Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia on Thursday suspended visas for visits to Islam’s holiest sites for the “umrah” pilgrimage, an unprecedented move triggered by coronavirus fears that raises questions over the annual hajj. The kingdom, which hosts millions of pilgrims every year in the cities of Mecca …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has suspended the activities of Middle East Consultants and five other Uganda labour recruitment firms for charging illegal registration and placement fees. The acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development James Ebitu has written …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda National Examinations Board-UNEB has withheld Uganda Advanced Certificate of Examinations –UACE results of 120 candidates from 26 centers for alleged malpractice. The UNEB Executive Secretary, Dan Nokrach Odongo disclosed this while releasing the UACE results at the Office of the Prime Minister Thursday …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Five of the seven police directors who were recently forced out of office following the expiry of their contract have been replaced. They are Erasmus Twaruhukwa, the former Legal Director Uganda Police Force, Joseph Mugisa, the Former Director Fire and Emergency Rescue Services, …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) chairperson Prof Mary Okwakol has commenced the release of the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results, by stating their concern about the performance in Biology. “Biology continues to be a cause of concern. In the last 4 years, …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT REPORTER | Businessman Sudhir Ruparelia has been appointed first honorary Consul of the Republic of Nepal. Sudhir was recently confirmed by Bidhya Devi Bhandari, the Nepalese President after he successfully presented his credentials to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. A  billionaire, Sudhir, is the founder …

Islamabad, Pakistan | AFP | With porous borders, creaking hospitals and large illiterate populations, Afghanistan and Pakistan face a potentially devastating health crisis after the new coronavirus erupted in neighbouring Iran. Islamabad has closed official border crossings while Kabul has suspended all travel to the Islamic republic, which has reported …

Manila, Philippines | AFP | Filipinos marked Ash Wednesday with a bow and a sprinkling of dust instead of a cross being daubed on their foreheads, as Asia’s bastion of Catholicism guarded against the spread of coronavirus. Leaders of the Philippine church urged priests to adapt the rite in order …

Charleston, United States | AFP |  Democratic White House hopefuls rounded on leftist frontrunner Bernie Sanders at a feisty debate Tuesday, attacking him as too extreme for American voters and a flawed challenger to President Donald Trump. Joe Biden, who needs a victory in South Carolina’s crucial primary on Saturday …

  Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for three decades before he was ousted amid the Arab Spring protests in 2011, died Tuesday at age 91. The once burly autocrat with the trademark sunglasses, who became frail after multiple surgeries towards the end of …