NEWS - The African Mirror

Jun

26

2023

Legendary basketballer Reggie Moore dies in Angola ahead of FIBA’s AfroCan

NEWS

SILALEI SHANI, BIRD STORY AGENCY ANGOLA'S basketball community is mourning the death of Reggie Moore, who passed away in Luanda on Monday, June 12. He was 42. Born in America but naturalized as an Angolan, Moore was one of a handful of Americans to acquire Angolan citizenship in 2013. Standing an imposing 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 meters), Moore was a skilled and respected basketball player known for both his exceptional talent and leadership. He gained the admiration and respect of teammates, opponents, and fans worldwide and his impact on Angolan basketball has been hailed as invaluable. In addition to…

Jun

24

2023

By KHALID ABDELAZIZ

Sudanese families fleeing to Egypt separated by new visa rules

NEWS

ELSAFI Mahdi was separated from his wife and three younger children on June 1 near Sudan's border with Egypt. He does not know when he'll see them again. Like many families fleeing the war in the capital Khartoum, Mahdi, a prominent music teacher and conductor, left home without a visa required for entry to Egypt. His elder sons aged 19 and 17 needed their passports renewed, a task that became impossible as the conflict paralysed central government offices. Mahdi and the two elder boys turned back to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, while the rest of the family…

Jun

23

2023

By CARIEN DU PLESSIS and FELIX NJINI

Methane gas explosion killed 31 in disused S.African mine

NEWS

A methane gas explosion in a disused South African mine killed at least 31 people last month believed to be from neighbouring Lesotho, South Africa's energy department said on Friday. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) had said late on Thursday that South Africa was investigating the deaths, which occurred in a ventilation shaft in the shuttered Virginia mine in the country's Free State province. Lesotho's foreign ministry reported the incident to Pretoria, it said. The DMRE said an investigation into the incident with the help of Harmony Gold - the previous owner of the mine which ceased operations…

Jun

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Sierra Leone opposition leader decries lack of access ahead of Saturday’s vote

NEWS

SIERRA Leone's main opposition candidate said the lack of election campaign access to some strongholds of the ruling party and unsupervised distribution of ballots could open the door to rigging. Some 3.4 million Sierra Leoneans are expected in the polls on Saturday for a general election in which Samura Kamara of the opposition All People's Congress (APC) is seen as the main challenger against incumbent President Julius Maada Bio. Kamara, a former foreign minister, narrowly lost to Bio in the 2018 presidential race. Tensions in the last days of the campaign have led to the cancellation of rallies and clashes at an…

Jun

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Prosecutors block release of Tunisian opposition figure Chaima Issa

NEWS

TUNISIA'S public prosecutor appealed against a judge's decision to free Chaima Issa, a prominent opponent of President Kais Saied, following her arrest in February, her lawyer said. Issa will now not leave prison on Friday, lawyer Dalila Mbarek told Reuters. A decision will be taken to release her or keep her in prison within days, lawyers said. Issa had been accused of plotting against state security. Issa is a prominent leader in the Salvation Front, which is the main opposition coalition to Saied, organising protests against him since he seized additional powers in 2021 and shut down the elected parliament.…

Jun

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Eleven candidates to run for president in Zimbabwe

NEWS

NYASHA CHINGONO ELEVEN candidates will run for the Zimbabwean presidency in an August election, the electoral commission has said, after several hopefuls were disqualified for failing to raise the $20,000 needed to appear on the ballot. The election is expected to pit Incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa, of the ZANU-PF party, against pastor and lawyer Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), who is seen as the strongest challenger. The commission said late on Thursday that 11 hopeful candidates had been disqualified from the Aug. 23 election, several of whom, including Linda Masarira, failed to pay the $20,000 to secure…

Jun

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Morocco delays ‘Abraham Accords’ summit until after summer

NEWS

MOROCCO will delay a summit it is hosting between Israel and Arab states that have signed "Abraham Accords" peace pacts, its foreign minister said, amid rising strife in the West Bank. The decision to postpone the summit until after the summer comes after Israel decided to expand settlement-building in the occupied West Bank and after an Israeli raid on Jenin in which five people were killed. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said the decision was partly over scheduling but also because of what he called "provocative and unilateral acts" that "undermine peace efforts in the region". He condemned the Israeli army raid on Jenin,…

Jun

24

2023

By The African Mirror

Congo’s Catholic church questions government’s election preparations

NEWS

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo's government is not on track with preparations for elections, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) said ahead of presidential and parliamentary polls later this year. The country's Catholic church has a long history of promoting democracy in the vast African country where organising elections has been complicated by financial and logistical problems, and where disputes over vote tampering have frequently caused widespread unrest. The election commission, CENI, has made insufficient progress creating a tripartite consultation framework between the majority, the opposition and civil society, and not invited international observers to ensure fair elections, CENCO said.…

Jun

23

2023

By The African Mirror

Gaddafi’s son on hunger strike

NEWS

A son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been treated in a hospital in Lebanon after going on a hunger strike two weeks ago in protest at his incarceration without trial since 2015, the Lebanese interior minister said. Hannibal Gaddafi has been detained in Lebanon since a prosecutor charged him with concealing information about the fate of Imam Musa al-Sadr, a Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim cleric who disappeared while on a trip to Libya in 1978. Declaring his decision to go on hunger strike earlier this month, Hannibal Gaddafi - aged two at the time of Sadr's disappearance - said…

Jun

23

2023

By The African Mirror

Africa’s peace mission to Ukraine: Brazil, SA leaders talk

NEWS

BRAZILIAN President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he had discussed the war between Russia and Ukraine and an upcoming BRICS summit with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa as they met in Paris. Ramaphosa recently led a delegation of African leaders to Russia and Kyiv seeking to share the continent's "perspective on finding peace in Ukraine," but key elements of their peace plan ended up being rebuffed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lula has also pitched himself as a peace broker to end the war, which began when Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022. The Brazilian leader irritated Western countries…