Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | As 2018 comes to an end, extreme poverty is at the lowest level in recorded history but is expected to become increasingly concentrated in one region. A record number of people have been forcibly displaced from their homes, and an influential new report confirms we’re …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Torture in 2018
Justice Katureebe pain and Bobi Wine’s pockets Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Many Ugandans, including Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, agree that this year has been one of the worst for human rights violations. This year coincided with the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but in Uganda, …
Read More »Volatile DR Congo braces for troubled election
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | One of the world’s powder-keg countries faces a crunch test on Sunday when Democratic Republic of Congo heads into elections marred by delays, clashes and fears of polling-day chaos. The vote crowns two years of turmoil, sharpening worries that the fragile giant of central …
Read More »ANALYSIS: The year Bobi Wine
NRM, FDC battled eight by-elections but a young untested legislator became the issue Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | This year, 2018, saw some upsets and changes in the political lay of the land as 36-year-old legislator Robert Kyagulanyi popularly known as Bobi Wine continued to exert his presence on a …
Read More »Trump’s surprise troop visit sparks criticism in Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | President Donald Trump’s lightning Christmas visit with US troops in Iraq has triggered questions and criticism in a country deeply divided over Washington’s influence since the 2003 US invasion. The Wednesday visit, Trump’s first with US troops in a conflict zone since he took office …
Read More »Early elections in Israel: What you need to know
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel’s government decided this week to dissolve parliament and hold early elections on April 9, seven months before their November due date. Here are questions and answers on where things stand as polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to win despite corruption allegations …
Read More »UN fails to reach deal on budget shortfall as US funding dips
United Nations, United States | AFP | United Nations member states failed to come up with a deal Friday to make up for a $220 million budget black hole left by the United States downsizing its contribution to peacekeeping operations, diplomats said. The United States had paid around 28 percent …
Read More »US government shutdown would impact 800,000 federal employees
Washington, United States | AFP | A threatened shutdown of the US government would see hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed and many more working without pay. President Donald Trump warned Friday that a shutdown could last a “very long time” unless Democrats in the Senate join Republicans and …
Read More »DR Congo, a vast African giant wracked by violence
Paris, France | AFP | Africa’s second largest country, Democratic Republic of Congo, is rich in raw materials and minerals but cursed by deadly violence, insurgencies, graft and poverty. Presidential elections were scheduled for Sunday, but electoral authorities delayed the vote by seven days until December 30 after a warehouse …
Read More »Jim Mattis: the ‘Mad Dog’ with a big library
Washington, United States | AFP | Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a softly spoken but battle-hardened former Marine, always stood in uneasy contrast with President Donald Trump, his brash businessman boss who avoided any military service. On Thursday, after months of speculation and following Trump’s stunning decision to pull out of …
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