Mike Friday resigned as Kenya Sevens head coach on Wednesday, citing too much interference in his work and disatisfaction over the lack of funding for the national team. …read more
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Two Kenyan officials kidnapped by the Somali Islamist group Shebab during an attack in northeastern Kenya in 2012 have been released, the Kenyan presidency announced Tuesday. …read more
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A Kenyan court has sentenced a man to death for the 2011 killing of a British man who was shot dead and his wife kidnapped by Somali gunmen at an island resort on the Kenya coast. …read more
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Civil rights activists are accusing Kenya’s new government of using the police to crush dissent, following the Criminal Investigation Department’s interrogation of a political aide to Kenya’s foremost opposition leader over an alleged plan to foster an insurrection. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Kenya, birthplace of Tour de France winner Chris Froome, celebrated his victory on Monday but expressed regret that it was Union Jacks and not Kenyan flags being waved across Paris to mark the achievement. …read more
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With preparations complete, the opening session started. Jono walked attendees through the background, goals, and format of the summit.
Like other years, the summit format was to be conducted in an “unconference” style. Attendees were asked to consider hosting a session and to indicate their proposed session on a session card. Then, one by one, the proposals were pitched to the audience to get people excited about all the lively discussions ahead.
Proposals complete, the remaining task was to get them on the day’s schedule. Here it is!
Day 1 totally designed by community leaders from around the world – great minds from as far away as Kenya and New Zealand.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Planet Ubuntu
Two Spanish aid workers kidnapped by Somali militants from a Kenyan refugee camp in 2011 were on their way home Friday but the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) organization they worked for declined to say whether a ransom had been paid.
“We are very concerned and cognizant for security risks ongoing for MSF staff inside Somalia and also that there are ongoing abductions still to be resolved. We feel it would be inappropriate and insecure of us to provide details relating to captivity or to the ransom,” MSF program manager Will Robertson said in Nairobi, Kenya.
“What I will say is that we’ve had a lot of support from many stakeholders within Somalia and we are very grateful for their assistance,” he added.
The release of Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut was announced by MSF on Thursday. The two were kidnapped in October 2011 when Somali militants entered the Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya in October 2011 and took them hostage after shooting and wounding their Kenyan driver.
The attack was the third kidnapping of Europeans in Kenya in six weeks and a reason Kenya gave for sending troops into Somalia days later.
Speaking in Madrid, MSF president in Spain Jose Antonio Bastos said the two women were healthy and eager to see relatives when the Spanish military plane carrying them lands at a military airport near Madrid on Friday afternoon. The MSF asked the media and the public to respect the privacy of the women and their families.
The plane picked up the two in Djibouti but Bastos did not say how they got there or how the release was arranged. In Nairobi, Robertson said he had “no major information” on where the women were held in Somalia or by whom.
He said the 2011 abductions, which occurred even as Somalia was suffering from a famine that killed more than 250,000 people, had a detrimental impact on MSF’s ability to respond to famine needs.
____
Jason Straziuso in Nairobi, Kenya and Alan Clendenning and Ciaran Giles in Madrid contributed to this report.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
As Britain’s Chris Froome pedals towards Tour de France victory, far away in his birthplace of Kenya he is being cheered on by the cyclist who first trained him.
Outside his simple tin-roof house on a dirt road, David Kinjah, 43, Froome’s mentor when he first took up the sport, says he will be one of the loudest shouting support.
“We are greatly honoured knowing that Froome, who is now at the top of the world, was one of us,” said Kinjah, his dreadlocks swept back beneath his cycle helmet.
Froome, 28 and born in Kenya, names Kinjah as his “inspiration”.
“Training together in the rural highlands north of Nairobi is what ignited the passion for cycling which Froome has today,” the cyclist’s website reads.
Froome’s mother asked Kinjah to mentor his riding when he was 11.
“She needed somebody to tap his prodigious energy, and somebody had told her that I could handle him,” said Kinjah.
“The first time Chris came here with his BMX bike he was very shy…but he was also a very determined young boy.”
The tough Kenyan pushed young Froome as he developed his cycling strength pedalling on back roads in the hills and coffee farms around the capital Nairobi, one of the highest altitude capitals in the world.
“Kinjah helped me see you didn’t need the best bike or perfect conditions,” Froome told Britain’s Guardian newspaper in January.
“You can just get on a bike and go – no matter where you are.”
Froome has notched up a string of stunning performances on this year’s Tour, from his mountaintop wins at Ax-Trois-Domaines and on Mont Ventoux to his victory in Wednesday’s individual time-trial in Chorges.
