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🍺 Alcoholics Anonymous
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Good morning 🌤️ The Adult Survivors Act in New York, which expired on November 24, 2023, allowed sexual abuse victims to file lawsuits regarding past incidents, even if the normal 5-year statute of limitations had expired. Because people love deadlines, over 2,500 lawsuits have been filed in the past year, with several squeezed in this week. So…check on (and consider canceling) your favourite male celebrity. Jamie Foxx, the Mayor of New York, Diddy (what an end to the year this one is having), Bill Cosby (again), etc. were among those sued.
Have a good week!
—Gloria Mbabazi, Shem Opolot
HEADLINES
🍺 Alcoholics Anonymous
The government is brewing a sobering bill to rein in Ugandans’ spirited affair with alcohol. Sarah Opendi, the Tororo district woman MP, mounted yet another moral crusade by tabling the proposed law in parliament last week. The bill, which seeks to prohibit the sale of alcohol before 5 p.m. and after 10 p.m. on weekdays and after midnight on weekends, carries proposed penalties of a Shs. 20 million fine or imprisonment for 10 years. With a staggering 75% of the population raising their glasses regularly, the bill targets excessive drinking, especially among the youth. The bill extends its grip to penalize selling alcohol on public transport, to minors, and in petite packages. While alcohol manufacturers cry foul, statistics unveil the harsh realities of Uganda's love affair with libations. The bill aims to sober up the nation by regulating the entire alcohol lifecycle—from production to sale—and putting a curfew on the party spirit. We all know this bill is dead-on-arrival, so we’ll raise a beer glass to that at 10.01 p.m. on Monday evening.
🏎 The wrong formula
This one’s a short and quick joke: The government of Uganda—a picture of quintessential prioritization… on Opposite Day—shared a plan to build a Formula 1 race track in Jinja for Shs. 47 billion. That’s it. That’s the joke. We credit The Daily Monitor’s Chris Ogon for deftly capturing our sentiments in picture below. Oh Uganda! May God uphold thee.
Source: The Daily Monitor
🇰🇪 Kenya
President Ruto unveiled plans to privatise 35 state-owned firms in Kenya, aiming to spur productivity amid economic challenges. This follows the signing of a revised law that encourages private sector involvement. Facing financial challenges, Kenya secured an IMF loan, with the World Bank pledging $12 billion in support over three years.
🇷🇼 Rwanda
Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park Expansion is gearing up for a 23% growth in 2024, enhancing mountain gorilla habitats at a cost of $255 million. The pilot phase starts with 500 households, but delays in compensation have sparked frustration. The park's expansion is crucial for Rwanda's lucrative gorilla tourism, which raked in $113 million in 2022 alone.
🇹🇿 Tanzania
Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan's 4Rs philosophy of reconciliation, resilience, reforms, and rebuilding has contributed to the growth of the conference tourism industry in the country. Arusha International Conference Centre's revenue soared 29% to 14.6 billion TZS, crediting President Samia's efforts in the global promotion of Tanzania.
Other headlines
Top government officials to surrender cars for NAM summit.
Malaria vaccination to start early 2024.
Kenya to engage Uganda on setting up dry port in Kampala.
Parliament urged to expedite amendment of engineers' law.
Starving Karamoja returns unused Shs. 100 billion.
Mabirizi petition on Kenya-Uganda maize, poultry ban thrown out.
Museveni asks China for bigger market share.
M23 boss Bisimwa says DRC making Rwanda, Uganda scapegoats.
The heavy price of annoying Speaker Among.
Kirabo sentenced to 30 years for killing girlfriend Desire Mirembe.
MPs reject move to increase Supreme Court judges.
BEYOND BORDERS
Africa
Somalia's President Hasan Sheikh Mohamud (L) shakes Salva Kiir’s hand during the EAC Summit of Heads of State | Source: The East African
🇸🇴 New Kid on the Bloc. At the 23rd ordinary summit of the EAC heads of state held in Arusha, Tanzania, Somalia officially entered the group chat after it was admitted as the eighth member of the East African Community (EAC). Somalia had previously expressed interest in joining the EAC in 2012 but was rejected due to internal troubles. However, with the admission of troubled countries like South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, another rejection would be awkward, at least. Therefore, Somalia renewed its bid and went through a verification process. Somalia's entrance into the EAC paves the way for the admission of its neighbours, Eritrea and Djibouti, as part of the EAC's expansion plan for the entire Horn of Africa. In Somalia, the EAC gains the longest coastline in mainland Africa, stretching over 3,330 km, but while some argue that Somalia could bring economic opportunities and access to trade routes, others worry about the challenges it may bring, such as security issues and conflicts.
