WORLD - The African Mirror

Aug

20

2025

UN reports deadly conditions in Gaza as displacement orders continue

WORLD

THE United Nations Human Rights Office has documented severe humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where Palestinians face deadly risks while seeking basic necessities amid ongoing displacement orders and restricted aid access. "The Israeli military has also continued to issue displacement orders for Palestinians, including those in Gaza City, telling them to move to the Al Mawasi area, even as strikes on this area continue. On 16 and 17 August, we recorded five attacks on tents of internally displaced people in Al Mawasi, killing at least nine people," Al-Kheetan said. "Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced to Al Mawasi have little or…

Aug

20

2025

By ADNAN MANSOUR AZZAM

Sweet mulberries and the bitter uprooting of Syria’s Druze

WORLD

AS a filmmaker, I see the world through the details that come into focus – or that become blurry – in my camera’s viewfinder. So when violence broke out a month ago in my home of Sweida, a province in southern Syria, I couldn’t help but see it all unfold through that same lens. I was in Sweida’s main city when clashes between Bedouin and Druze forces broke out in mid-July, so I was spared the worst of the violence that took over the countryside and turned sectarian, claiming the lives of hundreds of people – possibly more than 1,000…

Aug

19

2025

By SARA OSCAR and CHERINE FAHD

Images from Gaza have shocked the world – but the ‘spectacle of suffering’ is a double-edged sword

WORLD

THE power of the war photograph is that it won’t let you look away. And nowhere is this proving truer than in Gaza. One recent example portrayed a skeletal boy, Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, held in his mother’s arms. Palestinian photographer Ahmed al-Arini captured the boy and his mother in the iconic pose of the Madonna and child. Photographs coming out of Gaza since October 2023 have communicated the severity of the destruction: collapsed buildings, bodies in shrouds, dead and maimed children, and bombed-out hospitals and shelters. There have also been viral AI-generated images, such as All Eyes on Rafah.…

Aug

19

2025

By DAVID HASTINGS DUNN

How Russia emerged as the clear winner from the Alaska summit

WORLD

AS a former reality TV star, Donald Trump often gives the impression of playing the part of a US president rather than conducting the business of leading a government seriously. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in his recent summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where the two leaders met to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. The theatre of the occasion had been meticulously planned. Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin and organised a military flypast, while there were multiple choreographed photo opportunities. Yet what resulted was no peace deal and no prospect of the…

Aug

19

2025

By MUSTAFA ALIO and REZ GARDI

Protection or prevention? The global refugee system is at a crossroads

WORLD

ACROSS borders and oceans, refugee journeys continue – driven by conflict, persecution, and a lack of safety. Yet global responses are increasingly focused not on ensuring protection, but on preventing movement. While the rhetoric remains humanitarian, the reality is a growing investment in containment, deterrence, and control. The infrastructure of refugee protection is being retooled to stop people from moving, not to help them survive displacement. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Mustafa Alio and Rez Gardi This shift isn’t just policy drift – it’s a political choice. One that reflects a deeper problem: Refugees are wrongly…

Aug

17

2025

By OLENA BORODYNA

Alaska summit: No deal agreed at Trump-Putin meeting but land swap for ceasefire still on the table

WORLD

HOURS before meeting Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska, Donald Trump said he wanted to see a ceasefire in Ukraine and was “not going to be happy” if it wasn’t agreed today. The US president appears to have left Alaska with no such agreement in place. “We didn’t get there”, Trump told reporters, before later vaguely asserting that he and Putin had “made great progress”. Trump is likely to return to the idea of engaging Putin in the coming weeks and months, with the Russian leader jokingly suggesting their next meeting could be held in Moscow. A land-for-ceasefire arrangement, an…

Aug

16

2025

By MAGNUS KILLANDER

Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza? International court will take years to decide, but states have a duty to act now

WORLD

SOUTH Africa instituted a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in late December 2023, claiming Israel was violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide through its actions in Gaza, and requesting provisional measures. Human rights law scholar Magnus Killander explains the process and why it’s so slow. International law, including the ICJ’s provisional measures, is binding on states. However, international law does not enforce itself, and all states have an obligation to attend to the situation. Why could it take until 2028 to get a final decision?…

Aug

16

2025

By AFSOON SOUDI; GAVIN ADAMSON; LORENA ESCANDON, and REEM EL ASALEH

Is AI coming for your creative job? Maybe not – with some human intervention

WORLD

MANY writers, actors and other creatives are currently experiencing a small wave of panic about artificial intelligence (AI) taking over their jobs. Generative AI (GenAI) is making machine learning and creative work more accessible to everyone. But for industry professionals, the rise of generative AI can signal the destruction of creative jobs. Yet, according to a recent report by the World Economic Forum, AI will create more jobs in the next five years than it will displace. We are four scholars in different creative industries hoping to explore educational approaches to AI. We want to help prepare the next generation…

Aug

15

2025

By TAMMAM ALOUDAT, WILL WORLEY, and ERIC REIDY

EXCLUSIVE: UNRWA demands “urgent clarification” over UN meeting with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

WORLD

UNRWA has raised “significant concerns” requiring “urgent clarification” about a meeting other UN agencies and large aid organisations held last week with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to a leaked letter obtained by The New Humanitarian. Philippe Lazzarini, who leads the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), warns in his letter to the UN’s top humanitarian, Tom Fletcher, that refraining from criticising the GHF in the wake of the 6 August meeting risks being seen as UN complicity in Israeli war crimes. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. By Tammam Aloudat, Will Worley and Eric Reidy…

Aug

15

2025

By BARBARA RODRIGUEZ

Before Trump’s efforts to make kids healthier, there was Michelle Obama

WORLD

AT an elementary school in Washington, D.C., the speaker at the podium wanted to talk about children’s health and the impact of childhood obesity. “Our generation is facing so many devastating health problems because of how we live and how we eat — illnesses like diabetes and heart disease and cancer — that cause so much suffering and cost our economy billions,” the speaker said. “And today, we need to ask ourselves: Are we going to hand down these problems to our next generation? Or are we going to do what we’ve always done in this country and leave something…