United Nations, United States | AFP | China on Friday issued a statement calling on all UN member states to “actively fulfill their financial obligations to the United Nations,” stressing that Washington owes the organization more than $2 billion. “As of May 14, the total unpaid assessments under the UN regular budget and peacekeeping budget …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | At least 1500 businesses countywide have written to the National Social Security Fund-NSSF to reschedule their contributions for the next three months, URN has learnt. This follows a notice issued by NSSF on March 31st, 2020 inviting businesses and employers facing economic distress to reschedule …

Luweero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 120 persons living with albinism in Luweero are struggling to live without sunscreens following a national lockdown that affected their movement and access to essential services. Persons Living with Albinism depend on sunscreen with a special formula and Sun Protection Factor to prevent …

Paris, France | AFP | People living in the most deprived areas of Britain are more than four times likelier to test positive for COVID-19 than those living in the richest neighbourhoods, new research showed Saturday. A University of Oxford study looked at more than 3,600 COVID-19 test results from national programmes and found that …

Vienna, Austria | AFP | President Donald Trump voiced hope Friday that a coronavirus vaccine will be available by late 2020, cushioning dire US economic news as parts of Europe re-open despite fears of a second wave of the pandemic. Several nations have eased restrictions to stem the economic damage from …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization on Friday urged countries, companies and researchers to pull down the barriers and open up their findings on COVID-19 as it unveiled a global knowledge-sharing platform. The information pool is intended to be a voluntary worldwide repository of intellectual property and open-sourced data, allowing everyone involved …

Washington, United States | AFP | Robots will do the shopping at a US startup which is banking on fully automated warehouses for groceries and other merchandise at a time when the pandemic has made workplace safety a key concern. The new Home Delivery Service aims to create a “touchless” and …

Washington, United States | AFP | US officials moved Friday to cut off Chinese tech giant Huawei from global chipmakers, ramping up sanctions on the company seen by Washington as a national security risk. The Commerce Department said it was broadening its sanctions enforcement to include semiconductor designs that are developed …

Paris, France | AFP | Some 28.4 million planned surgeries could be cancelled or postponed globally due to the new coronavirus pandemic, according to new research warning that huge backlogs risk “potentially devastating” consequences for patients and health systems. The study, published this week in the British Journal of Surgery, modelled …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Minister for Health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has commissioned the first port health laboratory at the Uganda –Tanzania border of Mutukula. Speaking during the launch on Friday, Aceng said the machine can run up to thirty samples per hour. Two machines have been put …