Porto, Portugal | AFP | Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick as Portugal withstood a huge moment of VAR controversy to beat Switzerland 3-1 and reach the Nations League final on home soil in Porto. Ronaldo’s free-kick opened the scoring midway through the first half, but the Swiss levelled when the referee …

Paris, France | AFP | Gianni Infantino said Wednesday he had turned FIFA into an organisation “synonymous with credibility” as he was re-elected for a second term as president of world football’s governing body. It was a formality that the 49 year-old would be waved through for a new four-year mandate, …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s army ruler said Wednesday he was open to negotiations even as gunfire crackled across the capital after a crackdown that doctors close to protesters said left at least 60 people dead. Despite mounting international concern at what demonstrators called a “bloody massacre”, a bid at …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | German high-end car giant BMW and British group Jaguar Land Rover announced Wednesday they are teaming up to develop a new generation of electric motors. A joint team will be based in Munich and tasked with developing the “next generation electric drive units” which BMW will …

  Paris, France | AFP | Humans eat and breathe in tens of thousands of microplastic particles every year, according to a new analysis Wednesday that raised fresh questions over how plastic waste could directly impact our health. Microplastics — tiny plastic shards broken down from man-made products such as synthetic …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Makerere University Directorate of Internal Audit has halted a planned payroll audit following a contradiction in communication from the top managers. Late last month, Makerere University Vice-Chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe asked the directorate to conduct an urgent payroll audit by June 7, 2019.  The …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has approved 100 names of people who will be awarded various medals on Heroes Day.  The medals are in recognition of their contribution towards the liberation of the country. The Minister in charge of the Presidency Esther Mbayo announced this in …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The United Kingdom Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda and Rwanda Lord Popat Dolar has said he will lead a delegation to Uganda comprising of senior officials from 12 UK companies to explore investment opportunities. He said the companies include retailers Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and …

By linking remote and rural areas to larger urban centers, they are nodes in larger economic activity  | Ibrahim Assane Mayaki | In the latest Mercer Quality of Living City Rankings, the highest-ranked African city, Port Louis, Mauritius, comes in at 83rd out of 231. That appears to be in …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Tourism activists in Kigezi sub-region have embarked on a  new campaign aimed at ending silting and disposal of sewerage into Lake Bunyonyi. Bunyonyi, the second deepest Lake in Africa, after Lake Tanganyika,  is one of the top tourism revenue earners for Uganda and the …