Paris, France | AFP | Emperor Akihito ascended to the Japanese throne on November 12, 1990 in a tightly choreographed ceremony steeped in tradition but with hints of modernity. Akihito, aged 56, had already succeeded his father, Emperor Hirohito, immediately on his death the previous year after the longest reign …

Liverpool, United Kingdom | AFP | Sadio Mane has grown used to playing second fiddle to Mohamed Salah in the two seasons since the latter joined the Senegalese at Liverpool. However, the fact Jurgen Klopp’s men top the Premier League in their quest to end a 29-year wait to win …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Economists have warned against over running government budgets saying the move will distort government’s planning processes. Recently, the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development (MoFPED) released the Economic Performance report for January 2019. The report revealed that government spent Shs1.286 trillion instead of …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | President Paul Kagame said Sunday that Rwandans had become a family again, 25 years after more than 800,000 people were slaughtered in a genocide that shocked the world. Kagame lit a remembrance flame at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where more than 250,000 mainly Tutsi victims …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & AFP | Uganda police will today hand over American tourist Kimberly Sue Endicott who was rescued from kidnappers yesterday, to the US Ambassador in Uganda Deborah Malac. That marks an end of a frantic one week search after the US tourists and her safari guide Jean-Paul …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudanese security forces on Monday fired tear gas at thousands of protesters who had massed outside the army headquarters in Khartoum for a second night demanding that President Omar al-Bashir resign, witnesses said. Several vehicles carrying security personnel arrived in the early hours of the …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & AFP | Reports just in indicate that Kimberly Sue Endicott, an American who was kidnapped for ransom last week in Queen Elizabeth National Park, has been released safely along with her guide Jean Paul Mirenge. According to US website ABC7.com, “the release came after a …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The top stories in this week’s THE INDEPENDENT. COVER STORY Museveni succession: Why NRM doesn’t want to talk about it THE LAST WORD Uganda’s storm in a teacup: How our MPs invented a scandal around Uganda Airlines’ shares and our chattering elites joined the …

  Nairobi, Kenya | THE INDEPENDENT | Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has assured Ugandans that she is on course for full recovery from an illness that has had her hospitalized at Aga Khan in Nairobi, Kenya since last month. “I am glad to report that due to God’s Mercy …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP |  Israel will hold general elections on April 9. Here are some facts about the process: Dozens of parties Israel’s system of proportional representation allows small parties a chance of getting a seat in the 120-member Knesset, Israel’s parliament. There is however a barrier to the …