NEWS - The African Mirror

Sep

14

2021

Nigeria says 75 abducted children released amid army crackdown

NEWS

SEVENTY-five children who were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria's northwestern Zamfara State have been released after their abductors came under pressure from a military crackdown, a state official has said. Gunmen took the students from the village of Kaya on September 1, the latest in a spate of mass kidnappings from schools across the region. More than 1,100 children have been seized since December last year. Authorities say they were abducted by heavily armed gangs of bandits seeking ransoms. A spokesman for the Zamfara State governor said no ransom had been paid for the 75 children, who had been…

Jan

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Hundreds of pelicans found dead in Senegal World Heritage site

NEWS

SOME 750 pelicans have been found dead in a UNESCO World Heritage site in northern Senegal that provides refuge for millions of migratory birds, the country's parks director said. Rangers found the pelicans on January 23 in the Djoudj bird sanctuary, a remote pocket of wetland near the border with Mauritania and a resting place for birds that cross the Sahara Desert into West Africa each year. An unverified video published on local media showed hundreds of pelican carcasses scattered on a beach, muddy and darker than their normally eye-catching white. "We took some samples for screening and we hope…

Jan

28

2021

By The African Mirror

South African barley farmers face bleak outlook as alcohol ban hurts demand

NEWS

SOUTH African barley farmers are bracing for a tough market ahead as demand for the grain used to make beer falls and stockpiles grow after a ban on the sale of alcohol was reinstated as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases. The government in December enforced its third ban on alcohol sales since the outbreak of the virus to alleviate pressure on strained healthcare facilities after a rise in infections. Unutilised stocks of barley, which is mainly planted for malting purpose in South Africa, stood at around 719,307 tonnes by December, 49% higher than a year ago, according…

Sep

12

2021

By The African Mirror

African metals gets a ride on electric vehicles expansion

NEWS

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD THE global race for the production of electric vehicles (EV) is driving demand for Africa’s metals in what could soon plug billions of dollars into the continent’s GDP. Statista estimates show demand for metals such as nickel, aluminium and iron –– critical components in EVs –– will jump 14 times by 2030, offering minerals-endowed African states an avenue to cash in from the green car revolution. “This increase in demand can be directly traced to the outlook for electric vehicles over the next ten years, with vehicle battery output expected to rise by tens of millions,” read…

Sep

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia’s President prepares to amend constitution

NEWS

TAREK AMARA and ANGUS McDOWALL TUNISIA’S President Kais Saied has indicated he was preparing to change the country's constitution but said he would only do so using existing constitutional means, seven weeks after he seized powers in moves his foes called a coup. The comments represented his clearest statement yet about what he intends to do next, having sworn there was "no going back" to the situation in the North African nation before his intervention on July 25. Speaking live on television in a central Tunis boulevard, Saied said he respected the 2014 democratic constitution but that it was not…

Sep

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Mom, daughters do “farming of the future”

NEWS

TAFADZWA UFUMELI “MY favourite is the herbs, the kitchen herbs and more specifically basil because it has a beautiful aroma that if you just touch the plant you, you smell it and it just makes you want to go make something really beautiful in the kitchen," explains Tinodaishe Violet Mukarati as she provides a tour around the "farm". Chinese cabbage, or bok choy, fancy red lettuce and parsley grow neatly in tight, obedient rows, watered with recycled water via plastic piping. There is no soil; nutrients are fed via the water and the produce is all grown on metal shelves,…

Sep

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Meet Africa’s eco warrior fashion designer

NEWS

TONY VINYOH “HAVING conversations with makers, creating memories and passing on, picking quality over quantity, (that) will help us in the fight against fast fashion,” is what Liz Ngwane says the buying and wearing of clothing should all be about. Value, Ngwane insists, lies in the story that a dress starts - and continues - to tell. In a world where fashion fads can last only days and where ordering new garments is as easy as picking up a phone, this Cameroonian fashion designer is ready to take on an industry, no matter how tough that road might be. But…

Sep

12

2021

By The African Mirror

SA Deputy President paid for his treatment in Russia

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE office of David Mabuza, the South African Deputy President has assured the nation that he paid for his specialised medical treatment in Russia. In a statement, Mabuza office also said he was fully competent to execute his duties, as delegated by President Cyril Ramaphosa. In response to pressure from the Democratic Alliance, the official opposition in SA, on Mabuza to disclose who paid for his flights and treatment in Russia, his office has disclosed that the deputy president paid for his commercial flight to Russia and footed his health bill. “The only costs incurred by The…

Jan

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Exposed: intelligence agents rampant abuse of the law

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER DAMNING allegations of wanton abuse of the law and misuse of hundreds of millions of rands by agents of the South African State Security Agency (SSA) have been tabled at the Zondo Commission into State Capture. Loyiso Japhta, the acting-director general has revealed that: Units of the SSA were used for political purposes to support a faction within the governing ANC.SSA agents created non-profit organisations to support the ANC.Money was used to fund a union created to neutralise the threat posed by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union which became a major union in the mine…

Sep

12

2021

By The African Mirror

5 die in military helicopter crash

NEWS

A military helicopter crashed in northern Ivory Coast while on a reconnaissance mission near the border with Burkina Faso, killing all five crew members, the defence ministry has announced. An investigation has been opened to determine the cause of the crash, the ministry said in a statement. Ivory Coast's borderlands with Burkina Faso have emerged as hotspots of insecurity in the past year following several attacks by Islamist militants believed to be linked to al Qaeda.