Brussels, Belgium | AFP | EU leaders are set to haggle on Thursday over a giant package to help their economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic, but bitter divisions mean little progress is expected. The situation facing the EU is dire: more than 110,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and an economy set …
Read More »Spending for 2020/21 budget should prioritize key growth areas, CSOs tell government
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Julius Businge | Expenditure for the new budget should mainly focus on key sectors that must support revamping of the economy, according to civil society organisations under their umbrella group, Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG). In a joint statement dated April 20, the group …
Read More »In Navajo Nation, pandemic exposes water crisis and health disparities
Washington, United States | AFP | The coronavirus is hitting the United States’ largest Native American territory hard, with a spike in cases bringing long-standing disparities to the fore in a land marked by the trauma of past waves of disease. With its towering sandstone mesas, majestic canyons and ancient ruins, …
Read More »MPs recommend review of national budget
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament’s Budget Committee has recommended that the government reviews and revises the National Budget for the coming financial year 2020/2021 in the wake of COVID-19. This is one of the committee’s recommendations in its report to Parliament in which it approved the appropriation of Shillings 45.493 …
Read More »Trump curbs immigration, saying hopes to protect devastated US job market
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he has partially suspended immigration to the United States, with the aim of keeping foreigners out of local jobs during the coronavirus crisis. “In order to protect our great American workers, I’ve just signed an executive order temporarily suspending immigration …
Read More »Economic impact of coronavirus threatens hard-won gains across great lakes region
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Sweeping preventative measures seem to be curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the Great Lakes region of Africa, but the economic impact of the global pandemic threatens hard-won gains made along the long road back to peace and stability, a UN regional representative has stated. …
Read More »Algerians linked to protests ‘forgotten’ in pre-trial detention
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Dozens of Algerians linked to the country’s anti-government protest movement remain “forgotten” in pre-trial detention during the coronavirus crisis, with little or no legal support. Zinedine Hanane, 32, was arrested on March 1, 2019, in Algiers while returning from a demonstration, after two people from his …
Read More »COVID-19: Uganda’s confirmed cases rise to 63
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Two more truck drivers have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of confirmed cases in Uganda to 63. One of the truck drivers, a 43-year-old is a contact of the first Tanzanian driver who tested positive last week. He entered the country on March …
Read More »COVID-19 treatment-: Hydroxychloroquine to be more frequently used than chloroquine
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Patients being treated for coronavirus –COVID-19 in Uganda are set to be shifted from having common anti-malarial drug chloroquine among their treatment plan to hydroxychloroquine. This decision according to Prof. Pauline Byakika, a member of the COVID-19 National Case Management Committee is being reached …
Read More »Virus will be with us for a long time: WHO
Genève, Switzerland | AFP | COVID-19 will stalk the planet for a long time to come, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, warning that most countries were still in the early stages of tackling the pandemic. WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said some countries that thought they had the new coronavirus …
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