New Year fireworks, smoke and tear gas as decade begins with a bang Sydney, Australia | AFP | Smoke-choked Sydney ushered in the New Year with a huge fireworks display while police in Hong Kong fired tear gas at protesters, as crisis clouded some of the first celebrations to ring …

Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei said Tuesday that “survival” was its top priority after announcing 2019 sales were expected to fall short of projections as a result of US sanctions. The global leader in telecom networking equipment has been effectively banned by the United States from …

Sydney, Australia | AFP | Thousands of holidaymakers and locals were forced to flee to beaches in fire-ravaged southeast Australia Tuesday, as blazes ripped through popular tourist areas leaving no escape by land. Four thousand people were trapped on the foreshore of the town of Mallacoota and many others sought …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP |  Eighteen people in eastern DR Congo’s troubled region of Beni have been killed in a fresh attack by a notorious armed group, a local official said on Monday. “There was an incursion in Apetina-Sana by the ADF last night,” Beni administrator Donat Kibwana told …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | An attempt by  40 Kenyans to join the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces – UPDF in Sipi sub-region, has been foiled. The group included both male and female youths who had disguised their nationality in order to join the Ugandan army, in the ongoing recruitment …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ugandans hold as much as Sh7.8 trillion on time deposit accounts, a figure which, according to the central bank implies confidence in the banking system. A time or term deposit is an interest-bearing bank deposit account that has a specified date of maturity, where …

Omdurman, Sudan | AFP |  A Sudanese court on Monday sentenced 27 intelligence agents to death for torturing and killing a protester early this year, an AFP correspondent said. The defendants were found guilty of torturing to death Ahmed al-Kheir Awadh at an intelligence services facility and sentenced to be …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Education has confirmed that 8,000 teachers have been trained to teach Swahili in all primary schools starting next year. This follows the creation of the Swahili Council that is mandated with supervising the teaching of the language in all schools. …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Government through the Finance and Economics Development Ministry is among others looking at reducing reliance on debt by increasing domestic revenue and improving the execution rate of projects as some of the ways to sustain the country’s debt. As at end of June 2019, …

  Soroti, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, The Rt Rev. Stanley Ntagali has taken over the leadership of the troubled Kumi Diocese. This follows the retirement of Rev. Thomas Edison Irigei who has been the founding Bishop of Kumi Diocese. Bishop Irigei relinquished leadership …