WORLD - The African Mirror

Nov

22

2025

67 children killed in Gaza since ceasefire as aid operations struggle

WORLD

AT least 67 children have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the Gaza Strip since a ceasefire took effect on October 11, averaging nearly two children per day, UN agencies reported Thursday. The latest casualties include a baby girl killed in an airstrike in Khan Younis on Wednesday, and seven children killed in Gaza City and southern Gaza the day before, according to Ricardo Pires of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). "These are not statistics; these are real children with their dreams and futures cut short," Pires told reporters at a UN briefing in Geneva. Overall, at least 266 people…

Nov

22

2025

By SHANNON BOSCH

Why Israeli soldiers and their leaders may be increasingly at risk of arrest overseas

WORLD

IN late December 2008, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert authorised Operation Cast Lead in response to rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled territory in Gaza. The three-week military assault killed around 1,400 Palestinians, including more than 300 children. Thousands of homes were destroyed, and hospitals, UN shelters, power stations, water facilities, food storage sites, schools and mosques were severely damaged. Medical rescue teams and humanitarian workers were obstructed. A UN fact-finding mission documented indiscriminate attacks, the use of white phosphorus in populated areas, and what it deemed the collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza. Human rights groups also compiled evidence…

Nov

22

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Deadly strikes on western Ukraine kill at least 25, UN refugee agency warns no area safe

WORLD

A devastating Russian aerial attack on western Ukraine has killed at least 25 people and wounded over 100, prompting the UN refugee agency to warn that no part of the country should be considered safe from the conflict. The strike on Ternopil is reported to be among the deadliest attacks on western Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. The cities of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk were also hit in the coordinated assault, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Emergency services continued responding to the attacks, which damaged energy facilities, transportation networks and civilian infrastructure. The…

Nov

21

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of war crimes in mass West Bank expulsions

WORLD

HUMAN Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by forcibly expelling 32,000 Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps earlier this year and barring them from returning to their demolished homes. In a 105-page report, the international rights organisation detailed what it called "ethnic cleansing" carried out by Israeli forces in coordinated raids on the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps between January and February 2025, while global attention remained focused on the Gaza ceasefire. The report documents "Operation Iron Wall," which began January 21 with Israeli forces storming Jenin camp using Apache…

Nov

21

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

UN humanitarians call for aid scale-up as winter rains batter Gaza

WORLD

UN humanitarian agencies have urged immediate expansion of aid access to Gaza following the Security Council's endorsement of a US-brokered peace plan, as severe winter weather compounded the suffering of displaced Palestinian families. The Security Council on Monday backed the "Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict" announced by US President Donald Trump on September 29. The resolution authorises a transitional "Board of Peace" administration to establish a temporary international force in Gaza after two years of war. However, UN officials cautioned that implementation details remain unclear while conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate. "We're still in the hypotheticals,"…

Nov

21

2025

By ALEX HINTON

Why MAGA is so concerned with Epstein − and why the files are unlikely to dent loyalty to Trump

WORLD

WITH the latest shift by President Donald Trump on releasing the Epstein files held by the U.S. Department of Justice – he’s now for it after being against it after being for it – the MAGA base may finally get to view the documents it’s long wanted to see. On the afternoon of Nov. 18, 2025, the House voted overwhelmingly to seek release of the files, with only one Republican voting against the measure. The Senate later in the day agreed unanimously to pass the measure and send it on to the president for his signature. The Conversation’s politics editor,…

Nov

20

2025

By GRACE PANETTA

‘This is who you’re fighting for’: Epstein survivors push for justice for their younger selves

WORLD

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On a chilly Tuesday morning, over a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein gathered at the U.S. Capitol on the precipice of a hard-fought victory: a vote to release the federal government’s files on the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender with ties to many powerful people. For the survivors, the vote marked long-delayed justice for their younger selves, who were represented in the photos many of them held — proof of innocence stolen and dreams shattered. “I want everybody to take a look,” survivor Haley Robson said as she held a picture of herself as the teenager…

Nov

20

2025

By WILL WORLEY

Big questions hang over Loss and Damage Fund’s $250m trial run

WORLD

ANOTHER year, another COP, and another round of fraught loss and damage negotiations, as extreme weather continues unabated around the world. But finally, money is on the table: $250 million, for a trial run. The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), as it is officially known, has opened for business. But as it prepares to welcome its first funding proposals, FRLD staff are facing major decisions on how the institution will develop. After major aid budget cuts, humanitarians are keener than ever to access the Fund, including to support badly needed disbursements to fragile and conflict-affected states –…

Jan

29

2026

By JOHN E. JONES III

‘We want you arrested because we said so’ – how ICE’s policy on raiding whatever homes it wants violates a basic constitutional right, according to a former federal judge

WORLD

AS Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents continued to use aggressive and sometimes violent methods to make arrests in its mass deportation campaign, including breaking down doors in Minneapolis homes, a bombshell report from the Associated Press on Jan. 21, 2026, said that an internal ICE memo – acquired via a whistleblower – asserted that immigration officers could enter a home without a judge’s warrant. That policy, the report said, constituted “a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches.” Those limits have long been found in the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.…

Nov

19

2025

By RASHA ABOU JALAL

Return to Gaza City: Hope sprouts from the rubble

WORLD

AFTER nearly two months of displacement, I have returned to Gaza City. Around me, everything is in ruins, but I am glad to be home. I kept a diary for The New Humanitarian in August and September, documenting my family’s attempt to resist being forced from Gaza City by Israel’s assault and invasion. But, as soldiers and drones closed in on the neighbourhood where we were staying and our supplies ran low, like hundreds of thousands of others, we eventually had no choice but to flee. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Rasha Abou Jalal. Author and…