Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | War-torn South Sudan’s slide into chaos resumed last month with fresh fighting in the capital Juba that forced rebel leader turned vice president and peace deal signatory Riek Machar to flee. With the spike in clashes came a surge of abuse of civilians by armed …
Read More »Portugal’s Guterres still leads race to be next UN chief
United Nations, United States | AFP | Portugal’s former prime minister Antonio Guterres is still the frontrunner to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations following a third straw poll held Monday, diplomats said. Guterres, who served as UN refugee chief for 10 years, received 11 votes of encouragement, …
Read More »Japan PM pledges to invest $30 bn in Africa by 2018
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Japan will pour $30 billion of investments into Africa by 2018, including $10 billion in infrastructure development, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday at a summit in Nairobi. Abe is using the conference to meet dozens of leaders from across Africa, among them Kenya’s President …
Read More »Kerry to travel to East Africa, the Gulf on counterterrorism tour
Washington, United States | AFP | US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel next week to Kenya, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia on a three-nation tour focused on counterterrorism, the State Department said Thursday. The top US diplomat arrives in Nairobi on Monday for talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta …
Read More »Uganda declines to send troops to UN South Sudan mission
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Uganda announced Friday it would not contribute troops to a regional brigade designed to bolster the UN mission in South Sudan, hours before a Security Council vote authorising the deployment. A key ally of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, Uganda’s government said it did not …
Read More »Putin and Erdogan pledge reset after diplomatic rift
Saint Petersburg, RUSSIAN FEDERATION | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday pledged to reinvigorate ties after their first meeting since Ankara shot down a Russian warplane last November. Erdogan’s visit to Putin’s hometown of Saint Petersburg is also his first foreign trip …
Read More »PHOTOS: Museveni, US ambassador Malac and Ankole cattle
PHOTOGRAPHS: US ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac on Friday visited President Yoweri Museveni at his countryside home in Rwakitura. The ambassador and President Museveni reportedly discussed issues of mutual interest to the US and Uganda. Thereafter, Malac was taken on a tour of Museveni’s farm, where the president showed her …
Read More »Bastille Day 2016: The ancient meets the new
The Ambassador of France to Uganda, Sophie Makame speaks to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke about the relevancy today of the 227th anniversary of Bastille Day – the day when, on July 14, 1789, an angry mob marched onto the Bastille prison and triggered the French Revolution. Why is the storming …
Read More »Turkey detains Third Army commander General Erdal Ozturk
Ankara, Turkey | AFP | A top army general has been detained over alleged involvement in a coup attempt aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, an official said Saturday. “General Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army, has been detained,” said the Turkish official, speaking on condition of …
Read More »Uganda’s Dr. Kazibwe launches historic bid to chair Africa Union
Uganda’s Dr. Speciosa Naigaga Kazibwe Wandira on Friday launched her bid to replace South Africa’s Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as Chairperson of the Africa Union (AU) Commission. “Place your confidence in me. My vision is that of an AU taking charge of Africa’s Destiny,” Dr Kazibwe told a selection of African diplomats at …
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