NEWS - The African Mirror

Apr

22

2024

Togo constitutional changes spark calls for popular protests

NEWS

SOME of Togo's opposition parties and civil society groups renewed their calls for widespread popular protests a day after lawmakers approved constitutional changes likely to extend the 19-year rule of President Faure Gnassingbe. In a statement, the Dynamique pour la Majorité du Peuple (DMP) opposition coalition and other signatories said the changes, relating to presidential term limits and how presidents are elected, were a political manoeuvre to allow Gnassingbe to extend his tenure for life. "What happened at the National Assembly yesterday is a coup d'etat," they said, noting that the text had not been made public and reiterating calls…

Apr

21

2024

By CAMILLUS EBOH

Nigeria to acquire 24 fighter jets from Italy’s Leonardo

NEWS

NIGERIA plans to acquire 24 fighter jets from Italy's Leonardo to modernize its fleet and bolster its air force, air force spokesperson Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet said on Friday. The aircraft will arrive in the country in four batches of six jets each, the Air Force said. Africa's most populous nation will receive the first six M-346 fighter aircraft before the end of the year, Gabkwet said in a statement. The news followed a visit by Claudio Sabatino, Leonardo vice president, to Nigeria's air force chief in Abuja on Wednesday. Leonardo will provide a minimum of 25 years of maintenance…

Apr

23

2024

By The African Mirror

Egypt reclaims 3,400-year-old stolen statue of King Ramses II

NEWS

EGYPT welcomed home a 3,400-year-old statue depicting the head of King Ramses II after it was stolen and smuggled out of the country more than three decades ago, the country's antiquities ministry said. The statue is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo but not on display. The artefact will be restored, the ministry said in a statement. The statue was stolen from the Ramses II temple in the ancient city of Abydos in Southern Egypt more than three decades ago. The exact date is not known, but Shaaban Abdel Gawad, who heads Egypt's antiquities repatriation department, said the piece…

Apr

23

2024

By The African Mirror

UN warns 800,000 people in Sudan city in ‘extreme, immediate danger’

NEWS

SOME 800,000 people in a Sudanese city are in "extreme and immediate danger" as worsening violence advances and threatens to "unleash bloody intercommunal strife throughout Darfur," top U.N. officials warned the Security Council. War erupted in Sudan one year ago between the Sudanese army (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), creating the world's largest displacement crisis. U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the 15-member Security Council that clashes between RSF and SAF-aligned members of the Joint Protection Forces were nearing El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. "Fighting in El Fasher could unleash bloody intercommunal strife throughout Darfur," DiCarlo said, echoing a warning by U.N.…

Apr

21

2024

By The African Mirror

Around 50 killed in Central African Republic boat capsize

NEWS

AROUND 50 people on their way to a village funeral died after their riverboat capsized in the Central African Republic's capital Bangui on Friday, an official said. "We were alerted 40 minutes after the incident and rescuers were able to extract around 50 lifeless bodies," civil protection department head Thomas Djimasse told Reuters. He added, in a telephone interview, that the search was continuing with more people possibly drowned in the Mpoko River. Government spokesperson Maxime Balalou gave a death toll of over 30 and called for better compliance with river transport safety regulations.

Apr

21

2024

By The African Mirror

Chad air force chief orders US to halt activities at army base

NEWS

CHAD'S air force chief ordered the United States to halt activities at an air base near the capital N'Djamena, according to a letter sent to the transitional government and seen by Reuters. Chad has so far not followed the steps of juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in ending military collaborations with France and other traditional Western allies while they strengthen ties with Russia instead. In the letter dated April 4 to Chad's minister of armed forces, Air Force Chief of Staff Idriss Amine Ahmed said he had told the U.S. defence attache to halt U.S. activities at the Adji Kossei Air Base…

Apr

20

2024

By JAMES COURTRIGHT

Ghana accused of expelling Fulani asylum seekers from Burkina Faso

NEWS

WHILE Ghana has welcomed thousands of Burkinabé refugees fleeing escalating jihadist violence across the border, Fulani rights groups allege that it has also been expelling ethnic Fulani asylum seekers, targeting a community unfairly accused of supporting the insurgency. Belko Diallo*, a 45-year-old former herder, is one of thousands of Burkinabé Fulani that the Ghanaian authorities have failed to register as refugees. Instead of being welcomed to Ghana’s Traikom refugee camp, he has had to settle with his family in a hastily erected hut in the dusty scrub land near the northern border. “When we first heard about Tarikom, we thought…

Apr

20

2024

By The African Mirror

Organisers of Jewish pilgrimage in Tunisia cancel annual celebrations over Gaza

NEWS

AN annual Jewish pilgrimage to Tunisia's Djerba synagogue and celebration has been cancelled due to the war in Gaza, the head of the organising committee, Perez Trabelsi, told Reuters. Trabelsi added that the committee has reduced the annual pilgrimage to limited rituals only inside the temple, and expects a very small number to arrive from France due to the tense situation in the Middle East. "How do we celebrate when people die every day?" he said. The southern island of Djerba – a holiday destination – is home to Africa’s oldest synagogue and the annual pilgrimage, attracting thousands of Jews…

Apr

20

2024

By DJAFFAR AL KATANTY and ERIKAS MWISI KAMBALE

Belgium encourages DRC to file complaint against Rwanda at the ICJ

NEWS

THE Democratic Republic of Congo should file a complaint with the International Court of Justice over Rwanda's failure to respect its border, Belgium's ambassador to Congo said at a meeting to assess the deepening crisis in eastern Congo. Congo has been struggling to push back M23 rebels since they launched a comeback offensive in the already restive east in 2022. The fighting has displaced 738,000 more people in the first three months of this year alone, according to the U.N. aid agency OCHA. The Congolese government, U.N. officials and Western powers including the United States and Belgium have accused Rwanda of providing…

Apr

19

2024

By The African Mirror

Kenya’s military chief among 10 people killed in helicopter crash

NEWS

KENYA'S military chief, General Francis Ogolla, was among 10 people killed when their military helicopter crashed shortly after take-off, President William Ruto announced. The aircraft, which had been on a visit to troops deployed in northwest Kenya to combat endemic cattle rustling, came down just minutes after leaving Cheptulel Boys Secondary School in West Pokot County, Ruto said. Two soldiers survived the crash and were in hospital, he said, adding that an air investigation team had been sent to discover the cause. "Our motherland has lost one of her most valiant generals," Ruto told a news conference. "The demise of…