NEWS - The African Mirror

Dec

31

2025

Nigerian President calls hospitalized boxing champion Anthony Joshua after fatal crash

NEWS

NIGERIAN President Bola Ahmed Tinubu personally telephoned British boxing champion Anthony Joshua in the hospital on Monday following a devastating car crash that killed two of the athlete's associates and left the former heavyweight champion injured. "I spoke with AJ on the phone to personally convey my condolences over the death of his two associates. I wished him well and prayed for him. He assured me that he is receiving the best care in the hospital," President Tinubu said in a statement released by his office. The president, who is currently abroad, also reached out to Joshua's mother to offer…

Dec

31

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Israel’s Somaliland gambit: a nation stands alone against global condemnation

NEWS

ISRAEL’S recognition of Somaliland as an independent state has triggered what may be the most unified international rebuke the country has faced in recent memory. Not a single nation has endorsed the move. Even Israel's closest ally, the United States, has explicitly distanced itself from the decision. The scale of opposition is remarkable. Twenty-one countries spanning the Islamic world - from Algeria to Yemen, from Iran to Saudi Arabia - issued a joint condemnation through the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The African Union, Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) all rejected the recognition. At…

Dec

30

2025

By OWN CORRESONDENT

Botswana, Ethiopia sign US health deal halted by Kenyan court over data transfer, privacy fears

NEWS

BOTSWANA has become the latest African country to sign a major health cooperation agreement with the United States, joining a growing list of nations entering controversial partnerships that have sparked alarm over data sovereignty and citizen privacy rights. The US Embassy in Botswana announced a P1.3 billion (approximately $95 million) health cooperation Memorandum of Understanding under Washington's "America First Global Health Strategy" — the same framework that triggered a legal challenge in Kenya, where a High Court has suspended implementation over concerns about transferring citizens' intimate medical data to foreign control. Ethiopia separately signed a $1.466 billion health cooperation deal…

Dec

30

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

When Morocco got two kinds of goals: Football fever and frozen peaks

NEWS

WHILE Africa's finest footballers are busy turning up the heat in the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations - where temperatures aren't the only things rising as nations battle for continental glory - Mother Nature decided Morocco needed a reminder that she doesn't care much for scheduling conflicts. Picture this: across the continent, fans are sweating through nail-biting matches, jerseys clinging to backs, stadiums pulsing with tropical tension. Meanwhile, up in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains, someone apparently forgot to tell the weather gods that this was supposed to be football season, not ski season. A cold front has…

Dec

29

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Cybercrime sweep across Africa nets 574 arrests, recovers $3 million

NEWS

A month-long coordinated operation across 19 African countries has resulted in 574 arrests and the recovery of approximately $3 million, authorities announced Thursday, marking one of the continent's most significant cybercrime crackdowns. Operation Sentinel, which ran from October 27 to November 27, targeted business email compromise schemes, digital extortion and ransomware attacks that have plagued African nations. The INTERPOL-coordinated initiative dismantled criminal networks responsible for an estimated $21 million in financial losses. The operation's reach was extensive: authorities took down more than 6,000 malicious links, decrypted six ransomware variants, and shut down 4,318 social media accounts linked to extortion schemes.…

Dec

29

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Global outcry as Israel recognises Somaliland, threatening regional stability

NEWS

A wave of international condemnation has swept across Africa and the Middle East following Israel's controversial recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state, with major regional powers warning that the unilateral action threatens to destabilise the Horn of Africa and undermine the global legal order. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry issued a sharp rebuke, affirming the Kingdom's "full support for the sovereignty of the brotherly Federal Republic of Somalia, and for its unity and territorial integrity." The statement rejected what it termed "the announcement of mutual recognition between the Israeli occupation authorities and the Somaliland region," describing it as an action…

Dec

29

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Unanswered questions: The US bombing of Nigeria and the crisis of sovereignty

NEWS

WHEN American Tomahawk missiles struck targets in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day 2025, President Donald Trump framed it as a gift to terrorists. But for many Nigerians who watched debris fall near their homes and heard explosions echo through villages where no terrorist activity had been documented, the strikes raised more questions than they answered. Three days later, those questions have only multiplied, exposing troubling gaps in intelligence, consent, and compliance with international law. The Intelligence Question: Why Jabo? The village of Jabo in northwestern Sokoto State was among the locations hit, with residents reporting that projectiles landed approximately 500…

Dec

27

2025

By The African Mirror

Former Ghana finance minister faces extradition after Interpol red notice

NEWS

THE long arm of international law has caught up with Ghana's former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who now faces forcible return to his home country to answer corruption charges involving millions of dollars in public funds. Interpol issued a red notice for Ofori-Atta's arrest on June 2, four days after Ghana's Office of the Special Prosecutor declared the 65-year-old a wanted person for failing to appear at a scheduled interrogation. The red notice requests law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and detain the former minister pending extradition proceedings. Ofori-Atta, who served as Finance Minister under former President Nana Akufo-Addo for…

Dec

27

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

How Botswana’s anti-corruption drive caught up with two former ministers

NEWS

IN the hushed chambers of the High Court, Justice Bafi Nlada signed orders that would send shockwaves through Botswana's political establishment. With a stroke of the pen, the properties of two men who once walked the corridors of power with impunity were frozen - their assets now under the unforgiving gaze of the law. Dr Kefentse Mzwinila and Lefoko Moagi, former government ministers who once commanded respect and wielded considerable influence, now find themselves on the wrong side of justice. The Director of Public Prosecutions has secured restraining orders against their properties in what legal experts are calling a significant…

Dec

27

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

US-Nigeria joint strikes dismantle terror networks in northern Nigeria

NEWS

IN a significant escalation of international counter-terrorism efforts, the United States and Nigeria have confirmed a joint military operation that delivered precision airstrikes against Islamic State-affiliated terror cells operating in Nigeria's volatile North West region, signalling a dramatic shift in how both nations confront extremist violence that has destabilised the area for years. The coordinated strikes, authorised by US President Donald Trump and executed with Nigerian government cooperation, represent the most overt American military intervention in Nigeria's long-running battle against jihadist insurgencies that have killed tens of thousands and displaced millions across the country's northern territories. Strategic Partnership Takes Kinetic…