NEWS
October 19, 2011 | By Maeve Reston
Making a quick trip to California after Tuesday night's debate in Nevada, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann sought to broaden the conversation to national security - chiding President Obama for “leading from behind” and accusing him of overstretching the nation's military resources. Lamenting the fact that Republican candidates have spent very little time debating foreign policy, Bachmann told a group of "tea party" activists in Pasadena on Wednesday that the president was wrong to send armed advisors to Uganda and several surrounding countries to target the militia known as the Lord's Resistance Army, which has killed thousands of people over the last two decades.
OPINION
October 18, 2011 | Jonah Goldberg
Weirdest Friday news dump ever. Very late in the day on Oct. 14, the Obama administration released a lot of politically problematic information, including the news that the deficit for 2011 hit $1.3 trillion (the second biggest ever, after 2009) and that it's abandoning the CLASS Act, one of the more expensive and unwieldy appendages of "Obamacare. " One other thing: The White House announced we're putting boots on the ground in sub-Saharan Africa. President Obama notified Congress that he's sending about 100 combat-equipped troops to advise African forces on how best to kill or capture (but hopefully kill)
WORLD
October 15, 2011 | By Brian Bennett and Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times
President Obama is sending about 100 special forces troops to central Africa to help target the leadership of the Lord's Resistance Army, a notorious militia that has been raping and pillaging in the remote jungles of northern Uganda and neighboring countries for more than two decades. The first team of armed advisors arrived in Uganda on Wednesday. Over the next month, the remaining U.S. troops, most of them Army Green Berets, will be sent to Uganda and surrounding countries, including South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Congo.
NEWS
October 6, 2011 | By Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times Daily Travel & Deal blogger
The Nile River is the star of this six-day tour, but not the section most tourists visit. The Nile Spectacle trip from Premier Safaris starts at Lake Victoria and Jinja,Uganda, the source of the river, with stays at high-end safari lodges along the way. Participants enjoy a day of rafting before heading to Murchison Falls National Park for four days to further explore the river and its wildlife. Stops include Murchison Falls and the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary as well as safaris to watch elephant, buffalo, giraffes, birds and other animals in their native habitat. When: Trip dates are open, based on travelers' requests.
ENTERTAINMENT
September 18, 2011 | By Nicole Sperling, Los Angeles Times
A few years ago, director Marc Forster went to visit Sam Childers at his home in rural Central City, Pa., eager to learn about how a drug dealer became a preacher and then director of an orphanage in Africa. As a get-to-know-you activity, Childers took the Swiss filmmaker (who has a penchant for purple sneakers and pink-striped socks) into his backyard to shoot guns. When screenwriter Jason Keller first met the outsized Childers, who has fought alongside the Sudan People's Liberation Army, Childers challenged his credentials so strongly the scribe rose from the table in a huff.
WORLD
August 4, 2011 | By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times
With hunger in the Horn of Africa dramatically worsening, the United Nations on Wednesday added three more regions of Somalia to the list of areas it says are stricken by famine. More than 12 million people are facing starvation, with children particularly vulnerable. The U.N. last month declared that two regions of Somalia were suffering from famine, and it said Wednesday that the famine was likely to spread across most of Somalia in coming months, as well as parts of Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.