WORLD - The African Mirror

Oct

18

2025

With 83% of its buildings destroyed, Gaza needs more than money to rebuild

WORLD

THE Gaza Strip is a tortured piece of land that is about 40km long and 11km wide. Some 2.3 million souls are crammed into a space of around 360 square kilometres. This is barely larger than central Sydney. People and empires have lived in, built on, fought over and destroyed the area for thousands of years. The dire situation in Gaza The consequences of the Israel-Palestine war have been catastrophic. The human toll is immense: the United Nations estimates more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed and almost 170,000 wounded. About 1,200 Israelis have been killed and 5,400 injured since…

Oct

18

2025

By SANWAL HUSSAIN

Young people around the world are leading protests against their governments

WORLD

THE spate of public demonstrations against unemployment, corruption and low quality of life around the world is striking because of who is leading them. Young people have used social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to spread information and arrange their demonstrations. While some of these protests have remained peaceful, others – such as the youth-led demonstrations in Indonesia and Nepal – have become violent. Ten people died in Indonesia’s protests in late August, when public anger over the cost of living and social inequality boiled over after police killed a delivery driver. And 72 people were…

Oct

18

2025

By MEL LEONOR BARCLAY

Immigrant victims of domestic violence and human trafficking sue over ICE policies

WORLD

TRUMP administration policies have made it easier to detain and deport immigrants who have been victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and other crimes — and who have pending visa applications based on their cooperation with U.S. law enforcement. A lawsuit filed Tuesday says those policies violate federal law. The lawsuit was filed by Public Counsel on behalf of a coalition of immigrant rights groups and eight immigrants who were targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) despite pending applications for U and T visas. Those visas were created by Congress to encourage immigrant victims of crime, particularly women, to…

Oct

17

2025

By The African Mirror

UN: Gaza reconstruction to cost $70 billion after two years of war

WORLD

REBUILDING Gaza will require approximately $70 billion following two years of devastating conflict, with $20 billion needed in the next three years alone, UN development officials have announced. The staggering assessment comes as humanitarian agencies report that aid deliveries remain critically insufficient despite a ceasefire that began Friday, leaving more than 2 million Palestinians in desperate need. The UN Development Programme estimates that 84 percent of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed, with some areas like Gaza City suffering damage rates as high as 92 percent, according to Jaco Cilliers, UNDP Special Representative for assistance to the Palestinian People. The…

Oct

17

2025

By RITA BAROUD

“A truce is not peace”: Experiencing Gaza’s ceasefire from exile

WORLD

AT dawn on 9 October, I was half asleep, half afraid. Nothing wakes me up in this silent country like news coming from the south. The phone vibrated on the wooden table beside the bed. The light of the screen cut through the darkness. It wasn’t a notification from a newspaper or an email from work, but a name I knew from another time – the name of a friend from Gaza whose voice I hadn’t heard in many days. In the Netherlands, where I’m now living, it was four in the morning; in Gaza, five – the hour when…

Oct

17

2025

By MARIEL PADILLA

‘Deeply alarmed’: House Democrats send a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth

WORLD

TWO women veterans in Congress led nearly 100 House Democrats in sending a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, calling his recent comments about women in the military deeply harmful and demanding more transparency. The leaders of the effort, Reps. Chrissy Houlahan and Maggie Goodlander called for the reinstatement of an independent advisory committee dedicated to women in the service. This story was originally reported by Mariel Padilla of The 19th. Meet Mariel and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy. “We are writing to express our deep alarm at your recent remarks and actions…

Oct

16

2025

By DAVID HASTINGS DUNN

Egypt peace summit showed that Donald Trump’s Gaza deal is more showbiz extravaganza than the ‘dawn of a new Middle East’

WORLD

FOLLOWING the Middle East summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire deal has been compared in the media to the Good Friday agreement, which brought an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland and the Dayton accords, which achieved a (so far) lasting peace in the Balkans. The fact is that Trump’s deal differs significantly from both. It is largely imposed from the outside. It’s highly transactional in nature. And it lacks a clear blueprint as to what happens next. But it’s worth noting that one of the defining things about the US president as a politician is the…

Oct

16

2025

By MARTIN KEAR

Hamas is battling powerful clans for control in Gaza – who are these groups and what threat do they pose?

WORLD

DESPITE the euphoria surrounding the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, Gaza is still wracked with violence. More than two dozen Palestinians have been killed in recent days in clashes between Hamas and members of various clans. Hamas has also reportedly executed blindfolded men in a public square. With the Israeli military withdrawing to pre-determined ceasefire lines, Hamas members are beginning to reassert their control. However, powerful clans are also jockeying for position – some allied to Hamas’ ideological rival, the West Bank-based Fatah movement, and some backed by Israel. So, who are these clans? What role do they play in…

Oct

16

2025

By JASMINE MITHANI

Everyone is confused about Tylenol and autism, but Republican women lean toward believing RFK

WORLD

ONE day after the Trump administration announced an unproven link between taking Tylenol during pregnancy and autism, the vast majority of Americans were familiar with the claim, which had already been widely reported. But a new survey by KFF, a nonpartisan health policy organisation, also shows that Republican women are significantly more likely to lean toward believing the administration’s claim. The survey, fielded last month and released Thursday, reveals the ways partisanship drives how willing someone is to believe a health claim. This comes as trust in institutions like the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plummets under anti-vaccine…

Oct

15

2025

By LESTER MUNSON

Trump’s ‘shock and awe’ foreign policy achieved a breakthrough in Gaza – but is it sustainable?

WORLD

US President Donald Trump visited Israel and Egypt this week to oversee the initial implementation of his Gaza peace agreement, which many hope will permanently end the two-year war in the strip. Should the peace hold, the Gaza accord will be Trump’s greatest foreign policy achievement, even surpassing the Abraham Accords of his first term that normalised relations between Israel and several Arab countries. Given the speed with which the Trump administration has helped to negotiate the ceasefire, it is an opportune moment to assess Trump’s frenetic foreign policy at the start of his second presidential term. The “Trump Doctrine”…