NEWS ANALYSIS

Vatican, Italy | THE INDEPENDENT | At exactly 7:10 p.m., white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney, signalling to the world that a new Pope had been elected. A wave of applause erupted among the thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square and millions viewing from different means across the …

History is a mirror, and only by drawing lessons from history can the world avoid repeating past calamities. BEIJING | Xinhua |  Eighty years ago, the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War marked a turning point in human history, opening a new chapter in building a better international order and …

HANGZHOU | Xinhua | In a compact shop no larger than 10 square meters, Tao Yang, a vendor in Yiwu — a city in Zhejiang Province known as “the world’s supermarket” — keeps a well-used World Atlas on her desk. “I ask my customers to sign their names over their …

Communities in the Kenya’s and Uganda’s shores of Lake Victoria, Copperbelt Province in Zambia, Eastern Cape Province in South Africa, or Enugu State in Nigeria — have this vulnerability ANALYSIS | MONICAH OTIENO | In the west of Kenya, near the shores of Lake Victoria, where I come from, a tuberculosis outbreak is no different …

The hospital is the only one in Fangak County, which has a population of more than 110,000 people ANALYSIS | AGENCIES | At least seven people have been killed after a hospital and market were bombed in South Sudan, a medical charity has said, as fears grow of a return to …

The pigs will join a very short list of gene-modified animals that you can eat ANALYSIS | AGENCIES | Most pigs in the US are confined to factory farms where they can be afflicted by a nasty respiratory virus that kills piglets. The illness is called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or …

Resource exploitation attracts foreign military and economic interest, whose presence fuels conflicts that devastates populations ANALYSIS | ANN-YOUNG MAHARAJ | Africa’s Peace and Security continues to be under threat, 72 years after Nelson Mandela warned against future instability in the continent. On the 23rd of August 1953, Mandela made a speech …

Pope Francis often pointed to Africa, which is seeing the highest growth in population in the Catholic church, as the continent of joy and hope ANALYSIS | STAN CHU IIO | The Catholic church faces a fundamental question as it prepares to elect a new pope. That is, whether to go back to …

Defects have been flagged at the 183MW Isimba Hydropower Plant, but contractor is reluctant to fix them COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | For many hydroelectricity producers around the world, rainfall is a welcome blessing that ensures a steady power supply. But for Harrison Mutikanga, the CEO of the Uganda Electricity …

How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war ANALYSIS | SHAOYU YUAN | IShowSpeed, a 20-year-old American YouTuber and internet star, recently livestreamed hourslong tours of Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai, showcasing the locations to some of his nearly 40 million viewers. During the March events, …