London, United Kingdom | AFP | Campaigners in London sent a rallying cry to Americans on Thursday to get out and vote in the forthcoming presidential election and avoid getting “Brexited”. Dressed in hard hats and high-visibility vests to symbolise danger, activists gathered outside the British parliament to issue a …
Read More »Vatican to open its doors to 1,000 prisoners
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | One thousand prisoners — including some lifers — will take part in a special event at the Vatican this weekend, along with 3,000 family members, prison staff and volunteers. The prisoners from 12 countries will have the opportunity on Saturday to confess and …
Read More »Kenya accuses UN of bowing to pressure in South Sudan probe
United Nations, United States | AFP | Kenya on Thursday accused the United Nations of bowing to pressure from certain countries by setting up an investigation that pinned the blame for peacekeeping failures in South Sudan on the Kenyan force commander. Ambassador Macharia Kamau charged that “certain current and future …
Read More »CECAFA looking for new Cup hosts after Kenya snub
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The Confederation of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) is looking for a new host for this year’s Senior Challenge Cup after Kenya backed out, officials said Thursday. Cecafa had sought Kenya’s approval after original hosts Sudan withdrew from staging the annual tournament for …
Read More »In The Independent: Why the Chinese are angry with Museveni
COVER STORY: Chinese angry with Museveni An investigation by The Independent shows that sparks are flying between President Yoweri Museveni and his Chinese lenders, Exim Bank, on one hand and between Ministry of Energy officials and of the Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd (UEGCL) on the other. Trouble is over …
Read More »Trump: disciplined and on message in final stretch
New York, United States | AFP | On message, disciplined and rising in the polls, Donald Trump has been playing it straight in the home stretch of the US election — ever since the FBI clobbered Hillary Clinton’s campaign by resurrecting her email scandal. The FBI announcement threw the Republican’s …
Read More »Uganda tells UN it does not ‘tolerate’ anti-gay conduct
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Uganda told the UN rights council on Thursday that it does not “tolerate” discrimination based on sexual orientation, a claim directly undermined by the government’s widely condemned record on gay rights. Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa also blamed British colonialism for laws that remain on Uganda’s …
Read More »Makerere taken to another court over MP Kato Lubwama
The petitioner in the embattled Kato Lubwama case has dragged Makerere University to another court, seeking to know how the Member of Parliament (MP) was admitted through the mature age entry process. Habib Buwembo, the applicant in the Lubwama High Court case, has petitioned the Chief Magistrate Court in Mengo seeking …
Read More »Alibaba sales growth soars into the cloud
Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s sales soared 55 percent in the last quarter, thanks in part to a more than doubling of revenue from cloud computing, the company said Wednesday. The year-on-year growth in group sales, to 34.29 billion yuan ($5.14 billion), was not matched by …
Read More »End of road for world champions Volkswagen
Wolfsburg, Germany | AFP | Volkswagen, world champions for the past four years with Sebastien Ogier, said Wednesday they are withdrawing from the world rally championship dealing a major blow to the series. The German auto giants, reeling from the Dieselgate scandal, announced last week that luxury brand Audi was …
Read More »