May, 2021 - The African Mirror

May

2021

Madame Tussauds moves Prince Harry and Meghan waxworks from royals

A year after leaving their royal duties to move to Los Angeles, Madame Tussauds has now decided waxwork models of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan now belong in the attraction's Hollywood zone and not with the other members of the House of Windsor. The couple, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, quit royal duties to forge new independent careers on the other side of the Atlantic, and have since signed deals to deliver and produce content for Netflix, Spotify and Apple . Now their waxwork models have been shifted from their place in the royal section of Madame Tussauds…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

The UN’s Guterres, an incumbent with strong backing by Europe, is bound to win another term

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BARBARA CROSSETTE IT was all over in one crucial week. Barring an unforeseen hitch, António Guterres is the clear winner of a second, five-year term as secretary-general of the United Nations, beginning on Jan.1, 2022. This was not a surprise: he had no major competition and the process moved faster than expected. A three-hour question-and-answer session with UN diplomats from around the world in the General Assembly on May 7 appeared to support a growing sense internationally that the Security Council may decide by late June or July, three months before the normal deadline for a candidacy to go to the General Assembly for…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe re-introduces rhinos in Gonarezhou park after three decades

ENVIRONMENT

ZIMBABWE is re-introducing rhinos to its second biggest wildlife park Gonarezhou in the south of the country, the first time that the sanctuary will be home to the species in 30 years, the parks authority have announced. Gonarezhou, which means 'home of the elephant' in the Shona language, is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park with South Africa's Kruger National Park and Mozambique's Limpopo National Park. Tinashe Farawo, the spokesman for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, said black and white rhino would be introduced in Gonarezhou soon. Zimbabwe now has about 1,000 rhinos after poaching decimated its…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

People with HIV are still dying from a treatable, but neglected, disease: all it needs is a plan

HEALTH

THEMBI Ngubane was a young woman who became famous through the American National Public Radio show Thembi’s AIDS Diary: A Year in the Life of a South African Teenager. She was vibrant, punchy, full of life. She recorded the consultation when, as a doctor, I started her on antiretroviral therapy in 2005. Jo Menell’s documentary film, Thembi, gives a sensitive and nuanced account of her fast rise to fame, culminating in meeting Barack Obama and addressing the US Congress, and then equally rapid fall into oblivion, loss from care, and death. GILLES VAN CUTSEM, Honorary Research Associate, Centre for Infectious…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Solar minibuses for Africa? Data seen as key to green transport switch

AFRICITIES

MEGAN ROWLING AS emissions from African transport surge, governments need to find ways to encourage a shift to cleaner, healthier electric vehicles, especially among the minibus and motorcycle taxis that dominate transport in many cities, researchers said on Thursday. Investment in generating more solar-powered electricity to charge electric vehicles (EVs) could encourage their use, cut pollution and costs for passengers, and help stabilise unreliable energy systems, they said in a commentary published in Nature Sustainability. But most African governments lack the data on privately run mass transport systems needed to make the case for financial institutions and development banks to put…