The death count from Myanmar's big earthquake has gone past 1,600 people. Many locals told reporters they had to dig through broken buildings with just their hands to find family members. Rescue teams struggle because they lack tools, phone service barely works, and roads plus bridges have fallen apart. Finding survivors becomes harder every hour that passes.
The quake knocked down many buildings in Mandalay, the second largest city. People clapped when rescue crews pulled one woman alive from a smashed apartment building after 30 hours. The Red Cross believes more than 90 people remain trapped inside that same building. Nearby, workers found the bodies of twelve small children and their teacher under what used to be a kindergarten...
Uganda just reached a big deal for its oil future. The country's energy ministry, national oil company, and UAE partner Alpha MBM agreed to build an oil refinery. President Museveni watched them sign papers at his official house last Saturday. He thanked Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum for choosing Uganda as an investment spot. The UAE company will help construct a plant that can handle 60,000 barrels daily.
Museveni stressed that this project goes beyond making fuel. He wants Uganda to sell finished products instead of buying them from other countries. "We must stop exporting raw materials," he said, pushing for added value on everything Uganda makes. This agreement kicks off the design and building phase for the refinery, which...
The East Africa Law Society has spoken out against lawyer Eron Kiiza's jail time. They want him freed right away. Military officers grabbed Kiiza on January 2, 2025, at their court. These officers gave him nine months behind bars without letting him speak up for himself.
Kiiza had come to help Dr. Kizza Besigye and his friend, Hajj Obeid utile Kamulegeya, with their case. The military court said Kiiza disrespected them because he wouldn't sit in the back rows. Before this, Kiiza always sat up front, where he argued with the judge many times.
The Uganda Supreme Court decided on January 31 that military courts can't try regular people. Yet Kiiza stayed locked up anyway. His lawyers asked the High Court to make the prison show Kiiza...
Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago wants city tycoon Hamis Kiggundu behind bars. He blames Kiggundu for making floods worse by putting up buildings that block water drainage paths in the city. These construction projects have messed up how water moves through Kampala, leading to terrible floods that wreck everything.
The mayor pointed directly at Kiggundu for building along key water channels without permission. He said the rich businessman keeps working on structures near both the Kigula channel and the Nakivubo channel. Lukwago slammed officials who target small landowners but ignore wealthy developers. He believes arresting Kiggundu would teach other big builders a lesson about respecting city water systems.
Just two days earlier, heavy...
The army just fired Lt. Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam from his job as Deputy Chief of Staff in South Sudan's army. President Salva Kiir gave this important job to his friend Lt. Gen. Koang Gatkuoth Kerjiok instead. Under their 2018 peace deal, this position belonged to the SPLA-IO group led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar. SPLA-IO attacked this move as a one-sided choice meant to break apart their organization.
Security forces locked up Lt. Gen. Duop Lam at the army headquarters in Bilpam, Juba, on March 4, 2025. He had shown up for a meeting that day when they grabbed him. The next afternoon, soldiers arrested Petroleum Minister Puot Kang at his house. These two arrests sparked fear across Juba, making the entire country less safe...
The fight is heating up for Lwemiyaga County's next representative as the 2026 races come closer. Current lawmaker Theodore Ssekikuubo recently aimed at his main challenger, Brigadier Emmanuel Rwashande, who left military service. Ssekikuubo publicly attacked Rwashande's right to run, claiming the former soldier brings no value to local people.
Rwashande hit back hard against these claims. He blamed Ssekikuubo for breaking apart the community along ethnic lines. According to Rwashande, the sitting lawmaker turned the Banyankole, Baganda, and Banyarwanda groups against each other just to keep his power. Plus, Rwashande pointed out that Ssekikuubo faces 21 different legal battles from locals who say he stole their property.
Healthcare...
Uganda recently showed off fresh, valuable earth science information to attract worldwide money for mining and oil projects. The country aims to become a top African spot for energy and mineral growth. At the first Uganda-China mining meeting in Liaoning, Eng. Irene Pauline Bateebe from the Energy Ministry said Uganda has finished detailed air surveys and complete geological maps across the nation. She mentioned that their full technical data creates an easy path for exploration and growth.
Teams from the International Atomic Energy Agency worked with Uganda's Geological Survey office to process this information. They found 54 important uranium spots in areas like Boma, Lwesakala, Kyabogo, Katara, Gomba, and Busanyi. These places look...
The Uganda Court of Appeal has told a receiver to check and sell the Emerald Hotel in Kampala within six months with court supervision. They reversed an earlier decision that gave Emerald Hotel Limited big money despite breaking loan agreements with Barclays Bank of Uganda Ltd, which later became Absa.
This problem started when DFCU Bank, later bought by Barclays Bank, loaned more than Shs 4bn to Emerald Hotel Ltd. The loans had mortgages, debentures, and other properties as security. When the hotel missed payments, the bank hired Kabiito Karamagi as receiver and partnered with Shumuk Properties Ltd to run the place.
Emerald Hotel fought these actions, claiming bad procedures and fraud had happened. The bank said the borrowers played...
The DRC and Uganda decided to make Operation Shujaa bigger by adding the Bunia, Mahagi, and Djugu areas of the Ituri Province. They made this choice after violence went up between CODECO fighters and Uganda troops. Leaders from both armies met for two days in Bunia to plan this move. General Muhanga Kayanja from Uganda and General Ychaligonza Jacques from Congo worked out the details together. They want to stop ADF terrorists and local armed groups who keep making trouble instead of choosing peace. Both countries said they hope to bring calm back to Ituri after years of armed fighting.
Fighting just got worse near Fataki, where CODECO members battled Uganda soldiers in Bethléem village. People living there heard loud gunshots and bombs...
