NEWS - The African Mirror

Oct

30

2025

Thousands flee El Fasher as violence escalates in Sudan’s Darfur region

NEWS

ESCALATING violence in El Fasher has forced an estimated 26,000 people to flee Sudan's North Darfur capital in recent days, as the Rapid Support Forces moved into the city after a 500-day siege, the UN refugee agency has reported. "UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply concerned as escalating, brutal violence in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur region, has forced thousands of civilians to flee, leaving many others trapped inside the city with few options," said Jacqueline Wilma Parlevliet, UNHCR spokesperson and Head of Sub Office in Port Sudan, at a press briefing in Geneva. Civilians fleeing…

Oct

30

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

U.S. revokes visa of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka

NEWS

THE United States has revoked the visa of Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa's first Nobel Prize laureate in literature, effectively barring the renowned Nigerian playwright and human rights advocate from entering the country. Soyinka, 91, disclosed the revocation at a media briefing on Wednesday at his Lagos residence, saying he received no explanation for the action that curtails privileges typically extended to Nobel laureates. "I am banned, obviously, from the United States," Soyinka told reporters at Kongi's Harvest Gallery. "It is necessary for me to hold this conference so that people in the United States who are expecting me for this…

Oct

30

2025

By The African Mirror

Blood on the streets: Cameroon explodes as Africa’s oldest autocrat claims power for life

NEWS

THE streets of Cameroon's major cities have become battlegrounds, running red with the blood of protesters who dare challenge what they call Africa's most brazen electoral theft. At least four demonstrators lie dead—shot down in Douala, the country's pulsating economic heart—while security forces drag more than 100 citizens into detention cells for the crime of demanding democracy. This is the violent aftermath of October 12's presidential election, where Paul Biya—already Africa's longest-reigning ruler after 43 suffocating years in power—was declared victor of an unprecedented eighth term. At 92, he intends to govern until he's nearly 100, extending a grip on…

Oct

29

2025

By The African Mirror

Mali court jails former PM for one year over social media post in junta crackdown on dissent

NEWS

A Bamako court has sentenced former Prime Minister Moussa Mara to one year in prison, marking a stark escalation in the military junta's campaign to silence critics and opposition voices through the judicial system. The conviction of Mara - a prominent political figure who served as prime minister from 2014 to 2015 - centred on a single social media post from July in which he expressed solidarity with political prisoners. The court found him guilty of "undermining the credibility of the state and opposing legitimate authority," charges that critics say reveal the ruling junta's intolerance for even modest expressions of…

Oct

30

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The day democracy died: Tanzania’s youth revolt against 64 years of one-party rule

NEWS

THEY call it an election. The world sees a revolution brewing. Election Day in Tanzania was supposed to be a celebration of democratic choice. Instead, it has become a flashpoint of fury - a day when decades of political repression, systematic opposition elimination, and silenced voices finally exploded into open defiance. From the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam to border towns like Tunduma, young Tanzanians have taken to the streets, not with ballots, but with barricades, stones, and an uncompromising message: This election is illegitimate, and they will not be silent anymore. As polls opened Wednesday morning, protests erupted…

Oct

29

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Twelve die as tourist plane crashes in flames near Kenya’s Maasai Mara

NEWS

A Cessna Caravan carrying international tourists to one of Africa's most spectacular wildlife reserves plunged from the sky moments after takeoff Tuesday morning, killing all 12 people aboard in a fiery crash that has sent shockwaves through Kenya's vital tourism industry. The Mombasa Air Safari aircraft went down in dense, hilly terrain approximately 40 kilometres from Diani airstrip in Kwale County shortly after departing for the world-renowned Maasai Mara National Reserve. Witnesses reported hearing a thunderous explosion as the plane fell from the sky, followed by towering flames that consumed the wreckage and left human remains unrecognisable. Among the dead…

Oct

29

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

UN urges safe passage as paramilitary forces seize key military base in Sudan’s

NEWS

THE United Nations is urgently calling on Sudan's Rapid Support Forces to allow safe passage for civilians trapped in El Fasher after the paramilitary group captured a strategic military base in the besieged city, dealing a major blow to the Sudanese army's last stronghold in Darfur. "The UN calls on the RSF to allow safe passage for them to leave," Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, said following the takeover. "They need to demonstrate respect for international humanitarian law and let those people leave. Alternatively, they need to let us in." The RSF seized control of the military…

Oct

28

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

World’s oldest President wins eighth term as Cameroon erupts in violence

NEWS

PAUL Biya, the 92-year-old president of Cameroon and the world's oldest serving head of state, secured an eighth consecutive term Monday with 53.66% of the vote, plunging the Central African nation into turmoil as his main opponent reported gunfire directed at civilians outside his home. Within hours of the Constitutional Council announcing Biya's victory, opposition challenger Issa Tchiroma Bakary wrote on Facebook that his supporters gathered outside his residence in the northern city of Garoua were under fire. Reuters could not independently verify the claim, and the government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The announcement caps a…

Oct

28

2025

By YASIR FAIZ, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Brewing hope in exile: Sudanese refugee-turned-entrepreneur’s special café in Nairobi

NEWS

IN April 2023, Khadmalla Abo Abass Ali, a Sudanese single mother, had to make a decision. She could either stay in Khartoum, where she made a living selling tea on the streets of Khartoum, where political conflict had broken out, or she could find a safer place to raise her daughter. She chose the latter. Rather than falling victim to the violence that had spilled across her homeland, Ali relocated to Nairobi, Kenya. She quickly needed to find resources to earn income. Fate had brought her there in an unexpected way. A team of Sudanese filmmakers, working on a documentary…

Oct

28

2025

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

$20 billion Mozambique LNG project set to transform Southern African economies

NEWS

FRENCH energy giant TotalEnergies has lifted force majeure on its $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, signalling a potential economic transformation for the southern African region after a four-year suspension caused by Islamist militant attacks. The project, which represents one of Africa's largest energy investments, is now forecast to come online in 2029 and is expected to generate substantial revenues for Mozambique and create economic opportunities across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. TotalEnergies notified the Mozambican government on Friday that force majeure had been lifted, though full resumption awaits government approval of an updated budget and…