Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The newly appointed Deputy leader of the People Power Movement has said she will focus on building grass-root support. Dr. Lina Zedriga Waru, a renowned activist was unveiled on Wednesday as Deputy to Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, also known as Bobi Wine. …
Read More »Budget Committee disagrees with gov’t on sector allocations
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Budget Committee of Parliament has clashed with the Minister of State for Planning David Bahati over what they described as unrealistic budget allocations to the Health and Agriculture sectors. Bahati was appearing before the committee to present revised budget estimates for the coming …
Read More »US criticizes WHO for ignoring Taiwan virus warnings
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States on Thursday accused the World Health Organization of putting politics first by ignoring early coronavirus warnings by Taiwan, which voiced outrage over criticism from the UN body’s chief. President Donald Trump has gone on an offensive with threats to withhold funding for …
Read More »OPEC puts heads together over oil output cuts
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Top oil producers started a crucial meeting on Thursday to discuss a possible cut in output after a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus and a Saudi-Russian price war caused the market to crash. The video conference meeting began shortly after 1440 GMT between …
Read More »A chance to make history — Biden’s all-female VP shortlist
Washington, United States | AFP | Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has promised to pick a woman as his running mate against Donald Trump in November. And with Bernie Sanders dropping out of the race, the spotlight is focused on Biden’s choice to serve in the job which he …
Read More »Pandemic may cause Africa’s 1st recession in 25 years: World Bank
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The World Bank warned Thursday that sub-Saharan Africa could slip into its first recession in a quarter of century because of the coronavirus pandemic on the world’s most impoverished continent. “We project that economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will decline from 2.4 percent in 2019 …
Read More »UK extends Bank of England overdraft over virus crisis
London, United Kingdom | AFP | The British government has expanded its overdraft with the Bank of England to help weather coronavirus disruption, it said Thursday. The government’s “ways and means facility” — effectively its overdraft account at the BoE — is also being used to temporarily help finance spending on …
Read More »Africa ‘elbowed out’ in quest for tools to fight COVID-19: AU
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | African Union officials said Thursday the continent is struggling to compete with rich countries for testing kits and other equipment necessary to curb the spread of the coronavirus. “We need aid for testing equipment,” Kwesi Quartey, the deputy chair of the African Union Commission, told …
Read More »Ministry of Health to collect blood samples, GPS location of COVID-19 suspects
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Health Ministry has started collecting blood samples from all COVID-19 suspects in addition to the nasal and throat swabs for testing. Dr Julius Amumpe, an Epidemiologist and Head Quality Assurance Department in the Health Ministry, says that they have asked local field teams …
Read More »UVRI considers using cobas system to test more COVID-19 samples
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda Virus Research Institute-UVRI is considering using the Roche Cobas 6800/8800 system to test coronavirus samples. Prof. Pontiano Kaleebu, the Executive Director Uganda Virus Research Institute, says the Roche Cobas 6800/8800 system will enable them test between 340- 950 samples within 8 hours. This …
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