KAMPALA, Oct 10, 2008 (AFP) - East African nations can limit the impact of the global financial crisis by focusing on regional trade, Ugandan State Minister for Trade Nelson Gagawala Wambuzi said Friday.

'As long as the East African community maintains solidarity together, the question of an East African economic collapse is totally out,' Wambuzi told a press conference here.

BUDUDA, Uganda, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - Like many cultural events, a male circumcision ceremony in eastern Uganda has its share of governing rules: the 'candidate' is not supposed to see the surgeon until seconds before the cutting and his mother cannot be present.

But as Sam Natsambwa, 23, prepared for his circumcision on a recent Saturday one rule seemed more important than the rest.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court renewed calls Monday
for the arrest of Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony following
attacks by the Ugandan rebel group on Congolese citizens.

THE HAGUE, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court renewed calls Monday for the arrest of Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony following attacks by the Ugandan rebel group on Congolese citizens.

KAMPALA, Oct 4, 2008 (AFP) - Uganda's controversial ethics and integrity minister who last month called for the wearing of miniskirts to be made illegal said Saturday he believed civilisation was being threatened by gays.

'Who is going to occupy Uganda 20 years from now if we all become homosexuals. We know that homosexuals don't reproduce,' James Nsaba Buturo told a press conference.

KAMPALA, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - A new family of mountain gorillas, one of the world's most endangered species, is ready for interaction with tourists, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) told AFP Friday.

'There is a new group of 13 members that has been habituated,' UWA spokeswoman Lillian Nsubuga said.

KAMPALA, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Uganda's former health minister, facing trial for embezzling AIDS vaccine funds, has been summoned by police over a recent bank robbery, a state-owned newspaper said Thursday.

'The police are interested in talking to me,' Jim Muhwezi told the New Vision newspaper.

KAMPALA, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) should be starved into accepting peace negotiations, a Ugandan minister said Tuesday, accusing some aid groups of sending the rebel group food aid.

'The LRA would not be surviving if nobody was sending them food,' Minister for Disaster Preparedness Tarsis Kabwegyere told AFP.

KHARTOUM, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Hundreds of refugees from northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have fled to neighbouring south Sudan after rebels launched brutal attacks, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.

KAMPALA, Sept 26, 2008 (AFP) - Around 1,700 people fleeing violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have sought refuge in neighbouring Uganda, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.

'Most people are spending the day at their homes in the DRC and then crossing into Uganda to sleep at night,' Kampala-based UNHCR spokeswoman Roberta Russo told AFP.

KAMPALA, Sept 26, 2008 (AFP) - Around 1,700 people fleeing violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have sought refuge in neighbouring Uganda, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.

'Most people are spending the day at their homes in the DRC and then crossing into Uganda to sleep at night,' Kampala-based UNHCR spokeswoman Roberta Russo told AFP.

GENEVA, Sept 22, 2008 (AFP) - The United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) on Monday urged the immediate release of 90 children kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo by rebels from Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

'UNICEF demands the unconditional release of the abducted children,' said Julien Harneis, UNICEF's chief of field operations in the eastern DRC.

KHARTOUM, Sept 19, 2008 (AFP) - Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army on Friday rejected claims it had launched deadly attacks in southern Sudan, as attempts to secure a peace deal looked increasingly shaky.

KHARTOUM, September 13, 2008 (AFP) - Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army vowed on Saturday to sign a final peace deal but warned it will not disarm until International Criminal Court arrest warrants for alleged war crimes are 'resolved'.

NAIROBI, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - The International Rescue Committee on Friday called for long-term investments in basic services to address a hepatitis E epidemic that has killed at least 121 people in northern Uganda.

KHARTOUM, September 11, 2008 (AFP) - South Sudan appealed on Thursday to Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to sign a final peace agreement 'for the sake of the people,' as military pressure mounted against the insurgents.

KAMPALA, September 10, 2008 (AFP) - Uganda's military on Wednesday encouraged the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo to hunt the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, whose leader has repeatedly backed out of a peace deal with Kampala.

KHARTOUM, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army on Tuesday warned against any military operations by Democratic Republic of Congo troops and vowed to act in self-defence.