Kinjah still trains young athletes, with his 20-strong Safari Simbaz team — in Swahili, the “travelling lions” — aiming to use cycling to help bring “young athletes out of poverty”.
The Simbaz, who modestly list Froome as their “most successful export”, continue their work to develop Kenyan cyclists, or as they put it, to “cut the rough diamond of these future champions.”
Kinjah and Froome cycled together for Kenya during the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
“His success will serve as an inspiration to these youngsters,” added Kinjah, who also raises funds for young Kenyan cyclists through bike tours for tourists.
“It is very encouraging for the work we are doing with the underprivileged youth in the villages. They will get motivated to cycle.”
Should Froome win, Simbaz plan to hold a Nairobi lap of honour, cycling the streets in celebration, before roasting a goat a night for young cyclists to feast on.
Froome later moved to South Africa as a teenager. He qualified for British nationality because his father and grandparents were born there, and he began to ride for Britain in 2008.
Despite never having been to the United Kingdom until he competed in the Tour of Britain in 2007, speaking earlier this week he made it clear that he was “extremely proud” to represent Britain.
But for his Kenyan friends shouting support from afar — watching on a small television in a cramped room — Froome …read more
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The aid group Doctors Without Borders says that two of its workers kidnapped by Somali militants from a Kenyan refugee camp in October 2011 have been released.
Doctors Without Borders said Thursday that the two Spanish women — Montserrat Serra and Blanca Thiebaut — are both safe and healthy and are eager to join loved ones.
The group thanked those involved with securing the women’s release but did not specify who that was.
Somali militants entered the world’s largest refugee camp — Dadaab, in eastern Kenya — in October 2011 and took the two women after shooting and wounding their Kenyan driver. The attack was the third kidnapping of Europeans in Kenya in six weeks and was one of the reasons Kenya gave for sending troops into Somalia days later.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
The chairman of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has refused to be sworn in before a parliament committee and stormed out of the hearing, breaking a pledge made this week that the commission would release all vote totals to the lawmakers Thursday.
Four months after the March vote, vote totals still have not been made public, fueling conspiracy theories of rigging.
Kenya’s vote was largely peaceful, and though the reporting and tallying of votes was marred by irregularities, the country accepted the Supreme Court’s judgment that President Uhuru Kenyatta was legitimately elected.
The loser, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, also accepted the Supreme Court’s decision, helping Kenya to avoid the vicious post-poll violence that killed more than 1,000 people in 2007-08. But Odinga maintains that the vote was rigged.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By NewsEditor
Marine claims while in Hawaii in 1980 he met young Obama, who told him he was born in Mombasa, Kenya, and wanted to be President one day.
A military spokesman in Somalia says that government forces will help to replace Ethiopian troops who vacated a Somali town in recent days.
The pull-out by Ethiopian troops from the town of Baidoa on Sunday and Monday increases the pressure on African Union and Somali forces to fill the vacuum before Islamist militants take over the region.
Col. Ali Aden Houmed, the spokesman of the African Union force in Somalia, said Wednesday that the AU and Somali forces would secure the town.
Ethiopia’s withdrawal raises questions as to how long Ethiopia will continue to deploy troops in western Somalia cities. The Ethiopian government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
African Union forces primarily from Uganda, Burundi and Kenya are helping the Somali government fight against militants from al-Shabab.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Celtic manager Neil Lennon admits his side are nowhere near their best as they prepare to take on Cliftonville in a vital Champions League qualifier in Belfast on Wednesday.
Lennon’s team have endured a far from ideal preparation for the crucial tie after conceding 12 goals in four friendly defeats on a pre-season tour of Germany disrupted by injuries and star sales.
The Scottish champions could be without a number of key players for the second qualifying round first leg match against the Northern Irish minnows.
Adam Matthews, Gary Hooper and Joe Ledley are all expected to be sidelined, while Kenya midfielder Victor Wanyama, a key figure last season, has been sold to Southampton.
And Lennon says starting their European campaign less than eight weeks since their Scottish Cup win over Hibernian at the end of last season is far from ideal.
“It’s so early, it’s a harsh reality of where we are,” Lennon said.
“We won the cup final at the end of May and we are back in on June 24.
“It’s been staggered and a bit disjointed because we have had a lot of injuries as well.
“I don’t even know what my best team is at the moment or which players I’ll have available to me.
“They are the ups and downs you have to cope with during pre-season, but I don’t think you’ll see us anywhere near our best for another two weeks or so.
“We know how difficult it’s going to be because these games are so early in the season.
