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✈️ Everybody gets a trip!
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Good morning 🌤️ The average length of hit songs has decreased by more than 30 seconds since 2000. It turns out that songs are getting shorter, and your favorite streaming platforms are to blame. Music streaming services pay artists based on the number of plays, and a play only counts if a user listens for at least 30 seconds. As a result, artists have been making their songs shorter and including the hook in the first 30 seconds.
Hey Siri, play “Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake…to completion.
—Gloria Mbabazi, Shem Opolot
Headlines
✈️ Everybody gets a trip!
Read the above in Oprah’s voice. Unbeknownst to us, Uganda ostensibly entered a competition for ‘Who can waste the most money?’. Hot on the heels of the medical intern strikes due to low pay and the World Bank aid suspension, our government—defiant and tone deaf—sent two parallel delegations to the United Nations General Assembly in New York as Vice President Jessica Alupo and Prime Minister Robbinah Nabbanja carried a 70+ delegation of people. While the country's struggling public health sector and education system are gasping for financial oxygen, the government continues to throw money around like confetti at a New Year's Eve party.
🪜 Survivor: FDC Edition
Once the biggest headache for the ruling party and an inspiration to the field of Ugandans clamoring for political change, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) is unraveling like a badly stitched garment. The party is split into two rival factions: Katonga and Najjanakumbi. On Tuesday last week, the FDC Extra Ordinary Delegates Conference at the Katonga faction, backed by the party godfather Kizza Besigye, declared Erias Lukwago the interim party president and suspended party President Eng. Patrick Oboi Amuriat and his Secretary-General, Nathan Nandala Mafabi, who belong to the Najjanakumbi faction.
Two days later, FDC Najjanakumbi ignored Katonga and nominated its embattled leaders, including incumbent president Patrick Amuriat and Nandala Mafabi, for re-election. However, Amuriat's unpopularity among FDC members and accusations of receiving "dirty money" from President Yoweri Museveni might hurt his staying power. May the real FDC please stand up!
🇰🇪 Kenya
Kenya commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Westgate Mall attack, where Somali Al-Shabab militants killed over 60 people. The siege lasted four days, with Kenyan security forces eventually retaking the mall. The attack was in retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia. Only two people have been convicted for the atrocity.
🇷🇼 Rwanda
Kagame, who has been president since 2000, announced that he’ll seek a fourth term in office next year. If, sorry, when Kagame is re-elected, he will have ruled Rwanda for 40 years. Uganda, you will never walk alone.
🇹🇿 Tanzania
Winshear Gold Corp. suspended arbitration against Tanzania in pursuit of $96 million over a 5-year mining license dispute. A settlement is uncertain as Tanzania grapples with multiple similar claims from foreign companies for mining license expropriations, with potential penalties totaling over $300 million.
Other headlines
Museveni offers to mediate in Somalia and Somaliland unification efforts.
Traders up in arms over withholding tax.
New fathers to get 20 weeks of fully paid leave at Standard Chartered.
Uganda Airlines poised to end the year on a high.
Fake claims hindering timely payout of NSSF survivor's benefits.
TotalEnergies displays local content milestones in Uganda's oil and gas.
Former UNBS Director Ebiru loses court bid to block bribery trial.
Over 1,400 operated on in a 4-day Lango surgical camp.
Court orders gov’t to pay Shs. 50m to mother whose son was killed in Bobi riots.
Crackdown on cars without dustbins starts.
Govt partners with Turkish company to set up a multipurpose indoor sports complex at Lugogo.
Why ministers hate Speaker Among.
AD: The freshest clean you’ve ever seen.
This cleaning crew will make your mess their business, so you can enjoy a sparkling clean home without lifting a finger.
Beyond Borders
🌍️ Africa
The General Assembly hall at UN Headquarters in New York | Source: Stimson.org
Africa at the UN General Assembly. In Kampala, two drops of rain and the celebration of a politician’s (or a politician’s son’s) birthday cause traffic jams. In New York, the United Nations General Assembly does. The United Nations is holding the 78th Annual General Assembly in New York City from September 19–29, with top leaders from over 145 countries in attendance. The assembly provides an opportunity for smaller countries to make their voices heard in the international community. However, the heads of France, the UK, Russia, China, India, and other BRICS countries will not be present, following last month's expansion of BRICS. Here are some highlights of Africa's participation and some of the main topics that were discussed:
Climate action: African leaders highlighted the need for urgent action to address climate change and its impact on Africa.
