WORLD - The African Mirror

Sep

10

2025

“A battle of identity and existence”: Rasha Abou Jalal’s Gaza City diary

WORLD

WHEN Israel’s security cabinet approved plans for a full military takeover of Gaza City in early August, journalist Rasha Abou Jalal and her family sold their last remaining furniture – purchased during the ceasefire earlier this year – and prepared to be displaced, yet again. This time, they fear it might be permanent. Now, Abou Jalal, her husband, and their five children are living in a tent in western Gaza City. People fleeing from other parts of the city are crowding into the area, bringing stories of the widespread destruction the Israeli military is inflicting as it advances. This story…

Sep

10

2025

By The African Mirror

France’s Crisis: Democracy under siege as streets prepare to erupt

WORLD

FRANCE has plunged into yet another constitutional crisis with the spectacular collapse of François Bayrou's government Monday night, marking an alarming new chapter in what has become the Republic's most turbulent period in modern memory. Prime Minister François Bayrou and his centrist minority government were ousted in a confidence vote in France's National Assembly, with lawmakers delivering a crushing 364-194 defeat that sent President Emmanuel Macron scrambling to find his fifth prime minister in less than two years. The Arithmetic of Collapse The mathematics of Monday's vote tells the story of a democracy under siege. Bayrou was ousted overwhelmingly in…

Sep

09

2025

By JEREMY WILDEMAN

Canada’s response to the war in Gaza raises questions about its commitment to human rights and justice

WORLD

CANADA and Canadians have long considered themselves defenders of human rights, democracy, justice and the rule of law. Canada played a significant role in the development of what’s known as the liberal international order, including multilateral institutions like the United Nations and international law. Canada was once highly respected for the role it played in developing the framework for United Nations peacekeeping, the Mine Ban Treaty, championing the UN’s Responsibility to Protect, supporting Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations and establishing the International Criminal Court. Canada has acted as a moral voice denouncing abuses of human rights and violations of international law. It…

Sep

09

2025

By MARY ELLEN O'CONNELL

US obliteration of Caribbean boat was a clear violation of international ‘right to life’ laws – no matter who was on board

WORLD

THE U.S. government is justifying its lethal destruction of a boat suspected of transporting illegal drugs in the Caribbean as an attack on “narco-terrorists.” But as an expert on international law, I know that line of argument goes nowhere. Even if, as the U.S. claims, the 11 people killed in the Sept. 2, 2025, U.S. Naval strike were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, it would make no difference under the laws that govern the use of force by state actors. Nor does the fact that protests from other nations in the region are unlikely, due in large part…

Sep

09

2025

By SAMBIT BHATTACHARYYA

Why Trump’s fight with India could have global repercussions

WORLD

DONALD Trump’s tariff policy seems to have morphed into as much of a tool of foreign policy as an economic strategy. But the administration’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on India, a key US ally as part of the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) along with the US, Australia and Japan, could have significant repercussions – not just for international trade, but for global geopolitics. The US rationale for the tariff hike is primarily political. The White House argues that India has been profiteering from buying and reselling Russian oil, in defiance of sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine…

Sep

08

2025

By LEONIE FLEISCHMANN

Israel’s ‘refuseniks’: a growing number of soldiers are refusing to serve in Netanyahu’s war on Gaza

WORLD

THE Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered the Israel Defence Forces to step up the offensive on Gaza City, despite internal and international condemnation. Amid accusations by the International Association of Genocide Scholars that Israel is committing genocide, some 40,000 reserve soldiers were called up to report for duty on Tuesday, August 2. An additional 90,000 are due for mobilisation by the end of the first quarter of 2026. But reports suggest that the numbers willing to accept their orders are dwindling. Israel has mandatory national conscription for those leaving high school for a period of 18 to 36…

Sep

08

2025

By LUKE WILLIAM HUNT

Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to fight crime blurs the legal distinction between the police and the military

WORLD

A federal judge ruled on Sept. 2, 2025, that the Trump administration broke federal law by sending National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June in response to protests over immigration raids. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said that National Guard troops in Los Angeles had received improper training on the legal scope of their authority under federal law. He ruled that the president’s order for the troops to engage in “domestic military law enforcement” violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which – with limited exceptions – bars the use of the military in civilian law enforcement. While…

Sep

08

2025

By ALI M. LATIFI

Arakan Army denies Rohingya forced labour

WORLD

NEARLY two years after a joint opposition offensive wrested large amounts of territory from Myanmar’s ruling military junta, the Arakan Army remains the largest and most successful of the country’s armed groups. However, as it continues to gain ground across Rakhine State, it has faced increasing accusations that it is abusing, targeting, and disenfranchising the nation’s Rohingya Muslim minority. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Ali M. Latifi One of the most recent reports came from Human Rights Watch, which said in late July that the Arakan Army has “committed grave abuses against the ethnic Rohingya population”…

Sep

06

2025

By JONATHAN ESTE

Xi Jinping showcases his dream of a China-led ‘new world order’

WORLD

ROBOTIC wolves rode on armoured vehicles. Alongside them, stealth drones, unmanned submarines, and giant lasers for blinding pilots, accompanied by the lethal triad of air, sea and land-launched nuclear missiles, made for a daunting array of Chinese military hardware on show this week in Beijing as it commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of the war with Japan. The parade was hosted by China’s president Xi Jinping and watched by guests including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un of North Korea and heads of state and dignitaries of 26 other countries. It also drew a droll response from Taiwanese president…

Sep

05

2025

By JOMANA O. ABUNAHLA

Forgotten Palestinians trapped in Egypt’s medical limbo need global support

WORLD

SINCE October 2023, Egypt has accepted thousands of Palestinian medical patients and displaced persons. But its healthcare system is under severe strain, hospitals lack the capacity to treat complex cases like cancer, and international evacuations to other countries have slowed to a halt. Initial pledges by Türkiye and the UAE to take in Palestinian cancer patients have largely gone unfulfilled, leaving those evacuated to Egypt without the care they were promised. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Jomana O. Abunahla I know this because my mother, who has been battling cancer, is one of those patients. As…