Madrid, Spain | AFP |  Lionel Messi could be ready to play against Real Betis on Sunday and Barcelona could do with him back. In other circumstances, Messi might have left it another week, having missed the whole of pre-season with a calf injury he sustained in his first training session …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  A popular Zimbabwean online comedian and satirist said Thursday she was abducted from her Harare home and beaten by unknown assailants, becoming the latest perceived government critic to be attacked in recent weeks. Samantha Kureya, popularly known as ‘Gonyeti’, was forcibly taken from her home by …

Berlin, Germany | AFP |  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Paris on Thursday, a day after Berlin offered a glimmer of hope that an agreement could be reached to avoid a chaotic “no deal” Brexit. On the second leg of his first foreign visit since taking office, Johnson will meet his …

Cape Coast, Ghana | AFP | US preacher Roxanne Caleb blinked away the tears as she emerged from a pitch-dark dungeon where African slaves were once held before being shipped across the Atlantic to America. “I wasn’t prepared for this. I’m heartbroken,” she told AFP as she toured the Cape Coast …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Security Minister Gen. Elly Tumwine has threatened to seek legal redress over a parliament report that found him guilty of assaulting Dokolo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal. Tumwine’s statement followed the adoption of the Rules, Privileges and Discipline Committee report that recommended his reprimand for breach …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Uganda Airlines has slashed prices for the maiden flight slated for 28 August with a one-way ticket put at 166,000 shillings from Entebbe to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). This means a return ticket goes for an enticing 330,000 shillings, a huge deal from the …

Washington, United States | AFP | Amazon, Microsoft and Intel are among leading tech companies putting the world at risk through killer robot development, according to a report that surveyed major players from the sector about their stance on lethal autonomous weapons. Dutch NGO Pax ranked 50 companies by three criteria: …

Shanghai, China | AFP | As the first generation of professional gamers enters retirement, eSports is forced to confront a vexed question: after years spent killing rivals in a virtual world, what next? It is a quandary that comes far earlier than in most sports — in the most frenzied eSports …

Kabale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Rev. Stephen Munvaneza, a retired priest is nursing wounds at Kabale Regional Referral Hospital after being hacked by his biological son over land. Rev. Munvaneza was hacked by his 23-year-old son, Bosco Arinda on Wednesday afternoon. According to Rev. Munvaneza, he was sitting together with …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP |  Somalia’s southern state of Jubaland is under lockdown ahead of a tense election Thursday which has pitted regional authorities against Mogadishu and sparked tensions with neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia. The highly contested election in the semi-autonomous state has been postponed several times as a result of …