Paris, France | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating threats to press freedom around the world, with authoritarian states including China and Iran suppressing details of the outbreak, activists said on Tuesday. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its annual press freedom rankings that the pandemic was “highlighting and …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The number of tests carried out so far are not enough to guarantee that Uganda has successfully contained coronavirus-COVID-19. Uganda confirmed the first case of the virus on March 21. A month later, about 13,000 tests have been conducted by the Uganda Virus Research Institute …

Paris, France | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic could nearly double the number of people around the world facing acute hunger, the UN’s World Food Programme warned Tuesday. “The number of people facing acute food insecurity stands to rise to 265 million in 2020, up by 130 million from the 135 million in 2019, as …

Paris, France | AFP | Half of the world’s school and university students affected by class closures because of the coronavirus outbreak — from pre-primary to university level — do not have access to a computer for home-schooling, the UN’s educational agency said Tuesday. Highlighting “startling digital divides” between the rich and poor, a UNESCO …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda has suspended the importation of second-hand clothes and shoes in what it says is a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. In a statement on Tuesday, Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) said “used footwear and used textiles that as a precautionary …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | With the global oil prices trading cheaper than a bottle of mineral water, analysts are saying it raises severe questions on the ability for Uganda to have its oil out of the ground any time soon. On Monday, April 20, 2020, a barrel of oil …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Makerere University hospital is set to start conducting coronavirus –COVID-19 tests, making the institution the second in the country to conduct such tests. Makerere University Vice Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe says they have already received 40,000 testing kits from donors. In a virtual press conference …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A couple in Wakiso district has been arrested on allegations of killing their daughter during a domestic fight. Denis Ssegujja and his wife Madrine Namala were arrested on Monday night after neighbours tipped police that their daughter Maria Nasozi had been accidentally killed in their …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Women Members of Parliament have demanded that the government freezes interest on loans acquired by people in the informal sector. The legislators under their umbrella group the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) on Tuesday tabled demands for the government to consider. “As the government …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health has asked the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) to withdraw an advert of an antimalarial beverage called Artavol. In an advert, popular radio personality Crystal Newman is featured taking the tea containing a beverage which they say helps in the prevention …