🧷 Diaper tax

Good morning ☀️

While #UGTwitter erupted with idiopathic squabbles about marriage and infidelity, Queen Camilla made like Alicia Keys and reminded us that sometimes the side chic wins bigly, and sometimes karma remains in a spiteful person’s wet dreams.

Let's do this 🚀

— Gloria Mbabazi, Shem Opolot

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Headlines

⚰️ Minister murdered

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, reports emerged that the Junior Labour minister, Retired Col. Charles Engola was shot dead by his guard, UPDF soldier Private Wilson Sabiiti, who shot himself shortly after. The late Engola’s longtime driver of 15 years, Mr. Sam Odongo, gave a firsthand account of the chilling incident.
While it is alleged that Sabiiti complained of non-payment of his salary for several months, reports indicate that Sabiiti had been in the minister's employ for only a month.
The Otitokin clan to which Engola belonged demanded blood compensation for the killing while some Ugandans on Twitter mobilized funds to support Sabiiti’s family.

🚬 High notes and greener pastures

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act of 2015 went up in smoke after a panel of five judges repealed and nullified it. The panel ruled that the manner in which the law was enacted was illegal and the only remedy was repealing it. Details are hazy on how parliament originally passed the law without a quorum or due diligence, but one thing is for sure—there were plenty of people in high spirits after the ruling. With a burgeoning opioid crisis in Europe and America, the ruling might puff up the under-regulated drug scene in Uganda.

🧷 Diaper tax

As the current financial year ends and another begins, parliament passed a number of tax laws. Most notably—the 18% tax on baby and adult diapers. MP Aisha Kabanda argued, and we’re not making this up, that adult diapers are used by homosexuals and therefore a tax exemption on adult diapers promotes homosexuality. We do not know how Aisha Kabanda arrived at that conclusion but that math makes as much sense as a waterproof sponge.

Other headlines

Museveni appoints Col. Nakalema to head [another] anti-graft unit

Kabale-Kisoro Road torn apart by landslides

Minister Agnes Nandutu granted bail

Ibrahim Tusubira Lubega aka Jjaja Iculi assassinated in his car

KCCA creates a road committee to monitor the construction of road infrastructure

Police hunting for former MP Odonga Otto

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Beyond Borders 

🌍️ Africa

🇸🇩 Sudan update. Representatives from Sudan's warring factions traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the first direct talks since violence broke out in the country three weeks ago. Despite failed attempts to achieve a cease-fire, aid shipments have arrived in Sudan and talks in Jeddah are hoped to secure a humanitarian truce. Since the conflict began, about 700 people have died and 450,000 civilians have fled their homes (Background).

🇨🇩 🇺🇬 🇷🇼 Flash floods. Governments and humanitarian groups in DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda are grappling with the devastating effects of flash floods in the region. At least 176 people died in flash floods in eastern DRC, 130 people were killed and roads, power lines, and houses were destroyed in nine districts in Rwanda, and transport on the Kabale-Kisoro and Hamurwa-Kanungu roads in Uganda came to a standstill after the roads connecting the two districts succumbed to floods.

Other headlines

Somalia to conduct its first census in 48 years

Ethiopia to offer up to five banking licenses to foreign investors

Mozambique to build an electric vehicle power plant

Kenya sets up a commission of inquiry into the cult deaths

Why Sudan’s civil war matters to M&Ms and Coke

Over 1 million polio vaccines were destroyed in Sudan

🗺️ The rest of the world

🇺🇸 Hollywood writers’ strike. The Writers Guild of America is on strike after failing to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The writers argue that streaming services have worsened their working conditions and decreased their earnings. If the strike goes ahead, it could have a massive economic impact on the Los Angeles economy and have an immediate effect on late-night shows, other topical programs, and the quickness with which we can get Season 2 of The Diplomat.

🇬🇧 King things. King Charles III was crowned the UK's new monarch on Saturday during the first coronation in 70 years. Amid the patented pomp and pageantry the British exemplify, Charles assumed the royal regalia at the ceremony officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Charles' long-term companion, [Queen] Camilla, in a win for side chics everywhere, was crowned with Queen Mary's Crown. Over 2,000 guests attended the royal waste of UK taxpayers’ money.

🇷🇺 Russia claims Ukraine tried to off Putin. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky denied his country was behind an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin after Russia accused Ukraine of attempting an assassination on Putin. An adviser to Zelensky suggested the incident was a pretext for Russia to attack Ukraine while a former US CIA officer suggested the attack may have been to show Russians the war they started in Ukraine could come home. (War update)

Nn’ebigenderako

Eight children were killed in a mass shooting in Serbia

Police search home of former Brazil president over vaccine records

Another US bank collapsed, and JP Morgan Chase scooped it for $10Bn

The Met Gala 2023 outfits that popped

The “Godfather of AI” left Google to talk freely about the dangers of AI

Student eats a $120,000 art piece banana duct taped to a wall at a museum

One step closer to machines reading people’s minds

Explore the coronation crown in 3-D

Scientists may have discovered proof of near-death experiences

Read: The fugitive princesses of Dubai

The Twitter replacement—Bluesky

WHO declares the COVID health emergency over *knock on wood*

Games and Puzzles

Brought to you by Braingle

Follow these steps and see if you can figure this out.

1) Get a brown, cardboard box.
2) Get purple, orange, and turquoise paints.
3) Paint the box orange.
4) Paint on purple spots.
5) Paint on turquoise stripes.
7) Turn it upside down.
8) Lie on your side.

What is missing from this sequence?

Answer at the bottom

Procrastination corner

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🗺 Mapping democracy the world over

🤬 Listen: why swearing is important

Games answer

Step 6!

Have a good week!

— Too Long; Didn’t Read (TLDR)

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