WORLD - The African Mirror

Jun

10

2026

By ROBERT KUBINEC and ALEXIS MONTAMBAULT-TRUDELLE

How are Saudis viewing the US‑Iran war? Our polling suggests Gulf kingdom is split on key issues

WORLD

SINCE the beginning of the Iran war, Saudi Arabia has been grappling with how best to respond to the expansion of the Middle East conflict. Having issued condemnations of Tehran’s strikes on the kingdom – and other Gulf states – in response to the initial U.S. and Israeli action in late February, Saudi Arabia has since reportedly initiated more direct action. Indeed, in May, speculation mounted that the kingdom had engaged in “covert” attacks on Iran, opening the door to the possibility of a wider regional war. The reports were based on briefings given by anonymous U.S. and Iranian officials.…

Jun

10

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

A brother in intelligence arms: The man who signed in green ink

WORLD

THERE is a kind of bond forged only in the spaces where ordinary language runs out — in back channels and secured rooms, in the grammar of classified cables and the weight of unspoken obligation. It is not friendship in the casual sense. It is something older, something harder-earned. It is the recognition between two people who have chosen, above comfort and above convenience, to stand between their nations and the worst that the world can offer. Sir Alex Younger, the 16th Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, who died on 3 June 2026 at the age of 62,…

Jun

09

2026

By ANDREW GAWTHORPE

Iran’s attacks on Israel were an attempt to shape the region on its own terms

WORLD

IRAN fired barrages of missiles at Israel for the first time in two months on June 7. The initial trigger was an Israeli strike against a Hezbollah target in the Lebanese capital of Beirut earlier that day, an attack that Donald Trump had only recently asked the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to avoid carrying out. Israel’s military soon launched retaliatory strikes on targets in western and central Iran, again defying calls by Trump for restraint. Iran subsequently launched fresh strikes of its own, before the Iranian military announced it was bringing its attacks to an end. In a statement,…

Jun

09

2026

By HUNTER KIM and JOHN NAURIGHT

Inflation and immigration fears threaten to dampen Miami’s economic benefits from the World Cup

WORLD

WHEN the U.S. last hosted the World Cup in 1994, the event drew unexpectedly large crowds. At that time, soccer wasn’t as popular among Americans as it is now, so expectations for attendance had been fairly low. So as the U.S. prepared to host the World Cup again in 2026, expectations for tourism were high. But in the run-up to this year’s World Cup, the ongoing war in Iran has resulted in soaring inflation and high fuel prices, neither of which bodes well for tourism or event attendance. Recent tourism reports indicate there will be fewer hotel reservations than anticipated…

Jun

09

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

CHINA/NORTH KOREA: Xi courts Kim, but sidesteps nuclear threat as China chooses influence over pressure

WORLD

CHINA’S latest embrace of North Korea is less a reset than a calculated warning to the region: Beijing still wants to shape Pyongyang’s future, but it is no longer making denuclearisation the price of engagement. Xi Jinping’s rare visit to Kim Jong Un signals that China is prioritizing strategic control, border stability and geopolitical leverage over open confrontation with a nuclear-armed ally. The optics matter. Xi’s pledge to deepen cooperation in trade, agriculture, technology and other areas reinforces a relationship built on practical interests, not ideology. But the more striking fact is what Beijing did not say: there was no…

Jun

08

2026

By UMUTCAN YÜKSEL and AMANDA BISONG

Europe is spending billions on deporting migrants. Why the strategy isn’t working

WORLD

FOR over a decade, the European Union (EU) has relied on external partnerships to increase the return of migrants who don’t have the right to stay in Europe. It has used a growing web of funding instruments, projects and bilateral arrangements to get countries in Africa and the Middle East to cooperate in its bid to send migrants back to their home countries. Its policies have included incentives such as the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the Facility for Refugees in Türkiye and the Neighbourhood Development and International Cooperation Instrument. Billions of euros have been channelled into migration-related projects.…

Jun

08

2026

By KERRY BROWN

Europe is caught in a squeeze between the US and China

WORLD

THE European Union (EU), along with the other major countries in Europe, should be a geopolitical force to be reckoned with. In 2024, the EU was the second-largest economy in the world after the US and before China. There is also nothing comparable to the trading links between these three players. In 2025, bilateral trade in goods between the US and China was US$414 billion (£307 billion). The EU and US, meanwhile, constitute a staggering third of global trade – with trade between them coming in at €1.77 trillion (£1.53 trillion) that same year. These figures show that, far from…

Jun

08

2026

By IHSAN YILMAZ and NICHOLAS MORIESON

From exporting spyware to surveilling activists – how democracies became the new digital authoritarians

WORLD

“DIGITAL authoritarianism” refers to governments using technology for surveillance and censorship to repress dissent. China remains the master practitioner. There, sweeping surveillance and censorship at home is combined with cyber-espionage and disinformation, censorship and influence campaigns abroad. But this problem is no longer confined to Moscow or Beijing. Democracies, too, are beginning to repress their citizens with the same tools and export them abroad. Two countries in particular – India and Israel – reveal how democracies are drifting toward the very digital authoritarianism they once opposed. Israel: exporting spyware Israel, a democracy, permits private firms to export spyware under a…

Jun

06

2026

By JACOB GOLDBERG and IRWIN LOY

Data of 600,000 Gaza households exposed in WFP cyber-attack

WORLD

A cyber-attack targeting the World Food Programme has exposed sensitive personal information belonging to some 600,000 households in Gaza, the UN’s food agency has confirmed, in what may be the largest-known breach of humanitarian beneficiary data to date. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. By Jacob Goldberg and Irwin Loy WFP is investigating a “security-related incident” in which “unauthorised actors” accessed personal information submitted by Palestinians in Gaza, the agency said in a statement sent to aid recipients via Telegram on 31 May. The exposed information included names, ID, and mobile numbers, and location data, the statement…

Jun

06

2026

By CHRISTIAN EMERY

Where peace talks between the US and Iran currently stand

WORLD

TO understand where talks on ending the war between the US and Iran currently stand, all we can confidently assume is that Donald Trump’s pronouncements offer no guide. The US president said an agreement had been “largely negotiated” on May 23. That proposal would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief and the unfreezing of Iranian assets. But it would not have immediately extracted concessions on Iran’s nuclear activities and ballistic missile capabilities. In response to backlash from Republican hawks, Trump subsequently toughened the US position. The following week, Trump again claimed he was “on the…