ABUJA | Xinhua |  Suspected gunmen shot dead a staff member after invading a state-run boarding school and abducted dozens of girls from their dormitory during a pre-dawn attack in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Kebbi on Monday, the police said. The gunmen, wielding sophisticated weapons and suspected to be “bandits,” …

Mbale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has said Uganda’s economy has grown twentyfold since the National Resistance Movement (NRM) took power, projecting that the country’s total economic output will reach USD 66 billion by June next year, up from USD 3.9 billion in 1986. Speaking in …

NEW DELHI | TASS |  A tribunal in Bangladesh sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the death penalty for crimes against humanity related to a crackdown on mass protests last year, according to a BTV broadcast from the court on Monday. The International Crimes Tribunal found Hasina guilty on all five …

ADDIS ABABA | Xinhua |  African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf has welcomed the signing of the Doha framework for a comprehensive peace agreement between the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group in Qatar. Qatar’s Ministry of …

But only if we refocus on the basics, says Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Benjamin Piper NEWS ANALYSIS | MELODY CHIRONDA | It is estimated that 90% of African children in school are unable to read or write, and the situation is worse in conflict-affected areas. Benjamin Piper, the Director …

If you can’t measure it, you can’t deliver it or ensure evidence-based public decision-making COMMENT | CHRISTOPHER KANAKULYA | As Uganda enters the implementation phase of the National Development Plan IV for FY2025/26–2029/30, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) stands at the centre serving as the central pillar that transforms ambitions into …

Findings could improve screening and treatment for patients of African ancestry HEALTH REPORT | THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES | Scientists have identified variants of five genes linked to aggressive prostate disease or to cancer that spreads, or metastasizes, to other organs in males of African ancestry. The study was published …

TOKYO | Xinhua | Japan’s main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) leader Yoshihiko Noda on Sunday criticized Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent erroneous remarks on China’s Taiwan, local media reported. At a party meeting in Nagasaki Prefecture, Noda, a former prime minister, said Takaichi “went too far” and …

I have never really been lured to participate in the voting process because of the idea that other Ugandans will do it COMMENT | MARTHA KYOSIMIRE | “Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in …

ADDIS ABABA | Xinhua |  The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has acknowledged the confirmation by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) of a Marburg virus disease outbreak in Jinka, southern Ethiopia. Further epidemiological investigations and laboratory analysis are underway, and …