DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Uganda: Manhunt launched as newlyweds killed on honeymoon
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni says security forces are on the trail of an ISIS-linked rebel group blamed for the killing of two foreign newlyweds celebrating their honeymoon at a popular tourist destination in the country. The couple was killed Tuesday alongside their local safari guide at the Queen Elizabeth National Park in southwestern Uganda, police said, adding that the victims’ vehicle was also set ablaze by their killers. It added that the national park was “safe and secure” for visitors despite the tragedy. Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni Abubaker Lubowa/ReutersFollowing the killing, Britain’s foreign office warned UK nationals to avoid nonessential travel to Queen Elizabeth National Park. According to Museveni, Uganda’s security forces are on the verge of “wiping out” the ADF despite attempts by the group to “commit some random terrorist acts.”

Persons: CNN —, Yoweri Museveni, Museveni, ” Museveni, Yoweri Museveni Abubaker Lubowa, Queen Elizabeth, ” Kasese, ” Organizations: CNN, Queen Elizabeth National, Uganda’s Wildlife Authority, South, ADF, Commission, Reuters, Uganda “, Sunday, United Nations Locations: Uganda, Ugandan, Kasese, Uganda’s Butambala, United States

☆ Storm-ravaged Libya faces a long road to recovery as humanitarian groups ask for $71 million in aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Dalya Al Masri | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Ahmed Elumami | ReutersStorm Daniel has left Libya, a country grappling with conflict and economic crisis for over a decade, in catastrophe. We need specialized and experienced rescue teams," Mohamed Elkwafi, a volunteer with the Eastern Libyan National Army Security Units in Derna, told CNBC. A man sits on a damaged car, after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Libya, in Derna, Libya September 12, 2023. Libya's reconstructionThe Central Bank of Libya convened an emergency meeting last Thursday to discuss support for the impacted areas. General view of flood water covering the area as a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Al-Mukhaili, Libya September 11, 2023, in this handout picture.

Persons: Ahmed Elumami, Reuters Storm Daniel, Mohamed Elkwafi, Storm Daniel, Moammar Gadhafi, Esam Omran, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, Kristalina Georgieva Organizations: Reuters, UN, UNDP, CNBC, World Health Organization, International Organization for, Maxar Technologies, Eastern Libyan National Army Security, Government of National Unity, Fetori, Government of National, Central Bank of, Bank, Monetary Fund, IMF, surveilling Locations: Libya, Derna, Libyan, Soussa, Benghazi, Albayda, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, North Africa, Tripoli, Central Bank of Libya, Africa, surveilling Libya, Mukhaili

☆ Uganda bans imports of used clothing from 'dead people'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Like most African countries, Uganda has traditionally imported large quantities of used clothing, which some consumers prefer because it is low-cost. At least 70% of garments donated to charity in Europe and the United States end up in Africa, according to Oxfam, a British charity. The East African Community, a regional economic grouping of which Uganda is a member, agreed in 2016 to a complete ban on used clothing imports by 2019, but Rwanda was the only country to enact it. As a result, the United States in 2018 suspended Rwanda's right to export clothing duty-free to the United States, one of the benefits of the United States' tariff and quota-free African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Museveni said the ban would also extend to electricity meters and electric cables, saying they should be bought from factories in Uganda.

Persons: Yoweri Museveni, Abubaker, Museveni, Elias Biryabarema, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Oxfam, Reuters, East African Community, Thomson Locations: Kisozi, Gomba, Central Region, Uganda, Rights KAMPALA, Africa, Europe, United States, British, Sino, Mbale city, Rwanda, U.S, Kampala, Hereward Holland

[1/3] Ugandan students hold placards as they participate in a peaceful walk to appreciate President Yoweri Museveni for signing the new anti-homosexuality law in Kampala, Uganda May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa/File PhotoWASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) - The United States has imposed visa restrictions on Uganda officials after the African nation passed an anti-LGBTQ law that was condemned by many countries and the United Nations, the U.S. State Department said on Friday. U.S. President Joe Biden had threatened aid cuts and other sanctions, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month the government would consider visa restrictions against Ugandan officials. "The United States strongly supports the Ugandan people and remains committed to advancing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Uganda and globally," the State Department said. The law also imposes a life sentence for same-sex intercourse and a 20-year sentence for promotion of homosexuality.

