READING THE BODY language of most Kenyan politicians now, it is becoming evident that the country will soon go to a referendum to sanction the harmonised draft as a fair social contract.

A FRENCH frigate operating off the coast of Somalia has captured 35 pirates in just 48 hours, the French Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Agencies

Twenty armed militants loyal to Taliban' rival group the Islamic party Hizb-e-Islami laid down their arms and surrendered to the government in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province Sunday, police spokesman in the region Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai said.

KABUL, March 7
Source: KNA

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Sunday China's proposed measures on practical cooperation with Africa, raised by Premier Wen Jiabao last year, were carried out in a smooth way.

BEIJING, March 7 (KNA)

KENYA has extended humanitarian support to the landslide victims in Uganda. Following President Mwai Kibaki's directive, the Kenya Government made an initial contribution of 700 bags of maize, 600 bags of rice, 400 bags of beans and 556 cartons of vegetable oil.

By PPS

SOUTH AFRICAN President Jacob Zuma begins his first state visit to Britain since his inauguration last May. This visit is a high-profile occasion, not least because it comes just less than 100 days before the start of the 2010 football World Cup, a showcase event for South Africa and the African continent.

Agencies

The Swiss international airlines yesterday launched a new long haul airbus A330-300 in East Africa to the Nairobi -Dar-es-salaam route.

By Josephine Wanja
Source: KNA

KENYA'S economy is expected to grow by 3 per cent in 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

By Times Reporter

TEA worth Sh9.4 billion was exported from the Mombasa tea auction centre to different world destinations during the month of January this year.

By Agencies

Thousands of farmers in parts of Western and Central Kenya have a reason to smile following the launch of an innovative program aimed at protecting their investments.

Tea worth sh. 9.4 billion was exported from the Mombasa tea auction centre to different world destinations during the month of January this year.

Mombasa, March 8, 2010,By Salma Maro
Source: KNA

SOUR DEAL: Harambee Stars players in action against Tunisia in a past match. Kenya will seek compensation from CAF over cancellation of CHAN match against Ethiopia.


TIMES CORRESPONDENT

RAISING DUST: A rally car navigates a corner during a past East African Rally.

TIMES REPORTER

CLAWS DRAWN: Sofapaka's Edgar 'Fighter' Ochieng' (l) and Nicholas Muyoti in a training session. The players will be in action tonight against Martin Imbalambala's (down)FC Leopards in a top mid-week clash.

FIRED-UP: Bernard Ngumba Irungu (left) in action against Tulashboy Doniyorov (red) of Uzbekistan in the Men's Fly (51kg) fight during Day 4 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in China.




CHARLES THUKU

RARING TO GO: Coast Rally champion Naushad Kara pictured in the cockpit. He has vowed to retain the Coast Rally crown.








TIMES CORRESPONDENT

The entertainment industry continues to gain popularity among the country's young entrepreneurs year upon year.

Nairobi, February 22, 2010
By Dave Buchere

Phobias are the most common form of anxiety disorders. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias.

Security is not the only issue faced by internet users but also the increased entrants to the World Wide Web, an official of a leading internet service provider has said.

By Elizabeth Mbatia
Source: KNA

INFORMATION and Communications Permanent Secretary Dr. Bitange Ndemo has challenged Kenyan professionals to make use of the growing information and communication technology (ICT) and develop local information content.

By LAWRENCE KINOTI
Source: KNA

MICROSOFT has won court approval to shut down a global network of computers which it says is responsible for more than 1.5billion spam messages every day.

Agencies

THE Kenyan High Commission in London is threatened with closure owing to a Sh115 million (£1 million) debt in legal fees.

Kagendo Irene

The Government today got a grant of sh 1.4 million from the Japanese government for a forest preservation programme and for the improvement of capabilities to cope with natural disasters resulting from climatic change.

Nairobi, March 8, 2010, By Buchere
Source: KNA

THE DEPUTY Prime Minister Mr Musalia Mudavadi and Saboti Mp Mr Eugene Wamalwa yesterday clashed at a funeral over a requirement that councillors should have a degree before vying for mayoral post.

