NEWS - The African Mirror

Jun

12

2023

Fighting rages in Sudan’s capital after 24-hour truce expires

NEWS

KHALID ABDELAZIZ AND MOHAMED NURELDIN HEAVY clashes and artillery fire erupted across Sudan's capital Khartoum and residents reported air strikes soon after the end of a 24-hour ceasefire that had brought a brief lull to eight weeks of fighting between rival military factions. Witnesses said the fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was some of the heaviest for weeks and included ground battles in the densely populated neighbourhood of Haj Youssef in Bahri, one of three adjoining cities, along with Khartoum and Omdurman, that make up the capital around the confluence of the River Nile.…

Jun

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Seized: Fake $1-billion headed for Africa

NEWS

TURKISH security forces seized $1 billion of counterfeit money in Istanbul and arrested six people involved in the operation, including one Ghanian and three Swedish nationals, the governor's office said. Gendarmerie forces tracked the suspects to a storage space in Istanbul's Kagithane district, where they seized the fake $100 bills meant to be sent to African countries, the office said. The suspects' homes were searched and their cash and jewellery confiscated. The Swedish and Ghanaian consulates were notified. The counterfeit haul was the largest in Turkey's history, the governor's office said. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Jun

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Russia war on Ukraine: SA President briefs Chinese leader

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has briefed Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the upcoming visit by African leaders to Russia and Ukraine in a bid to end hostilities, the South African presidency said. Chinese state broadcaster reported that the two leaders had a phone call on Friday. In a statement, South Africa's presidency said Ramaphosa told Xi he noted the peace plan proposed by China and affirmed African leaders' support for initiatives aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict. "President Xi Jinping commended the initiative by the African continent and acknowledged the impact the conflict has had on human lives and…

Jun

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Nigeria’s security agency detains suspended central bank governor

NEWS

MACDONALD DZIRUTWE NIGERIA'S suspended central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has been detained and is being held in custody for investigative reasons, the police's Department of State Services (DSS) said. The country's new President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele with immediate effect on Friday, a measure the government said was linked to an ongoing probe of the governor's office and to planned reforms in the financial sector. Emefiele's suspension had been expected after he drew sharp criticism during the run-up to the February presidential vote from Tinubu's camp. Allies of Tinubu accused the governor of trying to sabotage their election campaign when his…

Jun

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Soldier guilty in Rwanda’s genocide dies in Niger

NEWS

SONIA ROLLEY A former lieutenant colonel convicted of inciting genocide in Rwanda in 1994 has died in Niger after an appeal for medical assistance in Britain went unanswered, his lawyer said. Tharcisse Muvunyi was in the Rwandan army when ruling Hutu majority extremists killed more than 800,000 minority Tutsis and Hutu moderates in 100 days. He was arrested in the United Kingdom, sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2010 and freed two years later after time served. "Yesterday afternoon Muvunyi was found dead in the shower by one of his housemates," Muvunyi's lawyer Abbe Jolles told Reuters. Muvunyi lived…

Jun

10

2023

By SOFIA CHRISTENSEN

From restaurants to water towers, unrest dents Senegal’s economy

NEWS

A KFC restaurant was ransacked. Public transport torched. Glass-panelled stations for a multi-million dollar electric bus link shattered. A water plant was vandalised. Senegal is taking stock of the damage after the jail sentencing of prominent opposition figure Ousmane Sonko sparked the worst civil unrest in decades that threatens to dent progress in one of Africa's fastest-growing economies. Sixteen people died and hundreds were injured. Rioters attacked banks, supermarkets and petrol stations. Small businesses were also hit. "There was a clear intention to affect the normal functioning of our economic activity. Targets were not chosen fortuitously," Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome said over…

Jun

09

2023

By BIÉNNE HUISMAN, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa’s award-winning mermaid teaches children a love for the ocean

NEWS

"DO dolphins bite? Are there ancestors living under the water?" These are the sorts of questions Zandile Ndhlovu (34) answers during bi-monthly snorkelling excursions with kids from Langa, an informal settlement in Cape Town, South Africa. "I pick up the kids from their homes, normally four at a time… We learn about the challenges the ocean is facing, and we learn about what we're going to find in the water. Then we kit up, and we go explore," says Ndhlovu. With most of them, it's their first time seeing beneath the surface, so there's lots of fear. And then somewhere…

Jun

11

2023

By The African Mirror

US urges Nigerian authorities to investigate air strike killing of herders

NEWS

DAPHNE PSALEDAKIS and HUMEYRA PAMUK THE United States urged Nigerian authorities to investigate an air strike that Reuters reported killed dozens of cattle herders earlier this year and highlighted a pattern of deadly aerial assaults. Dozens of ethnic Fulani herders died in a January 24 aerial bombing in the central state of Nasarawa, according to a Reuters investigation published this week. The deaths raise awkward questions for allies such as the U.S., which arm Nigeria's military as part of ongoing efforts to quell Islamist insurgencies in West Africa. "We urge Nigerian authorities to thoroughly investigate this and all other incidents of civilian…

Jun

10

2023

By The African Mirror

Rebel mobilisation in southern Sudan raises fears of conflict spreading

NEWS

RESIDENTS of Sudan's South Kordofan State reported mobilisation by a large rebel force, raising fear that internal conflict could spread in the country's southern regions. The rebel force, the SPLM-N, is led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu and is estimated to contain tens of thousands of men as well as heavy weaponry. It is unclear what position Hilu might take in the conflict that erupted in the capital Khartoum on April 15 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but its mobilisation raised fears of clashes, residents said. SPLM-N forces had moved into several army camps around Kadugli, the…

Jun

10

2023

By WENDELL ROELF

Rwandan genocide suspect faces 54 fraud, immigration charges in South Africa

NEWS

SOUTH African prosecutors significantly increased the number of charges they are bringing against Rwandan ex-police officer Fulgence Kayishema, who is wanted internationally for suspected participation in Rwanda's 1994 genocide. On the run for two decades, Kayishema was arrested on May 24 under a false name on a grape farm in South Africa where, according to a prosecutor, refugees working there gave him up. He now faces 54 separate charges in South Africa relating to fraud and immigration offences, up from five previously, prosecutors spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said outside a Cape Town court. Kayishema had been a fugitive from justice since 2001 when…