NEWS ANALYSIS

Washington, United States | AFP | The US government shutdown that has left 800,000 federal employees without salaries as a result of President Donald Trump’s row with Democrats over building a Mexico border wall was set to enter a record 22nd day Saturday. The Democrats’ refusal to approve $5.7 billion …

United Nations, United States | AFP | Russia and China led calls at the United Nations Security Council on Friday for world powers to stay out of an election dispute in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Western nations and observers have questioned the outcome of the December 30 poll, in …

Paris, France | AFP | The demonstrations that have rocked Sudan over the past three weeks represent the biggest threat to President Omar al-Bashir’s rule since he took power three decades ago. Willow Berridge, a lecturer at Newcastle University in northern England and author of “Civil Uprisings in Modern Sudan”, …

Washington, United States | AFP | The US military has started moving non-essential equipment out of Syria but it is not withdrawing troops for now, a defense official said Friday as the Pentagon sought to clarify an earlier statement. “We are not withdrawing troops at this stage,” the official said …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The outcome of DR Congo’s tempestuous presidential election appeared to be headed for the courts Friday after the poll’s runner-up said he would demand a recount. Martin Fayulu, an opposition candidate tipped by pollsters as the likely winner of the December 30 vote, told …

Paris, France | AFP | Foreign leaders reacted cautiously to the outcome of DR Congo’s presidential election Thursday, with many choosing not to congratulate the man declared winner and appealing for disputes to be settled peacefully. Provisional results from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s much-troubled election granted victory to opposition …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | A UK consultancy working on Donald Trump’s US election campaign pleaded guilty and was fined by a London court Wednesday over its refusal to release personal data it secretly hoovered off Facebook. The social media giant has admitted that Cambridge Analytica — a political …

Paris, France | AFP | Emmanuel Macron swept away France’s traditional parties in 2017 with a grassroots campaign that promised more participative democracy. He is hoping the same tactics will now defuse the biggest crisis of his presidency. The centrist leader is gearing up what he has termed the “great …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Former president Marc Ravalomanana has accepted defeat in Madagascar’s presidential election, a day after the country’s Constitutional Court confirmed Andry Rajoelina as the new leader of the Indian Ocean island nation. Ravalomanana had lodged a complaint alleging widespread fraud in the December 19 run-off vote …

Health ministry plans major switch in 2019 healthcare Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | As 2018 ended, President Museveni was seen getting more involved in the country’s healthcare. First he launched the Presidential Fast Track Initiative to encourage men to get tested for HIV and enroll on treatment and then …