“We’ll cover it as best we can but it won’t be easy for us.”
Despite the financial gulf that separates the two sides, Lennon has warned his players against complacency against the team of part-timers, whose tiny Solitude ground has been extended to allow a 5,000 capacity crowd.
“What we can’t get involved in is the party or the carnival atmosphere,” Lennon said. “We have to be professional and go there to do a job.”
One player desperate to play and make an impact at the Parkhead club is Australian international Tom Rogic
The midfielder, who helped the Socceroos book their slot in Brazil next summer with a 1-0 win over Iraq, missed out on Celtic’s run to the Champions League last 16 last season after only joining the club from A-League side Central Coast Mariners in January.
The Scottish champions’ task this season is even tougher as they face three qualifying rounds just to reach the money-spinning group stages of the competition, but Rogic can’t wait to get involved.
“The Champions League will be a new experience for me,” he said.
“It would be a great achievement if I could play a part in it and it would also be good for the club and our season if we could make it into the group stage again. We just have to do our best to make sure we get there.
“I’m sure we’ll be ready for Cliftonville on Wednesday night. The squad is more or less the same and we all know our jobs.
“We’re comfortable playing with each other. We’ve all …read more
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The International Criminal Court has rejected a request by Kenya’s deputy president to hold the start of his crimes against humanity trial in Kenya or Tanzania.
Deputy President William Ruto is charged together with journalist Joshua Arap Sang with the murder, forcible deportation and persecution of supporters of political opponents after their country’s disputed 2007 presidential election. Both men insist they are innocent and are due to go on trial in The Hague from Sept. 10.
The three-judge panel preparing for their trial said last month “it may be desirable” to hold the start and parts of the trial in Kenya or Tanzania, but at a plenary meeting all the court’s judges rejected the move.
Court registrar Herman von Hebel said Monday the decision was “in the interests of justice.”
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Civil rights activists and human rights lawyers Monday demanded that Nigeria arrest Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir and deliver him to the International Criminal Court to stand trial for crimes in Darfur.
President Goodluck Jonathan was urged “to support the demand by the international community for justice for the victims of genocide and war crimes,” by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project.
Human rights lawyers are going to court to argue for an order to force the arrest, said Chino Obiagwu of Nigeria’s Legal Defense and Assistance Project.
Human Rights Watch was contacting diplomats to add to the pressure. They are urging Nigeria’s international partners “to signal that Nigeria should show leadership and not host ICC fugitive Bashir,” said Elise Keppler of the New York-based organization’s International Justice Program.
Nigeria is a member of the International Criminal Court and “has international legal obligations to ensure that this country does not become a safe haven for alleged perpetrators of crimes under international law like al-Bashir,” said Adetokunbo Mumuni, executive director of the rights and accountability project.
A failure to arrest al-Bashir could have “huge legal ramifications” and lead to sanctions by the U.N. Security Council, he warned, though Chad and Djibouti have welcomed al-Bashir in the past year without suffering any consequences.
Human Rights Watch said Nigeria’s stand is “a stark contrast” to that taken by most African countries.
South Africa, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and Central Africa Republic “have specifically made clear Bashir will be arrested on their territory, seen to it that other Sudanese officials visit instead of Bashir, relocated conferences or otherwise avoided his visits,” said Obiagwu, who also heads the Nigerian Coalition on the International Criminal Court.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague indicted the Sudanese leader in 2009 and 2010 for crimes including extermination, forcible transfer of population, torture and rape. He was the first sitting African head of state to be indicted by the court.
Al-Bashir arrived in Nigeria on Sunday to a red carpet welcome with full military honors. He is here to attend a health summit of the African Union, which has told its 53 members not to cooperate with the ICC. Some Africans argue that the European-based court is racist in its targeting of Africans.
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Row after row of tin shacks and shelters made of plastic and branches stretch almost as far as the eye can see in the world’s largest refugee camp, home to over 427,000 Somalis who fled war.
Dadaab, in northeast Kenya, is a grim place few would choose to call home, but many here are nervous about the growing pressure to leave this camp and return to their unstable homeland some last saw two decades ago.
Kenya, which hosts more than 600,000 Somali refugees, has made clear its ambition to send them back, and is in talks with the government in Mogadishu to start the move.
“I don’t know of a stable place in Somalia” to return to, said Abdi Arte, leader of the Kambios section in the sprawling camp, set in arid bushland some 100 kilometres (60 miles) inside Kenya.
“But the government is insisting to have refugees relocated back home.”
