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Butembo, DR Congo | AFP | The question is so absurd that Butembo’s deputy mayor misses a beat before answering. What is the town’s unemployment rate? “Unemployment is the norm around these parts,” says Godefroid Kambere Matimbya. “There aren’t any businesses.” Butembo is no ghost town, but a city of …

In 1992 Dorothy Kabagaju Okello set a record as the first woman to attain a First class degree in a male dominated course – Electrical Engineering – from Makerere University in Kampala. And in May this year, Eng Okello still defied the odds to become the first female president of …

Paris, France | AFP |  Mustard gas, which a watchdog on Friday said the so-called Islamic State group may have manufactured and used in Syria and Iraq, first terrorised battlefields during World War I. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons also said IS was behind a mustard gas …

Washington, United States | AFP |  President-elect Donald Trump announced three important cabinet appointments Friday, for the posts of CIA director, attorney general and national security advisor. The following are thumbnail sketches of the three men: CIA director  Mike Pompeo, the Republican legislator nominated to lead the CIA, is a …

Dengfeng, China | AFP | The young martial arts pupils cartwheeled across a pitch, before football coach Sun Dawei ordered one to deliver him a kung fu kick to the stomach. “You see I avoid the kick like this,” Sun said, dodging out of harm’s way before grabbing his young …

Yumbe, Uganda | AFP | South Sudanese refugees in Uganda have described being forced to flee soaring ethnic violence at the hands of the South Sudanese army while avoiding forced conscription into rebel forces. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the world’s newest country since renewed fighting broke out …

Documentary film about the inspiring story of AIDS orphans schools built by one of CNN’s 2012 heroes Jackon Twesigye Kaguri, to premiere in Kampala At 8.00 am on a Friday morning, dozens of pupils line up to receive their breakfast prepared by a team of cooks. Some are orphaned. All …

Wajir, Kenya | AFP | Swaddled in colourful hijabs the women exchange puzzled looks and suppress embarrassed giggles. “You’re sure it’s halal?” asks one, peering at a collection of birth control pills, condoms and IUDs. Such everyday forms of contraception are little known and rarely seen in Kenya’s arid and …

UNHCR to expand cash-based assistance to vulnerable refugees after study in Uganda shows benefits to local economies Uganda has for a long time been praised for the way it treats refugees. While many countries keep refugees in camps away from citizens, the Uganda government has for decades allowed refugees to …

Karen Melik Simonyan is the President of Russian African Foundation for Science, Culture and Economic Development (RAFSCED), an initiative aimed at furnishing both the African and Russian Business communities about the business opportunities that do exist in both countries, as well as other African countries.  He spoke to Nicole Namubiru …