WORLD - The African Mirror

May

09

2021

Indian states impose stricter lockdowns as COVID deaths hit record high

WORLD

SUDARSHAN VARADHAN and TANVI MEHTA INDIA yesterday reported its highest ever single-day COVID-19 death toll, as cases continued to rise and states imposed stricter lockdowns. India's health ministry reported 4,187 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll close to 240,000. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that India will see 1 million COVID deaths by August. Cases rose by 401,078 on Saturday, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 21.9 million. Medical experts say the real numbers of COVID-19 cases and fatalities are likely to be far higher than official tallies.…

May

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Biden administration joins global campaign against online extremism

WORLD

THE United States will join a New Zealand-led global campaign to stamp out violent extremism online, the White House said, making a policy change two years after the administration of former President Donald Trump declined to participate. The initiative was started by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019 after a gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch while live-streaming his rampage on Facebook. Biden administration spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States would join the "Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content…

Jun

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Iran, world powers adjourn nuclear talks, resumption date unclear

WORLD

FRANCOIS MURPHY and PARISA HAFEZI NEGOTIATORS for Iran and six world powers yesterday adjourned talks on reviving their 2015 nuclear deal and return to respective capitals for consultations as remaining differences still need to be overcome, officials said. "We are now closer than ever to an agreement but the distance that exists between us and an agreement remains and bridging it is not an easy job," Iran's top negotiator Abbas Araqchi told state TV from Vienna. "We will return to Tehran tonight." After more than a week of negotiations in their latest round, parties to the pact wrapped up with…

Jun

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Watchdog says ‘pervasive’ digital sex crime affecting life for S.Korean women, girls

WORLD

JOSH SMITH DIGITAL sex crime is now so pervasive in South Korea that the fear of it is affecting the quality of life for women and girls, with many victims saying they had considered suicide or leaving the country, according to human rights watchdog. South Korea has become the global epicentre of spycam - the use of tiny, hidden cameras to film victims naked, urinating or having sex. Other cases have involved intimate photos being leaked without permission, or sex abuse such as rapes captured on camera and the videos shared online. Victims are often traumatized further and become "immersed…

May

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Gandhi warns ‘explosive’ COVID wave threatens India and the world

WORLD

NIVEDITA BHATTACHARJEE and ANURON KUMAR MITRA INDIA’S main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi warned on Friday that unless the deadly second COVID-19 wave sweeping the country was brought under control it would devastate India as well as threaten the rest of the world. In a letter, Gandhi implored Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prepare for another national lockdown, accelerate a countrywide vaccination programme and scientifically track the virus and its mutations. Gandhi said the world's second-most populous nation had a responsibility in "a globalised and interconnected world" to stop the "explosive" growth of COVID-19 within its borders. "India is home to…

May

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Grand jury indicts four former police officers in George Floyd’s death

WORLD

A federal grand jury in Minneapolis has indicted four ex-police officers involved in the arrest and death of George Floyd on charges they violated Floyd's civil rights while detaining him last year, according to court documents unsealed on Friday. The three-count indictment names Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane as defendants and charges them with depriving Floyd of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process under the law, which includes his right to not have his medical needs ignored. "The defendants saw George Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of…

May

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Rio police draws international ire as 25 killed in drug gun battle

WORLD

RODRIGO VIGA GAIER AT least 25 people were killed in a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and police in Rio de Janeiro, one of the state's deadliest police raids, police said. People targeted in the raid in the poor Jacarezinho neighborhood tried to escape across rooftops as police arrived in armored vehicles and helicopters flew overhead, television images showed. The firefight forced residents to shelter in their homes. The victims included one police officer, and the remainder were suspected members of the drug-trafficking gang that dominated life in the slum, including some of its leaders, police said. It was the…

Jun

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Biden talks down Russia, spurs allies in bid to back Putin into a corner

WORLD

SIMON LEWIS and TREVOR HUNNICUTT PRESIDENT Joe Biden on his first foreign foray sought to cast Russia not as a direct competitor to the United States but as a bit player in a world where Washington is increasingly pre-occupied by China. Aides said Biden wanted to send a message that Putin was isolating himself on the international stage with his actions, ranging from election interference and cyber-attacks against Western nations to his treatment of domestic critics. "He was clear and direct in where he was standing up and pushing back against Putin," Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters…

Jun

20

2021

By The African Mirror

United Nations calls for halt of weapons to Myanmar

WORLD

MICHELLE NICHOLS THE United Nations General Assembly has called for a stop to the flow of arms to Myanmar and urged the military to respect November election results and release political detainees, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The General Assembly adopted a resolution with the support of 119 countries several months after the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in a February 1 coup. Belarus requested the text be put to a vote and was the only country to oppose it, while 36 abstained, including China and Russia. "The risk of a large-scale civil war is real,"…

May

07

2021

By The African Mirror

EXPERT VIEWS: U.S. vaccine patent waiver: a “game changer” for the global south?

WORLD

ANURADHA NAGARAJ, ANASTASIA MOLONEY and KIM HARRISBERG THE United States' announcement that it backs waiving intellectual property (IP) protections for COVID-19 vaccines could be a "game-changer" in the global fight to control the pandemic, health experts said on Thursday. The surprise move comes amid fears that India's escalating coronavirus crisis, along with new variants circulating in India and elsewhere, could stymie efforts to curb the disease unless vaccination levels are rapidly ramped up worldwide. South Africa and India are leading efforts to temporarily waive patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines and medicines at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in order to…