City lawyer John Matovu has accused colleague Bob Kasango of conniving with Public Service Ministry officials to defraud government of sh15.4 billion. Matovu made the allegations before Justice Margaret Tibulya as the hearing of new fraud charges in the pension scam case resumed at the Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday. New fraud charges were placed on Public Service …

Washington, United States | AFP |  The US Treasury placed two top allies of Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila on its sanctions blacklist Wednesday, tying both to rising political violence and human rights violations. The Treasury said both were involved in violently putting down opposition to Kabila and …

New York, United States | AFP |  US and European markets moved higher on Wednesday as oil producing countries reached a surprise deal to cut oil production, causing crude prices to jump more than five percent. Following the agreement reached in Algiers by members of the Organization of the Petroleum …

Washington, United States | AFP | The US Congress voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to override Barack Obama’s veto of a bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, the first such rebuke of his eight-year presidency. The Senate overrode the veto in a 97-1 vote, followed a short time later by …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP |  At least 10 people have died in an outbreak of monkeypox in western Central African Republic, a country already hit by cholera, the health ministry announced Wednesday. “We have logged 10 deaths out of 19 patients,” in the southern province of Basse-Kotto, said …

Ottawa, Canada | AFP | BlackBerry announced Wednesday it would halt in-house production of smartphones, marking the end of an era for the once-dominant Canadian tech firm. Ontario-based BlackBerry said it had reached a deal to outsource production of its phones to an Indonesian partner, and would instead concentrate on …

ATC News by Wolfgang H. Thome In what appears to be a highly significant gesture in East African aviation, RwandAir showcased their first Airbus A330-200 at Entebbe Airport to travel agents, corporate clients and the media, enroute to a great homecoming of the aircraft in Kigali on Wednesday. This move might yet …

Carhaix-Plouguer, France | AFP |  China’s third largest baby formula producer on Wednesday opened a vast plant in France’s Brittany region, whose prized dairy cows are set to contribute 100,000 tons of powdered milk a year to a growing Chinese market that mistrusts domestic production. Synutra’s 170 million euro ($190 …

Aviation bodies in the East African region are considering shifting the airport control systems to a cheaper, more efficient, and safer satellite navigation system. The satellite-based system will be supported by the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (Egos). In the recent meeting held in Kigali, Rwanda the East African Community …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The shy, scale-covered pangolin is to receive the highest level of protection against illegal trade to try to save it from extinction, after a vote Wednesday by delegates at a global conference. The reclusive, gentle mammal is prized as an edible delicacy and ingredient …