News on Uganda

Feared Uganda rebel chief not in Darfur: Sudan army

2010-03-15T05:15:35Z

<div><p>The Sudanese army on Monday denied reports that the feared leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army rebel group has found refuge in the western region of Darfur.</p><p>"Joseph Kony is not in Darfur," Sudanes...

Scientists find new way to help crops fight pests

2010-03-14T11:15:12Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - An international team of scientists has managed to transfer disease resistance from one plant family to another, offering broader protection from potentially costly and destructive pests.</p><p>A team led by Cyril Zipfel at Britain's Sains...

Uganda MPs demand minister travel ban over graft

2010-03-10T07:16:09Z

<div><p>A Ugandan parliamentary panel called Wednesday for a travel ban on cabinet members implicated in a massive corruption scandal during the 2007 Kampala Commonwealth summit.</p><p>The Public Accounts Committee said top officials are evading the panel which is probing the disappearance of some 60 million dollars allocated for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).&...

Uganda to choose oil production firm next month

2010-03-10T07:15:52Z

<div><p>Uganda will next month decide which international oil firm will carry out production and development of its nascent petroleum industry, an energy ministry official said Wednesday.</p><p>Uganda is currently weighing rival bids from France's Total and the Chinese state-controlled giant CNOOC to take over assets in the oil-rich L...

East Africa new frontier for oil exploration

2010-03-09T22:16:04Z

<div><p>East Africa has become a promising new frontier for oil exploration and major multinationals are jostling for the rights to search for black gold, industry experts said.</p><p>"There are still large areas which are essentially unexploited and major efforts are needed in East Africa," Tiziana Luzzi-Arbouille, an African specialist with IHS Global ...

Women hit by climate change head to Capitol Hill

2010-03-08T16:00:15Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Women hit hard by the effects of climate change -- drought, floods, sea level rise and crop failure -- gathered on Monday to plan a Capitol Hill push for U.S. legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p>Climate "witnesses" from the United States, Uganda plans to resettle at least 500,000 people living in mountainous areas over fears that last week's deadly landslide could happen again, a minister said Monday.</p><p>"The total population at risk of landslides and floods is estimated to be 500,000," State Minister for Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru told reporters.</p><p>"We plan to resettle the population from these very high risk locations, once eme...

Thousands moved away from Uganda mudslide villages

2010-03-05T06:16:31Z

<div><p>Ugandan authorities on Friday moved thousands of villagers away from hillsides where a mudslide this week left more than 300 people feared dead, officials said.</p><p>Authorities said they feared more heavy rain could trigger a new disaster and launched an urgent relocation of some 4,000 villagers around Mount Elgon in the east of the country. Up to 35,000 people coul...

4,000 to be relocated after Uganda landslide

2010-03-05T06:16:29Z

<div><p> Thousands of Ugandans were to be moved Friday from hilly regions in the east of the country where a landslide is feared to have killed about 300 people, officials said.</p><p>"We are looking at 4,000 as the urgent number we need to relocate," said Wilson Watira, district chairman of Bududa, the main town near villages engulfed by Monday's avalanche.</p><...

Uganda landslide victims get aid, hopes dim for survivors

2010-03-04T06:16:53Z

<div><p>Rescuers at a landslide that engulfed entire villages in eastern Uganda and killed at least 80 people turned Thursday to helping survivors as the chances of finding anyone else alive grew slimmer.</p><p>Regional Red Cross chief Uganda dug through the night and moved tonnes of mud in the hope of finding relatives buried by a huge landslide as rescue teams arrived at the scene Thursday.</p><p>Three days after torrential rains triggered a mudslide that scarred the green slopes of Mount Elgon and engulfed an entire rural community, leaving 80 dead and 300 missing, r...

UGANDA LANDSLIDES

2010-03-04T05:46:11Z

A man collect pieces of his house that was destroyed in mudslides in the region of Bududa in Eastern Uganda, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. The mudslides swamped the region late Monday and Tuesday after torrents of rain pounded the mountainous region known as Bududa, 170 miles (275 kilometers) east of Kampala, the capital. Police, army soldiers and aid workers have been working to recover bodies in the remote v...

Uganda floods displace 20,000, slow victim search

2010-03-04T05:45:22Z

<div id="subtitle">Floods in Uganda displace 20,000 as rains hamper search for landslide victims</div><div><p>Heavy rains in eastern Uganda have triggered flooding that has displaced more than 20,000 people and hampered search efforts to find victims of massive landslides feared to have killed hundreds, officials said Thursday.</p><p>Persistent heavy rains since early in the week have flooded more than 30 villages in...

UN rescue teams begin work on Uganda landslide site

2010-03-04T00:17:22Z

<div><p>United Nations relief teams were Thursday to begin their rescue effort in a remote region of eastern Uganda, three days after a landslide left 80 dead and 300 missing.</p><p>"Definitely we will be able to begin work on the ground today. We will certainly be working with government, and the military," Theophane Nikyema, resident coordinator for the UN's Uganda te...

50 Ugandan students feared dead in landslides

2010-03-03T16:17:13Z

<div><p>During heavy rains, village elders told schoolchildren to seek shelter in the hospital. That sanctuary turned into a death trap as a landslide engulfed the building, leaving more than 50 pupils missing and among hundreds feared dead as avalanches of mud slammed into three villages.</p><p>When Beatrice Nabuduwa's 12-year-old daughter failed to come home after school Monday, the mother assumed her chi...

Search goes on for Uganda landslide survivors

2010-03-03T14:19:06Z

<div><p>NAMETSI, Uganda (Reuters) - Soldiers and villagers in eastern Uganda hacked at mounds of thick mud with picks and hoes on Wednesday in a desperate bid to find more survivors from a landslide that killed at least 80 people.</p><p>Waves of mud and rocks swept down the steep mountainside late on Monday night after seven hours of rain and engulfed the village ...

Frantic hunt for hundreds missing in Uganda mudslide

2010-03-03T13:17:37Z

<div><p>Rescuers clawed through mud in driving rain Wednesday in a desperate bid to find survivors from a huge landslide feared to have killed hundreds in villages in eastern Uganda.</p><p>At least 80 bodies have already been found on the slopes of Mount Elgon and at least 300 people are missing in the villages, according to the Ugandan Red Cross, but hopes are fading of find...

Frantic hunt for missing in Uganda mudslide

2010-03-03T13:17:33Z

<div><p>Rescuers clawed through mud in driving rain Wednesday in a desperate bid to find survivors from a huge landslide feared to have killed hundreds in villages in eastern Uganda.</p><p>At least 80 bodies have already been found on the slopes of Mount Elgon and at least 300 people are missing in the villages but hopes were fading of finding anybody alive.</p><p>...

APTOPIX UGANDA LANDSLIDES

2010-03-03T10:03:58Z

People search for survivors after a landslide in the region of Bududa in Eastern Uganda, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. The mudslides swamped the region late Monday and Tuesday after torrents of rain pounded the mountainous region known as Bududa, 170 miles (275 kilometers) east of Kampala, the capital. Police, army soldiers and aid workers have been working to recover bodies in the remote villages, which offici...

Hopes fade for Uganda landslide survivors

2010-03-03T08:15:58Z

<div><p>Hopes were fading Wednesday of finding survivors of a landslide in eastern Uganda that has killed at least 80 people and left 300 missing, officials and rescue workers said.</p><p>Relentless rain, steep terrain and a lack of adequate equipment made it difficult to organise an efficient rescue effort two days after a mudslide engulfed entire communities on the slopes of Mo...