Africa

Dual crises hit some harder than others

By Greg Moore, The Kansas City Star

NAIROBI, Kenya | The long rains failed again in East Africa this year. And thanks to El Nino the short rains are heavier than normal.

You might think this would even out, but instead it’s exacerbating a crisis. And staring squarely into the face of calamity are the Maasai people, perhaps the most famous ethnic group in the region.

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Submitted by GregMoore on November 4, 2009 - 10:44am.
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In Kenya, When Things Go Bump in the Night

By Greg Moore, The Kansas City Star

Imagine the vast open plains of Africa.

Picture a pride of lions resting in the shade of an acacia tree.

See in your mind a herd of gazelle hopping, more than running toward the horizon.

And finally the setting sun, casting a beautiful, hazy glow over it all.

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Submitted by GregMoore on November 2, 2009 - 11:45pm.
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The face of coffee

By Tom Ryan, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel

Habte Mesfin, the owner of Revocup in Overland Park, cannot remember when he discovered his passion for coffee but it probably started on the day he was born. In his house in Ethiopia, on the day he arrived, his family made coffee. Friends gathered to celebrate.

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Submitted by tryan on October 30, 2009 - 6:07pm.
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Confusion among fellow English speakers on the way to Uganda

By Greg Moore, The Kansas City Star

There’s a friendly-looking guy sitting behind me, and I need to know something.

So, I figure, I’ll turn around and politely ask him my question. Easy, right?

Wrong. (C’mon, if it had been that simple would I be writing about it?)

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Submitted by GregMoore on October 29, 2009 - 2:11am.
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A frightening encounter in Kenya -- public speaking

Greg MooreGreg MooreBy Greg Moore, The Kansas City Star

All I could think was, “God, I wonder whether they can tell how nervous I am?”

Because I was. In fact, I was sweating. Forehead, hands, feet, armpits. All that.

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Submitted by GregMoore on October 22, 2009 - 10:09am.
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A foreigner's first impressions of East Africa

By Greg Moore, The Kansas City Star

Greg MooreGreg MooreMy family and friends back home in the U.S. want to know my first impressions of Kenya. And my East African friends are eager to learn the same thing.

My answer is this: The differences are striking ... but, the similarities have come as far more of a shock.

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Submitted by GregMoore on October 21, 2009 - 6:30am.
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Catholic colonialism continues

By Tom Ryan, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel

Periodically, the Pope reminds us that he is a head of state. In His Holiness’ recent address to the African bishops visiting the Vatican, he warned that a new kind of colonialism threatens Africa.

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Submitted by tryan on October 4, 2009 - 9:28am.
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AIDS battle takes a tragic turn in Uganda

By Rodney Muhumuza, Special to The Kansas City Star

After a study showed that circumcision reduces the incidence of HIV infection in men, circumcision providers in Uganda have been enjoying brisk business.

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Submitted by Anonymous on August 18, 2009 - 2:38pm.
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Hillary Clinton's diplomatic coup

By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board

It took just a moment for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to successfully grab the attention of Africans, speaking in a voice that many could find respectful and galvanizing even as she broached old complaints about corruption, bad governance and human rights violations.

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Submitted by Anonymous on August 14, 2009 - 6:23pm.
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Clinton's diplomatic coup in Africa

By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board

It took just a moment for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to successfully grab the attention of Africans, speaking in a voice that many could find respectful and galvanizing even as she broached old complaints about corruption, bad governance and human rights violations.

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Submitted by Anonymous on August 14, 2009 - 10:23am.
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Hillary Clinton on Bill: He's not the secretary of state. I am.

By Matt Schofield, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had obviously heard enough last week about her husband's success in North Korea.

So, during a stop in Kinshasa, Congo, when a student asked her what her husband thought about a controversial $9 billion deal between Congo and China, she snapped, a bit.

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Submitted by mschofield on August 11, 2009 - 8:54am.
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National fast draws attention to Darfur tragedy

By Judy Hellman, Special to The Kansas City Star

On Thursday, I will join concerned people from across the country in a fast of solidarity with the people of Darfur. The Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee invites the community to participate.

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Submitted by Anonymous on August 9, 2009 - 6:00am.
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Clinton defrosts relations with South Africa

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

South Africa was a forgotten country during the Bush administration. On Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to defrost the relationship with Africa's most important country.

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Submitted by Yael T. Abouhalkah on August 8, 2009 - 4:10pm.
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Use sanctions to force needed changes in Kenya

By Peter Makori, Special to The Kansas City Star

The Kenyan government is staring at international sanctions after the country’s political elite rejected the formation of a special local tribunal to prosecute warlords responsible for post-election violence.

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Submitted by Anonymous on August 6, 2009 - 3:14pm.
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Slum in Kenya needs more than just promises

By Miriam Pepper, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

NAIROBI, KENYA | Before entering one of the world’s largest slums, a dozen American journalists are directed toward a row of knee-high rubber boots. The instruction is to swap your shoes for boots and keep your pants tucked inside the boot tops.

