Paris, France | AFP | A labelling error and reckless media hype in the 1980s led to unjustly branding a gay airline employee as “Patient Zero” in the US AIDS epidemic, scientific and historical sleuthing detailed Wednesday. The deadly virus, which has claimed more than 650,000 lives in the United …

Dakar, Senegal | AFP | The Gambia has become the latest African nation to announce its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, accusing the war crimes tribunal of “persecuting” Africans. The shock move announced late Tuesday was condemned by rights groups as a “drastic blow” for victims of serious crimes …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudanese police fired tear gas on Wednesday to break up a protest in Khartoum against what demonstrators said was a government plan to seize their land, an AFP correspondent reported. Hundreds of people were demonstrating in the East Jreif district of the capital when clashes …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Ethiopia on Wednesday denied that a string of withdrawals of troops from towns in Somalia were connected to the state of emergency declared in response to nearly a year of anti-government protests. Government spokesman Getachew Reda insisted the removal of troops from a string …

The Electoral Commission (EC) has been dragged to the Commercial Court by a company that claims it was sidelined in the award of a tender to provide voter education and display of voters registers in the February 2016 Uganda General elections. A human resource company Terp Group Ltd accuses the …

New Delhi, India | AFP | The chefs who cook for the world’s leaders usually keep a low profile, leaving the limelight to their bosses. But once a year it is their turn to be wined and dined and treated as honoured guests in a foreign country. Billed as the …

Buganda Road Court Grade One magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu will rule on November 8 whether former Old Kampala police station DPC Joram Mwesigye has an assault case to answer. Prosecution’s Patrica Cingitho says she has closed her case with seven witnesses and what is left is for court to weigh this …

Five questions and answers on the ICC The Hague, Netherlands | AFP |  The Gambia has become the third country in just a matter of weeks to announce it plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The shock announcement will be a personal blow to the tribunal’s chief …

Beijing, China | AFP |  Most Chinese people want Communist Party chief Xi Jinping to be a “core” leader in the mould of Mao Zedong, official media said a survey showed, as he seeks to consolidate his control. The People’s Tribune magazine, an affiliate of the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Paul Beatty has became the first US author to win the Man Booker Prize for his novel “The Sellout”, which the novelist said should not be read as a “mono-directional” take on race. The jury behind the world’s most prestigious English-language literary award said …