WORLD - The African Mirror

Apr

20

2021

George Floyd’s alleged killed ‘betrayed police badge’

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN A prosecutor told the jury that former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin betrayed his badge and murdered George Floyd in last year's deadly arrest as closing arguments began in Chauvin's trial. Over and over again, Steve Schleicher, a prosecutor with the Minnesota attorney general's office, repeated a phrase: "Nine minutes and 29 seconds," — the length of time Chauvin was captured on video on May 25, 2020, kneeling on the dying Floyd's neck. Schleicher emphasized that the jury was weighing the guilt of only one man, although their verdict will nonetheless be widely seen as a reckoning in the…

Apr

20

2021

By The African Mirror

World is on “verge of the abyss” – UN chief

WORLD

EMMA FARGE and KATE ABNETT THE year 2020 was one of the three hottest years on record, marked by wildfires, droughts, floods and melting glaciers, a United Nations report said yesterday, prompting the U.N. Secretary-General to say the world stands "on the verge of the abyss". In a "double blow" to millions hit by the extreme climate events, lockdown restrictions linked to the global coronavirus pandemic also delayed crucial assistance in some regions, said the report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The 'State of the Global Climate' report confirms its preliminary findings, including on land and ocean temperatures, and…

Apr

20

2021

By The African Mirror

U.N. experts scathing about “tone-deaf” UK report on racial equality

WORLD

U.N. human rights experts yesterday rejected a review commissioned by Britain's government into race inequality as an attempt to "normalise white supremacy despite considerable research and evidence of institutional racism". The report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, issued on March 31, said that Britain should be seen as a "model for other white-majority countries" - a conclusion that provoked fury from domestic critics who branded it a "whitewash". "In 2021, it is stunning to read a report on race and ethnicity that repackages racist tropes and stereotypes into fact, twisting data and misapplying statistics and studies into…

Jun

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Sexual assault conviction overturned, Cosby is home

WORLD

JOSEPH AX and JONATHAN STEMPEL BILL Cosby was freed from prison and has returned home, less than two hours after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction, saying he never should have faced charges after striking a non-prosecution deal with a previous district attorney more than 15 years ago. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its split decision after Cosby had served more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence following his 2018 conviction. Cosby, 83, was released from a state prison in Shippack, Pennsylvania, just before 2:30 p.m. (1830 GMT), a corrections department spokesperson said. Around an…

Jul

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Key remarks from Russian President Putin’s annual phone-in

WORLD

THE following are highlights from Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual phone-in yesterday. Putin spoke in Russian. The quotes below were translated into English by Reuters. PUTIN ON GETTING VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19 "I thought that I needed to be protected as long as possible. So I chose to be vaccinated with Sputnik V. The military is getting vaccinated with Sputnik V, and after all I'm the commander-in-chief. "After the first shot, I didn't feel anything at all. About four hours later, there was some tenderness where I had the shot. I did the second (shot) at midday. At midnight, I measured…

Jul

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Scores feared dead as rescuers soldier on nearly week after Florida condo collapse

WORLD

GABRIELLA BORTER RESCUE crews found more bodies overnight in the shattered ruins of a collapsed Miami-area condominium tower, the leader of an Israeli search team has said, after days of scant progress in discovering the fate of dozens of people still missing. Twelve people have been confirmed killed in the disaster, which could rank as one of the deadliest accidental structural failures in U.S. history. But 149 others were still missing and believed trapped in the rubble. Nobody has been pulled alive from the mounds of pulverized concrete, splintered lumber and twisted metal since the early hours of the disaster.…

Jul

01

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Refugees in their own country’: Lebanon backs aid for 500,000 families

WORLD

TIMOUR AZHARI LEBANON’S parliament has approved a $556 million cash injection for half a million families - the latest aid package for a population pauperised by an economy in collapse. The programme would provide up to $137 per family per month for a year and complements a $246-million World Bank loan for a basic social safety net that was approved by parliament in March but has not yet been disbursed. It aims, in part, to replace a subsidy programme for basics such as fuel and food that costs the cash-strapped state some $6 billion a year but could now be…

Apr

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Myanmar unity government says it must be part of any ASEAN bid to end crisis

WORLD

MYANMAR’S newly formed government of national unity urged neighbouring countries to not recognise the junta that seized power in February and to negotiate with it instead as part of any attempt to solve the crisis that began with the coup. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a way out of the bloody turmoil that has racked fellow member Myanmar since the military ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. The military has shown little willingness to engage with its neighbours and no sign of wanting…

Apr

19

2021

By The African Mirror

“There will be consequences if Kremlin critic Navalny dies”

WORLD

SARAH N LYNCH PRESIDENT Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that the U.S. government has told Russia "there will be consequences" if Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny dies in prison. "We have communicated to the Russian government that what happens to Mr. Navalny in their custody is their responsibility and they will be held accountable by the international community," Sullivan told CNN. "In terms of the specific measures that we would undertake, we are looking at a variety of different costs that we would impose and I am not going to…

Apr

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Syria to hold presidential election, slammed by opposition

WORLD

SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI SYRIA will hold a presidential election on May 26 that is virtually certain to return President Bashar al-Assad for a third term - an event that Washington and the opposition say is a farce designed to cement his autocratic rule. Assad's family and his Baath party have ruled Syria for five decades with the help of the security forces and the army, where his Alawite minority dominate. This year is the 10th anniversary of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters which triggered a civil war that has left much of Syria in ruins. The multi-sided conflict has sucked…