NEWS ANALYSIS

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa has rejected reported criticism of its record on corruption by five Western countries, including the US and Britain, who insisted they were only drawing the government’s attention to a serious issue. The Sunday Times reported on its front page that the five countries — the US, Britain, …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Economists have called for a review of the different social welfare programmes designed by the government to ensure that they transform the targeted beneficiaries. Some of the programmes highlighted for a possible review include the Youth Livelihood Program, Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment and the …

Paris, France | AFP | A sharp increase in the rate of obesity-linked cancers among young adults in the United States could foreshadow a reversal in the overall decline in cancer mortality, researchers warned Monday. In a sweeping study covering two-thirds of the US population, they showed that half a dozen …

MTN told to fulfill the National Broadband Policy as a condition to have its licence renewed Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | It is impossible to tell a story about the Uganda’s telecom revolution that began more than 20 years ago without mentioning MTN. The South African firm entered the country’s …

  United Nations, United States | AFP | There’s Ojibwe in Canada, Ami in Australia and Ayapanec in Mexico: these are among the world’s nearly 2,700 indigenous languages at risk of disappearing unless new initiatives are taken to revive them, UN officials say. The United Nations is hoping to raise awareness …

CHINA: Minister of Finance Kasaija’s secret letter to Museveni Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT TEAM | When, on October 18, 2018, Uganda signed an agreement with China for a US$212.6 million loan (Approx. Shs78 billion) for rural electrification, the issue of Uganda’s increasing debt and the unfair terms of some …

Washington, United States | AFP | Forty years ago, hip-hop was little known outside its birthplace, New York — until the Sugarhill Gang decided to record their rhymes, launching the genre’s rise as a dominant cultural and commercial force. The result was the group’s 1979 smash “Rapper’s Delight” — which is …

Paris, France | AFP | A major deal allowing a company to drill for crude reserves in areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo bordering Africa’s largest protected rainforest may contravene the country’s own oil law, a watchdog said Friday. The transparency group Global Witness said that an agreement signed in …

Washington, United States | AFP | The crowded field of Democrats vying to challenge Donald Trump in 2020 — already shaping up to be one of the largest and diverse ever — has added one more potential candidate — Senator Cory Booker, an African-American steeped in issues facing urban America. Booker …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Ivory Coast ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, the first former head of state to go on trial before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, was ordered freed by the court on Friday. The court agreed to his release following his acquittal last month on charges of …