Uganda plans to borrow nearly $2 bln to fund 2020/21 budget: Finance Ministry

Uganda shillings. KAMPALA, Dec 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Uganda said it plans to borrow 6.9 trillion shillings ($1.89 billion) from external lenders in the 2020/2021 (July-June) fiscal year to partly finance its budget, which could come under pressure as veteran leader Yoweri Museveni seeks re-election.A finance ministry budget paper showed the…

DR Congo: Rebels ‘hack civilians to death’ in attack

KINSHASA, Dec 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 23 people were killed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in what officials described as an attack by rebel fighters. Police and local officials said that the overnight raid on Apetina-Sana in the restive eastern region of Beni was carried out…

Guinea-Bissau presidential election run-off: Embalo claims victory, Pereira urges caution

Official results for the Guinea-Bissau election are expected on Jan 1 BISSAU, Dec 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Guinea-Bissau presidential candidate Domingos Simoes Pereira urged the nation to await official results after his opponent Umaro Cissoko Embalo said he was on course for victory. Both candidates are former prime ministers. “There is…

Sudan hands death penalty to 27 for torturing, killing protester

People celebrate first anniversary of the uprising that toppled long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir KHARTOUM, Dec 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A court in Sudan sentenced 27 members of the country’s security forces to death for torturing and killing a detained protester during the uprising against Sudan’s longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir earlier this…

Morales and MAS leadership meet for elections in Bolivia

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 30 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — Deposed president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, meets in the Argentian capital with leaders of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party to define details for the next electoral campaign in the Andean nation. Morales, in Argentina as a political refugee, exchange with MAS leaders…

French govt offers concessions to striking dancers of Paris Opera

PARIS, Dec 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — With France gripped by strike action crippling the transport system in a dispute over pensions reform, news emerged of the latest government concessions – to striking ballet dancers at the Paris Opera. News of the offer added to a series of concessions made to striking workers in…

Russia thanks US for intelligence that helped foil attacks

Putin thanked Trump for US intel which foil a terror attack in Russia MOSCOW, Dec 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin thanked US counterpart Donald Trump for intelligence that helped to foil attacks on Russian soil, the Kremlin said. Putin thanked Trump “for the transfer, through special services, of information…

Turkey evacuate wounded after deadly Mogadishu blast

MOGADISHU, Dec 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Turkish military cargo plane landed in the Somali capital to evacuate people badly wounded in a devastating truck bombing in the city that killed at least 90 people, including two Turkish nationals. The plane also brought emergency medical staff and supplies, according to a…

Honduras registers 177 deaths from dengue in 2019

TEGUCIGALPA, Dec 30 (NNN-Xinhua) — Honduras will close 2019 with more than 115,000 cases of dengue and 177 deaths from the disease, local media reported. “It is the biggest epidemic that we have had,” said Deputy Minister of Health Roberto Cosenza. The official added that more than 20,000 people were…

UN Alliance of Civilizations chief condemns mass stabbings at rabbi’s home in US

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 30 (NNN-Xinhua) — Head of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Angel Moratinos, has condemned Saturday’s mass stabbings in a rabbi’s home in US New York State during the Jewish Hanukkah celebration. Moratinos believed that such cowardly attacks should not be tolerated and should be unequivocally denounced,…