Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | These are the top stories in this week’s THE INDEPENDENT. COVER STORY 2021 election budget: Panic over jump from Shs400bn to Shs870bn THE WEEK Education: Gov’t scraps end of term exams , student projects introduced THE LAST WORD GDP and improved health: How sustained economic growth …
Read More »Sanders claims victory as review ordered of Iowa results
Manchester, United States | AFP | Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders joined Pete Buttigieg on Thursday in claiming victory in the chaotic Iowa caucuses as an exasperated party chairman ordered a review of the results of the first nominating contest. Sanders, the leftist senator from Vermont, and Buttigieg, the former …
Read More »Lesotho first lady faces murder charge over killing of PM’s ex-wife
Maseru, Lesotho | AFP | Lesotho police on Tuesday charged first lady Maesaiah Thabane with murder for her alleged links to the brutal 2017 killing of the prime minister’s previous wife. Maesaiah Thabane, 42, will spend the night in custody after she came out of hiding and turned herself in …
Read More »Sudan’s Burhan says met Israel PM to ‘protect national security’
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said Tuesday his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the previous day was driven by his responsibility to protect the country’s national security. Burhan’s first remarks about the meeting in Uganda, talks that surprised even Sudan’s cabinet, came …
Read More »Sky falls on Iowa after caucus vote debacle
Des Moines, United States | AFP | Iowa is proud of its time-honored role as the first US state to vote when America starts picking presidential candidates. This time it even instituted new rules it said would make things more transparent. But Monday night’s voting could not have gone worse …
Read More »Former Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi dead at 95
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Former Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi, who ruled the country with an iron fist between 1978 and 2002, has died aged 95, President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced. Moi’s 24-year rule saw his country become a one-party state where critical voices were crushed, corruption became endemic …
Read More »Malawi’s court cancels presidential vote result
Judges driven to court in a military armoured vehicle Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s constitutional court on Monday ordered new elections after annulling the results of a vote that re-elected President Peter Mutharika in May, citing widespread irregularities. (read full judgment bottom) “We hold that the first respondent (Mutharika) …
Read More »Boris Johnson, Brexit champion who delivered
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Even for a maverick politician like Boris Johnson, backing Brexit four years ago was a huge gamble. But it has paid off spectacularly with Britain’s exit Friday from the European Union. The Conservative leader remains a divisive figure, hailed by many for his …
Read More »JOHNSON: Brexit is ‘not an end but a beginning’
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised a “new era of friendly cooperation” with the European Union on Friday as Britain prepared to leave the bloc after almost five decades. In a public address broadcast one hour before Brexit, Johnson acknowledged there may be “bumps …
Read More »Thunberg puts climate activist Nakate in media spotlight
Greta Thunberg puts Africa’s climate activists in media spotlight Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | After a racism debate in Davos on the invisibility of African climate activists, Greta Thunberg held a press conference Friday with eco warriors from Kenya, Uganda and South Africa to stress the importance of their voices. …
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