COMMENT | MICHAEL BURLEIGH | Until a few days ago, it had never crossed my mind that people across Europe – including Londoners like me – were living in a strife-afflicted hell hole, “suffocated” by regulations, stripped of political liberties, and bound for “civilizational erasure.” So, it was with …

The expedition is expected to complete its 13,000-kilometre journey in the coming weeks Mpika, Zambia | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s ambitious Pearl-to-Cape electric expedition reached a major milestone after the locally manufactured Kayoola E-Coach traversed 11,277 kilometres of its planned 13,000-kilometre round trip, delivering early evidence on cost efficiency, emissions …

    How Old Empires Rebranded Themselves and Learned to Rule Through Chaos COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | On Christmas Day in 1497, Vasco da Gama rounded the southern tip of Africa. He named the land he encountered Natalis—Portuguese for Christmas. Today, it is known as KwaZulu-Natal. Da Gama’s voyage opened …

Pomp and fanfare as President Museveni commissions 20,000-seater Hoima stadium ahead of 2027 AFCON KAMPALA | Xinhua |  Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday officially commissioned the 20,000-seater Hoima City Stadium, marking a major milestone in the country’s preparations to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The stadium, …

From Lagos and Nairobi to Cape Town and Marrakech, founders, investors, and corporates are using tech festivals to close funding, partnerships, and market-entry deals, according to ecosystem data and industry analysts.   SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY |  Africa’s tech startup ecosystem is increasingly being organised around large, high-visibility festivals. From …

LOS ANGELES | Xinhua | Hundreds of Chinese and Americans, including lawmakers, diplomats and world champions, gathered at Los Angeles County’s Pacific Palms Resort to commemorate the 54th anniversary of China-U.S. “Ping-Pong Diplomacy.” Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles Guo Shaochun described “Ping-Pong Diplomacy” over five decades ago as “an …

Vatican | VATICAN NEWS | “I once again make this appeal to all people of good will: that, at least on the feast of the birth of the Saviour, one day of peace may be respected,” said Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday, 23 December, from Castel Gandolfo. This as he launched an …

BEIJING | Xinhua | From the server racks of a São Paulo university to the trading desks of Dubai, the hum of global innovation has changed its tune by late 2025. When engineers across the world open the “hood” of their newest artificial intelligence (AI) applications, they increasingly find an …

For a country that has never seen peaceful transfer of power, the future is arriving faster than its readiness for it COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | On the afternoon of December 10, at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Uganda’s political future was discussed quietly, almost cautiously. There were no cameras jostling …

A duo of biomedical engineers in Kenya are designing low-cost regulators to help nurses safely manage oxygen in premature infants to reduce preventable deaths and higher risks of blindness. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY |  When healthcare engineer Lisa Mutheu joined the East Africa Biodesign fellowship, she anticipated a year of …