Last month, Kenya and Somalia signed a deal for “voluntary repatriation”, with plans under way to work out how people can start moving back.
Kenya’s new government has steered clear of strong-arm statements made last year when Nairobi ordered more than 30,000 refugees living in urban areas to return to remote and overcrowded camps.
But based on past experiences, refugees are worried.
Rights groups have accused Kenyan police of a brutal campaign against Somali refugees, following a string of grenade attacks or shootings inside Kenya blamed on supporters or members of Somalia’s Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents.
Human Rights Watch, in a report released in May, documented multiple cases of police rape of Somali refugees.
“The police held the detainees — sometimes for many days in inhuman and degrading conditions — while threatening to charge them, without any evidence, with terrorism or public order offences,” the report said.
Somali refugees say they are eyed with suspicion by police, even though many of those actually charged for attacks have not been ethnic Somalis.
Impoverished Somalia spiralled into repeated rounds of bloody civil war beginning in 1991, allowing piracy, militia armies and extremist rebels to flourish.
Last year an internationally-backed government took power in Mogadishu, defended by a 17,700-strong African Union force — including Kenyan troops — but its control beyond the capital remains fragile at best.
There is no doubt that many refugees long to be able to return to a safe home in Somalia. The problem is whether that is available.
“I want to go back home,” said Amina Yussuf, who lives in Dadaab’s Ifo 2, a crowded camp, insecure and beset by violence and abductions.
“I fear being raped here in the camp,” she added.
More than a million Somalis are refugees in regional nations, the most from a single country after Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the United Nations.
But another million people are displaced inside the country, a sign that Somalia is still very far from the stability needed for large scale return.
“It is not a good time to go back,” said Ibrahim Roble, a youth leader in Dadaab’s Dagahaley camp, who fled southern Somalia as a child.
“So many of us here in Dadaab are …read more
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Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir travelled on Sunday to a health summit in Nigeria, official media said, after Human Rights Watch urged authorities in Abuja to arrest him for war crimes charges.
Bashir “left today for the Nigerian capital Abuja to participate in the African Union summit about HIV, TB and malaria to be held over two days,” the state SUNA news agency said.
Nigeria is a member of The Hague-based International Criminal Court, which in 2009 and 2010 issued two warrants against Bashir for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Sudan’s Darfur region.
His visit marks “a real test of Nigeria’s commitment to the ICC”, Elise Keppler, associate director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch, told AFP ahead of Bashir’s trip.
Some ICC members including Chad, Djibouti and Kenya have allowed visits by Bashir, but others like Botswana, South Africa and Uganda have ensured that he stays away.
A number of states “have found a way out of this problem and Nigeria should do the same,” Keppler said, urging Nigeria to arrest him if he sets foot in the country.
Nations that have signed on to the world’s only permanent court for war crimes and crimes against humanity have a legal obligation to arrest any indicted suspect found within their territory.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
World and Olympic 800m champion David Rudisha was left out of Kenya’s 49-strong athletics team named on Sunday for next month’s World Championships in Moscow.
The 24-year-old world record holder missed the championship trials due to a knee injury but the selectors said they would monitor his condition in the next week before deciding whether he would defend his world title at the August 10-18 event.
Olympic 800m bronze medallist Timothy Kitum will also not compete in Moscow after failing to qualify when he finished a poor sixth behind race winner Anthony Chemut.
Two rookies, Ferguson Rotich and Jeremia Mutai, who took second and third positions behind the 20-year-old Chemut were selected in the team.
Kenya squad:
Men
800m: Anthony Chemut, Ferguson Rotich, Jeremia Mutai
1500m: Silas Kiplagat, Asbel Kiprop, Nixon Chepseba
5000m: Isaiah Kiplangat Koech, Thomas Longosiwa, Edwin Soi, John Kipkoech
10000m: Bedan Karoki, Paul Tanui, Kenneth Kipkemoi
3000m S/Chase: Conseslus Kipruto, Abel Mutai, Ezekiel Kemboi, Paul kipsiele Koech
Marathon: Bernard Koech, Michael Kipyego, Bernard Kipyego, Peter Some, Nicholas Kipkemboi
4 x 400m Relay: Alphas Leken Kishoyian, Moses Kertich, Boniface Mweresa, Mike Mokamba, Boniface Mucheru, Vincent Kosgei
Javelin: Julius Yego
Women
400m: Maureen Jelagat
800m: Eunice Sum, Janeth Jepkosgei, Winnie Chebet
1500m: Hellen Obiri, Faith Chepngetich, Nancy Jebet Langat
5000m: Mercy Cherono, Viola Kibiwott, Margaret Wangare
10000m: Gladys Cherono, Emily Chebet, Sally Kaptich Chepyego
3000m S/Chase: Milcah Chemos Cheywa, Gladys Kipkemoi, Hyvin Kiyeng, Lydia Chepkurui
Marathon: Edna Kiplagat, Lucy Kabuu, Eunice Jepkirui.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Hosts Zambia embark on Sunday on a Cosafa Cup journey they hope will last seven days and finish with a record-equalling fourth title.
