WORLD - The African Mirror

Jun

13

2021

G7 rivals China with grand infrastructure plan

WORLD

STEVE HOLLAND and GUY FAULCONBRIDGE THE Group of Seven richest democracies have sought to counter China's growing influence by offering developing nations an infrastructure plan that would rival President Xi Jinping's multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative. The G7, whose leaders are meeting in southwestern England and who discussed strategic competition with Beijing, has been searching for a coherent response to the growing assertiveness of Xi after China's surging economic and military rise over the past 40 years. U.S. President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders hope the plan, known as the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative, will provide a…

Jun

13

2021

By The African Mirror

SPECIAL REPORT: Trump-inspired death threats are terrorizing election workers

WORLD

LINDA SO LATE on the night of April 24, the wife of Georgia's top election official got a chilling text message: "You and your family will be killed very slowly." A week earlier, Tricia Raffensperger, wife of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, had received another anonymous text: "We plan for the death of you and your family every day." That followed an April 5 text warning. A family member, the texter told her, was "going to have a very unfortunate incident." Those messages, which have not been previously reported, illustrate the continuing barrage of threats and intimidation against election officials…

Jun

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Indian medical workers scale mountains to bring vaccines to remote corners

WORLD

AS India rushes to vaccinate its people against the coronavirus, medical workers often have to trek to perilous heights and across treacherous terrain to reach those in remote areas. In the northern region of Lidderwat, more than 100 km (60 miles) from the capital of India-administered Kashmir, medical teams have had to trek more than six hours on foot and ponies to reach nomadic and shepherd tribes in the mountains. On a recent morning, Reuters tagged along with a team of over a dozen health workers carrying medical kits and equipment including oxygen cylinders atop ponies and on foot to…

Apr

26

2021

By The African Mirror

PM Modi says India shaken by coronavirus ‘storm’, U.S. readies help

WORLD

SANJEEV MIGLANI and SUDARSHAN VARADHAN PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi urged all citizens to be vaccinated and exercise caution, saying the "storm" of infections had shaken India, as the country set a new global record of the most number of COVID-19 infections in a day. The United States said it was deeply concerned by the massive surge in coronavirus cases in India and would rapidly send aid. The number of cases surged by 349,691 in the past 24 hours, the fourth straight day of record peaks. Hospitals in Delhi and across the country are turning away patients after running out of…

Apr

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Armenian PM triggers early election a day after Biden’s genocide announcement

WORLD

VLADIMIR SOLDATKIN ARMENIAN Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was swept to power in pro-democracy protests in 2018, triggered an early election on Sunday to try overcome criticism over his handling of last year's conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. His resignation, which was expected, came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden said that massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 constituted genocide, a move welcomed by Armenians worldwide and condemned by Turkey. Pashinyan told Biden the symbolic decision was a matter of security to Armenia after the six week conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, in which Turkey backed Armenia's neighbour Azerbaijan, where…

Jun

12

2021

By The African Mirror

G7 eyes allocating $100 bln from IMF funds to COVID-ravaged nations

WORLD

THE United States and other Group of Seven nations are considering reallocating $100 billion from the International Monetary Fund's war chest to help countries struggling most to cope with the COVID-19 crisis, the White House said. The issue will be on the table when G7 leaders discuss how to help steer the world's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic at a three-day summit in Cornwall, southwestern England, which begins on Friday. "The United States and our G7 partners are actively considering a global effort to multiply the impact of the proposed Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation to the countries most in…

Apr

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Female car repair shop owner blazes a trail in UAE

WORLD

HUDA al-Matroushi is one of few Emirati women to venture into the car repair business, an industry that has long been dominated by men in the Arab world. "I enjoy it a lot," says Matroushi, holding up her oil-stained work glove. "Because I'm on top of my job, and it's my business, I belong to it: I feel proud of myself." Cars have been a hobby for Matroushi, 36, since childhood. "I like cars and their models and their details. I like sports cars, I like luxurious cars, even normal non-luxurious cars, I love them all." She turned that passion…

Jun

12

2021

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE-UK’s Raab: No doubt some countries are using vaccines as a geopolitical tool

WORLD

WILLIAM JAMES BRITISH foreign minister Dominic Raab said yesterday there was no doubt some countries were using vaccines as a diplomatic tool to secure influence, and that Britain did not support so-called 'vaccine diplomacy. Asked in a Reuters interview whether he was concerned that China and Russia could use vaccines in exchange for influence in parts of the world, he said: "There's no doubt there's some of this is going about, and we don't support vaccine diplomacy, let alone blackmail. "We think that we've got a moral duty, but also a strong vested interest in getting the world vaccinated," he…

Jun

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Mona Lisa up for auction? Not quite

WORLD

LUCIEN LIBERT RAYMOND Hekking spent decades trying to convince the world that the Mona Lisa painting he bought from a French antique shop in 1953 was the real thing and the one in the Louvre Museum was a fake. Now Christie's auction house has put the 'Hekking Mona Lisa' up for sale, hoping the story of his campaign to realise his dream will help compensate for the fact it is a copy. "It looks like the Mona Lisa but the quality of the execution is not Leonardo da Vinci," Christie's International Director of Old Master Painting Pierre Etienne said. "Unfortunately…

Jun

12

2021

By The African Mirror

G7 to donate 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries

WORLD

KATE HOLTON BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson expects the Group of Seven to agree to donate 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries during its summit starting on Friday, and help inoculate the world by the end of next year. Just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to supercharge the battle against the coronavirus with a donation of 500 million Pfizer shots, Johnson said Britain would give at least 100 million surplus vaccines to the poorest nations. Johnson has already called on G7 leaders to commit to vaccinate the entire world by the end of 2022 and the…