East Africa : News

News : East Africa : News

Heads of State of the five East African Community partners yesterday signed the protocol on the establishment of the East African Common Market. (AllAfrica)

Global opposition is growing to the "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" recently proposed in Uganda, which would introduce the death penalty for homosexual activity. (AllAfrica)

The draft constitution cobbled together by the Committee of Experts is now public. But the question is if it will ultimately be the graveyard for Kenyan politicians. Will the politicians, as usual, derail the country's quest for a new constitution and consequently a reconstituted state? (AllAfrica)

A UN court, the ICTR has acquitted a Catholic priest charged with genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. (AllAfrica)

A total of 34 rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have surrendered to the UPDF intelligence squad in Faradje in eastern Congo Nzara, according to military sources. (AllAfrica)

In late October, the Puntland government arrested five men of Ogadeni origin.  These men came to Puntland using Somali travel documents provided by Somali authorities in Yemen. (AllAfrica)

Kenyan Islamic faithful have been encouraged to cultivate a culture of reading in the ongoing Islamic Book-fair on Islamic topics and other religions, family, and children at Jamia Mosque Complex in Nairobi. (AllAfrica)

As the leader of the largest Christian denomination on earth, whenever Pope Benedict XVI makes a significant declaration, especially one touching on other denominations, controversy inevitably erupts faster than the speed of light. (AllAfrica)

In response to reports that Kenya is recruiting youth to go and fight Somalia war, a Muslim clergy has cautioned Muslim youth not to allow themselves to be drawn by financial incentives and accept to undertake mercenary work outside the country. (AllAfrica)

ZAMBIA arrived in Dar es Salaam today, ready for the Africa Under-19 women cricket tournament that starts at Annadil Burhani ground in the city tomorrow. (AllAfrica)

THE Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) officials admitted that there are weaknesses in running football matters in the country and promised to act on President Jakaya Kikwete's challenge. (AllAfrica)

The uninspiring granite exterior of the London Stock Exchange provided the quiet backdrop for a meeting that would almost have gone unnoticed, if it did not have such a strong bearing on Africa's growth prospects. (AllAfrica)

DUBAI Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - More people have died from H1N1 influenza in Iran than in any of the 22 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region, according to WHO’s 14 November update. (IRIN)

KAUDA Thursday, November 12, 2009 (IRIN) - The Nuba Mountains, a former frontline region in Sudan’s north-south civil war remain tense, years after the 2005 north-south peace agreement, local leaders and analysts say. (IRIN)

LAMU Thursday, November 12, 2009 (IRIN) - Eight people have died on the Kenyan district of Lamu and others have been hospitalized following a suspected outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), an official said. (IRIN)

DUSHANBE Thursday, November 12, 2009 (IRIN) - Even as world food production grows, hunger is on the rise in many poor countries, according to the Global Crop Prospects and Food Situation report for November, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 12 November. (IRIN)

JOHANNESBURG Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (IRIN) - A move by donor countries to provide aid agencies with cash, allowing them the flexibility to source cheaper or more appropriate food in the region or beneficiary country and save on transport and warehousing costs, is not addressing nutritional needs, according to a new report. (IRIN)

NAIROBI Monday, November 09, 2009 (IRIN) - A planned national survey of men who have sex with men (MSM) will be the first step in the government's plan to incorporate this high-risk group into the country's HIV programme, a senior government official has said. (IRIN)

MALAKAL Monday, November 09, 2009 (IRIN) - Hundreds of cases of kala azar (also known as visceral leishmaniasis), a parasitic disease transmitted by the sand fly, have been reported in Southern Sudan in the past month, aid workers and doctors have said. (IRIN)

JUBA Thursday, November 05, 2009 (IRIN) - Sudan has started registering voters for presidential, legislative and regional elections, but officials in the south and international observers say the process has begun on a flawed note. (IRIN)

WAJIR EAST Thursday, November 05, 2009 (IRIN) - The sound of the evening bell at a local boarding high-school in Wajir, in the northeast of Kenya, did not always signal the end of the day's classes. Instead it marked the end of the evening bathroom break as “bucket toilets” were emptied for the day. (IRIN)

NAIROBI Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Encouraging the use of traditional African herbal medicines could prevent some of the one million malarial deaths on the continent, according to specialists attending a conference www.mimalaria.org/pamc in Nairobi. Many poor communities, especially in rural settings, cannot afford modern malarial drugs and many people die due to inaccessibility of treatment. (IRIN)

NAIROBI Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - Escalating violence in the Somali town of Galkayo, Mudug region, is creating a climate of fear, which in turn has adversely affected livelihoods, residents say. (IRIN)

MIDRAND Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Disaster risk reduction as a tool for climate change adaptation is a "technical mouthful" said Rachel Shebesh, chair of the African Parliamentarian Initiative for Climate Risk Reduction. (IRIN)

KAMPALA Monday, October 26, 2009 (IRIN) - Seventeen countries signed the African Union convention on internally displaced persons (IDPs) after years of preparation culminated in a week of meetings in the Ugandan capital but a lot more hard work remains before it becomes effective, according to observers. (IRIN)

HARGEISA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - Immigration officials in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have expressed concern over the increase in the number of illegal Ethiopian migrants entering the region, with claims that up to 90 people are arriving daily, against 50 in 2008. (IRIN)

KAMPALA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - With increasing natural disasters, including floods, storms and droughts, hitting the continent, more people in Africa are likely to be displaced, creating a challenge for governments, the UN warns. (IRIN)

ADDIS ABABA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - With non-skilled jobs in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, paying as little as US$16 per month, the financial incentives to engage in commercial sex work are overwhelming - earning 30 times a domestic worker’s salary. (IRIN)

A British couple held hostage by Somali pirates said in a video broadcast that their captors could kill them within a week if no ransom was paid. (Iol)

Visitors to Rier are welcomed by a large rectangular tank and a freshly-painted sign trumpeting the White Nile Petroleum Operating Company's initiative to supply drinking water. (Iol)

A container ship captured and subsequently released by Somali pirates earlier this year has evaded gunmen for a second time off the coast of the East African country. (Iol)