February, 2021 - The African Mirror

Feb

2021

Cameroonian soldiers accused of mass rape

JOSIANE KOUAGHEU CAMEROONIAN soldiers raped at least 20 women and killed a man in a raid on a village last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleged on Friday, calling it one of the worst attacks by the army since an insurgency by Anglophone separatists began in 2016. Witnesses told the New York-based rights group that the attack on March 1, 2020, was a reprisal against civilians in the western village of Ebam suspected of collaborating with rebels seeking independence from the mostly Francophone state. Reached for comment, Cameroon's army spokesman dismissed the findings. "We have better things to do than…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

2 people had severe allergic reactions after shot

COVID-19

A Johnson & Johnson scientist said yesterday that the company has received preliminary reports of two cases of severe allergic reactions, including one case of anaphylaxis, in people who had received the company's COVID-19 vaccine. Dr Macaya Douoguih, head of clinical development and medical affairs at J&J unit Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said the case of anaphylaxis was observed in an ongoing trial of healthcare workers in South Africa. There had not been any previously reported cases of anaphylaxis, Douoguih said. She was speaking to a panel of expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which will vote later on…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria expects first 4 million vaccine doses

COVID-19

NIGERIA is expecting its first 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines next week from the global COVAX vaccine programme for poor and middle-income countries, the head of the World Health Organization mission in Nigeria said yesterday. Chikwe Ihekweazu Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO representative in Nigeria, told a briefing by video link that Nigeria was expecting 14 million doses in total. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, said the situation in Nigeria was so far much better than had been widely predicted early in the outbreak. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with some 200 million people,…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast gets 500 000 COVAX vaccines

COVID-19

IVORY Coast received a shipment of COVID-19 doses from the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility yesterday, becoming the second country to benefit from a programme meant to ensure fairer distribution amid a global scramble. A plane carrying 504 000 doses touched down in the commercial capital Abidjan, paving the way for the West African nation to launch a vaccination campaign. By the end of this year, COVAX plans to deliver nearly 2 billion doses to over 90 low- and middle-income countries, hoping to level a playing field that has seen wealthier nations vaccinate millions while comparatively few have received shots in poorer…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

World Bank head says optimistic that Sudan reform will lead to growth

BUSINESS

WORLD Bank President David Malpass yesterday said he was optimistic that Sudan's exchange-rate stabilization and reforms would lead to broad-based growth and poverty reduction. In remarks to Group of 20 finance officials, Malpass said he expected a rapid clearance of Sudan's arrears to the World Bank, and hoped for speedy progress toward a decision point on debt forgiveness under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative. Malpass added that both Ethiopia and Nigeria would benefit from ending their own costly dual exchange rate systems.

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Myanmar police fire into air to disperse protests as Suu Kyi’s lawyer says access denied

WORLD

POLICE dispersed protesters in Myanmar's two biggest cities yesterday, firing stun grenades, rubber bullets and guns into the air in a crackdown on weeks of demonstrations that have challenged the army's bid to re-impose its rule. At least one person was wounded in the protests in the main city of Yangon, a witness said, and several people were hurt in the second city of Mandalay. Police were not immediately available for comment. The Southeast Asian country has been in crisis since the army seized power on February 1 and detained government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Boeing crash: Families wants CEOs to testify

NEWS

ERIC M JOHNSON LAWYERS for families of a fatal Boeing Co 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia are seeking testimony from the planemaker's chief executive Dave Calhoun and his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg, among other current and former employees, according to a court filing. The Boeing 737 MAX crash on Ethiopian Airlines on March 10, 2019, occurred five months after a similar disaster on a Lion Air flight, together killing 346 people and sparking a hailstorm of investigations and lawsuits. While Boeing has mostly settled civil litigation stemming from the Lion Air crash, it is still facing over a 100 lawsuits in…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

School children abducted in Niger released

NEWS

GUNMEN in Nigeria on Saturday released 27 teenage boys who were kidnapped from their school last week in the northern state of Niger, while security forces continued to search for more than 300 schoolgirls abducted in a nearby state. Schools have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom in northern Nigeria by armed groups, many of whom carry guns and ride motorcycles. On Feb. 17, 27 students, three staff and 12 members of their families were abducted by an armed gang who stormed the Government Science secondary school in the Kagara district of Niger state, overwhelming the school's security detail.…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia’s main party holds huge rally as government row grows

NEWS

TAREK AMARA TUNISIA'S biggest political party assembled an immense crowd of supporters in the capital on Saturday in a show of strength that could fuel a dispute between the president and the prime minister. In one of the biggest demonstrations since Tunisia's 2011 revolution, tens of thousands of Ennahda supporters marched through central Tunis chanting "The people want to protect institutions!" and "The people want national unity!". The dispute has played out against a grim backdrop of economic anxiety, disillusionment with democracy and competing reform demands from foreign lenders and the UGTT, the powerful main labour union, as debt repayments…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Bollore Group fined $14.5 million for Africa graft

NEWS

FRENCH group Bollore will pay a 12 million-euro ($14.55 million) fine following a transaction with prosecutors in an alleged bribery case in Africa, France's financial prosecutor disclosed yesterday. The transaction effectively puts an end to the legal proceedings in the case against the conglomerate, led by billionaire Vincent Bollore, French Financial Prosecutor Jean-François Bohnert said in a written statement. "The investigation had concerned the corruption of foreign public officials, abuse of trust and complicity in breaches of trust committed between 2009 and 2011," the financial prosecutor said. Bollore's lawyer Olivier Baratelli and Bollore's spokesman didn't answer calls seeking comment.