NEWS ANALYSIS

Beijing, China | AFP | Xi Jinping will make the first trip to North Korea by a Chinese president in 14 years this week, state media said Monday, as Beijing tightens relations with Pyongyang amid tensions with the United States. Xi will visit Pyongyang on Thursday and Friday at the invitation …

Where people, values, mentalities and habits create pure harmony THE INDEPENDENT | ANDREW M. MWENDA | In February and March of this year, I visited Japan and travelled extensively across that country’s major cities – from Tokyo to Kyoto and Hiroshima to Osaka, the commercial capital of Japan. I was …

But does his defiance hurt help FDC or IPOD? Kampala, Uganda | AGATHER ATUHAIRE | Lydia Wanyoto knows how to kill boredom and keep stress away. Dance. And she did exactly that on May 20 at the Protea Hotel in Entebbe when President Yoweri Museveni kept delegates to the 2nd …

Why cabinet matters more than parliament | Melinda Adams & John Scherpereel | How do we know whether women are achieving equitable levels of political representation? For many years, scholars have focused on women’s representation in legislatures. But in many African states power is in fact concentrated in the executive …

An assessment of the President’s annual speech Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | A lot has happened in the last one year; the standoff between Uganda and Rwanda has escalated into a full-blown crisis and there are fears over what could happen anytime due to the tension at the common …

  It’s Total disaster Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Uganda’s oil sector has been thrown into another toss up after President Yoweri Museveni cancelled a highly anticipated meeting on June 05 between him and oil production company executives; The Independent can exclusively report. The meeting was to be a …

Nasiriyah, Iraq | AFP |  Hospital ventilators shut down, football matches with obligatory water breaks and food spoiling in fridges without power: Iraq’s notorious summer has arrived. As one of the hottest countries in the world with around half of its terrain covered in desert, Iraq is no stranger to …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  The Democratic Republic of Congo’s new leadership is under mounting pressure to diversify the country’s economy from its dependence on raw materials following the plunge in the price of cobalt. Economic experts currently visiting the country have a sobering figure on which to base …

Zarzis, Tunisia | AFP | The Tunisian trawler radioed in for help as it passed the migrant boat in distress out at sea. But with the packed craft still adrift two days later, captain Chamseddine Bourassine took direct action. Fishermen from the North African country are spending more and more time …

Hong Kong, China | AFP |  Young Hong Kongers who marshalled the fight against a police force that was armed with tear gas and rubber bullets have spoken of how they were pushed into embracing more confrontational tactics by the failure of years of peaceful protests. In a series of interviews …