Serenityscapes as metaphor for self-freedom Kampala, Uganda | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | Whenever regular art gallery goers around Kampala are confronted with a striking painting of a beautiful waterscape, associations immediately connect it to Edison Mugalu. This impressionist artist’s name has become so synonymous with the subject that many cannot imagine him …

Cognitive skills developed from music lessons appear to transfer to unrelated subjects, leading to improved academic performance Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | The first large-scale, longitudinal study adapted into the regular school curriculum finds that structured music lessons significantly enhance children’s cognitive abilities — including language-based reasoning, short-term memory, planning and …

New York, United States | AFP | Spotify soared Tuesday to a value of more than $26 billion in its long-awaited stock debut as the market delivered a ringing endorsement of the future of music streaming. In one of the largest public offerings ever in the tech sector, Spotify on …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | John Peter Mujuni is the Executive Director of Micro finance Support Centre, a government institution charged with providing affordable financing to SMEs. He spoke to Joseph Bahingwire about their new financial services linked to Shariah law. How has been the uptake of Islamic Micro Financing …

Liverpool, United Kingdom | AFP | Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola promised to stick by his principles and attack Liverpool in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday, despite admitting he is playing into his opponents’ hands. Liverpool are the only side to beat runaway leaders City in the Premier …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s state security prosecutor has charged the country’s main opposition leader, Sadiq al-Mahdi, with collaborating with rebel groups to overthrow the regime of President Omar al-Bashir, a media network reported Tuesday. Bashir, backed by Islamists, toppled Mahdi’s civilian government in a 1989 coup after which …

Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday launched the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power station and vowed to accelerate the delivery of air defence systems to Ankara, in a new tightening of an increasingly close alliance that has alarmed NATO. Putin held several hours of talks with …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo wants the UN mission to leave the country in 2020, Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu said Tuesday, following a UN Security Council vote last week extending the peacekeepers’ mandate for another year. “We have let the Security Council know that …

Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to deploy the military to secure America’s southern border, as a caravan of Central American migrants heads north through Mexico toward the United States. The US leader has spent three days attacking the Mexican government for failing to block …

Rome, Italy | AFP | Current food production methods are harming the planet while failing to provide millions of the world’s poor with enough to eat, the UN food agency warned Tuesday. Instead, the adoption of “agroecology”, which improves soil quality and costs less for farmers, would help reverse growing food …