Ugandan

KAMPALA, Uganda - Ugandan criticism of a viral video about a brutal central African warlord continued to grow since a public screening in a remote Ugandan town once terrorized by the Lord's Resistance Army. The head of a Ugandan charity that showed "Kony 2012" said Thursday that he would suspend further screenings after getting overwhelmingly negative reaction from viewers on Tuesday who did not understand why there were so many white faces in the video, or why Kony needed to be made famous.

RIVER VOVODO, Central African Republic - For Ugandan soldiers tasked with catching Joseph Kony, the real threat is not the elusive Central Africa warlord and his brutal gang. Encounters with the Lord's Resistance Army rebels are so rare that Kony hunters worry more about the threats of the jungle: armed poachers, wild beasts, honey bees, and even a fly that torments their ears. A soldier crossing the Chinko river in the Central African Republic this month was drowned and mauled by a crocodile, spreading terror among hundreds of soldiers who must camp near streams because they need water to cook food.

James stood left of center stage, in the last row of a choir of 24 Ugandan children harmonizing to "All Things Bright and Beautiful. " Rapt, the overflow crowd at the Church of the Saviour in Wayne listened as the African Children's Choir performed its last concert of a 15-month tour of the United States. James Ndyanabo, 13, was one of the oldest children in the choir. Like the others, orphans aged 5 to 13, his life until now had not been bright or beautiful. During the final years of President Idi Amin's reign in the East African country of Uganda, James saw his father hauled off by soldiers during a raid on his family's village.

Jennifer Anyayo has one more round to go. Then, if the planets are in alignment or God is watching - or if bad men just choose to stop fighting - Jennifer will go home to a land at peace. That would be a first for the 15-year-old victim of war. I met Jennifer two years ago in northern Uganda, where a civil war has roiled for 20 years. This conflict has its own gruesome twist: A guerrilla group called the Lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, has fought the Ugandan government.

WHILE Melissa Fitzgerald was in northern Uganda filming her documentary "Staging Hope," a teenager came up to her and asked for one thing: "Don't let us die in these camps," the youth said. "Don't forget about us. " His appeal is repeated several times throughout "Staging Hope. " Through the documentary, Fitzgerald - who grew up in Chestnut Hill and graduated from Springside School and the University of Pennsylvania - hopes to inform the U.S. about the plight of northern Uganda and keep the conversation about humanitarian efforts alive.

When he sings, the Ugandan vocalist and songwriter Samite is serenity itself. His voice can be a calming agent, a smooth and reassuring presence that flows like a brook over the bedrock African rhythms. When he talks, it's a different story. "I'm really sorry to be so excited," he said recently by telephone from his home in Ithica, N.Y., in crisp and perfect English. "It's just that I'm going for the first time in 15 years to Uganda, and whenever I talk about it, it brings up very strong emotions.

Five days after she was abducted in the night from her Roman Catholic boarding school, Charlotte Awino learned how to kill. She was 14. The girl she killed, who was even younger than she was, had tried to escape from the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group that had snatched thousands of Ugandan children. The rebels ordered Awino and 29 other schoolgirls to execute her. At first, they refused. The rebels beat them with guns and machetes, and gave the order again. This time, they obeyed.

KAMPALA, UGANDA - Advertisements pinned on the walls of shopping malls in Uganda's capital promise young women a free ticket to a well-paying job in Malaysia as a nanny, maid or bartender. Instead many are forced to become "sex slaves" to pay off travel fees and other costs, totaling as much as $7,000. The traffickers brainwash their victims into believing they may die if they quit. Authorities say that nearly all of the prostituted girls have college degrees but have failed to find jobs in Uganda, where unemployment is high.

KAMPALA, Uganda - Ugandan criticism of a viral video about a brutal central African warlord continued to grow since a public screening in a remote Ugandan town once terrorized by the Lord's Resistance Army. The head of a Ugandan charity that showed "Kony 2012" said Thursday he would suspend further screenings after getting overwhelmingly negative reaction from viewers on Tuesday who did not understand why there were so many white faces in the video, or why Kony needed to be made famous.

Friends and associates yesterday remembered Lester J. DaCosta, 48, a lawyer from the Sicklerville section of Winslow Township, as "an uncommon maverick" who often championed cases for those who could not afford to pay him. Mr. DaCosta, a one-time lawyer to now-deposed Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, had a passionate sense of justice, particularly for members of minority groups and the underprivileged, they said. Mr. DaCosta fled to the United States in 1972 after his own assassination had been ordered in Uganda, according to acquaintances.

