There’s an Obama baby-naming boom in Kenya. Ever since President-elect Barack Obama won the election over his Republican rival last week, little baby “Obamas” have been popping up all over the world, reports United Press International. This is especially the case at a hospital in Kisumu, Kenya. Officials at Nyanza Provincial Hospital say that 43 babies, between Nov. 4 and Nov. 8, were named after Obama or some of his family members. Twenty-three boys were given “Barack Obama” as their first and middle names and 20 girls were named after his wife, Michelle Obama. One mother, Pamela Odhiambo, says she gave birth to little “Michelle Obama” during Obama’s victory speech. “It’s a new start, a new beginning,” said Odhiambo.

The U.N. is forced to cut food aid to Zimbabwe. The United Nations’ food charity has to cut back on food distribution in Zimbabwe because the international aid agency is running low on money. Although the U.N.’s World Food Program (WFP) has fed 2 million people in October, a number they expect to grow to 4 million this month and rise to more than 5 million by early 2009, it lacks the funds to keep it going in 2009. “There is currently no food in the pipeline for distributions in January and February – just when the crisis is reaching its peak,” said the agency in a statement. The U.N. also asked for $140 million in more funding so it will be able to keep distributing aid in the nation until at least the end of March. A “disastrous” harvest in the country has resulted in millions of Zimbabweans being hungry; the demand was such that the WFP had to reduce cereal and pulse rations. The country has had a rough time with food shortages for the past seven years. Critics of longtime leader Robert Mugabe say that the country’s food problems were made worse when he enforced his policy of kicking White farmers off their land to redistribute to Blacks. Black Zimbabweans gained their independence from White rule in 1980.

Twelve are tried for poisoning in the Ivory Coast. Twelve people are being tried for dumping tons of toxic chemical waste in the Ivory Coast that allegedly resulted in the deaths of 17 people. The incident happened two years ago when a shocking 500 tons of waste from the oil industry was dumped in the nation’s largest city, Abidjan. Locals complained of breathing difficulties and rashes soon after. The head of a local company that entered an agreement with Dutch company Trafigura, to treat the waste, along with port and customs authorities face charges that include poisoning and complicity to poison, reports the BBC. While the victims’ family members are excited to see the trial begin, some are upset that no one from the Dutch company is charged. Some are also wondering why more of the higher-ranking government and port officials, who they accuse of ignoring the crime, aren’t in court either. But the Dutch company refuses to take responsibility for the poisoning since, they say, they trusted the local company they had the agreement with to dispose the waste safely. They did, however, pay the Ivorian government $200 million out of “sympathy.” Even now, two years later, the waste has not been removed and residents still claim to be suffering sickness and children born with defects due to it.

Charity will cut back on food aid to HIV positive. The World Food Program will have to cut back on aid to HIV-positive people in Uganda because funds are decreasing, reports The Monitor. The cuts are expected to hit 1.5 million people, not including the children currently receiving food from the school-feeding program. The organization will keep providing aid to people in the nation who are HIV-positive, but they should be in certain categories (like new moms and their babies, and some homeless people). Stanlake Samkange, the charity’s Ugandan representative, said if more money came their way they would be “happy to help” those who needed it. But he doesn’t want the group to promise aid when it isn’t sure it can provide it. A spokesman for the government’s AIDS Commission also stated that aid received from the program was never meant to be permanent anyway and that a replacement would need to be found soon so the needy won’t suffer. AIDS activists, of course, are not happy with the program’s announcement. One advocate said the patients are especially vulnerable. “They are not strong enough to engage in agriculture to feed themselves,” he said.