WORLD - The African Mirror

Aug

14

2025

Gaza’s starving population shot while seeking food as health system collapses

WORLD

PALESTINIAN civilians desperate for food in Gaza are being shot down in growing numbers while seeking aid, overwhelming an already devastated healthcare system pushed far beyond its breaking point, the World Health Organisation has warned. More than 1,655 people have been killed and over 11,800 injured at food distribution areas since May 27, according to WHO Representative Dr. Rik Peeperkorn. The casualties stream into hospitals already operating at crushing capacity - Al-Shifa Hospital at 240% occupancy and Ahli Hospital at 300%. "Hospitals are particularly overwhelmed by the injuries coming from the food distribution areas," Peeperkorn told journalists in Geneva, describing…

Aug

15

2025

By The African Mirror

Don’t write off the Putin-Trump summit just yet – its outcome might confound critics

WORLD

LIKE many such confabs before it, the Aug. 15, 2025, Alaska red carpet rollout for Russian President Vladimir Putin is classic Donald Trump: A show of diplomacy as pageantry that seemingly came out of nowhere, replete with vague goals and hardened expectations about the outcome from Trump supporters and opponents alike before the event has even taken place. Trump is seemingly trying to dial down expectations, billing the summit as a “feel-out meeting” with the Russian leader to try to reach a diplomatic solution to the more than 3-year-old Russian war in Ukraine. The event follows a recent period where…

Aug

14

2025

By ROSALYN R. LAPIER

The dark history of forced starvation as a weapon of war against Indigenous peoples

WORLD

THERE is increasing evidence that “widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease” are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths in Gaza, a group of United Nations and aid organisations have repeatedly warned. A July 29, 2025, alert by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global initiative for improving food security and nutrition, reported that the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,” as access to food and other essential items is dropping to an “unprecedented level.” More than 500,000 Palestinians, one-fourth of Gaza’s population, are experiencing famine, the U.N. stated. And all 320,000 children under age…

Aug

14

2025

By NADRA NITTLE

Nudity on Oklahoma superintendent’s office TV was just a mishap, state House speaker suggests

WORLD

AS the investigation continues into claims that Oklahoma schools chief Ryan Walters had images of nude women on his office television during a meeting, one state lawmaker is offering a possible explanation: It was just an unfortunate mishap. This story was originally reported by Nadra Nittle of The 19th. Meet Nadra and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. Explicit content began playing during an executive session of the State Board of Education in Walters’ office on July 24. A preliminary review of the graphic images that two board members — Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage —…

Aug

13

2025

By SUMAYA YASSER SALEH

Fragments of survival: A Gaza woman’s chronicle of unseen loss

WORLD

em>This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Sumaya Yasser Saleh 4 August 2025 – A tent I write these words from a tent in the al-Nasr neighbourhood of Gaza City. Me and my family – my husband, our two sons, and two daughters – came here after being displaced in mid-May from Jabalia – it was the fifth time. Israel has now all but erased Jabalia – a refugee camp in the far north of Gaza – from the map. Nothing remains of home – just ghosts of what used to be. Now, we live with nylon walls…

Aug

13

2025

By The African Mirror

UNHCR calls on Pakistan to halt forced returns of Afghan refugees

WORLD

THE UN Refugee Agency has urged Pakistan to exempt Afghans with international protection needs from forced repatriation, expressing concern over the country's plan to return refugees who have held official documentation for decades. UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said at a Geneva press briefing that the agency has "expressed concern over Pakistan's intention to forcibly return Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards." On July 31, Pakistan confirmed that Afghan refugees would be repatriated under its ongoing "Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan." Since then, UNHCR has received reports of arrests and detention of Afghans across the country, including those holding PoR…

Aug

13

2025

By OLA ANABTAWI and BERTA VALENTE

The science of starvation: this is what happens to your body when it’s deprived of food

WORLD

HUNGER exists on a spectrum. On the one end is food insecurity, where people are forced to adjust to fewer meals. As food becomes scarce, the body consumes its own reserves. The journey from hunger to starvation starts with a drop in energy levels, then the body breaks down fat, and then muscle. Eventually, critical organs begin to fail. From undernourishment to acute malnutrition and finally starvation, the process reaches a point where the body can no longer sustain life. In Gaza today, thousands of children under five and pregnant or lactating women are experiencing acute malnutrition. In Sudan, conflict…

Aug

12

2025

By The African Mirror

The ‘Palestinian Pelé’: A football legend’s tragic end

WORLD

THE football world was shaken this week by news that would reverberate far beyond the boundaries of any pitch. Suleiman al-Obeid, the 41-year-old former Palestinian national team forward beloved as the "Palestinian Pelé," had been killed while seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza - a tragedy that exposed the uncomfortable intersection of sport, politics, and human suffering. On Wednesday, August 7, 2025, al-Obeid joined a queue of desperate civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza. It was a scene repeated countless times across the war-torn territory: ordinary people, driven by basic human needs, gathering in the hope of sustenance. Among them…

Aug

12

2025

By MARTIN KEAR

Beyond recognition: the challenges of creating a new Palestinian state are so formidable, is it even possible?

WORLD

AUSTRALIA will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly meeting in September, joining the United Kingdom, Canada and France in taking the historic step. Recognising a Palestinian state is, at one level, symbolic – it signals a growing global consensus behind the rights of Palestinians to have their own state. In the short term, it won’t impact the situation on the ground in Gaza. Practically speaking, the formation of a future Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem is far more difficult to achieve. The Israeli government has ruled out a two-state solution…

Aug

12

2025

By KRIS INMAN

Trump administration cuts to terrorism prevention departments could leave Americans exposed

WORLD

STAFF at the State Department’s Office of Countering Violent Extremism and Bureau of Conflict and Stabilisation Operations, which led U.S. anti-violent extremism efforts, were laid off, the units shuttered, on July 11, 2025. This dismantling of the country’s terrorism and extremism prevention programs began in February 2025. That’s when staff of USAID’s Bureau of Conflict Prevention and Stabilisation were put on leave. In March, the Centre for Prevention Programs and Partnerships at the Department of Homeland Security, which worked during the Biden administration to prevent terrorism with a staff of about 80 employees, laid off about 30% of its staff.…