WORLD - The African Mirror

Dec

27

2025

Freedom for Christmas: the extraordinary journey of an enslaved woman to Britain

WORLD

A newly unveiled statue in North Shields is casting fresh light on the extraordinary life of Mary Ann Macham – a woman whose courage carried her from the brutality of slavery in the US state of Virginia to freedom on the banks of the River Tyne on Christmas Day, 1831. With the help of a friend in Virginia who was enslaved to the harbour master, Macham (who was enslaved on a plantation) hid beneath a tree and in the forest for six weeks while men on horses and bloodhounds searched for her. She was then smuggled to the harbour, where…

Dec

25

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Trump’s Venezuela blockade raises troubling questions about sovereignty and international law

WORLD

AS a U.S. Coast Guard cutter pursues the Bella 1 tanker through Caribbean waters, waiting for elite forces capable of seizing the vessel by force, the operation raises profound questions about the boundaries of national authority and the architecture of international law itself. The dramatic chase — now in its fourth day, with military helicopters and special operations teams poised to rappel onto the deck of a ship that has refused American boarding orders — represents far more than routine sanctions enforcement. It crystallises a fundamental tension in the post-World War II legal order: When does one nation's assertion of…

Dec

25

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Belgium joins SA in ICJ genocide case against Israel

WORLD

BELGIUM has formally intervened in the landmark genocide case before the International Court of Justice concerning Israel's conduct in Gaza, the court has announced. The intervention makes Belgium the 15th country to join the proceedings that South Africa initiated against Israel nearly a year ago, alleging violations of the Genocide Convention in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Belgium invoked Article 63 of the court's statute, which allows countries that are parties to a treaty under examination to intervene in cases involving that treaty's interpretation. Under this provision, the court's eventual ruling on the Genocide Convention's meaning will be…

Dec

25

2025

By STEPHANIE A. (SAM) MARTIN

Epstein’s victims deserve more attention than his ‘client list’

WORLD

THE Jeffrey Epstein story has slipped in and out of the headlines for years, but in a very particular way. Most news articles ask a specific question – which powerful men might be on “the list”? Headlines focus on unidentified elites and who may be exposed or embarrassed, rather than on the people whose suffering made the case newsworthy in the first place: the girls and young women Epstein abused and trafficked. Right now, the story is entering a new phase. A federal judge has authorised the Justice Department to unseal grand jury transcripts and other evidence from Epstein companion…

Dec

24

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

CBS News controversy raises questions about press independence under political pressure

WORLD

A dispute over a spiked 60 Minutes investigation has exposed tensions within CBS News over editorial independence and the role of government cooperation in investigative journalism, raising broader questions about press freedom in an era of contentious executive-media relations. Veteran CBS correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi circulated an internal memo protesting the decision by Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss to pull a scheduled segment titled "Inside CECOT," which examined conditions at El Salvador's maximum-security prison and the deportation of individuals there by the Trump administration. The story was set to air but was removed from the broadcast schedule after clearing legal review and standards…

Dec

24

2025

By ROBYN KLINGLER-VIDRA

South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam show that economic statecraft is not just the preserve of great powers

WORLD

MAKE American shipbuilding great again (MASGA) may sound like an effort by the US to bolster its economic strength and project power internationally, but MASGA is not an American policy. It is a South Korean initiative that emerged following trade talks with the US in June. Rather than responding to the Trump administration’s tariff threats solely through trade negotiations, Korean officials saw an opportunity to show their American counterparts that South Korea deserved better treatment. They suggested that South Korea bring its shipbuilding prowess to the US. South Korea is perhaps most famous as an exporter of K-pop, cars and…

Dec

23

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

The Epstein files debacle: A crisis of transparency and trust

WORLD

THE U.S. Justice Department's chaotic handling of the long-awaited Epstein files has triggered accusations of a cover-up, with critics across the political spectrum demanding answers about what they're calling an unprecedented failure of governmental transparency. What began as a historic document release - 300,000 pages from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation - quickly descended into controversy when the DOJ abruptly removed more than a dozen files from public view over the weekend, including photographs showing President Donald Trump with the deceased financier and convicted sex offender. The subsequent reversal, after intense public backlash, has only deepened suspicions about what information the…

Dec

23

2025

By HYERAN JO and YOON JUNG CHOI

Trump tariffs and warming India-China ties have silenced the Quad partnership … for now

WORLD

WHEN leaders of “the Quad” last met in September 2024, host and then-President Joe Biden declared the partnership between the United States, India, Australia and Japan to be “more strategically aligned than ever before.” “The Quad is here to stay,” trumpeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Fast-forward a little over a year, however, and the tune has changed. Leaders of the Quad were due to hold their latest summit in November 2025, with India hosting. But the month came and went, and no event was held. A future date has yet to be announced. Why the silence? As experts of…

Dec

23

2025

By ANNÉ H. VERHOEF

Jesus chatbots are on the rise. A philosopher puts them to the test

WORLD

GENERATIVE artificial intelligence (AI) is getting better at imitating human beings. It can create things that previously only humans could produce, like music, texts and images. AI is now also being used to imitate God, through chatbots that simulate conversation with human users and can be accessed on websites and apps. In Christianity, for example, there’s AI Jesus, Virtual Jesus, Jesus AI, Text with Jesus, Ask Jesus and many others. In other religions, the same development has taken place, with AI chatbots like the Buddhist Norbu AI and, in the Islam faith, like Brother Junaid at Salaam World. As a…

Dec

22

2025

By STEPHANIE A. (SAM) MARTIN

As DOJ begins to release Epstein files, his many victims deserve more attention than the powerful men in his ‘client list’

WORLD

THE U.S. Department of Justice has made a partial release of documents from what’s become known collectively as the “Jeffrey Epstein files,” with more to follow at an unspecified time. On a special part of its website that the department titled “Epstein Library,” the department lists documents such as court records and records released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests to the government. Their release was ordered by Congress in bipartisan legislation passed in November 2025. The deadline imposed by Congress was Dec. 19, 2025, and the Department of Justice met it with the partial release of documents…