WORLD

Washington, US | XINHUA | U.S. President Donald Trump will leave Washington, D.C. Wednesday morning shortly before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, with a grandeur ceremony being planned for his departure, U.S. media reported Friday. The Associated Press cited people familiar with the plan as saying the farewell ceremony, to be …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT& XINHUA | Reports from Uganda’s capital Kampala indicate government has switched back on the internet Monday, midday. However social media remains blocked, with access to it only through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Government had said they switched off social media and the internet, fearing …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Vice President Edward Ssekandi and senior cabinet colleagues Amelia Kyambadde, Elliod Tumwesigye, Prof Ephraim Kamuntu and Vincent Sempijja are among up to 36 NRM bigwigs that lost MP elections on Thursday. Others kicked out by voters are: Dr Crispus Kiyonga, Ruth Nankabirwa, Saida Bumba, Chris …

Geneva, Switzerland | Xinhua | The mission of the research team to arrive in China for novel coronavirus origin-tracing is about scientific answers, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Monday. “Understanding the origins of disease is not about finding somebody to blame, it is about scientific answers,” Michael …

United Nations | Xinhua | United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will serve a second five-year term, if that’s what member states want, his spokesman said on Monday. Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for the secretary-general, said that the 75th UN General Assembly president, Volkan Bozkir, on Friday asked Guterres “about his …

Lisbon, Portugal | THE INDEPENDENT |    Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa tested positive for COVID-19, said a statement posted on the official website of the Portuguese Presidency on Monday night. Rebelo de Sousa had “tested negative yesterday, and although today’s antigen test is negative, it was now known, at …

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | Wall Street’s major averages advanced in the first trading week of the new year as investors shrugged off the turmoil in Washington and a weaker-than-expected December U.S. employment report. All the three major indexes finished higher on Friday after achieving their respective milestones in the …

Jakarta, Indonesia | XINHUA |  Indonesia’s Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has confirmed the crash of a Boeing 737-500 plane of an Indonesian airlines with 62 people on board that lost contact with the air traffic controller on Saturday afternoon. At a virtual press conference held on Saturday evening, the …

Istanbul, Turkey | THE INDEPENDENT |   Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday the mass vaccination process against the COVID-19 pandemic would soon start. Speaking to reporters in Istanbul after Friday prayers, Erdogan said that Turkey’s Health Ministry has been continuing its works to launch the vaccination process in line …

  Washington, US | XINHUA |  China’s economy is projected to expand by 7.9 percent in 2021 following 1.9 percent growth in 2020, as economic activity continues to normalize and domestic COVID-19 outbreaks remain under control, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Friday. “The Chinese economy continues its fast recovery …