RIVER VOVODO, Central African Republic - For Ugandan soldiers tasked with catching Joseph Kony, the real threat is not the elusive Central Africa warlord and his brutal gang. Encounters with the Lord's Resistance Army rebels are so rare that Kony hunters worry more about the threats of the jungle: armed poachers, wild beasts, honey bees, and even a fly that torments their ears. A soldier crossing the Chinko river in the Central African Republic this month was drowned and mauled by a crocodile, spreading terror among hundreds of soldiers who must camp near streams because they need water to cook food.

KAMPALA, Uganda - Ugandan criticism of a viral video about a brutal central African warlord continued to grow since a public screening in a remote Ugandan town once terrorized by the Lord's Resistance Army. The head of a Ugandan charity that showed "Kony 2012" said Thursday that he would suspend further screenings after getting overwhelmingly negative reaction from viewers on Tuesday who did not understand why there were so many white faces in the video, or why Kony needed to be made famous.

KAMPALA, Uganda - Ugandan criticism of a viral video about a brutal central African warlord continued to grow since a public screening in a remote Ugandan town once terrorized by the Lord's Resistance Army. The head of a Ugandan charity that showed "Kony 2012" said Thursday he would suspend further screenings after getting overwhelmingly negative reaction from viewers on Tuesday who did not understand why there were so many white faces in the video, or why Kony needed to be made famous.

KAMPALA, Uganda - The wildly successful viral video campaign to raise global awareness about a brutal central Africa rebel leader is drawing criticism from some Ugandans who said Friday that the 30-minute video misrepresented the complicated history of Africa's longest-running conflict. The campaign by the advocacy group Invisible Children to make militia leader Joseph Kony a household name received enormous attention on YouTube and other Internet sites during the week. But critics in Uganda said the video glossed over the complicated history that made it possible for Kony to achieve the notoriety he has today.

KAMPALA, Uganda - The wildly successful viral video campaign to raise global awareness about a brutal central Africa rebel leader is drawing criticism from some Ugandans who said Friday the 30-minute video misrepresented the complicated history of Africa's longest-running conflict. The campaign by the advocacy group Invisible Children to make militia leader Joseph Kony a household name received enormous attention on YouTube and other Internet sites this week. But critics in Uganda said the video glossed over the complicated history that made it possible for Kony to achieve the notoriety he has today.

KAMPALA, UGANDA - Advertisements pinned on the walls of shopping malls in Uganda's capital promise young women a free ticket to a well-paying job in Malaysia as a nanny, maid or bartender. Instead many are forced to become "sex slaves" to pay off travel fees and other costs, totaling as much as $7,000. The traffickers brainwash their victims into believing they may die if they quit. Authorities say that nearly all of the prostituted girls have college degrees but have failed to find jobs in Uganda, where unemployment is high.

WHILE Melissa Fitzgerald was in northern Uganda filming her documentary "Staging Hope," a teenager came up to her and asked for one thing: "Don't let us die in these camps," the youth said. "Don't forget about us. " His appeal is repeated several times throughout "Staging Hope. " Through the documentary, Fitzgerald - who grew up in Chestnut Hill and graduated from Springside School and the University of Pennsylvania - hopes to inform the U.S. about the plight of northern Uganda and keep the conversation about humanitarian efforts alive.

WASHINGTON - President Obama said Friday he's dispatching roughly 100 U.S. troops to central Africa to support the battle against a guerrilla group accused of widespread atrocities, but he stressed they're being sent to advise, not to join the fight. In a letter to Congress, Obama said the troops would act as advisers in a long-running battle against the Lord's Resistance Army and help to hunt down its notorious leader, Joseph Kony. He said they would not engage in combat except in self-defense.

U.S., Vietnam hold 1st defense talks HANOI, Vietnam - Former foes Vietnam and the United States held their first defense talks Tuesday, which a senior U.S. official called extremely productive and successful. "I was struck by the open and frank discussions that we were able to have even though this is the first time that this dialogue was held," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Robert Scher said at a news conference. The talks came as the two countries celebrate the 15th anniversary of their normalization of relations after being enemies in the Vietnam War. Last week, the two navies conducted training exercises, a sign of growing military ties.

The doctor was telling the teenage war veteran from Uganda that he could alternate between two attachments to his new prosthetic arm: a hook or a hand. The hook "doesn't look as beautiful," said Alberto Esquenazi, the physician who leads MossRehab's Regional Amputee Center and who also wears a prosthetic arm. "But you can do more with a hook. " Ronald Okello, 18, wasn't buying it. But he certainly wasn't arguing either. There were just too many new possibilities to explore.