JASON STRAZIUSO

Associated Press
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Analysis: Why set US troops on Africa militants?

Why is the U.S. sending its troops to finish off a fractured band of bush fighters in the middle of Africa? Political payback for the quiet sacrifices of Uganda's troops in Somalia could be one reason.

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Boy fighters of Somalia warn of al-Shabab cruelty

The former al-Shabab foot soldiers assigned to a drab cement housing bloc are young — too young. One is only 9, yet they were enforcers of harsh edicts from Islamist militants who are preventing thousands of Somalis from escaping famine.

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Bill Gates to tell health leaders: More vaccines

Bill Gates will have the attention of most of the world's health ministers on Tuesday, when he plans to share one main message: Get your vaccination rates up.

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Police arrest, tear gas Uganda's opposition leader

Police cracked open the window of Uganda's top opposition leader and fired tear gas into his vehicle on Thursday, wounding him in the eye during a fifth protest march over rising costs.

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Kenya, Uganda protest as maize prices skyrocket

Stephen Omandi scratched out the number "55" on the sign advertising buckets of maize and wrote in the new price: 60 Kenya shillings.

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4 American hostages killed by pirates off Somalia

A U.S. Navy destroyer was shadowing a hijacked yacht with four Americans aboard when a pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade, followed by bursts of gunfire. U.S. special forces scrambled onto the occupied vessel only to find the four Americans fatally wounded.

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4 American hostages killed by pirates, US says

A pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. Navy destroyer shadowing a hijacked yacht with four Americans aboard Tuesday. Then gunfire erupted, the military said. U.S. special forces rushed to the yacht only to find the four Americans fatally wounded.

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4 American hostages killed by pirates, US says

Four Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates off East Africa were shot and killed by their captors Tuesday, the U.S. military said, marking the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in a wave of pirate attacks plaguing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean for years.

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Pirates hijack 4 Americans; US mulls responses

An American couple that has sailed the world with a yacht full of Bibles was hijacked by Somali pirates, and the U.S. said Saturday it is assessing possible options.

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Pirates hijack 4 Americans; US mulls responses

Somali pirates hijacked the yacht of an American couple who traveled the world handing out Bibles, and the U.S. government said Saturday it was assessing possible responses.

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Navratilova 'just couldn't breathe' on Kilimanjaro

Martina Navratilova was released from a Nairobi hospital on Sunday, three days after her liquid-filled lungs forced her to abandon her attempt to climb Africa's highest mountain.

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Navratilova hospitalized after Kilimanjaro attempt

Martina Navratilova was hospitalized in Kenya because of fluid accumulation in her lungs after attempting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. The 54-year-old tennis great is expected to recover.

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Clan fighting in central Somalia kills 20

Clashes between rival clans in central Somalia have killed at least 20 people, residents said Tuesday.

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Clarification: Piracy story

In a story Nov. 23 about pirate attacks off Somalia's coast, The Associated Press reported that Somali pirates hold more than 300 crew members from at least 16 ships. The story should have specified that pirates hold about 500 hostages from some 20 vessels.

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Somalia surprise: Working gov't, no gunfire

A new six-story office building will soon house a $1 billion-a-year business. The recently elected president has appointed smart people and won the admiration of the international community. Gunfire is nowhere to be heard.

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Village becomes lab for curing Africa's problems

This village of straw huts sits on a sea of sand 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the nearest paved road. Camels and girls with jerrycans crowd around the watering holes. There's little electricity and not a single TV.

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Wildebeest roadblock? Highway planned in Serengeti

Tanzania's Serengeti is a vast plain dotted with acacia trees and watering holes, where wildebeest and zebra gather in huge herds for annual migrations.

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Somalia rebels looking increasingly like Taliban

Men are forced to grow beards. Women can't leave home without a male relative. Music, movies and watching sports on TV are banned. Limbs are chopped off as punishment, and executions by stoning have become a public spectacle.

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3 war vets, 1 good leg: Amputees climb Kilimanjaro

The three American veterans from three different wars had only one good leg among them. But that didn't stop them from summiting Africa's highest mountain.

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New constitution for Kenya as 'No' team concedes

Kenya's president heralded the passage of a new constitution Thursday as a "national renewal," after results showed that close to 70 percent of the country had backed the document replacing a British colonial-era draft that inflated the powers of the presidency.

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Heart transplant climber turned back on Mt. Kenya

An American heart transplant recipient who climbs mountains to demonstrate the power of organ donation has been turned back by frigid weather and loose rocks while attempting to summit Africa's second-highest peak.

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Kenya outraged over parliament's $175K pay vote

Kenyans expressed outrage Friday after members of parliament this week recommended giving themselves a $175,000 annual pay package, compensation decried as overly exorbitant in a country where farm workers earn only $40 a month.

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Violence rises in Rwanda as election nears

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton presented Rwanda's leader with a global citizen award last fall and lauded him for freeing the minds of his people. Now as an election approaches, critics fear Paul Kagame's government is instead smashing dissent.

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Rwanda muzzles candidate, fearing genocide return

When presidential hopeful Victoire Ingabire, a Hutu, returned to Rwanda after a long absence she immediately visited a memorial to Tutsis killed in the 1994 genocide and asked why Hutus who also died weren't remembered. She then told Hutu prisoners she would get them out of chains.

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Southern Sudan's likely capital has long way to go

Some aid workers live in shipping containers in this stifling hot city, while residents on the outskirts dwell in mud huts. Trash fills the streets — most of which are unpaved — and fresh produce is a luxury.

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