Persons: Yoweri Museveni, Abubaker, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Kanishka Singh, Susan Heavey, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, WASHINGTON, United, United Nations, U.S . State Department, The, Department, State Department, Thomson Locations: Kampala, Uganda, United States, U.S, Washington

☆ HIV alarm in Uganda as anti-gay law forces LGBT 'lockdown'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaKAMPALA, June 8 (Reuters) - The HIV/AIDS treatment centre in Kampala is almost empty, days after Uganda enacted one of the most draconian anti-gay laws on Earth. "The LGBT community in Uganda is on lockdown now," he said. 'AFRAID TO LEAVE HOME'A rare patient visiting the Kampala clinic said he despaired at the new legislation. In the 2021/2022 fiscal year, PEPFAR provided $418.4 million in funding to Uganda, more than half of the country's HIV/AIDS treatment budget. The Ugandan bill toughened up an existing British colonial-era law, under which gay sex was already illegal.

Persons: Andrew Tendo, Yoweri Museveni, it's, Mary Borgman, Museveni, Joe Biden, PEPFAR, Borgman, Lillian Mworeko, Ugandans, Museveni didn't criminalise, Tendo, Aaron Ross, Pravin Organizations: Ice Breakers Uganda, REUTERS, Uganda AIDS Commission, US, AIDS Relief, National Security Council, East African, International, Thomson Locations: Makindye, Salaama, Kampala, Uganda, Abubaker, KAMPALA

☆ Uganda accuses West of blackmail in its response to anti-LGBTQ law
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KAMPALA, May 30 (Reuters) - Uganda on Tuesday condemned the Western response to the East African country's new anti-LGBTQ law, considered one of the harshest in the world, and said sanctions threats from donors amounted to "blackmail". The law signed by President Yoweri Museveni carries the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality", an offence that includes transmitting HIV through gay sex. In the Ugandan government's first detailed comments since Museveni signed the law, Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi rejected the condemnation. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa/File Photo"While we appreciate the support we get from partners, they must be reminded that we are a sovereign country and we do not legislate for the Western world. In an interview, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told Reuters he expects the courts to agree.

Persons: Yoweri Museveni, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Josep Borrell, Museveni, Chris Baryomunsi, Abubaker, Human Rights Volker Turk, Turk, France's, Emma Farge, Alison Williams, Aaron Ross, Nick Macfie Organizations: Ugandan, Reuters, REUTERS, UN, Human Rights, Thomson Locations: KAMPALA, Uganda, EU, Kampala, Tanzania

☆ Uganda parliament passes harsh anti-LGBTQ bill mostly unchanged
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The legislation now heads back to President Yoweri Museveni, who can sign it, veto it or return it again to parliament. It was not immediately clear if the new bill satisfied his requests, and his office was not available for comment. Proponents of the bill say broad legislation is needed to counter what they allege, without evidence, are efforts by LGBTQ Ugandans to recruit children into homosexuality. Western governments suspended aid, imposed visa restrictions and curtailed security cooperation in response to another anti-LGBTQ law Museveni signed in 2014. The U.S. government said last week that it was assessing the implications of the looming law for activities in Uganda under its flagship HIV/AIDS programme.

☆ Uganda police arrest 11 female lawmakers during protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaKAMPALA, April 27 (Reuters) - Police in Uganda detained 11 female members of parliament on Thursday who they accused of staging of an unlawful protest, with some of the lawmakers sustaining injuries during their arrest. They were protesting what they said was police brutality and use of excessive force to disperse various functions organised by female lawmakers in their local constituencies in recent weeks. "I strongly condemn the manner in which police this morning arrested the 11 women members of parliament who were peaceful and unarmed. He accused the lawmakers of resisting arrest and injuring some police officers. Over the years Uganda's security personnel have frequently been accused of brutality especially against opponents of veteran leader Yoweri Museveni.

