In both South Africa and Ethiopia, the dominant political party grew complacent and corrupt, and suffered decay COMMENT | BINIAM BEDASSO | The leaders of two key African countries resigned their posts within 24 hours of each other recently. South Africa’s Jacob Zuma finally buckled under pressure from his own party …

Toulouse, France | AFP | Aircraft giant Airbus is to axe around 3,700 jobs in Europe as it cuts back production of its troubled A380 superjumbo and A400M military transporter, the company and union officials said Wednesday. The cuts come as France-based Airbus downscales deliveries of the under-selling A380 — the …

Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Counting began on Wednesday in Sierra Leone following a general election, as the residence of an opposition leader was raided by police. Polls closed at 5 pm as expected for the West African nation’s 3.1 million voters, who were choosing a new president, parliament and …

  The Rwandan army has played a pivotal role in rebuilding the country COMMENT| HERBERT LUGABA | Recently I stumbled upon an article detailing how Shyira Hospital in Nyabihu District, Western Province came to be and I could not help but be enthused and humbled by the way Rwanda as a …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | A Nigerian court sentenced two men to life imprisonment on Wednesday over deadly twin bomb attacks which killed 12 people during the country’s 2010 Independence Day celebrations. Charles Okah and Obi Nwabueze were convicted for facilitating and financing the blasts during national celebrations in the capital …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The UN labour agency warned Wednesday that gradual progress toward parity between the sexes in the workplace was expected to soon grind to a halt and could even reverse. “On average around the world, women remain much less likely to participate in the labour market than …

ROME, Italy | AFP | The Catholic Church is “an empire of misogyny”, Ireland’s former president said on Wednesday ahead of a conference calling for women to be included in Church decision-making. “The Catholic Church is one of the last great bastions of misogyny. It’s an empire of misogyny,” said Mary …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump denies allegations he had an affair with a porn star more than a decade ago and paid for her silence, the White House said Wednesday. “The president has denied the allegations against him,” press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters. “The president …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has used a video posted online Wednesday to accuse police of pressuring witnesses to “smear” him as corruption investigations against him intensify. In his first direct reaction since the announcement that his ex-aide Nir Hefetz would testify against him, Netanyahu …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nimisha J. Madhvani, Uganda’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, has been appointed as the country’s Permanent Representative to the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Ambassador Nimisha Madhvani presented her credentials as Uganda’s Permanent Representative to Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General of the IRENA, …