WORLD - The African Mirror

Aug

01

2025

Gaza is starving: what actions can Israel’s allies take?

WORLD

FOR the past few weeks the headlines about Gaza have focused on the hundreds of people who have been killed while queuing for food. The aid distribution system put in place in May, backed by the US and Israel and run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has proved to be chaotic and allegedly resulted in violence, with both Israel Defence Forces personnel and armed Palestinian gangs blamed for killing about 1,000 people in the two months the new system has been operating. Now the headlines are focusing on the growing number of people dying of starvation. Harrowing reports from the…

Aug

01

2025

By MILAD HAGHANI and ZAHRA SHAHHOSEINI

Tsunami warnings are triggering mass evacuations across the Pacific – even though the waves look small. Here’s why

WORLD

ONE of the ten largest earthquakes ever recorded just struck Kamchatka, the sparsely populated Russian peninsula facing the Pacific. The magnitude 8.8 quake had its epicentre in the sea just off the Kamchatka coast. Huge quakes such as these can cause devastating tsunamis. It’s no surprise this quake has triggered mass evacuations in Russia, Japan and Hawaii. But despite the enormous strength of the quake, the waves expected from the resulting tsunami are projected to be remarkably small. Four-metre-high waves have been reported in Russia. But the waves are projected to be far smaller elsewhere, ranging from 30 centimetres to…

Aug

01

2025

By JESSICA KUTZ

Women’s contributions and men’s racism erased from history of national monument

WORLD

This story was originally reported by Jessica Kutz of The 19th. Meet Jessica and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy. UNDER pressure from the Trump administration, the National Park Service (NPS) removed historical context from signage that explained the role women played in the creation of the Muir Woods National Monument and highlighted the racist ideologies of some of the men associated with the site. A ranger for the monument confirmed that the information removed last week originated from an initiative by NPS officials called “History Under Construction” that filled in gaps in the timeline of…

Jul

31

2025

By PAUL ROGERS

UK and France pledges won’t stop Netanyahu bombing Gaza – but Donald Trump or Israel’s military could

WORLD

KEIR Starmer says unless there’s a ceasefire and a peace process leading to a two-state solution, Britain will recognise the state of Palestine at the UN in September. The UK Prime Minister is following a similar, albeit unconditional, pledge from French President Emmanuel Macron. They are reacting to what Starmer referred to as the “intolerable situation” in Gaza. In Scotland, Donald Trump has also complained about the humanitarian catastrophe of people starving in Gaza, saying: “We’ve got to get the kids fed.” Does this mean Western politicians are finally prepared to act? Quite possibly. Will it have any discernible effect…

Jul

31

2025

By KEITH A. PREBLE and CHARMAINE N. WILLIS

Sanctioning ghosts: Why US plans to hit Russia with fresh economic penalties will have little effect

WORLD

ONE way or another, it looks like Russia could soon be slapped with a fresh round of U.S. sanctions. On July 23, 2025, a bipartisan push to impose a 500% levy on imports from Russia or any country buying Russian oil was put on hold – but only to allow President Donald Trump’s separate threat of imposing new economic measures to play out first. Trump had previously said he would unilaterally impose new sanctions if President Vladimir Putin failed to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine by a date the U.S. president originally set at August 30, but later indicated…

Jul

31

2025

By BUSRA NISA SARAC

Yazidi genocide victims offered glimmer of hope for justice – but challenges remain

WORLD

A French national called Sonia Mejri will stand trial for her alleged involvement in crimes committed against the Yazidi community, a Paris court ruled in early July. Mejri is accused of having joined the Islamic State (IS) group’s so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and participating in its genocidal campaign against the Yazidi religious minority group 11 years ago. At that time, IS overran the Sinjar region of northern Iraq and carried out atrocities against the civilian population. The Yazidi people were subjected to murder, rape, enslavement and forced conversion to Islam. Approximately 12,000 Yazidis were killed or abducted by…

Jul

30

2025

By The African Mirror

The Epstein Entanglement: Can Trump Weather His Most Dangerous Political Storm?

WORLD

US President Donald Trump faces what may be the most perilous political crisis of his career - one that his traditional deflection tactics cannot seem to quell. The Jeffrey Epstein controversy has evolved from a historical association into an active political firestorm that is fracturing Trump's own coalition and exposing unprecedented vulnerabilities in his seemingly impenetrable political armour. Unlike the manufactured controversies that have defined much of Trump's political career, the Epstein entanglement carries a uniquely toxic combination: concrete documentary evidence, ongoing legal proceedings, and most dangerously, visible cracks in his MAGA base's unwavering support. The crisis has reached a…

Jul

30

2025

By The African Mirror

In Gaza, mounting evidence of famine and widespread starvation

WORLD

AID agencies echoed wider warnings of growing signs of widespread starvation in Gaza, as UN-partnered international food security experts released their most dire assessment yet of the situation in the war-torn enclave. “What we're seeing is mounting evidence that a famine is there; all the signals are there,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of Food Security and Nutrition Analysis at the UN World Food Programme (WFP). Underscoring the seriousness of the latest assessment from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform, Ross Smith, WFP Director of Emergencies, insisted that “this is unlike anything we have seen in this century, it reminds…

Jul

30

2025

By TAMMAM ALOUDAT

Why humanitarians must act to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Tammam Aloudat HUMANITARIAN agencies and organisations are some of the few actors with any power left who have not yet been fully compromised by complicity in Israel’s atrocities in the Gaza Strip. It falls on them now to move beyond attempting to provide aid and issuing denunciations. They must do everything in their power to try to stop what is plainly a genocide. Through their cowardice and complicity, Western states have betrayed every humanitarian principle they once espoused by allowing and enabling Israeli crimes. Mainstream media outlets have not only abdicated…

Jul

30

2025

By EMILY MORRIS

Cuban government scrambling to deal with outrage about country’s economic crisis

WORLD

CUBA doesn’t have any beggars, according to the country’s minister of labour, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera. In a speech to the national assembly on July 15, she denied the existence of destitution in the communist country, claiming the problem was actually people “disguised as beggars”. Her words were greeted by public outcry on social media. They also prompted a swift rebuke from her peers and the president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who said leadership could not “act with condescension”. The next day, the Cuban government published an official note saying Feitó Cabrera had resigned. The political vulnerability of the Cuban government explains…