NEWS ANALYSIS

 Botswana’s former president Masire, who led Mozambique peace efforts, dies Gaborone, Botswana | AFP | Botswana’s former president Sir Ketumile Masire, the southern African country’s second post-independence leader and who led efforts to bring peace to Mozambique, has died aged 91, an aide said on Friday. Masire had been heavily involved …

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi  has revealed that Egypt is suffering from a water deficit of about 21.5 billion cubic metres per year, and is cautious of any agreements related to the River Nile that could affect this supply. According to AharamOnline, this was the main thrust of President Sisi’s speech Thursday …

Warder, Ethiopia |Chris Stein, AFP | The Somali people of Ethiopia’s southeast have a name for the drought that has killed livestock, dried up wells and forced hundreds of thousands into camps: sima, which means “equalised”. It’s an appropriate name, they say, because this drought has left no person untouched, …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | One week on from the fatal London tower block inferno, the macabre smell of the burnt-out building clings to a traumatised neighbourhood, where every conversation is peppered with indignation. Some 79 people are presumed dead after last Wednesday’s blaze, which quickly engulfed the 24-storey …

  Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE |  Bank of Uganda is pessimistic about growth in private sector credit for the last quarter of this financial year. This is the latest bad news suggesting the country is yet to achieve desired economic growth of over 7%. “We are not likely to achieve …

  New heir to Saudi throne holds power beyond his years Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP |  Saudi Arabia’s hard-charging Mohammed bin Salman, named crown prince on Wednesday, holds unusual power for a man of just 31, so much so that diplomats nickname him “Mr Everything”. The son of King …

Unknown to most Ugandans, NARO currently runs one of the most active GMO research facilities on the African continent Kampala, Uganda| ANDREW S. KAGGWA |  Barbara Ntambirweki, a research fellow with Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) is preparing for a bit fight – against introduction into the country of Genetically …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Top White House aide — and presidential son-in-law — Jared Kushner is among the most powerful men in America, but few have heard him speak, until now. His voice is common enough to those working in and around the White House, but Kushner on …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Worshippers leaving a London mosque early Monday were helping an elderly man who had collapsed when a van deliberately rammed them, driven by an attacker who shouted: “I want to kill all Muslims”, witnesses said. Shortly after midnight, the van swerved towards people who …

   BUDGET: The EAC countries are looking at reducing the cost of doing business Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA |  Governments in the East African Community seem to be determined to ease the cost of doing business in the region as they allocate massive budgets to infrastructural developments in the new financial …