WORLD - The African Mirror

Dec

12

2025

Christine Choy, pioneering Asian American documentary filmmaker, dies at 73

WORLD

CHRISTINE Choy, a pioneering Asian-American documentary filmmaker, died December 7 at age 73. Choy was one of the first Asian-American women nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, getting a nod alongside her co-director Renee Tajima-Peña for the documentary “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” Born in Shanghai to a Korean father and Chinese mother, Choy moved to New York City at 14. There, she became involved with the Black Panther Party and local activism. While attending Manhattanville College, she joined the Newsreel, later Third World Newsreel, an activist filmmaker collective that produced and distributed films highlighting key social movements of…

Dec

11

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Gaza babies born into crisis as maternal malnutrition doubles low-birthweight rates

WORLD

NEWBORNS in Gaza are entering the world weighing less than a kilogram, their survival hanging by a thread as maternal malnutrition reaches catastrophic levels unseen before the conflict began. The number of underweight babies born in Gaza has doubled since fighting erupted, with 15 infants born dangerously small every day - twice the pre-war rate. These children face mortality rates 20 times higher than normal-weight babies, according to UNICEF officials who say the crisis stems from a devastating cycle of starving mothers giving birth to failing infants. "In Gaza's hospitals, I have met several newborns who weighed less than one…

Dec

11

2025

By The African Mirror

UNHCR honors four humanitarian leaders with 2025 Nansen Refugee Awards

WORLD

GENEVA — The UN Refugee Agency announced on Tuesday that four humanitarian leaders from Mexico, Iraq, Tajikistan and Ukraine will receive the 2025 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Awards for their work supporting displaced populations. The regional winners include a Mexican business executive who has helped employ hundreds of refugees, an Iraqi activist supporting conflict survivors, an Afghan refugee educator in Tajikistan, and a Ukrainian NGO delivering aid in active war zones. UNHCR will present the awards at a December 16 ceremony in Geneva alongside the Global Laureate, Martin Azia Sodea, a village chief in Cameroon whose community has integrated tens of…

Dec

11

2025

By JESSIKA HARKAY, THE 74

For decades, students of color have been denied dyslexia diagnosis and intervention

WORLD

WHEN Clarice Jackson raised concerns in 2000 about her adopted daughter’s inability to read two or three-letter words by the fourth grade, she was told by Nebraska school officials it was because of the child’s early home life and her misbehaviour in class. When Ohio mother Joy Palmer raised concerns in 2013, her daughter was already falling behind in first grade, and she feared it was because of hearing problems caused by chronic ear infections. School officials told her testing revealed no concerns, and her daughter was performing well enough — except for her classroom behaviour. And when Jackie Castillo-Blaber’s…

Dec

14

2024

By ZEINA SHAHLA

In Damascus, young Syrians want to help build a free and better future

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Zeina Shahla THE week before President Bashar al-Assad fell, Leen Ghebeh was working on a scholarship application she hoped would let her restart her life and career abroad. Now, the 25-year-old Damascus resident and architect feels she may have a future in Syria after all, and she has been busy cleaning the streets of her city. On 11 December, days after rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) claimed control of Damascus after quickly advancing through Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, Ghebeh posted a video of herself on social media sweeping…

Dec

10

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Syria one year later: The fragile promise of return

WORLD

ONE year after the Assad regime collapsed, Syria stands at a precarious crossroads. More than 3 million displaced Syrians have made the journey home - the largest return movement in recent humanitarian history - but the infrastructure to support them remains dangerously inadequate, threatening to transform hope into renewed crisis. The numbers tell a story of extraordinary human determination: 1.2 million refugees have crossed back from neighbouring countries since December 2024, while 1.9 million internally displaced people have returned to their communities of origin. They are moving toward a country still bearing deep scars from 14 years of war, where…

Dec

10

2025

By ADAM RHODES, PRISM

Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans and intersex people, memo says

WORLD

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to dismantle protections for trans and intersex people in federal, state and local prisons, jails and youth detention facilities, according to a government memo obtained by Prism. The memo, dated December 2, takes aim at existing standards of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) that the department says do not comport with the Trump administration’s first-day executive order that, among other things, targeted protections for trans people behind bars. PREA was passed in 2003, and President Barack Obama added new protections for LGBTQIA+ people to the DOJ’s PREA rulebook in 2012. The proposed changes would affect all facilities…

Dec

10

2025

By STACY D. VANDEVEER

Can the world quit coal?

WORLD

AS world leaders and thousands of researchers, activists and lobbyists meet in Brazil at the 30th annual United Nations climate conference, there is plenty of frustration that the world isn’t making progress on climate change fast enough. Globally, greenhouse gas emissions and global temperatures continue to rise. In the U.S., the Trump administration, which didn’t send an official delegation to the climate talks, is rolling back environmental and energy regulations and pressuring other countries to boost their use of fossil fuels – the leading driver of climate change. Coal use is also rising, particularly in India and China. And debates…

Dec

09

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Breaking point: Thailand-Cambodia border conflict erupts into dangerous new phase

WORLD

THE predawn silence along the Thai-Cambodian border was shattered at 5:00 a.m. Monday with artillery fire and the roar of warplanes - a chilling reminder that peace in Southeast Asia remains precarious. For the first time in months, Thai jets streaked across disputed territory to strike Cambodian military positions, marking a dramatic escalation in a conflict that diplomatic efforts have failed to contain. Just weeks after what appeared to be a breakthrough peace agreement, the 817-kilometre frontier has once again become a war zone. The ceasefire brokered throborder conflictugh intensive diplomacy by U.S. President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister…

Dec

09

2025

By JAMES HORNCASTLE

Donald Trump’s Ukraine peace deal would leave the country vulnerable to future Russian attacks

WORLD

UNITED States President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and a key adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, recently agreed to a 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. Such an agreement, on the surface, would be cause for good news. The human toll of the conflict, although shrouded in secrecy by both Russia and Ukraine, is high. Just one problem: the U.S. and Russia did not include Ukraine in the deliberations. Not only is that patronising, no matter how the Trump administration has sought to spin it, but it means the agreement reflects Russian demands and…