NEWS - The African Mirror

May

06

2023

Nigerian hijab-wearing chef seeks to break stereotypes about Muslim women

NEWS

NIGERIAN Sherifah Yunus Olokodana looks like any Muslim woman with a veil that only exposes her eyes, but the entrepreneur who has carved a niche as a chef in Lagos is seeking to break stereotypes about hijab-wearing women in the country. Nigeria is almost evenly divided between the largely Christian south and mainly Muslim north, where cultural norms often discourage women to get into business. Olokodana, a Yoruba Muslim from the southwest, has been a pastry chef for nearly two decades and sells food spices, but she said she still faced prejudice. "Being a woman who dresses this way, I…

May

06

2023

By The African Mirror

South Africans call for UK to return diamonds set in crown jewels

NEWS

SOME South Africans are calling for Britain to return the world's largest diamond, known as the Star of Africa, which is set in the royal sceptre that King Charles III will hold at his coronation on Saturday. The diamond, which weighs 530 carats, was discovered in South Africa in 1905 and presented to the British monarchy by the colonial government in the country, which was then under British rule. Now amid a global conversation about returning artwork and artefacts that were pillaged during colonial times, some South Africans are calling for the diamond to be brought back. "The diamond needs…

May

06

2023

By KHALID ABDELAZIZ and MOHAMED NOURELDIN

Heavy fighting in Khartoum; Sudan’s children caught in conflict, UN says

NEWS

FIERCE fighting persisted in Sudan despite a truce agreement as U.S. intelligence said rival forces were trying to gain the upper hand ahead of possible negotiations and the U.N. warned of the violence's devastating toll on children. Despite multiple ceasefire declarations, the two sides appeared to be battling for control of territory in the capital Khartoum ahead of proposed talks, though the leaders of both factions have shown little public willingness to negotiate after more than two weeks of fighting. The Sudanese army on Thursday sought to dislodge the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary force from its positions near central Khartoum in…

May

06

2023

By KHALID ABDELAZIZ

Veteran soldier leads Sudan’s army against rival general

NEWS

GENERAL Abdel Fattah al-Burhan pledged to take Sudan to civilian rule, but after going to war last month with his former partner in a military coup, that looks like a distant promise. As his warplanes rain strikes on the capital and his troops battle the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of rival general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, Burhan has shown no inclination to compromise. "There is no other option but the military solution," he said five days into fighting that he was believed to be initially directing from a presidential guesthouse near the airport. The war comes after Burhan…

May

05

2023

By MACDONALD DZIRUTWE

Nightmare in Sudan: African expats struggle to find way out

NEWS

NIGERIAN law student Umar Yusuf Yaru was relaxing in his apartment when he first heard gunfire last month in his Khartoum neighbourhood. For the next nine days, Yaru hunkered down alone as the Sudanese armed forces clashed with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), hoping the fighting would end. With his internet down and food running low, he switched on his mobile phone data on April 24 and spotted a lifeline on Telegram: Nigeria would be evacuating its nationals at dawn the following day from his International University of Africa campus in the war-torn capital. He quickly packed two bags…

May

05

2023

By The African Mirror

Inside a Kenyan starvation cult and its tragic end in a forest of death

NEWS

DUNCAN MIRIRI KENYAN cult leader Paul Mackenzie lived with hundreds of followers in makeshift homes of polythene sheeting and thatch in a remote forest camp that he divided into areas with biblical names like Jerusalem and Judea, relatives of his adherents say. He told them the world as they knew it was going to end on April 15 and Satan would rule for 1,000 years, according to the relatives and a senior police investigator. He ordered them to starve themselves and their children to death so they could meet Jesus in heaven ahead of that date, they said. "I heard…

May

05

2023

By IRENE KALULU, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Solar-powered tricycles offer solution to transport problems in rural Zimbabwe

NEWS

SMALL-SCALE dairy farmer Matius Khumbula has a new joy in his daily routine. The 70-year-old who hails from Domboshava, a rural community located 30 kilometres from Harare, previously had to physically carry 60 litres of milk daily over 5km from his homestead to a collection point where he sells milk to the biggest dairy farm in Zimbabwe. Now he and his wife are spared the heavy physical labour, thanks to a solar-powered tricycle. "Before, my wife and I had to make numerous trips carrying buckets of milk on our heads. It was time-consuming and tiring. With the e-tricycle, my work…

May

05

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya court frees pastor accused of links to cult leader

NEWS

A Kenyan court released on bond a televangelist detained last week as part of an investigation into the deaths of dozens of people whom police say starved themselves to death on the instructions of a cult leader. Kenya's interior minister accused Pastor Ezekiel Odero after his arrest last Thursday of involvement in the "mass killing of his followers", without elaborating. A document presented in court last week said police had established that several deaths were recorded at Odero's church and that those bodies may have been moved to a forest about 66 km (40 miles) away, where more than 100 bodies have…

May

04

2023

By PHILBERT GIRINEMA

Heavy rain, floods kill at least 136 in Rwanda and Uganda

NEWS

FLOODING and landslides triggered by heavy rain have killed at least 129 people in Rwanda and six in Uganda, authorities said, as rescuers hunted survivors trapped in homes. In chaotic scenes after weeks of rain in the region, one video clip posted by the state-owned Rwanda Broadcasting Agency showed muddy water gushing down an inundated road and destroying houses. "We woke up at 2 a.m and heard people screaming," Angelique Nibagwire, 47, said from Karongi district in western Rwanda where at least 16 people died. Another resident in the area, Nyandwi Emmanuel, said three relatives died after a house he…

May

04

2023

By GABRIELLA OPARA, BIRD STORY AGENCY

An African alternative to ChatGPT takes Nigerian Telegram by storm

NEWS

AFTER enrolling as a distance learning student at the International University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Justin Irabor quickly realized he needed help merging work and school. It wasn't easy to balance the duties of a professional web developer and a data science student. "My Master's program is online, and the challenge with that is that you need a study partner, otherwise you're never quite sure how much of the study material you've consumed. This was quite challenging because combining daily activities with school meant you have to synchronize with a lot of people. Sometimes I'm at work and my study…