KAMPALA, September 4, 2008 (AFP) - A Canadian oil prospecting firm said Thursday it had discovered Uganda's largest oil deposit in the Albert Basin near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

KAMPALA, September 4, 2008 (AFP) - A hepatitis E epidemic has killed 121 people in northern Uganda, where it erupted in October last year, a health ministry official said Thursday.

The outbreak has mainly affected displaced residents in the Kitgum district returning to their homes, which lack proper hygiene, said Kenya Mugisha, the ministry's director for clinical services.

THE HAGUE, September 2, 2008 (AFP) - Ugandan judge Daniel Nsereko has been appointed to the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court, the ICC announced Tuesday.

'Judge Nsereko has more than 20 years of comprehensive experience in criminal law and procedure,' the court, based in The Hague, said in a statement.

THE HAGUE, September 2, 2008 (AFP) - Ugandan judge Daniel Nsereko has been appointed to the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court, the ICC announced Tuesday.

'Judge Nsereko has more than 20 years of comprehensive experience in criminal law and procedure,' the court, based in The Hague, said in a statement.

KAMPALA, August 25, 2008 (AFP) - Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army on Monday accused south Sudanese troops of attacking them and scuppering a meeting with the top UN envoy to the region.

KAMPALA, August 25, 2008 (AFP) - Uganda's main opposition parties have embarked on a unity drive to end President Yoweri Museveni's lengthy rule in the 2011 elections, with a fifth group expressing support Monday, officials said.

JOHANNESBURG, August 24, 2008 (AFP) - Two South Africans have been arrested in Uganda but no formal charges have yet been laid against them, a South Africans foreign affairs spokesman said on Sunday.

KAPCHORWA, August 24, 2008 (AFP) - The rise in the cost of food has devastated consumers from the cities of North America to the tiny villages of Africa. But for many of Uganda's farmers, higher food prices have been the best thing to happen to them in years.

Four civilians died Wednesday in the battle-scarred Somali capital in fighting after an attack by ...

Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony wants to resume talks with the government to end a drawn-out ...

A hepatitis E epidemic in northern Uganda has killed 110 people since last October and continues to ...

Ugandan troops killed two Karamojong gunmen Friday, bringing to 12 the number of warriors from the ...

ENTEBBE, August 2, 2008 (AFP) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday argued that the African Union (AU) should carry out its own probe into war crimes allegations against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir.

JUBA, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - A southern Sudan cabinet minister on Friday accused the Ugandan military of killing 16 Sudanese civilians and said the deaths would be raised at talks with Kampala next week.

MOGADISHU, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - An African Union (AU) peacekeeper from Uganda was killed Friday when a roadside bomb explosion struck his convoy in the capital Mogadishu, an AU officer told AFP.

'The AU forces convoy was coming from the airport when it was targeted by a roadside bomb,' the officer said on condition of anonymity.

LONDON, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - The Archbishop of Uganda described the process by which the leader of the world's Anglicans is selected as a 'remnant of British colonialism' in an article Friday defending his church's decision not to attend the Lambeth Conference.

KAMPALA, July 21, 2008 (AFP) - Authorities in Uganda have detained three politicians working for the country's most prominent traditional monarch over suspected links to armed groups, police said Monday.

Charles Mayiga, Medard Lubega and Betty Nambooze were arrested late Friday on suspicion they 'may have attempted to acquire firearms,' police chief Kale Kaihura told AFP.

KAMPALA, July 21, 2008 (AFP) - The Ugandan army said Monday it had handed over at least 21 fugitive tribal fighters to Kenya where they are wanted for waging an illegal campaign against local communities in Mount Elgon region.

JOHANNESBURG, July 13, 2008 (AFP) - The head of South Africa's ruling African National Congress party will travel to Uganda this week to meet with President Yoweri Museveni and other officials, the ANC announced on Sunday.

KAMPALA, July 12, 2008 (AFP) - Outbreaks of cholera and hepatitis E in northern Uganda have killed 70 people since November last year, an official said Saturday.

In addition, some 4,100 others, mainly women and children, have been treated for the diseases in health centres across the region, according to State Primary Health Minister Emmanuel Otaala.