5 Things About Today
Some MPs claim they received bribes from multinational GMO companies to support National Biotechnology & Biosafety Bill (GMO). The GMO bill has been shelved since 2012 when it was first introduced to Parliament. The Observer, a tri-weekly newspaper, reports that the bribery claims where made by MP Mbwatekamwa Gaffa questioning why multinationals promoting the GMO bill weren't using the money they were 'doling out in bribes to MPs' to promote agriculture initiatives. Keefa Kiwanuka, another MP said that “This bill is meant to enslave Ugandans to the multinationals; it is also politically suicidal for us. Hon Nambeshe should not be misunderstood; the multinationals have been organizing a series of meetings, I remember attending two of them at Eureka hotel (Ntinda) where each one of us was paid $100 per meeting. Imagine not even being bribed in Ugandan currency but in dollars!”
Lead prosecutor in case where Sheikh Yunus Kamoga and 14 others are accused of killing Muslim clerics, has asked court to convict the suspects because of unchallenged evidence presented before court. The evidence among others pointed out that the suspects organized meetings in various parts of the country, printed out fliers with names of the people they wanted dead and were involved in religious misunderstandings with almost all the people who were murdered, Chimp Report reports. However, the defence team led by Fred Muwema has asked court to release their clients free on grounds that there is no direct evidence showing their participation in crimes of Terroism, murder and attempted murder plotted against them.
North Korean Kim Jong-un has said the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic missile was a "gift" to "American bastards" on their independence day, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports. Kim has urged his nuclear scientists to "frequently send big and small ‘gift packages’ to the Yankees" in the form of yet more missile and nuclear tests.
British PM Theresa is withholding a report that criticizes Saudi Arabia on 'foreign funding of extremism' from being published. Green party co-leader, Caroline Lucas, said the delay in publishing the report “leaves question marks over whether their decision is influenced by our diplomatic ties”. Saudi Arabia is the UK's biggest trading partner in the Middle East, with exports of more than $8bn in British goods and services to the country in 2015.
At least 18 people have died and 12 others severely injured in an accident involving a bus and a truck in northeast South Africa. Rescuers extracted several injured people and bodies from inside and underneath the bus. Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.