🇨🇩 End of an Era. The UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has signed a plan for the withdrawal of its troops from the country. The mission, known as Monusco because people love to acronymize, did not provide details about the timeline for the withdrawal. The plan will be implemented in three phases, but specific information was not given. Monusco is one of the largest and most expensive UN peacekeeping missions, with an annual budget of $1 billion. The current 14,000-strong peacekeeping force is deeply unpopular due to perceptions that it has done little to stop violence. The presence of armed groups in the DRC, particularly in the east, has persisted despite the presence of peacekeepers who have been present in the country since 1999.
Other headlines
DR Congo and Rwanda agree to reduce tensions.
Mozambique parliament seeks to extend compulsory military service.
Niger coup leader visits Mali on his first foreign trip.
Senegal opens UN regional headquarters.
Morocco: normalization with Israel is hampered by the war in Gaza.
Ethiopia, Oromo rebels' talks end without a deal.
South Sudan assumes EAC leadership and clears $15m EAC debt.
The rest of the world
Source: Global Conflict Tracker
🇾🇪 Houthi rebels. This past weekend, after—we assume—binge-watching Captain Phillips (of the “I am the Captain now” fame), gunmen believed to be Houthi rebels raided Zodiac Maritime’s Central Park tanker in the Gulf of Aden. This comes after Houthi rebels seized another ship, the Galaxy Leader, off Yemen's western coast and diverted it to the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah. These attacks by the Houthi rebels, who have also claimed missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, run the risk of embroiling the rebels’ main sponsor, Iran, in the Israel-Hamas war.
Who are the Houthis? As proxies of Iran, the Houthis have been fighting Yemen's government for about as long as (ironically) the movie Captain Phillips has been out. However, the conflict in Yemen has largely subsided in 2023, with fighting between Houthi rebels and the Saudi coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognized government decreasing. However, the situation remains volatile, and the recent ship raids won’t help. (Read more about the background of the conflict.)
NN’EBIGENDERAKO
Politics and Government
Argentina elects a new (really) far-right president
Israel-Hamas war update
207 gang members sentenced to total of 2,200 years in jail after one of Italy's biggest mafia trials
UK officials are raising the country’s minimum wage to $14.26
North Korea claimed it put a spy satellite into orbit after 3 tries.
Far-right anti-Islam candidate clinches Dutch election win.
Business and Finance
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, stepped down after pleading guilty to money laundering.
OpenAI and Microsoft sued by non-fiction authors for using their work to train computer models.
Sam Altman reinstated as CEO of OpenAI, with the board overhauled.
Science and Technology
SpaceX celebrated their second “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”
The UN Climate Report portends warm doom and gloom.
Sports
Australia won the Cricket World Cup.
Tiger Woods’ virtual golf league postponed to 2025.
Former Olympian Oscar Pistorius granted parole 10 years after killing girlfriend
Lifestyle and Entertainment
Miss Nicaragua crowned 2023 Miss Universe.
Shakira pays $8.2M fine to settle Spanish tax fraud case.
PROCRASTINATION CORNER
Games and Puzzles
From Braingle.
A legend says that 200 years ago, a man sailed from Madagascar to Paraguay. The man used a sailboat made out of wood from maple trees that grew on his island. The man used the north star to navigate at night, and he ate lobsters to survive. Once he reached Paraguay, his boat sank, and his ghost lives near the wreckage.
Explain four things that are wrong with this legend.
Answer at the bottom.
Our picks
đź’ˇ Swim: Navigate the Nile in this game (better on a computer)
💡 Watch: This video about Pepsi’s rebrand, if anything, will make you want to go into graphic design
💡 Look: TIME’s top 100 photos of 2023
Games answer
Answer:
1) There were no maple trees in Madagascar.
2) He could not see the north star to navigate in the south hemisphere.
3) He would not be able to fish for a lobster to eat, as lobsters live at the bottom of the sea instead of swimming around.
4) Lastly, Paraguay can not be accessed by water.
Have a good week!
— Too Long; Didn’t Read (TLDR)
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