☆ LGBTQ Ugandans live in fear as new law looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A British colonial-era law bans gay sex, and members of the community are often victims of violence and discrimination. One resident contrasted the current atmosphere with 2013, when parliament passed a bill that strengthened penalties for same-sex relations. After parliament passed the bill, she deleted her Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter accounts. Other LGBTQ Ugandans said they were taking security precautions like changing the routes they use to travel between home and work and carrying pepper spray. For LGBTQ Ugandans living abroad, the new reality is also clouding their prospects of coming home.

☆ Uganda's president sends anti-LGBTQ bill back to parliament for 'strengthening'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni speaks during a Reuters interview at his farm in Kisozi settlement of Gomba district, in the Central Region of Uganda, January 16, 2022. REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaKAMPALA, April 20 (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni supports a bill containing some of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ legislation but will send it back to parliament for "strengthening", the ruling party's chief whip said. A group of lawmakers from Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) discussed the bill with the president and agreed in principle to make it law, chief whip Denis Hamson Obua said. Obua said Museveni would hold a meeting on Tuesday with parliament's legal and parliamentary affairs committee to draft the amendments. Western governments suspended aid, imposed visa restrictions and curtailed security cooperation in response to the law Museveni signed in 2014.

☆ Ugandan LGBTQ activist readies for the fight of his life
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Since then, as Mugisha has emerged as the country's most prominent LGBTQ rights activist, the perils have multiplied. "The Ugandan population has been radicalised to fear and hate homosexuals," Mugisha, 38, told Reuters during an interview outside the capital, Kampala. "I guess I am going to be in trouble a lot because I am not going to stop," Mugisha said. [1/5] Ugandan LGBTQ activist Frank Mugisha poses for a photograph after a Reuters interview in Makindye, suburb, of Kampala, Uganda March 30, 2023. In 2007, Mugisha took over leadership of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), an advocacy group he had earlier joined as an activist.

☆ Uganda’s anti-gay bill is the latest and worst to target LGBTQ Africans
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Aditi Bhandari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +14 min

Same-sex activity in Africa is punishable by … Map of the 32 African countries where same-sex activity is illegal. Same-sex activity in Africa … Map of the 22 African countries where same-sex activity is legal. In 1993, Guinea-Bissau became the first African country to legalise LGBTQ activity when it adopted a new Penal Code that didn’t include any laws criminalising it. Country Constitutional protection Broad protections Employment Hate crime Incitement Marriage or civil union Adoption Angola No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Botswana No No Yes No No No No Cape Verde No No Yes Yes No No No Gabon No No No No No No No Guinea-Bissau No No No No No No No Lesotho No No No No No No No Mozambique No No Yes No No No No Sao Tome and Principe No No Yes Yes No No No Seychelles No No Yes No No No No South Africa Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes YesNote: Broad protections include laws protecting against discrimination in at least 3 of 4 categories: the provision of goods and services, housing, healthcare and education. Namibia and Mauritius criminalise same-sex activity, but around 35% of respondents said they would dislike having a gay neighbour.

☆ Uganda bill one of the world's most extreme anti-LGBTQ laws- White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Uganda's Speaker Anita Annet Among leads the session during the proposal of the Anti-Homosexuality bill in the Parliament in Kampala, Uganda March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - Uganda's anti-gay bill passed on Tuesday is concerning and represents one of the most extreme actions taken against the LGBTQ community in the world, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on WednesdayUganda's parliament passed a law on Tuesday making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. Reporting By Nandita Bose and Jarrett RenshawOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Legal hurdles faced by LGBT+ people in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Africa accounts for nearly half of the countries worldwide where homosexuality is outlawed, according to the review, which was last updated in December 2020. - Life imprisonment is the maximum penalty for same-sex relations in Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, while jail terms of up to 14 years are possible in Gambia, Kenya and Malawi. - Broad protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation exists in three countries: Angola, Mauritius and South Africa. - South Africa is the only African country where gay marriage is legal and where the constitution protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, South Africa has high rates of rape and homophobic crime.

☆ Uganda passes bill banning identifying as LGBTQ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to rights group Human Rights Watch. In addition to same-sex intercourse, the law bans promoting and abetting homosexuality as well as conspiracy to engage in homosexuality. Violations under the law draw steep penalties including death for so called aggravated homosexuality and life in prison for gay sex. I support the bill to protect the future of our children," said lawmaker David Bahati during debate on the bill. In recent weeks Uganda authorities have cracked down on LGBTQ individuals after religious leaders and politicians alleged students were being recruited into homosexuality in schools.

