NEWS ANALYSIS

Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuelans headed to the polls Sunday in regional elections seen as a crucial test for President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition alike after months of deadly street protests failed to unseat him. Public opinion surveys predicted that the opposition would win a majority of state …

Washington, United States | AFP | Brick by brick, the demolition job has begun: since taking office less than a year ago, Donald Trump has launched an all-out assault on the legacy of Barack Obama. Climate, free trade, health care, immigration, foreign policy — the 45th US president has set …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP |  President Ellen Sirleaf’s vice president since 2005, Joseph Boakai has campaigned as a natural transition candidate after helping to ensure peace has prevailed in Liberia since back-to-back civil wars. Boakai will face former footballer George Weah in a runoff for the presidency on November 7, …

  Experts reveal sectors suffering because of President  Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Once celebrated at home and abroad as one of a new breed of African leaders, President Yoweri Museveni now finds himself the subject of intense criticism. Observers say he faces challenges created by lack of new …

‘We are seeing MPs in traditionally Movement strongholds coming out to oppose this Bill, the momentum is unstoppable,’ he told The Independent Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | “The opposition is weak” is a refrain in Uganda’s political discourse. President Yoweri Museveni’s ability to thwart opposition protests, NRM’s super majority …

CHARCOAL: Scarcity and 30% price hike cause burning problem for experts Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Steven Byamukama has been vending charcoal for 20 years. His stall in Kisenyi, a low income section of Kampala city, is one of many on a charcoal dust covered and darkened patch almost …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP |  George Weah, 51, emerged from Liberia’s slums to become a superstar footballer in the 1990s, and has leveraged his status as a revered figure among young people in his second run for the presidency. Now Weah has a confirmed place in the runoff round against …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iranians responded with anger and mockery on Saturday to the bellicose speech against their country by US President Donald Trump and his threats to tear up the landmark nuclear deal. “I was so angry last night,” said Layla, 42, who runs an artisan shop in …

Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump has gambled with US diplomatic credibility by attacking an Iran nuclear deal that his European allies cherish as a benchmark for international cooperation. And in doing so the US president has underlined the risk that his “America First” foreign policy will translate …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Friday declared a more aggressive strategy on a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers but stopped short of withdrawing from the 2015 deal. Struck in Vienna by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, …