By Alex Ezeh, Blessing Mberu and Tilahun Haregu Why we must distinguish between the two We live in an urban century. Already more than 50% of the global population lives in urban areas. The United Nations estimates that by 2030 five billion of the world’s population of eight billion will …
Read More »When goldsmith turns to paper beads
Anyone who knows the exploits of Ugandan artist Sanaa Gateja can state without fear of criticism for journalistic exaggeration that he is the only remnant of the early post-colonial crop still actively turning and influencing the wheels of contemporary art. For over half a century, the artist has been committed …
Read More »Equal Opportunities Commission releases gender report
The Equal Opportunities Commission has released its third report naming sectors complying with gender issues in their yearly budgetary allocations for the FY2017/2018. While releasing the report at the Commission’s head offices in Kampala at the end of December 2016, Sylvia Ntambi, the Commission’s chairperson said overall sectors performed at …
Read More »Growers ask court to categorise mirungi as vegetable, not narcotic
Wakiso District growers of khat, referred to locally as mairungi or Miraa, on Monday went to the Constitutional Court seeking orders de-categorizing the crop. They want it categorized as a vegetable, not a narcotic drugs. The farmers under their umbrella organization Wakiso Miraa Growers and Dealers Association Ltd want restraining orders …
Read More »Iran official calls for sterilisation for sex workers
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Female sex workers and homeless drug addicts in Tehran should be “convinced” to undergo sterilisation to prevent social problems, a deputy provincial governor in the Iranian capital said on Sunday. “These women deal drugs, consume drugs and also work as sex workers,” Siavash Shahrivar told …
Read More »Modern life, bad habits: Africa faces deadly new illnesses
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | When Rose Kariuki first felt a lump on her left breast, the spectre of cancer — a disease she had only heard of on television — was the last thing on her mind. “To me, cancer was nowhere near us. It was shocking, I feared …
Read More »Californians to say ‘cheers’ at hair salons in 2017
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Come Sunday, Californians will legally be able to raise a glass of alcohol while getting a haircut or beard trim at beauty salons and barbershops. Although the practice of offering complementary wine and beer at such establishments has been going on quietly for …
Read More »Born again: baby boom after China ends one-child rule
Beijing, China | AFP | As soon as China abandoned its one-child policy a year ago, Zheng Xiaoyu and her husband started trying for a sibling for their nine-year-old son. Their efforts bore fruit with another boy — one of a million extra births this year. “The traditional Chinese thinking …
Read More »Brain surgery in Uganda
Neurosurgeons explain how lack of advanced technology is danger to patients The symptoms are ordinary enough in the initial stages; usually just headache that appears not to respond to treatment. But this soon advances in slightly more severe symptoms such as double vision, seizures, and difficulty in speech. At this …
Read More »Pregnancy changes a woman’s brain: study
Paris, France | AFP | Pregnancy causes “long-lasting” physical changes to a woman’s brain, with significant, but seemingly beneficial, grey matter loss in parts of the crucial organ, a study said. Some alterations lasted at least two years, they reported, but did not appear to erode memory or other mental …
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