Uganda Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga has confirmed that the Income Tax Amendment Bill (copy bottom) is now law. Kadaga told parliament on Wednesday that technically, the law has been assented to despite President Yoweri Museveni returning the bill to parliament for the third time last month, seeking amendments. The Income Tax Bill …
Read More »UN expected to vote Friday on South Sudan arms embargo
United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN Security Council is expected to vote on Friday on a US-drafted resolution to impose an arms embargo and sanctions on South Sudan, now in its fourth year of war. It remained unclear however whether the measure would be adopted, with diplomats saying …
Read More »Nigerian troops rescue 1,880 civilians from Boko Haram in one week
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian troops have rescued 1,880 civilians from a Boko Haram redoubt in the restive northeast in the past week and arrested hundreds of insurgents, a military commander said on Wednesday. The Sambisa forest, covering about 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles), is a stronghold of …
Read More »Congo crisis talks on as bishops urge deal by Christmas
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Talks on defusing an explosive crisis in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) resumed Wednesday, a day after bloody clashes, as the Catholic church appealed for a deal by Christmas over the future of President Joseph Kabila. The call by bishops sponsoring talks between the …
Read More »Families of Orlando victims sue Facebook, Google, Twitter
Chicago, United States | AFP | The families of three Orlando nightclub shooting victims have filed suit against Facebook, Twitter and Google accusing them of providing “material support” to the Islamic State group by allowing the spread of extremist propaganda that inspired the attack. The assault by gunman Omar Mateen, …
Read More »Volkswagen moves into Kenya, Rwanda in Africa expansion
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Volkswagen on Wednesday opened a new assembly plant in Kenya and launched plans for a ride-sharing service in Rwanda as it seeks to take advantage of surging car demand in Africa. The German car manufacturer’s move into East Africa comes just weeks after it signed …
Read More »Presidential term limits resolution rejected by ACP-EU
ACP-EU MPs Overwhelmingly Reject Resolution on Presidential Term Limits Members of the European Parliament and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) parliamentary group have rejected a motion to impose presidential term limits on member states. The ongoing ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly in Nairobi voted against the motion for presidential terms limits, that was …
Read More »A snapshot of 2016
Paris, France | AFP | From Donald Trump’s victory to Brexit and the onslaught on Syria’s Aleppo, here is a snapshot of ten stories that dominated the news in 2016: – Trump earthquake – On November 8, Republican billionaire Trump, a 70-year-old populist with no political experience, wins the US …
Read More »East Africa’s biggest solar plant beams hope to rural Uganda
Soroti, Uganda | AFP | When power goes out in the rural town of Soroti in eastern Uganda, store manager Hussein Samsudin can only hope it won’t go on so long it spoils his fresh goods. Another shop owner, Richard Otekat, 37, has to pay a neighbour hourly to use …
Read More »Coca-Cola secures African stake from ABInbev
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has agreed to pay more than three billion dollars to recently-merged AB InBev for control of Africa’s biggest soft drinks bottling company, both companies said Wednesday. On merging with SABMiller in September, Belgian-Brazilian giant AB InBev found itself with 54.5 percent …
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