Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s former health minister, who led the fight against a deadly Ebola outbreak, was sentenced to jail along with a colleague on Monday for stealing funds destined to fight the disease. Oly Ilunga was sentenced to five years in jail by the Court of Cassation, while the former …
Read More »COVID-19 pandemic ‘accelerating’: WHO chief
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The new coronavirus pandemic is clearly “accelerating”, the World Health Organization warned Monday, but said it was still possible to change its trajectory by going on the attack. The remarks came as the number of deaths soared past 15,000, with more than 341,000 people infected worldwide, …
Read More »US Embassy, UK tell citizens of available flights to leave Uganda
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The United States Embassy in Uganda and United Kingdom mission have informed their citizens in Uganda of the availability of flights if they want to leave the country. The development comes after President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s directive last week that all outbound and inbound …
Read More »Kisaame appointed URA board chairperson
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Juma Kisaame has been appointed the chairman of board of directors for Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), the tax body has announced. URA said they “look forward to leading Uganda’s domestic revenue mobilization agenda under his stewardship.” Kisaame will be replacing Simon Kagugube, the former …
Read More »Windows of hope: Life in Europe under lockdown
Rome, Italy | AFP | From the elderly Italian woman who routinely lines up the glasses of water she sets herself to drink every day, to the British composer leading a virtual orchestra, life for Europeans under coronavirus lockdown is an uncharted mix of resilience and creativity. Hundreds of millions …
Read More »Uganda Prisons puts UGX 2M bounty on 17 Arua inmates
Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda Prison Services-UPS has announced a cash bounty of Shillings 2 million on 17 inmates who broke out of Arua Prisons over the weekend. The inmates escaped from prison during a riot that started during lunch hours on Saturday. According to information obtained by …
Read More »Malawi to hold a presidential election re-run on July 2: Electoral commission
Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawians will return to the polls on July 2 for a presidential election re-run ordered by the country’s top court, which annulled last year’s vote results because of irregularities, the electoral commission announced Monday. “Following the Constitutional Court ruling on February 3 that nullified the presidential …
Read More »Oil prices volatile as virus saps demand
Singapore, Singapore | AFP | Oil prices were mixed in volatile Asian trade on Monday, but remained at multi-year lows due to the double shock of the coronavirus pandemic and the Saudi-Russia price war. Both main contracts plummeted at the open after a trillion-dollar support package for the American economy crashed …
Read More »Police commanders ordered to release minor offence suspects
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Two days after Uganda confirmed her first coronavirus (Covid-19) case, the leadership of Uganda police has ordered district, division and station commanders to release all suspects with minor offences. Commissioner of Police – CP Fred Enanga, said as part of the strategies to minimize overcrowding …
Read More »Back to work in China virus epicentre as restrictions eased
Beijing, China | AFP | People in central China where the coronavirus was first detected are allowed to go back to work and public transport is restarting, as some normality slowly returns after a two-month lockdown. The easing of restrictions in Wuhan city comes as Chinese health officials reported Monday no …
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