95 kph). After moving across Cuba…

Jul

06

2021

By The African Mirror

Philippines orders probe after the worst military accident in 3 decades

WORLD

KAREN LEMA and ENRICO DELA CRUZ PHILIPPINES authorities ordered an investigation into the crash of an Air Force plane that overshot a runway and killed more than 50 people, including civilians, in the country's worst military air accident in nearly three decades. President Rodrigo Duterte flew to a military camp in the southern city of Zamboanga, where the dead and dozens of injured were brought following the crash on Sunday of a transport plane the defence ministry said was in good condition. "I commiserate with you. I am as sorrowful as you. And as commander-in-chief, I am hurting the most…

Apr

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Chauvin lawyer loses bid to sequester jury after police shoot Black man near Minneapolis

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN THE judge in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis policeman charged with George Floyd's deadly arrest last May, denied a defence request yesterday to sequester the jurors after police in a neighbouring city fatally shot a Black man. Testimony resumed in the murder trial as the prosecution called an expert in cardiology, Dr. Jonathan Rich, to testify that Floyd died as a result of the restraint used on him by police rather than a drug overdose, as suggested by the defense. Rich also said Chauvin had multiple opportunities to save Floyd's life. Prosecutors are nearing the…

Apr

13

2021

By The African Mirror

With ‘Sarong Revolution’, women in Myanmar defy coup and patriarchy

WORLD

BEN LIH YI AS women take a frontline role in anti-coup protests in Myanmar, some have found an inventive way of defying military rule - hanging traditional sarongs, underwear and even sanitary pads in the streets to spook superstitious policemen and soldiers. The movement, dubbed the "Sarong Revolution" by feminists, plays on a belief that deems it bad luck for men to walk beneath women's clothing and highlights women's fears that the February 1 coup could roll back hard-won gains on gender equality. "The htamein (sarong) has become our tool at the protests," said Naw Esther Chit, 28, an ethnic…

Apr

13

2021

By The African Mirror

‘I’m so excited’ – England reopens with pints pulled, shopping sprees and hair cuts

WORLD

CARL RECINE, KATE HOLTON and SARAH YOUNG CROWDS queued up outside shops, pubs started selling pints at midnight and hairdressers welcomed desperate customers on Monday as England started to reopen its economy after three months of lockdown. After imposing the most onerous restrictions in Britain's peacetime history, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the reopening was a "major step" towards freedom but urged people to behave responsibly as the coronavirus was still a threat. Some folk lined up at bars after midnight or in the morning to raise a pint with fellow revellers. "It feels good to be back," Matthew McGuinness,…

Apr

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Protests after police fatally shoot Black man in Minneapolis

WORLD

NICHOLAS PFOSI and JONATHAN ALLEN PROTESTS erupted against police when an officer fatally shot a young Black man after stopping his vehicle for a traffic violation about 16 km from where George Floyd was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis last May. As angry crowds swelled into the hundreds outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department building on Sunday night, officers in riot gear fired rubber bullets and lobbed flash bangs at protesters and let off clouds of chemical irritants. The man killed by police was identified by relatives and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as Daunte Wright, 20. Walz said in…