Paris, France | AFP | Eye-watering, throat-scratching air pollution is a major driver of big city blues in China, according to a study published Monday that matched social network chatter with fine-particle pollution levels. “The take-away is simple,” lead author Siqi Zheng, an associate professor at MIT and director of the …
Read More »Karamoja Minister wants spate of killings investigated
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The State Minister for Karamoja Affairs, Moses Kizige has demanded for fresh investigations into the spate of killings in the region. Since December, unknown people have carried out killings in Abim, Kotido and Kaabong raising tension in the community. However, no suspects have been …
Read More »A history of armed attempts to dislodge Venezuela’s Maduro
Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Monday’s brief mutiny by Venezuelan soldiers was not the first time President Nicolas Maduro has faced a military challenge to his leadership. Since coming to power in 2013 following the death of socialist revolutionary icon Hugo Chaves, the former bus driver Maduro has faced a number …
Read More »Kitatta trial: guard owns recovered firearms
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The General Court Martial heard on Monday that Abdullah Kitatta, the jailed patron of Bodaboda 2010 has never owned an illegal fire arm. This came up during the testimony of Joel Kibirige, the Chairperson of Rubaga Division Bodaboda Cyclists and Kitatta’s police guard Sowali Ngobi. …
Read More »Ronaldo avoids jail but hit by hefty fine for tax fraud in Spain
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Cristiano Ronaldo avoided jail on Tuesday but was ordered by a Spanish court to pay 3.57 million euros ($4.1 million) for committing tax fraud when he was at Real Madrid. The court sentenced him to a two-year jail sentence that it immediately reduced to a fine of 365,000 euros, which …
Read More »Endangered in Ivory Coast: traditional priestesses
ANIANSUE, Ivory Coast | AFP | A dozen women, their bodies coated with clay, sway to beating drums as if in a trance, ankle bells jingling as they stamp their feet, in the eastern Ivorian town of Aniansue. They are training to become certified “komians”, or priestesses, steeped in traditional …
Read More »Protestors block Gulu – Kampala road highway
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Angry demonstrators have blocked the Gulu-Kampala Highway demanding for the installation of humps. The protest which started at 9:00 am followed an accident at Koro Abili Trading centre, about 8 Kilometres from Gulu Town.Three people who were injured in the accident sustained broken limbs and …
Read More »Nawangwe threatens headcount as lecturer’s strike enters day two
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe has threatened to conduct a head count of teaching staff following a sit down strike by staff protesting the suspension of their leaders. He said this in a mail and Whatsapp text to staff he sent out on …
Read More »Steely Serena in ‘different space’, ready for record Slam win – coach
Melbourne, Australia | AFP | Serena Williams is emotionally and physically ready to win another Grand Slam, unlike during her famous meltdown in the final of the US Open last year, according to coach Patrick Mouratoglou. The 37-year-old American stormed past top seed Simona Halep to reach the quarter-finals at the …
Read More »China’s second gene-edited foetus is 12-14 weeks old: scientist
Beijing, China | AFP | The second woman carrying a gene-edited foetus in China is now 12 to 14 weeks into her pregnancy, according to a US physician in close contact with the researcher who claimed to have created the world’s first genetically-modified babies last year. Chinese scientist He Jiankui …
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