November, 2020 - The African Mirror

Nov

2020

Ethiopia bombs arms depots around Tigray region

THE Ethiopian Air Force has bombed arms depots and destroyed military hardware in the northern Tigray region, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said. The strikes hit sites in and around the regional capital Mekelle and destroyed heavy artillery including rocket launchers, Abiy said in a statement broadcast by state-affiliated Fana. Abiy, who won last year's Nobel Peace Prize, launched a military campaign on Wednesday against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which dominated politics in the country until he came to office in 2018. Ethiopia's leader justified his decision to launch a war in the north of the country, saying on…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Netherlands uncovers network helping Ugandan asylum seekers fake being gay

NEWS

KAROLIN SCHAPS THE Dutch government has said it will reassess the cases of dozens of Ugandans granted asylum after it uncovered a criminal network that helped would-be refugees from the country fake their sexual orientation. The Netherlands started accepting asylum claims from LGBT+ Ugandans in 2014, when the African country briefly introduced the death penalty for gay sex before dropping it under international pressure. Same-sex relations are still punishable by life in prison and campaigners say other laws are used to discriminate against LGBT+ people. This week the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) said it had uncovered an organised…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast opposition leaders face prison for forming rival government – prosecutor

NEWS

OPPOSITION candidates in Ivory Coast’s election face charges of terrorism and up to life in prison for denouncing the vote and creating a rival government after President Alassane Ouattara’s victory, a public prosecutor said. The opposition boycotted the October 31 ballot after Ouattara decided to run for a third term in a country that has a two-term limit. When results showed Ouattara won with 94%, former president Henri Konan Bedie and ex-prime minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan said they did not recognise the vote and announced a transition government. Ouattara, in power since 2010, says approval of a new constitution in…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Some Americans dance, others wield guns outside vote-tallying sites as counting draws to a close

WORLD

JARRETT RENSHAW and MICHAEL MARTINA SUPPORTERS of Joe Biden danced in the streets outside a ballot-counting centre in Philadelphia as the steadily growing vote tallies showed the Democratic former vice president could soon be declared the winner of the U.S. presidential election. In Detroit, several hundred supporters of President Donald Trump, some visibly armed with guns, raised premature chants of "We won!" outside a counting center, despite it looking increasingly unlikely that this would prove true. Philadelphia appeared to relish its turn as the center of the nation's attention, even if it was earned only by the relative slowness of…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Cameroon buries seven children killed in school shooting

NEWS

THE plaque on Nzakame Rhema’s coffin marks the “sunset” of her short life - October 24, 2020, the day gunmen burst into her school in Cameroon’s South West region and killed seven children. In the town of Kumba on Thursday, hundreds of people came to pay their respects as the children’s coffins, draped in the Cameroonian flag, were laid next to their portraits. Gospel choirs sang and speakers offered prayers. The children were buried later in separate funerals. “My heart bleeds a lot because her death was so tragic,” said Rhema’s weeping mother, Manyi Tita. “My daughter never committed any…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID pandemic disrupts 2021 men’s fashion week schedule

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO COVID-19 has changed every aspect of human life and the 2020 international fashion season is no different. The 2020 fashion season saw the traditional format of physical viewing for fashion week around the globe abandoned in favour of non-contact, digital fashion shows. Famous luxury designers like Hugo Boss, Chanel, Moschino and Louis Vuitton have all had to preview their collections for the 2020 fall/winter season through digital shows that were streamed live either on their websites, or on Instagram and Facebook. Other luxury fashion brands resorted to premiering their seasonal collections on Instagram as visual lookbooks, turning a…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Africa‌ ‌rallies‌ ‌behind‌ ‌Okonjo-Iweala‌ ‌for‌ ‌top‌ WTO ‌job‌

BUSINESS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE African Union (AU) has come out strongly in support of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, whose appointment as the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been supported by the majority of WTO member states. Nigerian Dr Okonjo-Iweala has emerged as the only candidate proposed for endorsement by the WTO general council on November 9. If elected, she will become the first African to hold the post. However, the US has opposed the appointment of the former finance minister of Nigeria and an executive at the World Bank. AU Chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa said the AU stood behind…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Mexico demands answers over use of indigenous designs

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MEXICO’S culture ministry has questioned French fashion designer Isabel Marant's use of patterns from indigenous Mexican communities, marking the government's latest complaint over high-fashion brands appropriating local styles. Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto. Photo: Tania Victoria According to the ministry, Marant's latest collection, including a long cape with stripes and starburst designs in gray and brown hues, includes elements from the Purepecha people of Mexico's Michoacan state. "I ask you, Ms Isabel Marant, to publicly explain on what grounds you privatize a collective property ... and how its use benefits the creator communities," Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto said in a letter…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Historic first as Unisa appoints black female vice-chancellor

EDUCATION

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE University of South Africa (Unisa) - one of Africa’s biggest tertiary education institutions - has appointed its first female vice chancellor and principal in 148 years. Professor Puleng LenkaBula has been appointed to succeed Professor Mandla Makhanya from January 2021. Unisa announced that the decision to appoint LenkaBula was unanimous and followed a rigorous selection process. The institution said LenkaBula’s appointment was testimony to the transformation project it introduced and drove relentlessly in the university over the years. The appointment also ensured that Unisa’s workforce was alive to and reflective of the demographics of South Africa…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Pope Francis is moving Catholics toward a more expansive understanding of family

RELIGION

JULIE HANLON RUBIO, Professor of Christian Social Ethics, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University POPE Francis referred to gay people as “children of God” in a recently released documentary, “Francesco.” He further noted that “a civil union law” needs to be created so gays are “legally covered.” The Vatican later confirmed the pope’s comments, but clarified that the church doctrine remained unchanged. Public support for civil unions from Pope Francis is not entirely new. When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, and again in a 2014 interview, he spoke about civil unions for same-sex couples. While the Vatican…