A few hours after Uganda’s ICT experts said that a new directive for subscribers to re-register their SIM-cards using national ID cards in seven days is not practical, the country’s lawyers have questioned the legality of the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) exercise. “Our considered view is that the manner in which the directive …

Pope washes feet of mafia snitches in Easter ritual Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis washed the feet of former mafiosi on Thursday in a prison known for housing inmates who have informed on old mobster allies. The closed-door visit to Paliano prison outside Rome saw the …

Canadian ‘giant’ of HIV research drowns Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Canadian scientist Mark Wainberg — described as a “giant” of HIV science and who had recently been working on finding a cure for the condition — has died at the age of 71, UNAIDS said on Thursday. The internationally renowned …

  US drops ‘Mother Of All Bombs’ in Afghanistan Washington, United States | AFP |  The US military on Thursday dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat, targeting an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said. The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb hit a “tunnel complex” …

Jeff Koinange, and equally combative Ugandan journalist Andrew Mwenda, will be guests in tonight’s NBS TV Frontline show. The Kenyan journalist and talk show host of Jeff Koinange Live will feature in what is expected to be an explosive analysis of social media, freedoms and corruption in East Africa. The one and only …

Uganda’s Information Communication Technology Association (ICTAU) has warned that a new directive for subscribers to re-register their SIM-cards “poses significant risks which, if not addressed, could have severe consequences for Uganda’s society and economy.” ICTAU gave four reasons they thought the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) directive did not make sense, concluding …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP |  Saudi Arabia raised $9 billion in its first global Islamic bond issue, the government announced on Thursday, a move analysts say could ease pressure on foreign reserves. The sale of Islamic bonds, known as sukuks, comes after the kingdom in October turned to the …

Washington, United States | AFP | Africa’s Matabele ants, fierce predators of termites, rescue their wounded soldiers and bring them back to the nest where they are “treated,” a new study showed Wednesday. This helping behavior for the injured is the first to be detected in the insect world, according to …

An IRC hospital in Somaliland Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) warned Wednesday of a health crisis in Somaliland after 28 people died of acute diarrhoea in the past 10 days. More than 411 cases, believed to be caused by cholera, have …

Ngomoromo, Uganda | AFP | Michael O’HAGAN |  In the no man’s land between South Sudan and Uganda wind lashes though scrubland, whipping hot dust into the eyes of David Otong Oroma and his sister as they struggle to push their heavily laden motorbike over the border. The pair fled …