NEWS - The African Mirror

Mar

27

2024

Several people killed in accident at abandoned Liberia gold mine

NEWS

SEVERAL people have been killed in Liberia in an accident at an abandoned gold mine, the West African country's mines minister said. Minister Wilmot Paye said that seven people died in Monday night's incident but acknowledged the authorities could not yet provide an exact death toll until a team reached the site in River Cess County in south-central Liberia. "I was told that seven persons died, but I can't say much until the team gets there. The mines had been abandoned several months ago," Paye told Reuters, adding that he did not know which company had operated the site. "If…

Mar

27

2024

By TIM COCKS and NELLIE PEYTON

South Africa’s main opposition party not ruling out deal with ANC

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's second most popular party the Democratic Alliance (DA) would not rule out a deal with the ruling African National Congress should the ANC fail to get the majority it needs to retain power in May elections, its leader said. Pollsters expect the ANC to lose its legislative majority on May 29 for the first time since Nelson Mandela took power at the end of apartheid 30 years ago, with voters unhappy with poor service delivery, joblessness, crime and power cuts. If that happens, President Cyril Ramaphosa or a successor for the top job would be unable to stay on without…

Mar

27

2024

By The African Mirror

Libya’s oil minister suspended for legal investigation

NEWS

LIBYA'S oil and gas minister in the Government of National Unity has been temporarily suspended from work, a state institution said on Monday, citing a legal investigation. The Administrative Control Agency (ACA) said on its verified Facebook page that its head Abdullah Qadirbuh issued the suspension decision against the oil and gas minister in Tripoli for the investigation "regarding the facts of case No.178, which revealed the presence of legal violations". It did not disclose further details. The oil ministry has not received a copy of the decision yet, a source at the ministry told Reuters. The ACA mentioned the…

Mar

26

2024

By PORTIA CROWE, DIADIE BA, BATE FELIX and SOFIA CHRISTENSEN

Senegal’s Faye set to become president in opposition victory

NEWS

SENEGAL opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a political newcomer popular among the country's disaffected youth, was set to be declared the next president after his main rival called him to concede defeat. Provisional results showed Faye with about 53.7% and Amadou Ba - from the current ruling coalition - with 36.2% based on tallies from 90% of polling stations in the first-round vote, the electoral commission said. Ba and President Macky Sall both congratulated Faye, who turned 44 on Monday. They hailed the outcome as a win for Senegal, whose reputation as one of West Africa's most stable democracies took…

Mar

26

2024

By The African Mirror

Detained Binance executive escapes custody in Nigeria

NEWS

A Binance executive who had been detained in Nigeria has escaped custody, the president's adviser on national security said. Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who is Binance's regional manager for Africa, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria escaped from lawful custody on Friday, the security adviser's office said in a statement. It added that Nigeria's security agencies are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on Anjarwalla. Binance said earlier that it was aware that Anjarwalla, who is the company's regional manager for Africa, was no longer under Nigerian custody and that…

Mar

26

2024

By AHMED KINGIMI

Nigerian army rescues abducted Kaduna students

NEWS

THE Nigerian army rescued students and staff who were abducted by gunmen from a school in the country's north earlier this month, the military said, days before the deadline for a ransom payment. School officials and residents had said 287 students were taken on March 7 in the town of Kuriga in the northwestern state of Kaduna. A military spokesperson said 137 hostages - 76 of them female and 61 male - were rescued in the early hours of Sunday in the neighbouring state of Zamfara. "In the early hours of 24 March 2024, the military working with local authorities…

Mar

24

2024

By The African Mirror

Sixty-five migrants’ bodies found in Libya mass grave, IOM says

NEWS

AT least 65 migrants' bodies have been discovered in a mass grave in southwest Libya, the International Organization for Migration said on social media platform X. IOM said in a statement the circumstances of the migrants' deaths and nationalities were unknown "but it is believed that they died in the process of being smuggled through the desert." Libya has turned into a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe across the Mediterranean following the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011. In an unverified message on Facebook, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the…

Mar

26

2024

By The African Mirror

Al Shabaab launches deadly attack on military base in Somalia

NEWS

AT least 17 people were killed in Somalia after the Islamist group al Shabaab attacked a military base. The Busley base, in the Lower Shabelle region in the country's southwest, was briefly occupied by the attackers, security officials and the group said. Armed fighters from al Shabaab battled their way to the facility using suicide car bombs, a Somalia military officer told Reuters. He declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media. "Several suicide car bombs attacked the base after fierce fighting...al Shabaab briefly captured the base," the officer said. "Then, government reinforcement fiercely…

Mar

26

2024

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia to let foreigners own property, PM says on state TV

NEWS

ETHIOPIA aims to pass legislation to let foreigners own real estate as part of the country's broader plan to open up the economy and attract investors, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on state TV. Currently foreigners are barred from owning houses in Ethiopia, either residential or commercial buildings, which is seen as a hurdle to ongoing efforts to attract foreign investment to the Horn of Africa country. State TV said Abiy told a meeting of large taxpayers in the capital Addis Ababa that his government was finalising a new law to let foreigners own real estate property although he did…

Mar

26

2024

By OPE ADETAYO

Nigeria food banks cut back on handouts as prices soar

NEWS

AT a warehouse in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, dozens of women patiently wait their turn to receive food handouts. Among them is 68-year-old widow Damilola Salami, who received an invitation to the facility just as she had almost run out of food. The Lagos Food Bank is a crucial lifeline to residents like Salami but has seen supplies from private and other donors fall as inflation soars in Africa's biggest economy. Nigeria is grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades, which has deepened since President Bola Tinubu rolled out bold but unpopular economic reforms after assuming office last May. "There is…