Kenya

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Violence as Kenyan Vote Nears
Violence as Kenyan Vote Nears

Violence as Kenyan Vote Nears

Too close to call 48 hours before poll in key East African nation

(Newser) - Kenya's presidential election remains too close to call with 48 hours to go, writes the Mail and Guardian. President Mwai Kibaki is seeking a second term but facing a stiff challenge from former ally Raila Odinga for the leadership of East Africa's bellwether nation. Yesterday police fired teargas at supporters...

Locusts Swarm Northeast Kenya
Locusts Swarm Northeast Kenya

Locusts Swarm Northeast Kenya

Voracious pest could strip bare nation's crops

(Newser) - Threatened by the largest swarm of locusts seen in Kenya since the 1960s, authorities have begun spraying crops in affected areas in hopes of exterminating the rapacious pests before they have a chance to lay eggs. The locusts, each of which can consume its own weight in food daily, have...

Africa Nations Move to Ban Plastic Bags

90% don't make it to dumps, clogging sewers, littering streets

(Newser) - With garbage rotting in the streets and being burnt in toxic bonfires, many African countries are looking to ban plastic bags. Kenya produces 48 million every year, and is now trying to follow Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda by outlawing them. In Nairobi’s slums, bags even clog channels leading out...

1B Trees Take Root to Help Save Planet

Ethiopia, Mexico lead UN agency's climate-change fight

(Newser) - A UN-sponsored initiative exceeded its goal of having one billion trees planted in 2007, AFP reports. Developing nations are leading the charge: Ethiopia tops the list with 700 million plantings, and Mexico, Kenya, Rwanda, and Myanmar all made substantial contributions. The UN Environment Program said it had confirmation of 1....

8,000 Kenyans Killed by Cops, Lawyers Say

Police call charges against outlaw sect 'fictitious'

(Newser) - Kenyan cops have killed or fatally tortured more than 8,000 youth since 2002, human rights lawyers charged today. The deaths, along with 4,000 cases of missing men, are allegedly part of a state crackdown on the Mungiki—an outlawed sect the government blames for gang violence. Police have...

Kenyan Lel Claims Second NYC Marathon

Emerges from crowded men's pack; Radcliffe of UK is women's winner

(Newser) - Martin Lel of Kenya narrowly beat out Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco to take first place in this year's New York City Men's Marathon. This was Lel's second NY victory, having also won in 2003. Lel and Goumri also battled to the finish in this year's London Marathon, when Lel beat...

Floods Devastate Africa
Floods Devastate Africa

Floods Devastate Africa

Deluge triggers humanitarian crisis

(Newser) - Several of Africa's poorest countries have been devastated by a catastrophic deluge of rain, washing away lives, communities and crops. As many as 18 of the normally driest countries in the world, from Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso in the west, to Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia in the east,...

Cell Phones Spur Growth Surge in Africa

Phones kickstart development, improve standard of living, in remote areas

(Newser) - Mobile phones are revolutionizing the economic life of many of the world's poorest countries, igniting an unprecedented growth surge across Africa. In remote villages in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda, people who until recently lived without any modern infrastructure now use cell phones to sell crops, summon doctors, transmit vital information,...

7.5 Tremor Hits Indonesia
7.5 Tremor Hits Indonesia

7.5 Tremor Hits Indonesia

Sparks new tsunami alert and causes buildings to sway in Singapore

(Newser) - A 7.5-magnitude aftershock has rocked Indonesia, sparking a new tsunami alert and making buildings sway in nearby Singapore. This morning's 8.4 quake killed at least 5, injured dozens and sent people fleeing inland for safety. Governments issued alerts as far as Kenya and Tanzania warning people to abandon...

Lagat Wins 1500m Gold for US
Lagat Wins 1500m Gold for US

Lagat Wins 1500m Gold for US

Kenyan-born runner is first American to win the event

(Newser) - Kenya native Bernard Lagat became the first US runner to win the 1,500 meters at the world track and field championships in Osaka last night, the AP reports. Lagat, who became a US citizen in 2004, broke away from the pack near the end of the race to defeat...

Kenyan Fossil Rattles Human Family Tree

Skull suggests two precursors were actually concurrent

(Newser) - Two of our ancestors apparently lived alongside each other in Africa rather than evolving from one to the next on the path to Homo sapiens, as scientists once believed. National Geographic reports that a Homo habilis skull dug up in Kenya is surprisingly young, making its 1.4 million-year-old owner...

African Villagers Sold on the Simpsons

Tribe members market soapstone carvings of the cantankerous family

(Newser) - Villagers in a remote Kenyan village are thrilled about tomorrow’s premiere of The Simpsons movie, but not because it’s playing in a theater near them. Most, in fact, have never even seen the TV show. But their soapstone busts of the cartoon characters have been declared official Simpsons...

Volatile Artest Shows Tender Side in Kenya

Suspended Sacto swingman feeds starving children

(Newser) - The news of yet another suspension for unseemly behavior caught up with Ron Artest on  an African goodwill mission, serving rice to starving children in Kenya and caring for HIV-positive babies. Artest expressed contrition for the suspension, the result of a domestic violence charge levelled by his wife, but also...

Africans OK Nine-Year Ivory Ban
Africans OK Nine-Year
Ivory Ban

Africans OK Nine-Year Ivory Ban

But first, countries approve a one-time mammoth sale

(Newser) - Four southern African countries will hold a one-time sale of 200 tons of stockpiled ivory before the start of a nine-year moratorium, in a hard-fought conservation compromise. Proceeds from the blowout will be used in elephant conservation efforts in the future. "It's the best we could achieve for the...

Kenya Airways Flight Crashes in Cameroon

Dropped off the radar shortly after takeoff; 114 aboard

(Newser) - A Kenya Airways plane with 114 aboard has disappeared and is believed to have crashed in southern Cameroon. The Kenyan Standard reports that the plane sent out an automated distress signal five minutes after takeoff, and villagers near the suspected crash site say they heard an explosion.

Kenyan Takes Boston, Again
Kenyan Takes Boston, Again

Kenyan Takes Boston, Again

Cheruiyot win gives Kenya 15 of the last 17 marathons

(Newser) - Robert K. Cheruiyot won the Boston Marathon on a cold and windy day, albeit with a slower time than the record he set last year.  Cheruiyot also won last year's Chicago Marathon, at which he memorably fell down and concussed himself while crossing the finish line.  This makes...

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