Uganda’s night life roars back after nearly two years of COVID restrictions

Campaigners have called the suspension "a witch hunt" and say it will prevent them from carrying out lifesaving work in the conservative East African country.

The EU raises serious questions about the actions of energy giant TotalEnergies in Uganda, with members of parliament saying its oil pipeline project has led to evictions and arrests. Also in this edition: The United Nations publishes a report shedding light on increased human rights violations in Burkina Faso. And finally: The tourism industry in Tunisia says goodbye to a better summer season than last year, but still far from what the country was used to before the pandemic.

A lockdown is now in place in the two central districts of Uganda where Ebola has claimed at least 19 lives. Most of the country's immediate neighbors are taking action to keep the deadly virus out.

At least eleven students died, and six others were in critical condition after a fire in a school for the blind in central Uganda, police said on Tuesday.

With no vaccine or treatment available for a strain of Ebola that is circulating in Uganda, the country's latest outbreak is shaping up to be the third largest on record.

China is sticking to a zero-Covid strategy to stamp out virus clusters, but harsh lockdowns have battered the economy. The government mouthpiece has called on Beijing to stay the course.

Authorities in at least seven districts in Guangzhou announced lifting temporary lockdowns. State media also cited a top official as saying the virus was weakening.

China has said it will allow COVID patients with mild symptoms to isolate at home, it has also reduced the scope of lockdowns where cases are noticed and made regional travel easier. This follows widespread protests.

In eastern DR Congo, fighting between the M23 rebel group and the Congolese army has already forced 400,000 people to flee. Since March, more than 100,000 civilians have found refuge in Uganda. Hundreds of families arrive every week in the country, which is already home to 1.5 million refugees.

After two months of restrictions, 142 cases of the virus and 56 related deaths, Uganda is now lifting its Ebola lockdown while continuing to stay on high alert.

A scientist is now producing organic fertilizer in a bid to create a cheaper and more viable alternative to imports.

A four-month Ebola outbreak has been successfully controlled, Ugandan officials said on Wednesday, despite the lack of a vaccine against the strain in question.