They face Mozambique in the second half of a quarter-finals double-header at Nkana Stadium in mining city Kitwe.
Surprise qualifiers Lesotho, who topped a qualifying group ahead of Botswana and Kenya, meet Angola in the other match.
Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) won the first two editions of the 16-year southern Africa national team championship.
They were successful again in 2006, but the closest they came to glory since was collecting silver medals twice.
Although France-born coach Herve Renard has chosen an experimental squad, his side are favoured to lift the trophy.
And he accepts the pressure is on him and his team as they try and put a miserable year for the Copper Bullets behind them.
“Every Zambian believes we will win the Cosafa Cup this year, especially as we are hosting the tournament,” admitted Renard.
“This means there is only one path for us to follow — the one that leads to the winners’ podium in Ndola next Saturday.”
Renard became a national hero in Zambia last year when his team emerged as shock winners of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
After 120 goalless minutes against Didier Drogba-skippered Ivory Coast, the underdogs won a penalty shootout in Gabon.
But little has gone right for Zambia since with a disappointing Africa Cup title defence followed by poor World Cup qualifying results.
They failed to win at the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa, drawing with Ethiopia, Nigeria and Burkina Faso and making a first-round exit.
And draws with minnows Lesotho and Sudan have left dreams of a first World Cup appearance on the verge of extinction.
Renard hopes goalkeeper Danny Munyau, defender Kondwani Mtonga and midfielder Mukuka Mulenga can lead by example in Kitwe.
The local stars were promoted to the first team for recent World Cup ties and offer experience amid exciting but untested talent.
Mozambique coach Joao Chissano has been in charge less than a month since German Gert Engels paid the price for a 6-1 World Cup drubbing in Guinea.
His Cosafa Cup build-up has been nightmarish with a spate of withdrawals owing to injuries and club commitments leading to 11 squad changes.
Almiro Lobo and Dario Khan are long-serving defenders and Alberto Diogo is a midfielder with a fondness for goals.
Striker Josimar Machaisse gave Chissano a timely boost by scoring in a 1-0 friendly victory away to Malawi last weekend.
Lesotho held Kenya 2-2 and Botswana 3-3 before defeating Swaziland 2-0 to top Group B on goal difference and book an unexpected last-eight place.
The Botswana clash stamped Likuena (Crocodiles) as a team to watch when they came from behind twice to level deep in stoppage time.
Angola dare not concede any penalties as midfielder Ralekoti Mokhahlane has proven his worth by converting two spot kicks.
Striker Thapelo Tale has also netted twice and defender Nkau Lerotholi and strikers Mojela Letsie and Tsepo Seturumane once each.
A team averaging 2.3 goals a game and full of never-say-die spirit could trouble Angola, even though they are 65 …read more
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Celtic manager Neil Lennon admits star striker Gary Hooper could have played his last game for the Scottish champions.
Hooper has attracted recent bids from Premier League sides Norwich and Hull and has made it clear to Lennon that he is keen to return to England.
The 25-year-old, who has been struggling with a groin strain during pre-season, is out of contract at the end of the forthcoming campaign, making it likely Celtic will cash in now if they are convinced he won’t sign a new deal.
Hooper did not feature in Celtic’s 3-0 defeat against Union Berlin on Friday – their fourth friendly loss in Germany ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League qualifier against Cliftonville.
And Lennon told several national newspapers: “It will be difficult to convince Gary to stay. He has not featured much in pre-season and the games start in earnest for us on Wednesday night.
“So he’d have a bit of catching up to do and I don’t know where his mind is at the minute.
“Has he played his last game for Celtic? Never say never but it’s looking more and more that way.”
Lennon has already seen Kenya midfielder Victor Wanyama leave for Southampton in midweek and believes he needs further reinforcements after only bringing in Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk and Portuguese striker Amido Balde during the close-season.
“I haven’t spoken to (Celtic chief executive) Peter Lawwell yet about bringing someone in but we need two or three players if we’re going to get back into the Champions League,” Lennon added.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
