Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The top stories in this week’s THE INDEPENDENT. COVER STORY Why can’t Uganda build Standard Rail?: Latest on why Chinese contractor faces boot as Kenya,Tanzania,Rwanda,go ahead. THE LAST WORD In defence of social media tax: Why taxing mobile money and social media is a …

  Paris, France | AFP |  President Emmanuel Macron will attend France’s World Cup semi-final in Russia, his office confirmed Friday, as ally Britain pursues a diplomatic boycott of the tournament over a nerve agent attack. Macron had promised to attend the match if France reached the semi-finals Tuesday in …

South Sudan foes agree to withdraw forces from ‘urban areas’ Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  South Sudan’s government and rebels agreed Friday to withdraw troops from urban areas, a Sudanese official said, as they signed a deal aimed at ending a four-and-a-half year civil war. The deal comes a day …

Uruguayans admit France gave ‘football lesson’ at World Cup Montevideo, Uruguay | AFP |  Uruguayans were gracious in defeat after France ended their World Cup hopes on Friday with a 2-0 quarter-final victory. “France crushed Uruguay!” admitted Observador, one of Uruguay’s main newspapers. “They handed out a football lesson, dominating …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Employees of Uganda’s leading beer brewer Nile Breweries Limited, plans to donate pads to at least 1,000 pupils annually, according to the company’s legal and corporate affairs director, Onapito Ekomoloit. Onapito, who was speaking during the handover of 300 pieces of So Sure …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Two Angolan journalists were acquitted by a judge on Friday over an article of accusing a former attorney general of corruption, in a verdict welcomed by press freedom activists. Investigative journalist Rafael Marques and editor Mariano Lourenco faced charges of insulting a public authority over …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Lawmakers in Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have formed a breakaway group in what is expected to be a prelude to defections as elections approach next year. President Muhammadu Buhari’s former ally, Buba Galadima, on Wednesday announced the creation of a group called the …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP |  Four Ugandan soldiers and three civilians were killed Thursday in clashes on Lake Edward that lies between the two countries, a senior official in the Democratic Republic of Congo said. Other clashes in the region between DR Congo forces and Ugandan rebels as well as …

AIDS: Four vaccines reach highest level of testing ever Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | HIV/AIDS prevention researchers at the Medical Researcher Council (MRC) are excited about two upcoming vaccine trials. The two trials; a PrepVac and a mosaic concept study will start in December and January 2019 respectively.  The …

Paris, France | AFP |  Almost six million people tweeted their thoughts on Prince Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle, according to French social media monitoring firm Visibrain. Between 2200 GMT Friday and 1800 GMT Saturday, 5,958,379 tweets had been posted worldwide on the royal nuptials, 4.5 million bearing the hashtag …