Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & URN | President Donald Trump’s choice of ambassador to Uganda Natalie E. Brown has finally been confirmed by the United States Senate. Diplomat Brown, who was picked last November, will replace Ambassador Malac at the US Mission in Kampala. A message from the Senate Thursday …
Read More »Ambassador Aparr burial arrangements finalized, body back
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The body of Ambassador Christopher Onyanga Aparr has been flown back, a month after he died in Geneva, Switzerland. Aparr who was Uganda’s Head of Mission and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organizations died on June 10. According to the …
Read More »Kenya to replace South Africa on UN Security Council
Kenya elected to UN Security Council, beating Djibouti United Nations, United States | AFP | Kenya was elected Thursday to the UN Security Council for 2021-2022, defeating Djibouti after first-round voting by the General Assembly failed to choose between the two candidates. Kenya obtained 129 votes, against 113 in the …
Read More »Merkel snubs Trump invite
Merkel a ‘no’ for Trump’s in-person G7 summit: report Washington, United States | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not attend an in-person summit of G7 leaders that US President Donald Trump has suggested he will host despite concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, the Politico website quoted her spokesman …
Read More »Veteran of Entebbe Operation new Israel foreign minister
Israel ex-army chief Ashkenazi to serve as foreign minister: party Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Former Israeli army chief Gabi Ashkenazi, who spent nearly four decades in the military, will be nominated as Israel’s next foreign minister, his Blue and White alliance said Wednesday. Ashkenazi held talks with US Secretary …
Read More »COVID-19: Burundi expels top WHO team
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi has ordered the expulsion of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) expert team backing the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, just days before a presidential election. The foreign ministry, in a letter to WHO Africa headquarters and seen by AFP on Wednesday, said the …
Read More »Seoul plays down report on Kim Jong Un health
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korea played down a report Tuesday that the North’s leader Kim Jong Un was being treated after surgery, as speculation mounted over his absence from a key anniversary. Pyongyang marked the birthday of its late founder, Kim’s grandfather Kim Il Sung, on …
Read More »Tycoon and a tea-seller’s son: Trump, Modi forge bonhomie
New Delhi, India | AFP | They hail from vastly different backgrounds — Donald Trump is the son of a property tycoon while Narendra Modi is a descendant of a poor tea-seller. Yet the two teetotallers, loved by right-wing nationalists in their home countries, share striking similarities that have seen …
Read More »War-ravaged South Sudan at a glance
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan is the world’s youngest country and also one of the poorest, crippled by a devastating civil war that has left tens of thousands dead. As rebel leader Riek Machar was sworn in as vice president ahead of the formation of a new …
Read More »Pompeo pledges ‘collective’ approach to African troop presence
Dakar, Senegal | AFP | Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that the United States favoured a “collective” approach with its allies when deciding on troop numbers deployed in Africa against jihadist insurgents. “We’ll get it right, we’ll get it right collectively, I’m convinced of that,” Pompeo told reporters …
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