By TITUS MAERO

FORMER President Daniel Moi and reformed Mungiki leader Maina Njenga have blamed power hungry politicians as being responsible to the 2007 chaos that rocked the country after declaration of disputed presidential elections.

By MARTIN MUNYI

FEARS have been expressed that ongoing down pour in Western Province might cause landslides in hilly and deforested areas.

By Koli Kwendo

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has said his debt-stricken country was not seeking European taxpayers� money but needed a breathing space to cut its budget deficit and borrow "on normal conditions".
By Agencies

ON her recent visit to the Persian Gulf, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated an obvious fact that is finally becoming clear to outsiders: Iran is moving toward military dictatorship.

Agencies

KATHRYN Bigelow has become the first woman to win the best directing Oscar, as her Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker took six prizes, including best film.

Agencies

IF THE EARTHQUAKES in Chile and Haiti carry any message for those of us fortunate enough not to live in those places, perhaps it is that government regulation could save your life while rightwing ideology may kill you someday.

AS tensions over Iran and North Korea's programs rise, President Obama continues to push for his ambitious quest to rid the world of nuclear armaments.

– Agencies

An Indian new-generation, high performance sounding rocket conducted a successful flight-testing on Wednesday, the newspaper the Hindu reported on Thursday.

MUMBAI, March 4, 2010
Source: KNA

ON Sunday the British public was introduced to what one political journalist has painted as the dark face of the country's prime minister: An angry and abusive man whose rages were so intense the country's top bureaucrat had to intervene to comfort his distressed staff.

Xinhua

Slim and tall, he towers above ordinary men as he walks the streets of Machakos and Kitui.Yet, few recognize the man who, in his youth, felled one of the most formidable politicians in Kenya and made history by becoming the youngest cabinet minister in independent Kenya.

Machakos Feb. 22 2010 By Munyasya Musya
Source: KNA

The Kenya Climate change working group, a non-governmental body established last year to lobby for the adoption of activities that will stem climate change, was in Loitokitok last weekend to establish the extent and effect of climate change in the district.

Gicharu
Source:KNA

Plans to make the world famous Lake Bogoria national reserve a polythene free zone and an environmentally friendly reserve have been developed.

By Kiptanui Cherono
Source: KNA

DEEP in the forests of central Africa roams one of the world's largest, but most elusive land animals, the forest elephant.Few are ever seen, and no-one knows how many exist in fact, it was only a few years ago that scientists identified them as a unique species.

Agencies

Sudan's land of black pharaohs a trove for archaeologists THERE is not a tourist in sight as the sun sets over sand-swept pyramids at Meroe, but archaeologists say the Nubian Desert of northern Sudan holds mysteries to rival ancient Egypt.

Environmentalists have been urged to tone down their gospel to have eucalyptus trees done away with owing to their threat to water sources.

Meru, 23rd February, 2010, By Kiamah Wamutitu
Source: KNA

TWO weeks before Parliament was to debate what eventually became The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1996 , I met the then Sirisia MP, Mr John Munyasia on Moi Avenue in Nairobi, saying he was looking for literature on drugs ahead of the debate on the bill.

BY KENNEDY BUHERE

SOMALIA'S Islamist al Shabaab rebel group have vowed to defend itself against any government offensive and to subject the US to a failure worse than one it suffered in 1992 should it back the attack.


Xinhua and Agencies

Villagers look at bodies of victims of religious attacks lying in a mass grave in the Dogo Nahawa village, about 15 km (9 miles) to the capital city of Jos in central Nigeria.


Xinhua and Agencies

UGANDA'S opposition will revoke existing production sharing agreements and force oil companies in the country to renegotiate their deals, a senior official said yesterday.


Xinhua and Agencies

Togolese security forces fire tear gas at protestors in Lome. The force teargased hundreds of protesters on Sunday as the opposition vowed to contest the results of an election won by the incumbent President Faure Gnassingbe.

AFP/ISSOUF SANOGO

THE African Union has called on Ivory Coast to hold its presidential election, delayed since 2005, by the agreed deadline of early May.

Xinhua and Agengies