WORLD - The African Mirror

Jan

14

2026

Why Donald Trump is telling such obvious lies on the ICE Minneapolis killing

WORLD

BY now, many of us have probably seen the video of a Minneapolis woman whose last words were a calm “It’s fine, dude; I’m not mad at you,” before she was shot three times in the head as she turned her car to drive away from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Renee Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defence.” Vice-President JD Vance declared, “The reason this woman is dead is that she tried to ram somebody with her car… You have…

Jan

13

2026

By LUIS GÓMEZ ROMERO

Venezuela’s leader may be gone, but his regime remains – with a new chief in Washington

WORLD

US President Donald Trump has insisted the United States will now be “running” Venezuela after US forces bombed the capital on January 3 and whisked Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife out of the country to face federal charges in New York. Trump has promised that “large US oil companies” would be going into Venezuela to “start making money”. And in passing, he has also declared that with Maduro gone, Venezuelans “are free” and the country is already becoming “rich and safe” again. But autocratic regimes do not depend on their leaders alone. They get their strength from the…

Jan

13

2026

By DAVID HASTINGS DUNN MBE; MARK WEBBER, and STEFAN WOLFF

US action against Greenland would undermine Nato, but now is not the time to panic

WORLD

SHORTLY after the US military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on January 3, US President Donald Trump restated his claim to Greenland. The White House sees Greenland, which is part of the kingdom of Denmark, as crucial for national security and is reportedly considering a range of options to acquire the island. This includes “utilising the US military”. Trump’s proclamations have led to a sense among Europeans that US aspirations for dominance over the western hemisphere extend beyond Latin America. And the fact that Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, told congressional leaders in Washington that the administration…

Jan

13

2026

By MARIEL PADILLA

Women and children are being digitally undressed on social media

WORLD

This story was originally reported by Mariel Padilla of The 19th. Meet Mariel and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. THE social media platform X has been flooded with AI-generated sexualized images of women and children in recent weeks and months, before a new law aiming to ban the spread of nonconsensual intimate imagery goes into effect. Elon Musk, the owner of X, announced a new feature with a post on Christmas Eve, encouraging users to try editing images and videos with Grok, the app’s chatbot. Then, a few weeks later, as the new year began,…

Jan

12

2026

By ARASH BEIDOLLAHKHANI

Iran protests have put the country’s political system on trial

WORLD

PROTESTS that began in late December over rising prices and a collapsing currency have now spread to most of Iran’s 31 provinces, with demonstrators taking aim at the country’s rulers. The demonstrations signal a deep challenge to a political order that many Iranians see as incapable of delivering stability, dignity or a viable future. The unrest poses the most serious challenge to Iran’s political establishment since 2022. That year, nationwide protests erupted over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for violating hijab rules. Those demonstrations were ultimately suppressed through force. Iran’s political establishment…

Jan

12

2026

By CHABELI CARRAZANA

Here’s what’s really happening with child care fraud in Minnesota

WORLD

A viral video posted just after Christmas spurred an avalanche of news coverage, changes from the Trump administration, and congressional hearings that appeared to indicate that a massive trove of child care fraud was just uncovered in Minnesota. Much of it has been misleading. The video by right-wing YouTuber Nick Shirley, posted on December 26, purports to show that various Minneapolis day cares run by Somali Americans are not providing services to children despite receiving public funding. Although the video has already been debunked by investigators, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have seized on it. Vice President JD…

Jan

12

2026

By IAN MANNERS

Four ways to understand what’s going on with the US, Denmark and Greenland

WORLD

EUROPEAN countries, and Denmark in particular, are scrambling to respond to threats from US officials over the future of Greenland. Having successfully taken out the leadership of Venezuela in a raid on January 3, an emboldened US government is talking about simply taking Greenland for itself. Various European leaders have expressed their concern but haven’t been able to formulate a coherent response to the betrayal by a supposed ally. Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, Danish governments have willingly participated in US-led invasions of Afghanistan (2001-2021) and Iraq (2003-2007). The rightward movement across the Danish political spectrum had led…

Jan

10

2026

By The African Mirror

When federal authority turns fatal: The unaccountable violence of ICE operations

WORLD

TWO Shootings, Two Cities, Zero Accountability In the span of 48 hours, federal immigration agents have shot three people across two American cities, killing one—a U.S. citizen—and the only transparency offered comes in the form of federal press releases that local officials cannot verify, investigate, or challenge. This is not immigration enforcement. This is something far more dangerous: the emergence of a federal force operating beyond the reach of local accountability, firing weapons on American streets while state investigators are turned away at crime scenes. The Death That Changed Everything Renee Nichole Good Renee Nichole Good, 37, mother of three,…

Jan

10

2026

By The African Mirror

Iran protests: At least 28 killed in security crackdown

WORLD

IRANIAN security forces have killed at least 28 protesters and bystanders in a deadly crackdown on nationwide demonstrations that began last week, according to human rights organisations. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said Friday that security forces unlawfully used firearms, metal pellets, tear gas and beatings to disperse largely peaceful protests that erupted on December 28 following a sharp currency collapse. The deaths occurred between December 31 and January 3 across 13 cities in eight provinces, with the deadliest violence concentrated in areas home to ethnic minorities. At least eight people were killed in Lorestan province and five in…

Jan

10

2026

By JONATHAN ESTE

Greenland, Venezuela and the ‘Donroe doctrine’

WORLD

WATCHING Donald Trump and his defence and national security team announcing the US raid on Caracas on Saturday, it was hard not to conclude that while the US president was clearly using a script, there were points at which he seemed to be extemporising. At times, he appeared as if he might be inventing US foreign policy as he went along, much to the visible discomfort of his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. It must be challenging to present a coherent message about American intentions in the region when the justification for the raid shifts randomly from a law enforcement…