They dance delicately between painting a bleak a picture to get help but not spark queries about money from last year ANALYSIS | SARAH DILORENZO | At the modernist U.N. building on New York’s East Side, “United Nations” means the trappings of protocol, the gravitas and pettiness of diplomatic relations, …
Read More »Decongesting Kampala-Entebbe road
Why the Expressway has not really eased the traffic Kampala, Uganda | JULIAN E. SABIITI | On the face of it, the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway has not lived up to its purpose – so far. Since President Yoweri Museveni officially launched it for public use it has attracted very little traffic. …
Read More »The Hoima election
How Museveni escaped being bitten by Bobi Wine Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The loose coalition of opposition politicians, activists, and campaign strategists under the People Power umbrella entered Hoima district early to canvass support for the Forum for Deomcratic Change (FDC) candidate. They appeared in force and determined …
Read More »Inside Burkina Faso’s failing fight against jihadism
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | The expert cups his hands, with the ball-like space between them representing Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. He then slowly squeezes his palms together: “The vice is tightening,” he says. The movement is a distressing, yet truthful, statement of where Burkina Faso stands in …
Read More »Prince Harry sues UK tabloids over ‘phone hacking’
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Prince Harry has launched legal action against two British tabloid newspaper publishers, they confirmed Friday, over alleged phone hacking — just days after he condemned the press for critical coverage of his wife. Harry, 35, extended his campaign against the tabloids with fresh action …
Read More »Cameroon president says dropping prosecution against ‘some’ political rivals
Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP | Cameroon’s President Paul Biya on Friday announced he had ordered prosecutions to be dropped against “some” opposition leaders, including a number from the main Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) led by his jailed rival Maurice Kamto. The move is the latest in a series of …
Read More »Democrats subpoena White House as impeachment probe intensifies
Washington, United States | AFP | Democratic lawmakers on Friday demanded that the White House turn over documents related to allegations that President Donald Trump pressured Ukraine for political favors, as the explosive impeachment investigation against the US leader intensified. The congressional committees leading the probe cranked up the heat on …
Read More »Biles eye gymnastics history — just don’t call her superstar
Stuttgart, Germany | AFP | USA gymnastics queen Simone Biles is set to be the undisputed star of the world championships, enhancing her status as the sport’s greatest athlete — even if she does not feel it. “I never really feel like I’m a big name,” she told reporters in …
Read More »‘House of torture’ puts focus on Nigeria Islamic schools
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Horrific revelations of torture and abuse at a compound billing itself as a Koranic reform school in northern Nigeria have shone a spotlight on Islamic institutes unregulated by the authorities. Last week police in the city of Kaduna raided a building to find hundreds of men …
Read More »Tunisians spoilt for choice in Sunday’s parliamentary vote
Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Just weeks after Tunisians rejected ruling political parties in the first round of presidential polls, voters are set to return to the ballot box on Sunday to elect a new parliament. Roughly seven million voters are spoilt for choice in this parliamentary election, the second since …
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