NEWS ANALYSIS

Alexandra/Welkom, South Africa | AFP | “In 1994 we voted for Nelson Mandela, then for Thabo Mbeki, then again for Jacob Zuma. But nothing has changed,” sighed Aubrey Kutlawano after attending an election rally by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Aged 42, Kutlawano has no job and lives in a …

Paris, France | AFP | President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday vowed to rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral “even more beautifully” within five years, as France reeled with shock from the fire that gutted the great Paris landmark. Macron announced the fast timescale — for a process some experts said would take decades — …

Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP | Manchester City remain in contention for a historic haul of four trophies this season, but winning the one by which Pep Guardiola’s time at the Etihad will be judged depends on overturning a 1-0 Champions League quarter-final, first leg deficit against Tottenham on Wednesday. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …