Kenya’s military chief dies in a helicopter crash

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s military chief Gen. Francis Ogolla died in a helicopter crash west of the country, President William Ruto announced Thursday and declared three days of national mourning. The helicopter was carrying 11 people, including Gen. Ogolla, when it crashed...

Islamic State-linked attackers kill at least 11 people and torch vehicles in eastern Congo

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Extremist-linked rebels attacked villages in eastern Congo over the weekend, killing at least 11 people, torching vehicles and taking possessions, a local official said. The attacks occurred Saturday and were reported by the local mayor on Sunday. Allied...

Young Ugandans tangle in the mud. They dream of becoming professional wrestlers

MUKONO, Uganda (AP) — In a forested area outside Uganda's capital, a few dozen youth gather around a makeshift ring to watch two amateur wrestlers tangle in the mud. The training sessions, complete with an announcer and referee, imitate the pro wrestling contests the teens...

Gay rights activists call for more international pressure on Uganda over anti-gay law

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan gay rights activists asked the international community to mount more pressure on the government of Uganda to repeal an anti-gay law which the country's Constitutional Court refused to nullify on Wednesday. Activist Frank Mugisha said Tuesday’s...

Ugandan court upholds anti-gay law that allows the death penalty in some cases

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda's Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld an anti-gay law that allows the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality" despite widespread condemnation from rights groups and others abroad. President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law in May...

Islamic State-linked fighters kill at least a dozen civilians, including children, in eastern Congo

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo's army says extremist-linked rebels have killed at least a dozen people in a raid on a rural community in the volatile east, in the latest violence near the border with Uganda. Allied Democratic Forces rebels with ties to the Islamic State group have...

Uganda's constitutional court rejects a bid to nullify an anti-gay law that provides for the death penalty in some cases

In Uganda, bamboo has government's backing as a crop with real growth potential

ALONG RIVER RWIZI, Uganda (AP) — Along a stretch of bush by a muddy river, laborers dug and slashed in search of bamboo plants buried under dense grass. Here and there a few plants had sprouted tall, but most of the bamboo seedlings planted more than a year ago never grew. Now,...

Uganda's president appoints son as top commander of the army, raising succession concerns

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday appointed his son as top commander of the military, a controversial move in a country where many have long believed Museveni is grooming his eldest child for the presidency. Museveni's son, Gen. Muhoozi...

An online protest movement exposes corruption in Uganda. Officials and others are rattled

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Abuse of public funds. Failing hospitals. Potholes in the streets of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. These and other issues feature in an online protest campaign that is rattling government officials and others in this East African country where street...