Arbil, Iraq | AFP | Iraqi Kurds voted in an independence referendum Monday, defying warnings from Baghdad and their neighbours in a historic step towards a national dream. The non-binding vote, initiated by veteran leader Massud Barzani, has angered not only Iraq’s federal government but also neighbouring Turkey and Iran, who …

Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | The Amudat District Chief Finance Officer John Bosco Luchugi, was last week arrested on the orders of the Local Government Accounts Committee of Parliament for allegedly mismanaging and illegally spending billions of monies meant for works in the district. Luchugi, who appeared before the Committee …

Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | The Opposition has failed to form a formidable force to hold government accountable due to inflexibility by government, African legislators have concluded. In a communique issued at the end of a five day benchmarking workshop held in Abuja, Nigeria, Opposition MPs observed that it remained …

Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, also ranked Rwanda | THE INDEPENDENT | Rwanda has re-entered the Top 10 list after having just missed it the past two years, according to Rand Merchant Bank’s latest `Where to Invest in Africa report for 2018’, released on Sept.18. The theme for `Where to Invest in …

Beijing, China | AFP | China will limit exports of refined petroleum products to North Korea starting October 1, its commerce ministry said, confirming Beijing’s participation in new UN sanctions intended to rein in its rogue neighbour. The United Nations Security Council, including permanent member Beijing, approved tough sanctions against Pyongyang …

Lome, Togo | AFP | Togo’s government was surprised by how many people took to the streets earlier this month to demand the removal of President Faure Gnassingbe. But with no end in sight to the protesters’ calls for change, questions are mounting about whether the pressure can be maintained to …

United Nations, United States | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila told the United Nations on Saturday that his country is moving towards holding elections but vowed to resist “foreign diktats” on setting a date for the historic vote. Addressing the General Assembly, Kabila appealed for support from …

Hamburg, Germany | AFP | An international maritime tribunal Saturday backed Ghana in a dispute with Ivory Coast over a contested boundary that cuts through lucrative offshore oil fields. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea found that “Ghana did not violate the sovereign rights” of Ivory Coast by …

THIS WEEK: Clergy call for a referendum on age limit Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |The clerics have called for a referendum on age limit. Speaking to journalists on Sept.18, the clerics – Uganda Muslim Supreme Council’s Mufti Shaban Mubajje , Rev. Stanley Ntagali of the church of Uganda, Arch. …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes there will be a radical overhaul of the transfer market within the next year following the stratospheric spending of the close-season trading period. Paris Saint-Germain smashed the world transfer record to sign Neymar from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($266 …