WORLD

  After three decades of waiting, Uganda has finally put its weight behind the man it once might have backed when his moment was at its brightest   COVERY STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | On Saturday, Aug. 8, Olara Otunnu boarded a plane to the United States, headed for New York …

BEIJING | Xinhua |  “Friendship stands by a meaningful thing — a world of peace must be a world of friendship.” Chinese President Xi Jinping once quoted a foreign friend to illustrate the preciousness of friendship. In his view, people-to-people friendship is the foundation for stable and sustained international relations, …

MOSCOW, RUSSIA | TASS | It is possible that more candidates to become the next UN secretary-general are added to the current list, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alimov said. “The list is not yet closed. The seventh candidate, a representative of Uganda, joined at the last moment. We see the …

MEXICO CITY/RIO DE JANEIRO | Xinhua |  Brazil’s decision to downgrade diplomatic relations with Argentina has pushed a bitter dispute between their presidents beyond political rhetoric, raising concerns over foreign influence in Brazil’s upcoming election and the future of South American integration. DIPLOMATIC TIES DOWNGRADED Relations between the two neighbors …

  JOHANNESBURG | Xinhua | South Africa and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have signed a 500-million-U.S.-dollar sovereign-backed loan agreement to improve urban services. In a joint statement issued on Friday, South Africa’s National Treasury and the AIIB said the financing, which marks AIIB’s first investment in South Africa, …

AI has  become the frontline of an intense global competition for economic  and geopolitical power but, for whom is this intelligence ultimately meant to serve? COMMENT | KAILASH SATYARTHI |  The defining question of our time is no longer whether AI will transform our world. It already has. What the world needs …

  HAVANA | Xinhua |  The long-running U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and a recent fuel blockade are causing power outages and shortages that threaten patients’ lives, Deputy Health Minister Julio Guerra said Wednesday. “When the lack of a stable power supply directly affects the preservation of medications, every blackout …

Kampala, Uganda | URN | Olara Otunnu, Uganda’s candidate for United Nations Secretary-General, has acknowledged that his long-standing disagreements with President Yoweri Museveni remain unresolved, even as Museveni’s government throws its weight behind his campaign. Otunnu, who made his strongest bid for the UN’s top job in 1996 but lacked …

   It started with an insult. In mid-May, during an open court hearing, Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant referred to some unemployed young people as “cockroaches” and “parasites.”   COMMENT | SHASHI THAROOR |  For those accustomed to viewing Indian democracy through the prism of grand electoral contests or …

  WASHINGTON | Xinhua |  U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that negotiations with Iran will begin Monday afternoon, noting that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar had asked the United States to call off planned strikes because “they think there’s a deal.” “There’s a deal on …