🩺 #UgandaHealthExhibition

Good morning ☀️

Are you hungover from Blankets & Wine? Do we expect the open rates of this week’s issue to reflect the lethargy of a public holiday? Is the Pope Catholic? You get the point.

Jerry Springer, the legendary talk show host and politician, whose popular self-titled talk show often flung open our (this is a safe space for millennials) balcony doors to let the folks on the fringes of society settle onto our TV screens, died this past week at 79. Jerry walked so some of the garbage reality shows we watch today could fly.

Let's do this 🚀

— Gloria Mbabazi, Shem Opolot

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Headlines

🩺 #UgandaHealthExhibition

Prof. Jimmy Spire Ssentongo kicked off the past week with the #UgandaHealthExhibition, the second of his collective online campaigns that shine a light on Ugandan mediocrity and mal-governance. The campaign ripped the bandaid off a sick health sector and caused many a heart palpitation; most notably in Dr. Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, who made like an ostrich and blocked Spire on Twitter as the pressure got wesser.

However…it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Here are heart-warming examples of our health professionals being superheroes against terrible odds.

Robert Kabushenga had a riveting chat with Spire on the topic—listen here.

👋🏾 Crouching Crane, Hidden Dragon

Death, taxes, that pothole outside your home getting bigger, and peaceful protests in Uganda turning into violent police arrests. 11 female opposition MPs were roughed up outside the gates of their own home (parliament) as they marched peacefully to Internal Affairs to protest—wait for it—the recent cases of police brutalising another female MP and NUP supporters.

Both incidents were widely condemned by the public, speakers of the house, and, ahem, the police.

🥴 Turning over a new sheet

Indicted State Minister for Planning, Amos Lugoloobi found a new passion for prison reform after experiencing the deplorable state of Luzira prison during his brief crash in the cooler. Mr. Lugoloobi assured those present at a Thanksgiving ceremony at his home that this important work had already started.

Alexa, play Too Little Too Late by JoJo.

Other headlines

211 Ugandans safely evacuated from Sudan

Medical interns arrested while protesting their lack of deployment

The First Son celebrated his birthday in Kigali and—among other things—humble pie was allegedly on the menu

What new taxes mean for Ugandans (besides relocating to Canada)

Panic after man died displaying Ebola-like symptoms in Buwenge

Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania submitted a joint bid to host the 2027 AFCON.

The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) summons IGP Okoth Ochola over Public Order Management or lack thereof

Five people in Fort Portal arrested over suspected child trafficking 

Students in Karamoja issued a two-week ultimatum to the government asking them to address the rampant insecurity and poverty

Public Prosecutors to be exempted from paying income tax, joining the police and judiciary

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Beyond Borders

🌍️ Africa

🇸🇩 Sudan update. Foreign governments evacuated their diplomats from Sudan due to fighting between two rival generals. However, the situation is dire for the locals with more than 500 deaths, a shortage of food, water, and electricity, and a near-total collapse of internet and phone services. Fighting has now entered the third week with several breached truces.

Additionally, the World Health Organization warned of a biological hazard in Khartoum due to the seizure of a national health lab by one of the warring factions. The lab contains samples of numerous diseases, such as cholera, polio, and measles.

Read: A brief profile of Sudan, the many reasons this particular war started, and why it goes beyond just the two generals.

🇧🇫 Death by government in Burkina Faso. The UN reported that at least 150 civilians were killed and many more injured in an attack in Burkina Faso, allegedly carried out by security forces. The UN called for an investigation into the incident and launched an investigation into a separate video showing the killing of seven children by security forces. Analysts warn that the violence and human rights abuses could create a backlash and drive people into the hands of the jihadi fighters.

Other headlines

EAC Force Commander resigns

A 71-year-old hotel in Sudan owned by a Greek family forced to close

EAC together with the International Labour Organisation move to work to protect migrant workers

Anti-Corruption activists in South Africa urge the government to protect whistleblowers after a series of gruesome assassinations

British parliamentarians push for the Zimbabwean president’s invitation to the coronation of King Charles III to be withdrawn citing human rights violations

🗺️ The rest of the world

🇺🇸 Another Biden bid. President Joe Biden announced his bid for reelection, framing the election as a fight against Republican extremism and making an appeal to the nation's ideals. Biden faces challenges such as the war in Ukraine, an uncertain economy, bipartisan pressure to negotiate the national borrowing limit, and… father time—Biden is the oldest US president in history. The Republican National Congress' (read as “opposition” if you’re only fluent in turbulent African politics) incendiary and unprecedented AI-generated response to Biden’s announcement would warrant a headline of its own if we could spare it. But here’s the video that’s as fascinating as it is horrifying.

🇨🇱 Keeping Lithium in-house. Chile's President Gabriel Boric announced that the country would nationalize its lithium industry to benefit the economy and protect its environment. The move would transfer control of the country's lithium operations from private companies to a state-owned company. Chile is the world's second-largest producer of Lithium after Australia. (Why Lithium)

🇰🇷 Nuclear deterrent. As an alleged deterrent to North Korea’s not-so-subtle nuclear threats, the US and South Korea have agreed to have US nuclear-armed submarines dock in South Korea for the first time in more than 40 years. However,...South Korea will reaffirm its commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Nn’ebigenderako

LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) hit $500 billion market valuation

Snapchat added an AI feature…and people hate it

Global military spending hit an unprecedented high of $2.2 trillion

Scientists create a vaccine printer that could eventually deliver vaccines to remote locations faster

Read: How SpaceX’s Starship could change the Economics of Space

Apple is building an AI-powered health and fitness coach

Why several countries have military bases in Djibouti

Games and Puzzles

Brought to you by Braingle

The blanks in the following sentences will be filled in with three different homonyms (words that are spelled differently but sound alike) to make valid sentences. The dashes indicate the number of letters in the words. Can you fill in the blanks?

1. The cut on his _____ won't _____ in time for the race, so ____ have to drop out.
2. The man was so upset about being _____ that he regularly _____ himself up on the bed and _____ his eyes out.
3. I couldn't _____ any of the _____ in the flower shop, because for some strange reason, I had 50 _____ crammed up my nose.
4. A bloodthirsty pirate will wander the _____ and essentially _____ everything he _____.

Answer at the bottom

Procrastination corner

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🍛 A roundup of the best culinary experiences in the world

🦟 A ranking of the pain of insect stings for your next frolick in the fields

Games answer

1. The cut on his HEEL won't HEAL in time for the race, so HE'LL have to drop out.
2. The man was so upset about being BALD that he regularly BALLED himself up on the bed and BAWLED his eyes out.
3. I couldn't SENSE any of the SCENTS in the flower shop, because for some strange reason, I had 50 CENTS crammed up my nose.
4. A bloodthirsty pirate will wander the SEAS and essentially SEIZE everything he SEES.

Have a good week!

— Too Long; Didn’t Read (TLDR)

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