Buganda Road Court grade one magistrate Joan Aciro has cleared former UPC Party President Olara Otunnu on charges of defaming President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, due lack of evidence. The Magistrate observed on Friday that prosecution produced a single witness who could not implicate Otunnu to this crime, without being collaborated. Last …
Read More »SPECIAL FEATURE: DR Congo, home to a tenth of the world’s languages
There are 450 languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | “I haven’t once spoken my mother tongue Kilokele in the 62 years I’ve lived in Kinshasa. None of my nine children speak it,” says Charles Tongohala. Tongohala’s native tongue is one of 450 spoken …
Read More »CONGO: Militia clashes kill 29 in eastern DRC
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Twenty-nine people have been killed in three days of clashes between rival factions of a militia group in a village in Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive east, an official said Friday. The two factions are fighting for control of the village of Bweru in …
Read More »Pope says ‘demagogic’ populism does not help peace
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Pope Francis denounced “demagogic populism” on Friday and insisted that violence profanes God’s name, in a wide-ranging speech as he visited Egypt to push for tolerance. “Peace alone… is holy and no act of violence can be perpetrated in the name of God, for it would …
Read More »Pope and Egypt’s Coptic patriarch pray at IS-bombed church
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | In a Cairo church bombed by the Islamic State group just months ago, Pope Francis and the Coptic Orthodox patriarch sat side by side Friday and prayed near tangible reminders of the horrific attack. The emotional mass came as the Catholic pontiff visits Egypt to …
Read More »Defiant North Korea fires another ballistic missile
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile Saturday in apparent defiance of a US push for tougher international sanctions to curb the Asian country’s nuclear threat. “North Korea fired an unidentified missile from a site in the vicinity of Bukchang in Pyeongannam-do (South Pyeongan Province) …
Read More »Ebola ruled out as 11 die mysteriously in Liberia
Liberia tests mystery illness after 11 unexplained deaths Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberia said Friday that samples from people struck down by a mystery illness are being tested abroad after 11 unexplained deaths, though Ebola has been ruled out. The unidentified illness has affected 19 people in Greenville, southeastern …
Read More »Magufuli fires 10,000 Tanzanian civil servants over ‘fake qualifications’
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | Tanzanian President John Magufuli sacked close to 10,000 civil servants on Friday after a government report found they had faked their qualifications. Some of the government workers are accused of falsifying exam certificates while others are said to have passed relatives’ qualifications off …
Read More »Mulindwa eyes return at FUFA?
Former Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) President Lawrence Mulindwa could be eyeing a return to the position he left in 2013. While at a graduation ceremony for his daughters held at the newly built St Mary’s Stadium Kitende, Mulindwa reacted to comments made by FUFA Vice President Dennis Mbidde …
Read More »RUSSIA: Military options against North Korea unacceptable
United Nations, United States | AFP | Russia on Friday warned at the United Nations that military options to address the threat from North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic programs were “completely unacceptable” and would have “catastrophic consequences.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Security Council that China’s proposals …
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