Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian leader Vladimir Putin has decided to handle his duties remotely, the Kremlin said Wednesday, after the head of the country’s main coronavirus hospital tested positive following a meeting with the president. Denis Protsenko, who met with Putin last week as the Russian leader visited the Kommunarka hospital in Moscow, …
Read More »Ministry of Energy extends deadline for oil licensing applications
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda has extended the deadline for submitting competitive bids for the second licensing round for oil exploration after the coronavirus disrupted the oil industry and therefore submissions. In a notice sent out today, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral development said companies intending to …
Read More »Locals fear that COVID-19 control measures could drive them into poverty
Kitgum, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Locals in rural and urban communities in Kitgum district are worried that the outbreak of coronavirus in the country and its resultant negative effects on the economy may see them into abject poverty. Their fears have been compounded by stringent directives by the government …
Read More »UBA hands over Shs570million donation to government to fight COVID-19
Kampala, Uganda | INDEPENDENT REPORTER | Pan-African lender, United Bank for Africa – Uganda has made a donation of Shs570million to the Uganda government as support towards the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. The donation was made to President, Yoweri Museveni, by the UBA Uganda Managing Director …
Read More »No insurance cover for Uganda’s coronavirus patients
Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | International Air Ambulance (IAA) Healthcare, a leading Health Membership Organisation in Uganda has announced that it will not cater for medical bills for any of its clients infected with coronavirus. This follows declaration of the disease as pandemic by the World Health Organisation. …
Read More »OPINION: How the Coronavirus will change the world
COMMENT | Wasswa Balunywa | World War II changed the world completely giving leadership to United States as the world’s leading economic power. The Soviet Union emerged to rival the US militarily until it’s collapse in the 1990’s. The United States remained as the only super power. Close to the …
Read More »Isolation proves tall order for Morocco’s poor
Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Isolation to keep coronavirus at bay is a tall order for Moroccans like Abdellah, who is supposed to spend days cooped up indoors without sunlight in an impoverished neighbourhood of the capital Rabat. So he stays out in the street. “I know social isolation is a …
Read More »The rent is due but many Americans can’t pay the bills
New York, United States | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic took Brittany Brook’s job on March 16, two days after it took her husband Matthew Whitfield’s, leaving the New York couple scrambling as end-of-the-month bills come due. On April 1, Brook, an artist who until recently taught music at a preschool …
Read More »Batons, bullying and handcuffs mar Africa’s virus shutdowns
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Soldiers tower over youngsters in South Africa’s Soweto township, forcing them to do push-ups and roll on the floor as punishment for not adhering to a lockdown meant to halt the spread of coronavirus. Caught on camera and circulated on social media, they added to …
Read More »Museveni allows media to continue working as it is part of emergency services
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has said the media is part of the emergence services that must be allowed to continue working, as the rest of the country is put under lockdown. Museveni was speaking Tuesday night to the nation to clarify some of the guidelines he …
Read More »