WORLD - The African Mirror

Jul

17

2025

Gaza: 875 people now confirmed dead trying to source food in recent weeks

WORLD

NEARLY 900 people have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks trying to fetch food, with most deaths linked to private aid hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said. “As of 13 July, we have recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 674 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites,” said Thameen Al-Kheetan, OHCHR spokesperson. The remaining 201 victims were killed while seeking food “on the routes of aid convoys or near aid convoys” run by the UN or UN-partners still operating in the war-shattered…

Jul

17

2025

By The African Mirror

Far-right parties gain ground across Europe and Asia

WORLD

FAR-RIGHT political parties with anti-immigration platforms have secured significant influence across Europe and Asia, moving from peripheral movements to mainstream political forces that are reshaping national policies and governance structures. Anti-immigration parties now lead or support ruling coalitions in Hungary, Italy, Finland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In major European states, including Poland and France, these parties have established themselves as dominant opposition forces. Recent electoral victories demonstrate the scope of this shift. Conservative nationalist candidates have won presidential elections in Poland, while coalition governments in the Netherlands have been formed with strong anti-immigrant platforms. The trend has forced centrist…

Jul

17

2025

By MARYCARMEN LARA VILLANUEVA

‘Alligator Alcatraz’ showcases Donald Trump’s penchant for visual cruelty

WORLD

THE United States government recently announced the opening of a massive immigrant detention facility built deep within the Florida Everglades that’s been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a media briefing that “there is only one road leading in … and the only way out is a one-way flight.” For some, taking in her remarks, the moment felt dystopian. According to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the facility is surrounded by swamps and alligators and is equipped with more than 200 security cameras, 8,500 metres of barbed wire and a security force of 400 personnel. Accounts…

Jul

16

2025

By STEFAN WOLFF

Over €10 billion has now been pledged for Ukraine’s recovery. It’s nowhere near enough

WORLD

CLEARLY angered by the intensification of Russia’s air campaign against Ukraine, Donald Trump has pivoted from the suspension of US military assistance to Ukraine to promising its resumption. Russia’s strikes on major cities killed more civilians in June than have died in any single previous month, according to UN figures. Over the past two weeks, the US president has made several disparaging comments about his relationship with Vladimir Putin, including on July 13 that the Russian president “talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening”. Not only will the US resume delivery of long-promised Patriot air defence missiles,…

Jul

16

2025

By ELISENDA CALVET MARTÍNEZ

EU sanctions against Israel: here’s what’s on the table

WORLD

AS the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, calls for the EU to take action against Israel have become all but impossible to ignore. In June 2025, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia called for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Sweden has also asked the European Council to adopt sanctions “against Israeli ministers who promote illegal settlement activities and actively work against a negotiated two-state solution”. Accordingly, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, has proposed ten options for sanctions on Israel, to be discussed at the next Council of the EU in July. If it…

Jul

16

2025

By MIREILLE REBEIZ

A weakened Iran and Hezbollah gives Lebanon an opening to chart path away from the region’s conflicts − will it be enough?

WORLD

AFTER a 12-day war launched by Israel and joined briefly by the United States, Iran has emerged weakened and vulnerable. And that has massive implications for another country in the region: Lebanon. Hezbollah, Tehran’s main ally in Lebanon, had already lost a lot of its fighters, arsenal and popular support during its own war with Israel in October 2024. Now, Iran’s government has little capacity to continue to finance, support and direct Hezbollah in Lebanon like it has done in the past. Compounding this shift away from Hezbollah’s influence, the U.S. recently laid down terms for a deal that would…

Jul

15

2025

By The African Mirror

Mystery deepens in Air India crash that killed 260 as cockpit confusion emerges

WORLD

A catastrophic Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash that killed all 260 people aboard last month has exposed a baffling sequence of events in the cockpit, with both engines losing power simultaneously after fuel cutoff switches were mysteriously activated just seconds after takeoff. The preliminary report released by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau reveals that confusion gripped the flight deck in the final moments, with cockpit voice recordings capturing one pilot asking the other why fuel had been cut off — only to receive a denial from his colleague. The switches moved from "run" to "cutoff" position within seconds of…

Jul

15

2025

By CANDICE NORWOOD

The care work of the courtroom: How women lawyers are fighting to keep immigrants safe

WORLD

This story was originally reported by Candice Norwood of The 19th. Meet Candice and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy. AT 4 a.m. on December 31, Jocelyn Cazares Willingham sat in her parents’ home in Los Angeles, working to finalise a request to release one of her clients from immigration detention, where he had been held since August. She understood that his chances grew thinner as President Donald Trump’s second term drew closer. Cazares Willingham fired off the email later that afternoon, with more than 100 pages of careful documentation. The client had a lot going…

Jul

15

2025

By The African Mirror

Defying gravity and expectations, former Syrian refugee Maya Ghazal gets her wings

WORLD

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Maya Ghazal has become the world’s first female Syrian commercial pilot from a refugee background, having officially received her “wings” to fly Boeing 737 jets as a second officer. The certification ceremony held at the Aerospace Bristol museum in the west of England also marked the ten-year anniversary of Ghazal’s arrival in the UK as a teenage refugee. Growing up in Damascus, she said she never could have imagined how her formative years would unfold. “In Syria, I had a normal childhood,” she explained. “I had a large family and a lot of friends, I loved my…

Jul

14

2025

By RASHA ABOU JALAL

My family received flour without having to face down bullets. In Gaza, this is now news

WORLD

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Rasha Abou Jalal ON the morning of 26 June, my husband, Abdullah, woke up to a text message he couldn’t believe. “Dear Abdallah al-Turkmani, please proceed to Abu Zayed warehouse to collect a food parcel,” it read. The message said it was from the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). At first, Abdullah thought he was having a dream, but as he came to, he called out to me: “Rasha, come look! I received a message saying we’re getting a food parcel.” At the time, I was tidying the house where we…