NEWS - The African Mirror

Jan

30

2024

Violence in disputed Sudan-South Sudan border area kills 54

NEWS

MORE than 50 people including women, children and two U.N. peacekeepers were killed in attacks along South Sudan's border with Sudan, officials said, the deadliest in a spate of incidents since 2021 related to a boundary dispute. Armed young men from South Sudan's Warrap State carried out the raids into the neighbouring Abyei region on Saturday, Bulis Koch, the information minister for Abyei, said on Monday. Abyei is an oil-rich area jointly administered by South Sudan and Sudan, which have both staked claims. Koch told Reuters that 52 local people, among them women, children and police officers, were killed during…

Jan

28

2024

By The African Mirror

Public scorn for Ugandan judge who ruled in favour of Israel in the ICJ genocide case

NEWS

JUDGE Julia Sebutinde, a judge from Uganda sitting at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has found herself as a subject of scorn after she voted against all provisional measures to prevent genocide in Palestine. Many Africas took to social media and attacked Sebutinde who, along with Israeli judge Aharon Barak, were the only two, among the 17 judges, to vote against South Africa's request that the ICJ must, in its preliminary ruling, order a ceasefire. Sebutined voted against all of the provisional measures made by the court, while Barak voted in favour of two provisional measures. In an overwhelming…

Jan

27

2024

By The African Mirror

Around 20 civilians killed in Congo attack, army and rebels trade blame

NEWS

AROUND 20 civilians were killed in an attack in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the army and M23 rebels said, accusing each other of launching the assault. The deaths were the latest fallout from fighting between Congolese troops and M23, whose offensives have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and worsened the region's decades-long security and humanitarian crisis. Thursday's attack took place in the town of Mweso in Masisi territory, around 80 km (50 miles) from the city of Goma in North Kivu province, the two sides said. They gave different accounts of what happened. The…

Jan

27

2024

By BHARGAV ACHARYA and NELLIE PEYTON

South African president hails ruling against Israel as step toward justice

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed the World Court ruling imposing emergency measures against Israel over the war in Gaza as a step towards justice and said he expected Israel to abide by it. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops from committing genocide, punish acts of incitement and take steps to improve the humanitarian situation as it wages war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. It stopped short of demanding a ceasefire and has not yet ruled on the core of the case brought by South Africa - whether genocide has occurred…

Jan

28

2024

By The African Mirror

Mali junta eyes new peace talks after ending accord with separatists

NEWS

MALI'S junta issued a decree to establish a committee to organise national peace and reconciliation talks, a day after it ended a 2015 peace deal with Tuareg separatist rebels and accused mediator Algeria of interfering in its affairs. The decision to end the so-called Algiers accord threatens to further destabilise the conflict-torn West African nation. Algeria, which shares a border with Mali more than 1,300 km long said the decision could put the entire region at risk. In an apparent move to establish a new internal peace process, the junta's decree outlined the structure of a committee and the steps it should…

Jan

28

2024

By The African Mirror

Chinese companies to invest up to $7 billion in Congo mining infrastructure

NEWS

Chinese construction companies will invest up to $7 billion in infrastructure projects as part of an agreement over their Sicomines copper and cobalt joint venture in the Democratic Republic of Congo, they said. Both parties agreed to maintain the current structure of the shareholding, while the Chinese partners, Sinohydro Corp (SINOH.UL) and China Railway Group Limited, will pay 1.2% of royalties annually to Congo, according to a statement. President Felix Tshisekedi's government had been revisiting the deal struck by his predecessor Joseph Kabila under which the Chinese partners agreed to build roads and hospitals in exchange for a 68% stake…

Jan

26

2024

By The African Mirror

Libya’s $18-billion dollars flood repair bill

NEWS

LIBYA'S deadly flash flood in September constituted a climate and environmental catastrophe that requires $1.8 billion in reconstruction and recovery, an international report said. Huge swathes of the city of Derna were destroyed in the flood, after heavy rainfall from Storm Daniel crashed through two aging dams, sweeping entire districts into the Mediterranean. The report by the World Bank, United Nations and European Union said the disaster affected about 1.5 million people or 22% of Libya's population, and cited figures from the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA of 4,352 confirmed deaths with 8,000 still missing. Libya has been split since 2014 between rival…

Jan

26

2024

By The African Mirror

UK to return looted royal regalia to Ghana in loan deal

NEWS

BRITAIN is returning a selection of Ghanaian gold regalia looted from an Asante king in the 19th century, in a historic loan deal set out on Thursday. Some 32 objects, including a gold peace pipe and a sword of state from London's British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum, will be loaned to the Manhyia Palace Museum in the Ghanaian city of Kumasi, 150 years after they were stolen, the museums said. "These are more than artefacts; they are the items that connect us to our history, our past and help us to understand who we are, how we're relevant…

Jan

26

2024

By TIEMOKO DIALLO

Death toll from Mali gold mine accident rises to over 70

NEWS

THE death toll from last week's accident at an artisanal gold mine in southwest Mali has risen to more than 70, the head of Mali's Mines Chamber said on state radio. The deaths were caused after a shaft collapsed on Friday inside an artisanal gold mining site in the Kangaba Cercle in Mali's southwestern Koulikoro Region. The mines ministry reported over 40 killed on Wednesday but said that figure was provisional. The President of Mali's Mines Chamber, Abdoulaye Pona, who headed a government delegation dispatched to the area on Thursday, told state radio the death toll had risen to over 70, including…

Jan

27

2024

By HUMPHREY MALALO and GEORGE OBULUTSA

Kenyan court says police cannot deploy to Haiti mission

NEWS

A Kenyan court rejected a plan to send police officers to Haiti to lead a U.N.-approved mission, throwing into doubt the future of an initiative aimed at tackling gang violence in the Caribbean nation. An opposition party in October challenged the government's decision to send 1,000 officers to address a deepening crisis in Haiti, where gang violence killed nearly 5,000 people and forced around 200,000 from their homes last year. Kenya had hoped to have its officers in Haiti as soon as this month after the United Nations Security Council approved the mission in October, but a court issued a stay on…