Cairo, Egypt | AFP | US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday it was “too early” to discuss direct negotiations with North Korea, after Vice President Mike Pence said the US was open to talks. Pence was quoted in the Washington Post on Sunday as saying the US and …
Read More »Ruler since 1982, Biya turns 85 as strife grips parts of Cameroon
Douala, Cameroon | AFP | President Paul Biya of Cameroon celebrates his 85th birthday on Tuesday after 35 years at the helm of a country that today faces daunting problems, including a separatist revolt. “The Cameroon of tomorrow, which is developing before our eyes, will have little connection with the …
Read More »Male circumcision: Could it lead to a bad sex life?
Male circumcision: Could it lead to a bad sex life? Kampala, Uganda | NIELS EBDRUP | Circumcised men have more difficulties reaching orgasm, and their female partners experience more vaginal pains and an inferior sex life, a new study shows. If a man is circumcised, he faces an increased risk of …
Read More »South Sudan court sentences rebel spokesman to death
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan rebel spokesman James Gatdet Dak was sentenced to death by hanging for treason on Monday, a year after he was deported from Kenya despite having refugee status. “Death sentence by hanging,” Judge Ladu Armenio told Gatdet in the court in Juba, after …
Read More »Synergy Partners offer opportunities for affordable housing
Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | Jaffar Tonda is the Team Leader at Synergy Partners, a real estate developer. He spoke to Ian Katusiime about the real estate sector in Uganda and its prospects. As Team Leader at Synergy Partners, what’s your leadership style like? Mine is more macro based, where …
Read More »COMMENT: Corruption in Road sector
Could remedy be e-governance? COMMENT | CISSY KAGABA | The Government of Uganda has since 2008 prioritised road construction and maintenance by committing a substantial part of the budget towards the same. Uganda spends over Shs3.3 trillion ($1b) annually on public infrastructure and roads still receive a lion’s share of the …
Read More »Sembuya’s chocolate dreams
Young entrepreneur exploits well-kept secret Kampala, Uganda | ANDREW S. KAGGWA | That Uganda has the largest single owned cocoa farm in Africa is perhaps one of the best kept secrets – and Stephen Sembuya, the co-owner of the cocoa trading and processing firm Pink Foods Industries, was born into it. …
Read More »Valentine’s Day a rosy opportunity for jobless Colombians
Tabio, COLOMBIA | AFP | Valentine’s Day is a crazy rush for Colombia, one of the biggest flower exporters in the world, resulting in huge demand for labor in greenhouses near Bogota. That’s how Rubiela Mendez and William Perez found themselves shivering in a cold they’d never known, preparing roses …
Read More »The pride of liberators
Three Rwandan war heroes give moving testimonies on 24th Heroes Day Kampala, Uganda | FRANCIS BYARUHANGA | Jonathan Muvunyi was 18 years old but already fighting to liberate his country with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) when he was injured in 1994. He was hospitalised in Byumba from 1994 to 2008. …
Read More »Sudan’s Bashir replaces intelligence chief: state media
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir Sunday replaced powerful intelligence chief Mohammed Atta, the official news agency SUNA reported, amid a security crackdown on opposition protests against rising food prices. Bashir issued a presidential decree announcing Salah Abdallah Mohammed Salih as the new head of the country’s …
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