Reformist pope Paul VI will soon be a saint Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | Pope Paul VI, who oversaw the sweeping “Vatican II” reforms of the Catholic Church in the 1960s, will soon be made a saint, the Vatican announced on March 07. Pope Francis signed decrees on March 06 giving …

N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Chad on Monday was due to start discussing sweeping constitutional reforms including presidential term limits in a country ruled with an iron fist by Idriss Deby since a 1996 coup. A so-called “national forum” comprising some 700 participants, including ruling party figures, members of civil society …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday named hundreds of mines, Chinese businesses and individuals who had illegally transferred foreign currency abroad during Robert Mugabe’s rule and warned they would be prosecuted. The announcement came after the expiry of a three month amnesty for the return of …

Kampala, Uganda | INDEPENDENT TEAM & AGENCIES | Rwanda and Tanzania have agreed to review the design of Isaka-Kigali standard gauge railway. They have dropped the proposed use of diesel engines in favour of electric locomotives. The line is proposed to link the Tanzanian port of Dar-es-Salaam and Kigali; a stretch of …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Africa’s leaders will gather in Rwanda Wednesday to launch what they say will be the world’s largest free trade area but Nigeria has already pulled out, highlighting the challenge in getting the continent to sign up. Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) with …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Britain must prove Russia’s involvement in the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK or apologise, the Kremlin said Monday. “Sooner or later these unsubstantiated allegations will have to be answered for: either backed up with the appropriate evidence or apologised for,” …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Equity Bank Uganda in partnership with the United Nations Capital Development Fund has intensified its drive for financial inclusion in Uganda by unveiling a new program called Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P) that will ride on agency banking targeting refugees. The two partners recently …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday congratulated Russia’s Vladimir Putin on his “decisive victory” in a presidential election and vowed to boost ties between Tehran and Moscow. “I am sure that during your new term, relations between our two countries will develop further,” he said …

Paris, France | AFP | Governments should focus on “greener” policies to improve the supply and quality of water as climate change and a growing global population threaten the water security of billions, the United Nations said on Monday. In its 2018 World Water Development Report, the UN calculated that an …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Beer Maker, Nile Breweries Limited has announced the exceptional performance of the 2017 Equality Scholarship candidates. The beneficiaries that completed their O and A level examinations are set to join S5 and university respectively under the Shs1.8 billion scholarship programme called Equality Scholarship. “Central to …