WORLD - The African Mirror

Jun

15

2021

Man with 39 wives, head of ‘world’s largest family’, dies in India

WORLD

ALASDAIR PAL and ADNAN ABIDI A 76-year-old man who had 39 wives and 94 children and was said to be the head of the world's largest family has died in north east India, the chief minister of his home state said. Ziona Chana, the head of a local Christian sect that allows polygamy, died on Sunday, Zoramthanga, the chief minister of Mizoram and who goes by one name, said in a tweet. Ziona, 67, poses for a picture at the construction site of a church in Baktawng village in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram on October 5, 2011. REUTERS/Adnan…

May

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Scientists say India government ignored warnings amid coronavirus surge

WORLD

DEVJYOT GOSHLAL and KRISHNA N. DAS A forum of scientific advisers set up by the government warned Indian officials in early March of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus taking hold in the country, five scientists who are part of the forum told Reuters. Despite the warning, four of the scientists said the federal government did not seek to impose major restrictions to stop the spread of the virus. Millions of largely unmasked people attended religious festivals and political rallies that were held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and opposition…

May

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Maradona care ‘deficient and reckless’ before death, medical board report finds

WORLD

JUAN BUSTAMANE A medical board appointed to investigate the death of Diego Maradona has concluded that the soccer star's medical team acted in an "inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner," according to a copy of the report shared with Reuters. Maradona's death in November last year rocked the South American nation where he was revered, prompting a period of mourning and angry finger pointing about who was to blame after the icon's years-long battle with addiction and ill health. Argentine prosecutors launched investigations shortly after Maradona's death at age 60 from heart failure at a house near Buenos Aires, including ordering…

May

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Next major war will be ‘very different,’ U.S. defense secretary says

WORLD

THE United States needs to prepare for a potential future conflict bearing little resemblance to “the old wars” that have long consumed the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday in his first significant policy speech. Austin called for harnessing technological advances and better integrating military operations globally to “understand faster, decide faster and act faster.” “The way we fight the next major war is going to look very different from the way we fought the last ones,” Austin said during a trip to the Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command. Austin did not explicitly mention rivals like China or Russia. But…

Jun

14

2021

By The African Mirror

Netanyahu out, Bennett in as Israel marks end of an era

WORLD

JEFFREYHELLER and MAAYAN LUBELL BENJAMIN Netanyahu's record 12-year run as Israel's prime minister ended on Sunday with parliament approving a new "government of change" led by nationalist Naftali Bennett, an improbable scenario few Israelis could have imagined. But the razor-thin 60-59 vote of confidence in a coalition of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties with little in common except for a desire to unseat Netanyahu, only underscored its likely fragility. Addressing parliament before Bennett was sworn in, a combative Netanyahu said: "If we are destined to go into the opposition, we will do so with our heads held high until…

Jun

14

2021

By The African Mirror

FACTBOX: China, climate and vaccines – what the G7 agreed this weekend

WORLD

THE Group of Seven rich nations promised to tackle China's growing influence, fight climate change, get more COVID-19 jabs to poor countries and keep up their economic stimulus programmes at their first summit since Joe Biden became U.S. president. Following is a summary of the main points agreed by the leaders of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada at their three-day meeting at a beachside hotel in southwest England which ended yesterday. CLIMATE CHANGE - The G7 said it would meet a long-overdue funding pledge of $100 billion a year by rich countries to help poorer…

Jun

14

2021

By The African Mirror

Cheers drown out boos as England take the knee at Wembley

WORLD

CHEERS and applause quickly drowned out some boos as England players kneeled on Sunday in an anti-racism gesture at kick-off against Croatia in their Euro 2020 opener at Wembley. England players were shocked by jeering at the gesture from a minority of fans in two friendlies prior to the tournament. Manager Gareth Southgate, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and leading football figures had appealed for a stop to that. Once again, there was some jeering from a small section as players briefly went down on one knee, but many others among the 25,000 crowd in a sun-kissed Wembley began applauding and…

May

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Medics work to identify the 45 killed in Israeli stampede

WORLD

RAMI AMICHAY, DAN WILLIAMS and ARI RABINOVITCH MEDICAL teams have begun the work to identify 45 people crushed to death in a stampede at a religious festival on the slopes of Israel's Mount Meron, with children among the dead. Witnesses spoke of seeing a "pyramid" of people who were asphyxiated or trampled in a passageway around 3 metres (10 feet) wide at the crowded event in the Galilee. Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had thronged to the tomb of 2nd-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai for the annual Lag B'Omer commemorations that include all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance.…

May

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Fear grips India’s vast informal workforce as vaccines run low

WORLD

ANURADHA NAGARAJ and ROLI SRIVASTAVA INDIAN developer Satish Magar has managed to get 700 of his construction workers vaccinated against COVID-19 in the last month, and he hopes to do the same for another 2,000 in May. Magar wants all his workers to have the vaccine as India grapples with a catastrophic surge in coronavirus cases that has overwhelmed hospitals and morgues, with oxygen in short supply. "We have explained the importance of getting vaccinated to them," said Magar, the national president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI). "If they don't get vaccinated, one infection…

May

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Samsung heir Lee inherits key portion of patriarch’s stake

WORLD

JOYCE LEE STAKES in Samsung Electronics and affiliates held by its late chairman were divided among his family and appear to bolster the control of his son and the company's vice chairman, Jay Y. Lee, regulatory filings have shown. This is the first time the information has been publicly disclosed since Lee Kun-hee, credited with turning Samsung into the world's largest smartphone and memory chip maker, died last October. Lee Kun-hee in 2017. Picture: pars down/Flickr The inheritance was shared by his son Jay Y. Lee, daughters Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, and wife Hong Ra-hee. Jay Y. Lee's stake…