WORLD - The African Mirror

May

18

2021

Thrill of the silver screen returns to England as lockdown eases

WORLD

HANNA RANTALA LONDONER Sam Poch was anticipating the thrill of the big screen lighting up as he waited on Monday to enter a cinema on Leicester Square - a once routine experience that has not been possible for months because of COVID-19 restrictions. The 31-year-old content producer was among the first arriving to watch a film the old-fashioned way as cinemas in England reopened their doors as part of the latest stage in the government's phased lockdown relaxation plan. "I missed it a lot. It's just the whole experience of going out, sitting down in (front of) the big screen…

May

17

2021

By The African Mirror

US casts 45 vetoes, and counting, to protect Israel

WORLD

THALIF DEEN THE UN Security Council (UNSC), the most powerful political body at the United Nations, has largely remained silent or ineffective in resolving one of the longstanding military conflicts in the Middle East involving Israelis and Palestinians. But, at the same time, several attempts to condemn Israel for its excesses have been thwarted by successive US administrations, which have exercised the veto power in the Security Council to protect a client state whose survival has depended largely on billions of dollars in US economic and military aid, state-of-the-art weapons systems and outright military grants doled out gratis. Stephen Zunes,…

May

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Gaza girl survives Israeli strike that shattered her family and home

WORLD

NIDAL al-MUGHRABI SIX-year-old Suzy Eshkuntana woke up alone in Gaza's largest hospital where she was rushed by rescuers from the rubble of her home, which had been wrecked by a pre-dawn Israeli strike that killed her mother and all four of her siblings. The young girl, trapped for seven hours under the debris, was reunited in Shifa hospital with her father, who was also being treated for his wounds. Rescuers carry Suzy Eshkuntana as they pull her from the rubble of a building. "Forgive me, my daughter. You screamed to me to come to you, but I couldn't come," Riyad…

May

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Jordan’s King says diplomacy under way to halt Israel’s military campaign

WORLD

JORDAN’S King Abdullah has revealed that his kingdom is involved in intensive diplomacy to halt what he characterised as Israeli military escalation in the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence in years. The monarch, whose ruling family has custodianship of Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem, did not elaborate on the diplomacy, which was communicated via a news flash on state media. Jordanian government officials have told Reuters the pro-Western kingdom is leading a diplomatic campaign with its European and U.S. allies to put pressure on Israel to end its air and artillery barrage on Gaza since fighting erupted last Monday. The Israeli…

May

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Thousands evacuated from India’s west coast as cyclone lashes states

WORLD

SUMIT KHANNA INDIA is evacuating thousands of people from low-lying areas along its western coast as a powerful cyclone that has killed at least six people is expected to make landfall on Tuesday morning in the state of Gujarat. Cyclone Tauktae, which formed in the Arabian sea, has already brought lashing rain and winds that damaged houses and uprooted trees to parts of western and southern India. "It is very likely to intensify further during the 24 hours, and move north-northwestwards and reach Gujarat coast in the evening of 17th (May)," the India Meteorological Department said in a statement. The…

May

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Australia sticks by plan to re-open border in mid-2022

WORLD

LIDIA KELLY AUSTRALIA is sticking to plans to start re-opening to the rest of the world only from the middle of next year, officials said on yesterday, resisting mounting pressure to end the closure of international borders. In March 2020, Australia closed its borders to non-nationals and non-residents and has since been allowing only limited international arrivals, mainly citizens returning from abroad. "All the way through we will be guided by the medical advice," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a televised briefing. "We will be guided by the economic advice." Earlier in the day, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the…

May

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Biden urges Gaza-Israel calm in first call with Abbas

WORLD

U.S. President Joe Biden urged calm between Israel and Gaza on yesterday and affirmed his support for a two-state solution in his first phone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas since taking office, the official Palestinian news agency said. The conversation came amid heavy fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip. Biden dispatched an envoy to the region on Friday to work for calm. Biden told Abbas the United States "is making efforts with the concerned parties to reach the goal" of reducing violence in the region, a summary of the call published by WAFA said.…

May

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Bodies of COVID-19 victims among those dumped in India’s Ganges -gov’t document

WORLD

KHRISNA N. DAS BODIES of COVID-19 victims have been found dumped in some Indian rivers, a state government letter seen by Reuters says, in the first official acknowledgement of the alarming practice, which it said may stem from poverty and fear of the disease in remote areas. Images of corpses drifting down the Ganges river, which is considered holy in Hinduism, have shocked the country, reeling under the world's worst surge in COVID-19 cases. Although media reports have linked the increase in the number of bodies found floating in the river and its tributaries in recent days to the pandemic,…

May

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Myanmar army battles anti-coup rebels as armed resistance grows

WORLD

MYANMAR’S army battled local militia fighters in the northwestern town of Mindat yesterday, residents said, to try to quell a rebellion that has sprung up to oppose the junta which seized power in the Southeast Asian country in February. The fighting is some of the heaviest since the coup and underlines the growing chaos as the junta struggles to impose order in the face of daily protests, strikes and sabotage attacks after it overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "We are running for our lives," one resident told Reuters from Mindat, a hill town just over 100 km (60…

May

15

2021

By The African Mirror

Desperate Gazans flee Israeli bombardment in cars and carts

WORLD

MOHAMMAD SALEM and NIDAL al-MUGHRABI AFTER days of heavy Israeli airstrikes, and then intensifying artillery fire, some terrified residents of north Gaza are not waiting to see if there is a repeat of 2014, when a ground assault followed. Under heavy shelling on Thursday night, Rewaa Marouf grabbed her children and fled the town of Beit Lahiya, close to Gaza's northern border with Israel. She ended up in a U.N.-run school in Jabalia refugee camp, joining dozens of others crammed inside, while on the roads outside people were heading further south in cars, on donkey carts or by foot. "We…