NEWS ANALYSIS

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | The takeover of Rio de Janeiro’s security by army generals was meant to bring clarity to a city mired in chaotic crime, but three days later the exact mission remains unclear. President Michel Temer signed a decree Friday putting the police in Rio …

Bumper maize harvest exposes weakest link in food supply chain Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | There is good news on Uganda’s food security front. The agriculture ministry estimates that Uganda has harvested about 5.5 million metric tonnes from the last planting season; which is a 38% increase from the …

Migrants are held captive, fed just enough to keep them alive, and subjected to various forms of inhuman treatment in a bid to extort money Kampala, Uganda | KWAKU BOTWE | Thirty-year-old Nazir Mohammed sits on one of the two sofas in his single room in Kwame Danso, a small town about …

Why 14 years after government made sciences compulsory, failure rate remains high Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | Physics was the worst done subject in the recently released O’ Level examinations. Only 2,280 of the 326,212 students that sat the exams scored over 70%. Another 40,000 scored over 55%. The rest, …

The politics behind calls to censure Kasaija, fire Muhakanizi Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Recently, according to State House sources, President Yoweri Museveni was on phone with Secretary to the Treasury, Keith Muhakanizi. He sounded to be in no mood for pleasantries. “I am tired of this,” the president …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | An Iranian passenger plane on a domestic flight crashed on Sunday into the country’s Zagros mountains, with all 66 people on board feared dead. Here is a recap of the deadliest plane crashes in Iran since 2003. – 2014 – On August 10, an Antonov …

Washington, United States | AFP | US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Saturday vowed to investigate an attack involving Russian citizens on American-allied forces in Syria but stopped short of accusing Moscow of orchestrating the assault. Russia has acknowledged that five of its citizens were killed in a US-led coalition …

Washington, United States | AFP | Fake social media accounts, rallies for and against Donald Trump, paid protesters: Russia managed a vast propaganda operation to support the Trump campaign in the 2016 presidential election, according to a court indictment. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, investigating possible collusion between the campaign and …

Tel Aviv, Israel | AFP | Thousands of Israelis marched against corruption in Tel Aviv on Friday, in the first protest since police recommended that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be indicted for graft. Several thousand people gathered for the protest calling on Netanyahu to step down, carrying banners reading ‘Crime …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned unexpectedly on Thursday, the first leader to do so in the country’s recent history. As Africa’s second most-populous country enters uncharted political territory, here are four questions about what happened — and what comes next. – Why did …