National carrier revival question: World Bank calls for more focus on high cost of doing business instead At the beginning of his fifth term in office, President Yoweri Museveni set tongues wagging when he included the revival of the national career among his 20 priority programmes in this term of office. …
Read More »The battle for Mosul: what we know
Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | Iraq launched a broad offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group a week ago. Here is what we know so far about the country’s biggest military operation in years: What have Iraqi forces retaken? Federal forces operating out of the main staging base …
Read More »Showdown as France re-opens probe into Rwandan genocide
A decision by France to re-open a probe into the 1994 shooting down of then-president Juvénal Habyarimana could once again lead to a break in diplomatic relations between the two countries. Kigali and Paris had made great strides on the path to reconciliation and it’s not clear what could have …
Read More »Oil refinery trouble for Uganda
Oil refinery trouble: Museveni pushed into tight corner A shadowy international company registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a major international tax haven is high up on the list of companies government is courting to invest in the $ 4 billion oil refinery, investigations by The Independent have found. …
Read More »Land woes in Buganda
1900 Buganda agreement ghosts return to haunt Kabaka’s government A group of Buganda youth recently besieged the Mengo headquarters of Bulange demonstrating against what they said was Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga failure to prevent the Buganda Land Board (BLB) from harassing people. According to the youth it is Mayiga’s reluctance …
Read More »ANALYSIS: China’s Xi to consolidate power at key meeting
Beijing, China | AFP | The leaders of the world’s most powerful political party gather in Beijing on Monday for a conclave that could change the course of Chinese history. In meetings at the exclusive Jinxi Hotel, safe from the public’s prying eyes, nearly 400 top members of the Chinese …
Read More »US expects record Latino vote, but will it be decisive?
New York, United States | AFP | Record numbers of Latinos have registered to vote this year, giving them unprecedented power to influence the US presidential election on November 8. But will they actually vote? Pundits have long described the Latino vote as a “sleeping giant” because turnout in the …
Read More »Bemba, Lubanga, Ongwen – Africa in the dock at the ICC
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The International Criminal Court — dealt a blow Friday with South Africa’s decision to withdraw from the tribunal — has launched nine investigations in eight African countries since its establishment in 2002. A 10th was opened in Georgia, the only country outside Africa. Here …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Five questions on the ICC
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Once a champion of the International Criminal Court (ICC), South Africa dealt a blow to the world tribunal Friday by announcing its intention to withdraw, a move that came on the heels of a similar move by Burundi. Here are five key questions following …
Read More »Americans struggle to explain X-rated election to kids
Washington, United States | AFP | How should parents and teachers talk — or not — to children about the 2016 White House race, in an X-rated election season dominated by brutal insults, sex scandal and sleaze? It’s a minefield for educators as Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton …
Read More »