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Submitted by Anonymous on July 25, 2009 - 6:00am.
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International business profits as civilians die

Denzyl Janneker, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist

Following my recent post regarding the generosity of Americans towards victims of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, comes a newly released report of foreign companies profiting from violence in the region.

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Submitted by denzyljanneker on July 22, 2009 - 5:00pm.
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Obama's inspiring trip to Ghana

By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board

In Ghana tonight, the streets are lined with flashy new billboards of their new president and of ours. It’s part of the hoopla and glory that has the West African nation standing tall as the first sub-Saharan nation to host President Barack Obama.

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Submitted by Anonymous on July 10, 2009 - 8:37am.
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Awful deaths of aid workers in Yemen

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

On the list of atrocities that take place every day on this planet of ours, the wanton murders of three aid workers who were kidnapped while picnicking in Yemen seem especially horrifying.

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Submitted by barbshelly on June 16, 2009 - 10:04am.
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An Obama family reunion in the works?

By Miriam Pepper, Kansas City Star editorial page editor

Miriam Pepper is in Kenya on a two-week fellowship with the International Reporting Project of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She posts today from the family home of Barack Obama's father. View a slide of photos here.

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Submitted by Anonymous on June 3, 2009 - 10:04am.
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Kenya Today

By Miriam Pepper
Kansas City Star Editorial Page Editor

NAIROBI: The world's largest slum is here, Kibera, home to 1.2 million mostly young Kenyans, about one third of Nairobi's population.

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Submitted by Miriam_Pepper on June 1, 2009 - 1:12pm.
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Zuma comes with heavy baggage as South Africa's new president

By Denzyl Janneker, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices panelist 2009

A Jacob Zuma presidency? For some, it just doesn’t wash.

South Africa inaugurates its fourth post-apartheid president today, a man whom I’ve met and have come to admire for his contribution to the liberation struggle.

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Submitted by Anonymous on May 8, 2009 - 11:45am.
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Should U.S. military attack pirates to protect business interests?

George Harris KC Star Reader Advisory Panel 2008

It’s great that Captain Richard Phillips is safe, and the Navy Seals performed impressively with coordinated sniper fire that ended the hostage’s nightmare by killing his pirate captors.

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Submitted by GeorgeHarris on April 13, 2009 - 9:59pm.
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Midwest Voices: Mugabe devours piety, propriety

By Denzyl Janneker, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices panelist 2009

As Christians in much of the world this week marked the start of the season of Lent — a 40-day period of almsgiving, prayer and fasting — one of their faithful must have misread the church’s teachings.

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Submitted by Anonymous on February 27, 2009 - 3:50pm.
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Saturday editorial: Hold the champagne in Zimbabwe

With a cholera epidemic raging in his hungry nation, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is planning a champagne and caviar extravaganza in honor of his 85th birthday.

The dictator is soliciting contributions to the occasion, and his list of suggestions — lobsters, chocolates, duck and more — is one more reason to despair for the African nation.

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Submitted by barbshelly on February 13, 2009 - 4:09pm.
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The unnoticed atrocities against African civilians

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

While the world is riveted on the body count in the latest outbreak of Middle East warfare -- it had topped 350 as of this morning -- the killing in Africa goes on nearly unnoticed.

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Submitted by barbshelly on December 30, 2008 - 11:00am.
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Makori's column: Time for other African leaders to leave, too

By Peter Makori, The Kansas City Star

The resignation of South African President Thabo Mbeki last week heralds a new era in Africa, a continent dominated by political demigods and kleptomaniacs who do not respect constitutional authority.

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Submitted by Anonymous on September 30, 2008 - 1:48pm.
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Hunt down the world's war criminals

By Peter Makori, Kansas City Star Contributing Writer

The International Criminal Court’s indictment last week of Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir was long overdue.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, ICC chief prosecutor, presented indictment charges before the court in The Hague, Netherlands.

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Submitted by Anonymous on July 22, 2008 - 2:18pm.
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Nelson Mandela a statesman for the ages

By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

Lots of tributes today in honor of Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday.

Mandela has lived long enough to have seen his life thoroughly examined by biographers, friendly and otherwise.

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Submitted by barbshelly on July 18, 2008 - 2:29pm.
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Saturday's editorial: Kenya, U.S. airline pact a step forward

A recent airspace agreement signed by the United States and Kenya marks a big step toward opening up business partnerships between the nations.

The pact, signed by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and senior U.S. officials in Washington, enables airlines to fly directly between the two nations.

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Submitted by Anonymous on June 27, 2008 - 3:32pm.
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Thursday's editorial: Time to end Mugabe's reign of terror

People inside and outside of Zimbabwe must reject Robert Mugabe’s attempt to declare himself the nation’s legitimate ruler after a sham run-off election scheduled for Friday.

Challenger Morgan Tsvangirai, of the Movement for Democratic Change, withdrew from the race because of murders and the intimidation of his supporters by militia allied with Mugabe.

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Submitted by Anonymous on June 25, 2008 - 3:12pm.
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