Algiers | THE INDEPENDENT | The Chief of Defense Forces of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba this evening arrived in Algiers, Algeria for military and bilateral meetings. Gen Kainerugaba, who is accompanied by top UPDF Generals including Maj Gen James Birungi, the Chief of Defense Intelligence and Security, Maj Gen Bob Ogiki, Joint Staff Policy and Strategy , and Maj Gen Keith Katungi, the 5Division Infantry Commander, was received by top Algerian military officials. Gen Kainerugaba is expected to hold talks with his counterpart General Saïd Chanegriha, Minister Delegate to the Minister of National Defence, Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army of Algeria. Gen Kainerugaba, who is also the Senior Presidential Advisor for Special Operations, will also meet several other senior military leaders from the Algerian Military. His visit to the North African country is aimed at bolstering bilateral and military relations. He arrived...

FILE PHOTO: Trump and Jinping meeting. Trump likely to decouple the world’s most important geopolitical relationship and increase risk of global disruption COMMENT | IAN BREMMER | Donald Trump’s return to the White House will almost certainly trigger an unmanaged decoupling of the world’s most important geopolitical relationship, increasing the risk of global economic disruption and crisis. After all, Chinese leaders will be far less conciliatory than they were during his first term. U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, managed to keep US-China tensions contained in 2024. But when Donald Trump returns to the White House this month, he will end this fragile stability, drive an unmanaged decoupling of the world’s most important geopolitical relationship, and increase the risk of global economic disruption and crisis. Trump will begin his second term by announcing fresh tariffs on Chinese goods, with the goal of forcing a new economic agreement...

This photo taken on Jan. 19, 2025 shows an aid truck running at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) CAIRO | Xinhua | The first humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza from Egypt on Sunday as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire started taking effect, Palestinian sources confirmed. The sources told Xinhua that the first humanitarian aid entered the coastal enclave through the border crossing of Kerem Shalom in the southern of Gaza. Earlier in the day, the Egyptian state-run Nile TV showed footage of dozens of aid trucks crossing the Egyptian side of Rafah crossing to be inspected by Israeli authorities before crossing the Palestinian side to enter Gaza. Delegations from mediators Qatar and the United States, in addition to others from Palestine and Israel, arrived in Cairo on Sunday to monitor the implementation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, added the TV reports. Based on the ceasefire agreement, about...

Some of the recovered animals that were handed to Ugandan security officials dueing an engagement in Nimule Township in South Sudan on January 17 2025. PHOTO URN Amuru, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Security personnel in South Sudan on Friday handed back to their Ugandan counterpart 11 herds of cattle stolen by a yet-to-be-identified group of armed men. The animals are part of 24 cattle stolen from a kraal belonging to a cattle keeper in Okidi Parish, Atiak Sub-county in Amuru District on January 13. The thugs, following the raid, reportedly crossed back into South Sudan’s Magwi County where the stolen herds of cattle were recovered. The animals were handed over during a bilateral engagement between security officials from the two nations, at the Ministry of Interior in Nimule Town, Magwi county in Eastern Equatoria state. During the engagement, Amuru Resident District Commissioner Geoffrey Osborn Oceng lauded South Sudanese security...

LOS ANGELES, the United States | Xinhua | TikTok announced Friday that it will be forced to shut down its services for the 170 million users in the United States on Sunday unless U.S. President Joe Biden provides a “definitive” assurance. The announcement came though Biden’s administration indicated that it will not immediately enforce a law intended to ban the popular video platform nationwide. In a brief statement on its website, TikTok, headquartered in Los Angeles, warned that unless the Biden administration acts urgently to reassure U.S. companies that provide essential services to the platform, the shutdown process will be unavoidable. “Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” it said. Earlier on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law forcing TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the...

KAMPALA, UGANDA | Xinhua | The number of cholera cases in Uganda has risen to 67 since the disease outbreak was announced in the northern part of the country on Jan. 7, the Ministry of Health said Friday. Daniel Kyabayinze, director of public health at the Ministry of Health, told reporters that out of the 67 cases, seven are laboratory confirmed, while the rest remain suspected cases. Of the 67, all reported in the northern border district of Lamwo, 21 remain hospitalized, while the rest have been treated and discharged, Kyabayinze said, adding that one death has been registered. He said it is suspected that the disease was imported into the country from neighboring countries. “The disease has spread through poor hygiene and using contaminated water in areas which have low coverage of latrines and toilets,” Kyabayinze said. “We have so far lost one person due to cholera. The treatment...

Atletico’s Reinildo Mandava (R) heads the ball against Celta’s Iago Aspas (L) during the Spanish LaLiga soccer match between Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid, in Vigo, Spain, 26 September 2024. EPA/SALVADOR SAS SPAIN, MADRID | THE INDEPENDENT | Atletico Madrid’s ambition to win the 2024-25 La Liga title will take centre stage in Matchday 20, as they face Leganes in a local derby, while rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona will face Las Palmas and Getafe respectively. There is no better place to get your season-long ticket to the best football the world has to offer than DStv! Atletico will face fellow Madrid club Leganes at the Municipal de Butarque Stadium late on Saturday afternoon, looking to keep up the excellent form which saw them sitting pretty at the top of the log heading into 2025. Los Rojiblancos have not lost a league match to Los Pepineros since way back in 2002...

Kotido district leaders together with Kacheri sub county authorities handing over the site the contractor. PHOTO URN Kotido, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The planned upgrade of Kacheri Health Center 3 to Health Center 4 status is set to begin in three weeks under the Ministry of Health’s Karamoja Infrastructure Development Project Phase 2. The development was confirmed by Dr. Cerino Achar, the Kotido District Health Officer, who stated that the site in Kacheri Town Council has already been handed over to the contractor, Mangron Investment Limited, with construction slated to begin soon. The 4.28 billion Uganda shillings project will include significant improvements across Kotido district, including the upgrade of Kacheri Health Center 3, the enhancement of facilities at Lokitelaebu Health Center 3, and the construction of District Health Department offices. At Kacheri Health Center, the project will include the construction of a modernized theater, a maternity ward, an outpatient...

Palestinians are seen on a street between buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes in the northern Gaza Strip city of Jabalia, on Oct. 6, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) It will come into force on January 19 and happen in three stages DOHA | TASS | The radical Palestinian movement Hamas and Israel have reached an agreement on ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. TASS has gathered the main details about the deal. About the agreement– Hamas and Israel confirmed that an agreement has been reached. – It will come into force on January 19 and happen in three stages. – The first stage of the agreement would last 42 days and see a ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli troops from densely populated areas of Gaza, return of any remaining hostages’ bodies, release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, return of displaced Palestinians to their neighborhoods in all the...

Many watched in shock on television as their homes burned ANALYSIS | AGENCIES | Since fires first began popping up around a densely populated, 25-mile (40-kilometer) expanse north of downtown Los Angeles on Jan.07, they have burned more than 12,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles. No cause has been identified yet for the largest fires. The disaster in America’s second-largest city took homes from everyone — from waiters to movie stars. The level of devastation is jarring even in a state that regularly confronts massive wildfires. The flames hit schools, churches, a synagogue, libraries, boutiques, bars, restaurants, banks and local landmarks like the Will Rogers’ Western Ranch House and a Queen Anne-style mansion in Altadena that dated back to 1887 and was commissioned for wealthy mapmaker Andrew McNally. Internationally renowned celebrities who have lost their homes include Mel Gibson, Leighton Meester and Adam Brody,...