NEWS - The African Mirror

Aug

15

2020

Farewell to “The Jammer”: Warm tributes as iconic broadcaster is laid to rest

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER LEGENDARY South African broadcaster Bob “The Jammer” Mabena’s widow, Eucharist and his children paid a warm tribute to him at a funeral attended by family, friends and colleagues. Mabena (51), who spent three decades in radio and television, died this week after a cardiac arrest. Bob Mabena’s son, Kamo Ncube, reads out the obituary. In a moving tribute, Eucharist thanked Mabena for loving her in the amazing way that he did. She said the day on which Mabena passed - August 10 - of cardiac arrest, remained a nightmare. She was however thankful for the time they…

Aug

15

2020

By The African Mirror

South Sudan death toll in disarmament fighting rises to 148

NEWS

DENIS DUMO THE death toll in South Sudan's Warrap State has risen to 148 following fighting this past weekend during a disarmament exercise, a local government official said on Friday, and the U.N. has deployed forces to maintain calm in the region. Heavy clashes erupted over a two-day period between armed civilians and government forces carrying out a disarmament project after some armed youths in the Greater Tonj area started engaging the security forces. It is still unclear what set off the clashes. Tonj East County Executive Director Makuei Mabior Dhuol told Reuters that the death toll jumped due to…

Aug

15

2020

By The African Mirror

Ireland to return 5.5 mln euros in Abacha loot to Nigeria

NEWS

IRELAND has reached a deal to give back to Nigeria 5.5 million Euros ($6.5 million) looted by former military dictator Sani Abacha, Nigeria's justice minister said in a statement. The money is the latest Abacha-linked cash reclaimed by Nigeria. Corruption watchdog Transparency International estimates that Abacha, who ruled Africa's biggest oil producer from 1993 until his death in 1998, stole as much as $5 billion of public money during that time. He was never charged with corruption in his lifetime. "The return of these assets will be the first time that Ireland has taken such action and will be a…

Aug

15

2020

By The African Mirror

U.N. says Mali army chief left village unprotected before massacre

NEWS

THE former head of Mali's armed forces left the village of Ogossagou unprotected earlier this year despite numerous warnings of an imminent massacre in which 35 people died, according to a United Nations report. The incident highlights a failure by Mali's security forces to protect civilians that is undermining efforts to halt spiralling ethnic and jihadist violence in West Africa's Sahel region, it said. In February, army chief Keba Sangare allowed a military unit tasked with protecting Ogossagou in central Mali to withdraw despite repeated telephone calls and messages about a likely attack, according to the report seen by Reuters…

Aug

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Thousands protest in Mauritius over dead dolphins, demand resignations

NEWS

GIULIA PARAVICINI THOUSANDS of protesters demonstrated in the Mauritius capital Port Louis on Saturday to demand an investigation into an oil spill from a Japanese ship and the mysterious death of at least 40 dolphins that have been found near the site of the spill. Environmentalists have called for an investigation into whether the dolphins died as a result of the spill caused when the bulk carrier, the MV Wakashio, struck a coral reef last month. One protestor held a banner with a dolphin covered in oil reading "our lives matter" and another held one calling for the government to…

Aug

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Celebrities and politicians’ condolences to King of Wakanda – Chadwick Boseman

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER A former US president, current presidential candidate, celebrities across the world, actors and actresses have offered moving condolences and tributes to Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman who died at 43 from colon cancer. These are some of the tributes that poured in since the Boseman’s death: Barrack Obama: ‘Chadwick came to the White House to work with kids when he was playing Jackie Robinson. You could tell right away that he was blessed. To be young, gifted, and Black; to use that power to give them heroes to look up to; to do it all while in…

Aug

29

2020

By The African Mirror

Tributes for the King of Wakanda – dead at 43

NEWS

THE Queen of Hollywood has paid a warm and glowing tribute to the King of Wakanda - Chadwick Boseman - who has died of cancer. Award winning Hollywood actress, Angela Bassett has led worldwide tributes to actor Chadwick , the Black Panther star. Worldwide shock and sorrow has greeted the news that Boseman has been living with and succumbed to cancer. Bassett said: “It was meant to be for me and Chadwick to be connected, for us to be family. But what many don’t know is that our story began long before his historic turn as Black Panther. During the…

Aug

29

2020

By The African Mirror

Western diplomats express deep concern over Zimbabwe crisis

NEWS

MACDONALD DZIRUTWE WESTERN diplomats in Zimbabwe have expressed deep concern over a deteriorating political and economic crisis, and said the government should stop using the COVID-19 pandemic to curtail freedoms. Zimbabwe is suffering inflation over 800%, which has revived memories of the hyperinflation more than a decade ago during Robert Mugabe's rule. Nurses are on strike and a series of arrests of political opponents have raised the alarm about a crackdown on dissent. Heads of mission from the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Norway and Poland said in a statement that President Emmerson Mnangagwa's initial promises of uniting the…

Aug

29

2020

By The African Mirror

“Disease” of Mali coup needs stamping out, say neighbours

NEWS

MALI’S West African neighbours believe that sanctions they imposed over a coup there were needed to stamp out the "disease" of military takeovers, and that the officers who engineered the power grab should return to barracks. The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended Mali from its institutions, shut borders and halted financial flows with the country following last week's ousting of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Concerned about prolonged instability in Mali and its potential to undermine the fight against Islamist militants there and in the wider Sahel region, ECOWAS maintained that hard line on Friday. "Putschism" was…

Aug

29

2020

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s ex-leader Zuma, accused of graft, hits out at successor

NEWS

TIM COCKS SOUTH Africa's former president Jacob Zuma, facing trial for graft, lashed out at his successor Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday, accusing him of betraying the ruling African National Congress (ANC) with his stance against corruption. In an unprecedented attack, Zuma, whose decade in power was marked by multiple corruption scandals that are still being investigated, accused Ramaphosa of bringing the party into disrepute - a sign of growing divisions within the ANC ahead of its national executive committee conference this weekend. Zuma himself faces multiple investigations for corruption, including a trial relating to a $2 billion arms deal before…