Juba, South Sudan | AFP | Stephen, 12, romps confidently around the sunlit courtyard, weaving in between wheelchair-bound patients as he plays with the other children, his prosthetic leg barely a hindrance. When he was five years old, the car he and his family were travelling in hit a landmine …
Read More »Years? Decades? Uncertainty over time needed to rebuild Notre-Dame
Paris, France | AFP | Rebuilding the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris could take decades after it was gutted by a fire, experts warned Monday, even as its most senior cleric expressed hope he could celebrate mass there within years. Parisians and people around the world watched in horror on Monday …
Read More »OIL: Ghost ships of Lagos, a haven of crime
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | The two men in the motorised wooden canoe look around warily as they leave a towering shipwreck in the Lagos lagoon, with the barrels of oil on board barely concealed under rags. The rusting hulk of iron and peeling paint has been battered by the …
Read More »Japanese versus European colonialism
How Japanese colonialism in East Asia was transformative compared to its European counterpart in Africa Kampala, Uganda | ANDREW M. MWENDA | I spent about ten days between late February and early March in Japan; talking to government officials, academics in universities, policy wonks in think tanks, tasting Japanese cuisine, …
Read More »Museveni commando war on corruption
Is the Nakalema Anti-Corruption Unit driven by media frenzy or is it getting good results? Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | On April 06, the State House Anti-Corruption Unit sent out an unusual press statement. It announced that it had carried out a special investigation on Post Bank Uganda. That …
Read More »Sudan protest leaders demand scrapping of military council
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese protest organisers on Monday demanded the new military council be scrapped, as demonstrators kept up calls for a civilian government at a sit-in outside army headquarters. Thousands of demonstrators have continued to rally in support of demands for civilian rule, despite an apparent attempt to …
Read More »Enough mansplaining: women tackle gender investment gap
Washington, United States | AFP | As a professional woman in her late 30s, Kate Packard was keen to start investing. Like many novices, her enthusiasm took a knock when she hit a wall of impenetrable jargon — and was all but killed off by “mansplaining” from the men around …
Read More »Five great sporting comebacks
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Tiger Woods crowned his comeback from a near two-year injury layoff on Sunday by claiming victory in the Masters at Augusta National, winning his 15th career major nearly 11 years after his last triumph, at the 2008 US Open. Here AFP looks back …
Read More »Five things we learned in European football this weekend
Paris, France | AFP | Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain both squandered chances to retain their domestic titles on a weekend which saw a much-changed Barcelona take their eye off the ball in La Liga. In France, the weekend was overshadowed by racist abuse suffered by Amiens player Prince-Desir Gouano. AFP Sport …
Read More »Sudan leaders face pressure for transfer to civilian rule
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s military rulers faced pressure from demonstrators and Western governments to hand power to a new civilian government Monday as activists warned of an attempt to disperse a 10-day-old mass protest outside army headquarters. Thousands remained camped outside the complex in Khartoum overnight after protest leaders …
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