NEWS - The African Mirror

Aug

07

2020

10 countries account for 80% of Africa COVID-19 testing – Africa CDC

NEWS

TEN countries account for 80% of the new coronavirus testing taking place across Africa, a regional body said on Thursday, indicating that little testing is taking place in many countries around the vast continent. COVID-19 confirmed cases across Africa have accelerated and are close to hitting a million this week, and experts say low levels of testing in many countries means infection rates are likely to be higher than reported. Some governments across the continent are too poor or conflict-ridden to carry out widespread testing, while others are reluctant to share data or to expose their crumbling health systems to…

Aug

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Around 40 migrants drown in shipwreck off Mauritanian coast

NEWS

A boat carrying around 40 migrants and refugees has sunk off the coast of Mauritania, leaving only one survivor, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. The perilous sea passage from West Africa to the Canary Islands was once a major route for migrants seeking jobs and a better life in Europe. Attempts became scarcer when Spain stepped up patrols in the mid-2000s, but the route is seeing a fresh surge. "New shipwreck off the coast of Nouadhibou #Mauritania of approximately 40 persons on board, there is one survivor (from Guinea)," tweeted UNHCR special envoy Vincent Cochetel. UNHCR "along…

Aug

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria to reopen for international air travel in weeks

NEWS

NIGERIA will reopen for international air travel in a matter of weeks, the aviation minister has revealed, without giving a specific date for the resumption after months of closure due to the global coronavirus pandemic. "It will be in weeks rather than in months," Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika told a regular briefing in the capital Abuja on coronavirus. Nigeria began to close its airports in March, a month after Africa's most populous country confirmed its first coronavirus case. Domestic air travel restarted last month. The country has 44,890 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 900 deaths, figures from the…

Aug

07

2020

By The African Mirror

UK‌ ‌colonialist‌ ‌Rhodes‌ ‌has‌ ‌fallen‌ ‌in‌ ‌his‌ ‌hometown‌ ‌as‌ ‌ museum‌ ‌changes‌ ‌its‌ ‌name

NEWS

AMBER MILNE A museum and art center in the house where 19th century British colonialist Cecil Rhodes was born is changing its name after protests from anti-racism campaigners. The Rhodes Art Complex will become South Mill Arts on August 24, following calls to stop glorifying an imperialist who annexed swathes of southern Africa as part of the British Empire and paved the way for racial segregation in South Africa. "The trust originally indicated that it would consult the local community about a new name," said a statement by the Rhodes Birthplace Trust, which runs the centre in Bishop's Stortford, some…

Aug

07

2020

By The African Mirror

South‌ ‌African‌ ‌animal‌ ‌rights‌ ‌ group‌ ‌asks‌ ‌court‌ ‌to‌ ‌ban‌ ‌live‌ ‌sheep‌ ‌shipments‌ ‌by‌ ‌Kuwaiti‌ ‌ firm‌

NEWS

A South African animal rights group is seeking a court order banning a Kuwaiti firm from shipping tens of thousands of sheep across the equator to the Middle East during summer months in conditions it called "extreme cruelty". The case is the latest attempt by South Africa's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) to block such sheep exports, and it is pressing the government to introduce new regulations on how live animals are transported. On Thursday, the NSPCA asked Grahamstown High Court in the Eastern Cape for an interim court interdict preventing a ship belonging to…

Aug

06

2020

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe again denies bail to journalist in protest case; government denies crisis

NEWS

ZIMBABWE's High Court has denied bail to a journalist who was arrested last month for supporting anti-government protests, in a case that has sparked an outcry over muzzling of the press. Hopewell Chin'ono, a freelance journalist and critic of the government, was charged with inciting violence last month, together with opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume. Hopewell Chin'ono Security forces deployed last Friday to thwart protests against President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government's record on corruption and a worsening economic crisis. South Africa said it was concerned by reports of rights violations in Zimbabwe and its international relations minister had spoken to Zimbabwean foreign…

Aug

06

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast police fire teargas at supporters of former president

NEWS

POLICE fired teargas to disperse a protest in the commercial capital, Abidjan, on Thursday against the exclusion of former President Laurent Gbagbo and others from the voter rolls for October's presidential election. Hundreds of protesters had gathered outside the national electoral commission's headquarters to demand that Gbagbo, his ally Charles Ble Goude and former prime minister Guillaume Soro be included in the rolls, a Reuters witness said. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara. Photo: Presidency of the Republic of Benin The electoral commission said the three were not included because of criminal convictions and that it will consider appeals against their…

Aug

06

2020

By The African Mirror

Mauritania PM and government resign amid corruption probe

NEWS

MAURITANIAN President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani has appointed veteran public administrator Mohamed Ould Bilal as prime minister, hours after the previous government resigned amid an investigation into alleged high-level corruption. Bilal's appointment was announced in a statement from the presidency following the resignation of his predecessor Ismail Ould Cheikh Sidiya and his entire government. The political system in Mauritania has been rocked this year by a parliamentary investigation into alleged corruption in the government of former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who stepped down last year after a decade in power. His close ally Ghazouani won the election to succeed him,…

Aug

06

2020

By The African Mirror

Egypt to withdraw from latest dam talks for internal consultations

NEWS

EGYPT said on Tuesday that it has decided to withdraw from the latest round of tripartite negotiations with Ethiopia over its multi-billion dollar dam on the Blue Nile for internal consultations after Addis Ababa proposed new draft of filling guidelines. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is being built about 15 km (9 miles) from the Ethiopian border with Sudan on the Blue Nile, has become a major sticking point between the three countries. Egypt fears the $4 billion project could lead to water shortages upstream, while Sudan is concerned about the dam's safety. The Blue Nile is a tributary…

Aug

06

2020

By The African Mirror

U.S. imposes sanctions on Zimbabwe businessman, company

NEWS

THE United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Zimbabwean Kudakwashe Tagwirei, an adviser to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, accusing the prominent businessman of being corrupt and helping support the government of Zimbabwe. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it blacklisted Tagwirei and Zimbabwe-based Sakunda Holdings, of which he is chief executive, accusing the businessman of using "opaque business dealings and his ongoing relationship with President Mnangagwa to grow his business empire dramatically and rake in millions of U.S. dollars." "Tagwirei and other Zimbabwean elites have derailed economic development and harmed the Zimbabwean people through corruption," said Deputy Treasury Secretary…