Kenya

NAIROBI, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Saturday marked a new milestone in space exploration by launching the first satellite dubbed "Taifa 1" into space after three botched attempts linked to bad weather.

Developed by nine Kenyan engineers, the observation satellite blasted off aboard SpaceX's Falcon-9 full-thrust rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E), at Vandenberg Space Force Base in the United States of America.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — At least 10 people died when the bus they were traveling in left the road and rolled several times in southern Kenya, police said Sunday.

The passengers were on their way back to the coastal city of Mombasa after attending a funeral in the Mwatate area, Taita Taveta County, on Saturday evening.

Mwatate Police Chief Morris Okul told The Associated Press that the driver of the bus survived and was hospitalized in critical condition.

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — Gobonamang Kgetho has a deep affection for Africa’s largest inland delta, the Okavango. It is his home.

The water and wildlife-rich land is fed by rivers in the Angolan highlands that flow into northern Botswana before draining into Namibia’s Kalahari Desert sands. Several Indigenous and local communities and a vast array of species including African elephants, black rhinos and cheetahs live among the vibrant marshlands. Much of the surrounding region is also teeming with wildlife.

KWALE, Kenya, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan tea traders are facing challenges in getting payment for their produce in key markets such as Egypt due to a shortage of U.S. dollars in the North African nation, a government official said on Wednesday.

Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry Moses Kuria said the shortage has made it harder for buyers in Egypt to pay for the produce affecting demand.

"The produce is there, but there are no ways for payment," he said during an ICT (information and communications technology) summit in the coastal town of Kwale.

NAIROBI, April 3 (NNN-KBC) — Kenyan President William Ruto has distanced his administration from allegations of planning to shut down the media and internet during the protests being led by the opposition.

In his address to the nation, Ruto noted the government has interest in attacking the media adding that journalists may have been caught up in the violence witnessed during the protests alongside other Kenyans.

NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Monday that Africa has the highest compliance rate with the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Elizabeth Mrema, deputy executive director of the UNEP, told a continental forum in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that African countries have demonstrated leadership as up to 98 percent of them have submitted their nationally determined contributions which outline their country's targets to reduce greenhouse emissions.

NAIROBI, March 30 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The hijacking of a Danish tanker was confirmed here by sources of the shipping company, according to which the vessel disappeared from radars last Saturday.    

The ship, named Monjasa Reformer, sailing under the Liberian flag, was boarded by the pirates, who have not yet made demands for the release of the 16 crew members, the owners of the ship, which was refueling in the area, added.

NAIROBI, March 30 (Reuters) - Fresh demonstrations organised on Thursday by opponents of Kenyan President William Ruto were marked again by violent clashes, as stone-throwing protesters battled police and a local office of Ruto's party was set ablaze.

The previous protest called for by opposition leader Raila Odinga on Monday against high living costs and alleged fraud in last year's election descended into apparent tit-for-tat attacks by both sides and drew pleas from civic leaders for calm.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan police said Tuesday that one person died, 31 officers were injured and more than 200 protesters were arrested in anti-government protests led by opposition leader Raila Odinga the previous day.

Odinga announced that the protests will be held twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays — starting next week.

NAIROBI, March 5 (NNN-KBC) — The US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman broke her silence over the ongoing debate about the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) community in Kenya.

Washington’s top diplomat in Nairobi says every country can make their own decisions about LGBTWQ rights and that there has been no coercion from the world’s largest power. She, however, insists that even though country’s can decide how to deal with gay rights issues, the United States has a different position which is that it views the LGBTQ rights as human rights.