☆ Uganda passes a law making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KAMPALA, March 21 (Reuters) - Uganda's parliament passed a law on Tuesday making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to rights group Human Rights Watch. In addition to same-sex intercourse, the law bans promoting and abetting homosexuality as well as conspiracy to engage in homosexuality. Violations under the law draw severe penalties, including death for so-called aggravated homosexuality and life in prison for gay sex. In recent weeks, Uganda authorities have cracked down on LGBTQ people after religious leaders and politicians alleged students were being recruited into homosexuality in schools.

☆ Uganda declares over Ebola outbreak that killed 55
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Elias Biryabarema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Motorists and cyclists are seen at a traffic light intersection in Kabuusu area of the Lubaga division amid the Ebola outbreak in Kampala, Uganda November 16, 2022. "We have successfully controlled the spread of Ebola in Uganda," Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said during a ceremony to mark the outbreak's end. The outbreak killed 55 of the 143 people infected since September, according to health ministry figures. Unlike the more common strain of the virus, Ebola Zaire, which has been behind several recent epidemics in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the strain behind Uganda's outbreak, Ebola Sudan, has no proven vaccine. Even so, experts said Uganda's experience battling previous outbreaks of Ebola and its viral cousin Marburg helped its response.

☆ Uganda declares itself Ebola-free after swiftly turning tide on outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Elias Biryabarema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Motorists and cyclists are seen at a traffic light intersection in Kabuusu area of the Lubaga division amid the Ebola outbreak in Kampala, Uganda November 16, 2022. "We have successfully controlled the spread of Ebola in Uganda," Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said during a ceremony to mark the outbreak's end. Aceng said this was Uganda's eighth Ebola outbreak since 2000, when the country recorded its first and most deadly one that killed more than half of the 425 people it infected. In the early weeks of the outbreak, cases spread beyond the epicentre of Mubende, 150 km (90 miles) west of the capital Kampala, to several other districts, including Kampala. Unlike the more common strain of the virus, Ebola Zaire, which has been behind several recent epidemics in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the strain behind Uganda's outbreak, Ebola Sudan, has no proven vaccine.

☆ U.S. couple detained in Uganda gets fresh charge that carries death penalty
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaKAMPALA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. couple detained in Uganda on charges of aggravated torture of a 10-year-old boy face an additional charge of aggravated child trafficking which carries the death penalty if they are convicted, the state prosecutor said on Wednesday. The new charge sheet seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed the couple have additionally been charged with "aggravated trafficking in children". Attempts by Reuters to reach a lawyer for them via the court and the prosecutors' office were not immediately successful. Prosecutors accuse the couple of having recruited, transported and kept the child through "abuse of position of vulnerability for purposes of exploitation", according to the charge sheet. The first charge, aggravated torture of a child, carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

☆ Uganda recording downward trend in Ebola cases - official
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Motorists and cyclists are seen at a traffic light intersection in Kabuusu area of the Lubaga division amid the Ebola outbreak in Kampala, Uganda November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaKAMPALA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Uganda has recorded a drop in the number of new Ebola cases, with some districts going for at least two weeks without registering new infections, health ministry officials said. "We are also not seeing new cases in Kampala, in the greater Kampala metropolitan area, neither are we seeing cases in Masaka and Jinja," two other cities, she said. But three candidate vaccines against the Sudan strain are planned for a clinical trial in Uganda. The country has so far recorded 141 cases and 55 deaths, according to the ministry.

Two health workers at the hospital in western Uganda have died from Ebola in this outbreak. Nationwide, 15 health workers have tested positive and six have died. Intensive care staff work maximum eight-hour shifts and personnel from Ebola-free regions are rotated in, he said. "There are facilities where doctors and health workers are still touching patients without gloves because they (gloves) are not there," Nahabwe said. Case numbers remain low compared with a 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa that killed at least 11,300 people.

Search resuls for: "Abubaker"

21 mentions found