Kenya

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Kenya declares a surprise public holiday for a national campaign to plant 15 billion trees

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Kenyan government announced Monday a surprise public holiday on Nov. 13 for a nationwide tree planting day, part of its ambitious plan to plant 15 billion trees by 2032

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-tree-planting-king-charles-climate-change-c0b82a93b185d8b47e2867e4f3ca7b9f?

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Kenya embarks on its biggest rhino relocation project. A previous attempt was a disaster

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya has embarked on its biggest rhino relocation project and began the difficult work Tuesday of tracking, darting and moving 21 of the critically endangered beasts, which can each weigh over a ton, to a new home.

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-rhinos-wildlife-relocation-environment-2d65798d46e0fd0c6be735c9053da2fa?

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A fire set off by a gas explosion in Kenya kills at least 3 people and injures 280 others

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Liquid petroleum gas cylinders exploded in an illegal depot in a residential area of the Kenyan capital, officials said Friday, setting off a late-night inferno that killed at least three people and injured 280 others. The death toll was expected to rise.

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-gas-explosions-03392e572136ffde41266a418329d946?

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Anti-tax protesters storm Kenya’s parliament, drawing police fire as president vows to quash unrest

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Thousands of protesters stormed Kenya’s parliament Tuesday to protest tax proposals, burning part of the building, sending lawmakers fleeing and drawing fire from police in unrest that the president vowed to quash. Several people were killed.

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-protests-finance-bill-33a20092285f1d663264f7b0d513e1da?

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At least five people were shot dead after Kenyan police fired live rounds at demonstrators in Nairobi on Tuesday as outrage swelled over a controversial finance bill. The country has been in the grip of nationwide protests against proposed tax hikes, culminating in a "total shutdown" that quickly turned violent. Among the protesters was Auma Obama, the half-sister of former US President Barack Obama, who was tear gassed by police during a live interview with CNN. Kenyan police were also seen beating and arresting some paramedics who were helping injured protesters. President William Ruto, in an address to the nation, blamed "organized criminals" for the rising tensions.

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The church was named Good News. Hundreds of members died in a cult massacre that haunts survivors

MALINDI, Kenya (AP) — Shukran Karisa Mangi always showed up drunk at work, where he dug up the bodies of doomsday cult members buried in shallow graves. But the alcohol couldn’t numb his shock the morning he found the body of a close friend, whose neck had been twisted so severely that his head and torso faced opposite directions.

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-shakahola-cult-massacre-starvation-mackenzie-b2e99891fc5f140df8166725436cb58e?

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Kenya relocates 50 elephants to a larger park as officials say it’s a sign poaching is under control

MWEA, Kenya (AP) — As a helicopter hovers close to an elephant, trying to be as steady as possible, an experienced veterinarian cautiously takes aim.

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-elephants-relocation-poaching-aa075113c279bb215ac4f67b68e80117?

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Left behind in Kenya, children of British soldiers struggle to find their identity

NANYUKI, Kenya (AP) — Margaret Wandia became pregnant after a week-long relationship with a British soldier training near her community in Kenya. They met while she worked at a bar in her early 20s. She knew little about him. He left her with a biracial child.

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-british-army-children-934890cc191dc30de44d52e8fc8b9f1b?

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Ant smugglers arrested in Kenya as government warns of changing trafficking trends

Two Belgian teenagers were charged Tuesday with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser known species. Read More.

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Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya given $7,700 fine or 1-year prison sentence

Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were given a choice of paying a fine of $7,700 or serving 12 months in prison — the minimum penalty for the offense — for violating wildlife conservation laws. Read More.

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Death toll from Kenya’s latest anti-government protest surges to 31

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The death toll from Kenya’s anti-government protests on Monday has surged to 31, marking the highest single-day toll since the demonstrations began earlier this year, the state-funded human rights commission said Tuesday.

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-protests-death-toll-saba-saba-ruto-ca186b6c54e92852161a61b3d3f4c508?

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Kenya’s lakes are rising as thousands face an uncertain future. Scientists and data explain why Kenya’s lake levels have been steadily rising for 15 years. By 2021, more than 75,000 households had been displaced across the Rift Valley, according to a study commissioned that year by the Kenyan Environment Ministry and the United Nations Development Program. Read more.

What to know: Some scientists attribute the higher levels to increased rains caused by climate change, although there may be other factors causing the lake’s steady rise over the past decade.   Lake Naivasha is a tourism hot spot and surrounded by farms, mostly growing flowers, which have gradually been disappearing into the water as the lake levels rise. Horticulture is a major economic sector in Kenya, generating just over a billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2024 and providing 40% of the volume of roses sold in the European Union, according to Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Loud worship and other contrasts set apart Kenya's large community of Quakers  Inside a Quaker meeting house in western Kenya, loud music complete with modern instruments can be heard from a few miles away, a sharp contrast to the silence that is the norm among Quakers in the U.S. There are an estimated 400,000 Quakers worldwide. About half live in Africa; most are in Kenya. Read more.

Why this matters: In most Quaker houses of worship worldwide, there is no clergy, pulpit or altar. No one sings or chants, burns incense or lights candles. They do not speak until a message from God moves through them.  In Kenya, the Quakers worship loudly.   When Quaker missionaries arrived in Kenya in 1902, they introduced a version of Quakerism that featured slow hymns and evangelism. Over the years, Kenyan Quakers grew in numbers after adding more tempo to the music and incorporating modern instruments to attract young people, who found the previous music boring.   Robert Wafula, head of a Quaker theological college in Kenya, says that Quaker doctrine, which is founded on peace, has been useful during ethnic tensions and postelection violence in Kenya, as well as in regional conflicts.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Young adults turn to Quakers’ silent worship to offset — and cope with — a noisy world  Kenya to pay compensation to almost 2,000 victims of violent protests  Quakers at a glance: A look at the faith’s beliefs and the tradition of activism and silent worship

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Kenya confirms its first Ebola case and death in a man who traveled from Congo

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Kenyan citizen who had been living in Congo before returning to Nairobi over the weekend became Kenya’s first confirmed case of Ebola and the country’s first death from the disease in the fast-moving outbreak, authorities said Tuesday, sparking urgent contact-tracing efforts to try to contain the spread of the virus.

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-congo-ebola-death-nairobi-32ccde1e74048396ad5cb9f9fe47495e?

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What to know about Kenya's first Ebola case and how officials are responding

Kenya’s first Ebola case, a patient who travelled for weeks by road and air through three countries without being detected until he arrived in Nairobi, has raised questions about border control and how to trace the virus across countries. Read More.