In the Independent this week: Chinese, Americans fight over refinery as fake investor fear hangs over deal COVER STORY Chinese, Americans fight over refinery: Fake investor fear hangs over deal. THE LAST WORD Inside Rwanda’s politics of unity: Why other political parties in Rwanda have endorsed the candidacy of Paul …

Uganda introduces new criteria for passport issuance Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | Uganda has introduced a new criteria for the issuance of passports to address the temporary shortage of ordinary machine readable passports. Minister of Internal Affairs Gen. Abubaker J Odongo has attributed the shortage to low stock levels of ordinary passports that …

KCCA, FUS, Africain and Rivers on 6 points after dramatic winners in CAF Cup thrillers Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Club Africain of Tunisia and Al Hilal Obeid of Sudan snatched dramatic stoppage-time winners Wednesday to boost hopes of reaching the CAF Confederation Cup quarter-finals. Imed Meniaoui volleyed a …

Moscow, Russia | AFP |  Cristiano Ronaldo brushed off the tax storm clouding his Real Madrid future by scoring the only goal of the game as Portugal beat hosts Russia 1-0 at the Confederations Cup on Wednesday. The 32-year-old netted after just eight minutes to give the Euro 2016 winners …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | One week on from the fatal London tower block inferno, the macabre smell of the burnt-out building clings to a traumatised neighbourhood, where every conversation is peppered with indignation. Some 79 people are presumed dead after last Wednesday’s blaze, which quickly engulfed the 24-storey …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Queen Elizabeth II’s choice of headgear for a speech setting out how the government will implement Brexit raised more than a few eyebrows on Wednesday, causing some to draw comparisons to the European Union’s flag. Twitter users posted pictures of the queen’s blue hat …

  Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE |  Bank of Uganda is pessimistic about growth in private sector credit for the last quarter of this financial year. This is the latest bad news suggesting the country is yet to achieve desired economic growth of over 7%. “We are not likely to achieve …

Rafah, Palestinian Territories | AFP |  Egypt began on Wednesday to deliver a million litres of fuel to Gaza, a Palestinian official said, in an attempt to ease the Palestinian enclave’s desperate electricity crisis. The fuel, trucked in through the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza, will be routed to …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP |  Pope Francis is supporting a series of aid projects in South Sudan, the Vatican said Wednesday, sending money in his place after a trip to the war-torn country was ruled out. The Vatican will donate 462,000 euros ($515,000), which will be divided among …

Ministry of Defence and Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesperson Brigadier Richard Karemire has released a statement refuting a report in a Kampala daily that “President Yoweri Museveni has fallen out with Police chief Gen. Kale Kayihura and has transferred police powers to the military police.” In his statement posted …