Ensuring a representative agenda for Africa and its diaspora: The 2023 United Nations General Assembly aimed to ensure a representative agenda for Africa and its diaspora.
African leaders discussed ways to ensure pressing issues across Africa are included in the agenda.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): One of the key focuses for African leaders was the SDGs. They discussed ways to achieve them and promote sustainable development in Africa and the world.
A number of African leaders addressed the assembly, most notably President Tinubu from Nigeria, who acknowledged that while failures in good governance have hindered Africa, broken promises, unfair treatment, and outright exploitation of Africa's resources have made the situation worse. President Ruto urged the UN to back Kenya’s planned security support for Haiti; President Tshisekedi asked the UN peacekeeping mission to leave the DRC; and the Niger junta leader accused the head of the United Nations of obstructing their participation in the General Assembly, potentially undermining efforts to resolve the crisis.
Other headlines
Somalia on track for full debt relief in December.
Somalia requests a delay in the withdrawal of AU forces.
World Bank and IMF meetings in Morocco to proceed.
Son of Ali Bongo, Gabon’s ousted president, charged with corruption and detained.
EU withdraws Zimbabwe electoral body funding over lack of transparency.
Chinese loans to Africa hit double-decade low.
Niger sanctions stifle border trade.
Mohbad’s death sparks protests on the streets.
$135Mn to be given to Tunisia by EU as part of migration pact.
South Africa to host US-Africa trade summit despite Russia spat.
🗺️ The rest of the world
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman | Source: BBC
If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we will continue doing sportswashing. I don’t care.
🇸🇦 Sportswashing my foot. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince doesn’t give an athlete’s foot about the criticism of their controversial human rights record and said they’d continue buying sports teams and attracting world-class players. In life, whatever you do, don’t be poor.
🇨🇦 🇮🇳 A diplomatic duel. India and Canada are locked in a diplomatic duel, trading expulsions of diplomats from each other’s countries. The relations between the two countries deteriorated after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government (in private first at the G20 Summit and then in public later) of assassinating a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. India responded by expelling a Canadian diplomat, suspending visas for Canadian citizens, and pausing trade talks between the two countries. Meanwhile, the US, UK, and Australia are sitting on the fence, taking Canada's allegations seriously while trying to maintain diplomatic relationships with India.
Nn’ebigenderako
Politics and Government
The US-Iran prison swap | Zelensky purges the defense cabinet.
China flies 103 war planes toward Taiwan.
US military lost and found a $100 million jet.
Singapore wants to cool down it’s city (the webpage is cool🔥).
Azerbaijan’s military operation
Business and Finance
Rupert Murdoch steps down; the real-life Succession sequel ensues.
95% of NFTs are worthless. | The Bloomberg succession plan
Science and Technology
The world’s most powerful X-ray laser
Update your iPhone (if you don’t have a home button).
Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant company, started recruiting for human trials.
Your favorite authors sued OpenAI.
Sports
The UEFA Champions League returned.
CR7 mania in Iran
Lifestyle and Entertainment
Russell Brand accused of sexual assault by four women.
Why Succession had to end.
Procrastination corner
Games and Puzzles
From Braingle.
For each item below, construct the answer word that has been fragmented by joining together its "fragment" words, which are the smaller words you must figure out from the clues provided.
Example: rectangular block + advance/profit Answer: bargain (bar + gain)
1) front part + plaster which facilitates healing
2) situated at the back + faculty of seeing
3) wide + what you do with a vote
4) thermal energy + something that meets a shoreline
5) primitive weapon + the upper part of the body
6) took a seat + indicates a state of being + a group of people within a larger group
Answer at the bottom.
Our picks
✈️ Where all the world’s millionaires are migrating
🏨 The 50 best hotels in the world
🏠 Tour this futuristic house with removable rooms
Games answer
Answer:
1) forecast (fore + cast)
2) hindsight (hind + sight)
3) broadcast (broad + cast)
4) heatwave (heat + wave)
5) spearhead (spear + head)
6) satisfaction (sat + is + faction)
Have a good week!
— Too Long; Didn’t Read (TLDR)
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