Grotesque and seductive, Wangechi Mutus art embraces everything from Tina Turner and cyborgs to rotten milk and war crimes. As her new show opens, the artist talks to Teju Cole about skinning snakes and seeing mermaids Wangechi Mutu: the queen of wild collage in pictures When Wangechi Mutu first became aware of the sea mammal that coastal Kenyans call nguva , she knew shed found the key to her next...
Somali pirates who abducted a journalist and held him for ransom claim they were paid a $1.6m (£1m) to release him. Michael Scott Moore was released on Tuesday after being held captive for two years and eight months. He holds both German and American citizenship. Continue reading... ...
Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series Continue reading... ...
I first met Japhet while I was researching my book, Running With the Kenyans. Seeing him take second place in a race that I was not sure I would finish has filled me with pride Last year at the Edinburgh marathon I stood watching as my Kenyan friend Japhet Koech ran a brave race to finish fifth in 2 hours 21 minutes. I say brave, because he ran the race after a stressful four-day journey from Iten...
Donation from Japanese pharmaceutical firm will allow 1,200 women to have life-transforming surgery to cure incontinence A $2m (£1.2m) donation will help Kenyan surgeons give more than 1,000 women life-transforming surgery to cure incontinence caused by fistula and will train more specialists to perform the operation. Continue reading... ...
Ambassador makes statement day after Nairobi bomb attack Embassy staff say security has increased in compound The United States said on Saturday it was preparing cut staff levels at its Nairobi embassy, because of the mounting threat of attacks in Kenya by Islamist militants. A statement from the US ambassador to Kenya, Robert F Godec, said the embassy was continuously reviewing and updating its security...
Holiday firms fly back Britons and cancel flights as UK warns of high threat from terrorism from extremists linked to al-Shabaab Hundreds of British tourists are being evacuated from Kenya after the Foreign Office warned against all but essential travel to parts of the country. Continue reading... ...
Holidaymakers from the UK leave Mombasa, Kenya, after warnings of an attack by Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. The tourists express their disappointment at their holidays being cut short, as they wait for flights back to England. The Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to Kenya Continue reading... ...
At least 10 killed by blasts in Kenyan capital as hundreds of British tourists evacuated due to renewed terror threat Two blasts have hit Nairobi, killing 10 people and injuring 70 as hundreds of British tourists were evacuated from the country due to the renewed terror threat. Nairobi police chief, Benson Kibue, said two improvised explosive devices were detonated in a market area near central Nairobi...
Holiday operator Thomson helps hundreds leave country and cancels flights to Mombasa after Foreign Office issues warning A British travel agency is evacuating hundreds of tourists from Kenya after the Foreign Office warned against all but essential travel to parts of the country because of the threat from terrorists. Holiday operator Thomson is said to be flying all of its customers back to the UK...
Border Force and Met 'week of action' over illegal procedure intercepts families at Heathrow flying to or from African countries Police and UK border officials have been runnning a campaign at airports nationwide to intercept families who could have taken their children abroad for female genital mutilation. The campaign, designed to raise awareness and promote a zero-tolerance approach to the crime,...
With prostitutes charging just 14p for sex double for unprotected intercourse some say social stigma has forced them to make false rape claims to access life-saving medication In Kondele, sex is in high demand. Prostitutes charge clients as little as 20 shillings (14p), or provide sex on credit with the hope of being paid at the end of the month. Continue reading... ...
Fifty or more killed and others blinded by illicit brew believed to have been laced with poisonous methanol to make it stronger At least 50 people have died in Kenya from drinking illegal liquor believed to have been laced with industrial alcohol to boost its strength. Dozens more people were hospitalised and several went blind, authorities and media reports said. Television footage showed victims...
Brittle Paper gives a run-down of the contenders for this year's award. The winner is announced in July A Nairobi girl through and through, Oduor is working on her debut novel and teaches creative writing. I remembered a time when I was a little child, when I stared into my fathers eyes in much the same way. In them I saw shapes; a drunken, talentless conglomerate of circles and triangles and squares....
Homemade bombs explode on two commuter buses on Thika highway in Kenyan capital, a day after two blasts on the coast At least three people were killed and 62 wounded when two homemade bombs exploded on buses along one of the busiest highways in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Of the 62 wounded, 20 were in critical condition, according to the national disaster operations centre. Continue reading... ...
At least three dead in explosion at bus terminal, while second blast damages luxury hotel At least three people were killed when attackers threw an explosive device at passengers at a bus station in Mombasa on Saturday, and a luxury hotel in the Kenyan coastal city was damaged in a separate blast, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Kenya has blamed similar attacks on...
CDC development fund insists projects will create jobs in poor countries but NGOs accuse government of helping big business Millions of pounds of British aid money to tackle poverty overseas has been invested in builders of gated communities, shopping centres and luxury property in poor countries, the Guardian can reveal. CDC, the little-known investment arm of the British aid programme, has invested...
Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series Continue reading... ...
Short-term and changing funding priorities and limited support for administrative costs may inadvertently force local organisations to misspend aid You may never have heard the term "briefcase NGO" but you may well know the type of organisation it describes. A briefcase NGO exists, metaphorically or literally, inside a briefcase. It may have well-written proposals and access to western donors...
Anti-gay laws were introduced to Africa by Western colonialists. Now, as former colonisers recognise LGBT rights Africa is still stuck in the past, writes Val Kalende At a time when more countries are moving towards inclusive human rights , Africa is taking steps backwards. Backwards, that is, specifically on the issue of gay rights, though sadly not to before colonialism, the era in which anti-gay...