Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

Texas legislators have approved new congressional maps designed to give Republicans an edge in next year’s elections for the US House of Representatives. After a two-week standoff, where Democrats fled the state to stall the vote and rally supporters against the redistricting plans, Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives passed the new voting lines in an 88-52 vote. The maps will now go to the Texas Senate, where they are expected to be swiftly approved. They create five new Republican-leaning seats that would shore up the party’s US House majority in Washington DC. Democratic-led states are pushing to redraw…

A top official at the US Federal Reserve says she will not be “bullied” after President Donald Trump called for her resignation over an allegation of mortgage fraud. Governor Lisa Cook has been accused of falsifying documents and property records in a bid to get more favourable home loan. She said the claim stemmed from an application before she joined the central bank. The Trump administration is also pursuing mortgage fraud investigations against Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both political antagonists of the president. Trump has been seeking more influence over the US central bank…

The International Criminal Court (ICC) said it “deplores” new US sanctions on its judges and prosecutors. On Wednesday, the US State Department announced new sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors in the ICC for engaging in efforts to prosecute US and Israeli citizens. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the ICC of being a “national security threat” and “an instrument of lawfare” against the US and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed the US move. The ICC has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against…

Sony is PlayStation 5 gaming consoles in the US will jump by around $50 (£37.16) from Thursday as the Japanese technology giant grapples with rising costs and a slowing video game market. Like many global businesses, the firm faces a “challenging economic environment”, Isabelle Tomatis, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s vice president of global marketing said in a blog post. All three PlayStation 5 consoles will see a similar price increase. The most expensive Pro version now has a recommended retail price of $749.99. The price hikes come after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on most of America’s trading partners, including…

Popular Mugithi singer Samuel Muchoki well known by his stage name Samidoh resigned from the National Police Service (NPS) following threat to charge him. Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja confirmed the service had accepted the resignation letter. “He is free to pursue whatever he wishes,” said Kanja. This marked the end of his 12-year career in the service. Samidoh, in his resignation letter cited his personal reasons with the main one being desire to fully focus on his music career. This also marks the end of plans by the service to charge Samidoh for claims of desertion. The musician has…

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will only be allowed to hold his planned meeting at the Kamukunji grounds in Nairobi on Thursday if he or his party has made the requisite notifications to the police for adequate security deployment. Police said the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) had not notified them of the planned rally. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen maintained that the government will not allow unsanctioned public rallies to disrupt peace and business in Nairobi during Gachagua’s planned return. “If they have given the notification, we have absolutely no issue with any person, political party, or any politician…

Detectives from both the police and the military are investigating an incident in which a body of Kenya Defense Forces soldier was found dead in his house in Sunton area, Nairobi. Neighbors of an apartment said they were disturbed by a bad smell from the ground floor in Maji Mazuri area prompting them to break into the house on Wednesday morning. They stumbled on the decomposed body Sergeant Ezekiel Kiprop, 33 of the Kenya Navy. The body lay on the bed when it was discovered, officials said. Police and officials from the Military Police said there were no visible injuries…

When the White House posted a picture of US President Donald Trump meeting with world leaders in the Oval Office at the White House this week, eagle-eyed football fans spotted an unlikely piece of silverware in pride of place. The Club World Cup trophy, which Chelsea beat Paris St-Germain to win in July in New Jersey, can be seen on display, in the president’s office in Washington DC. The image led many on social media to question why ‘Chelsea’s trophy’ resides in one of the most important offices in the world weeks after Enzo Maresca’s side lifted it at Metlife…

Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen Wednesday cautioned politicians against inciting locals to violence, saying they will face the full force of the law. He noted that Nyandarua is one of the counties that is enjoying relative peace despite witnessing isolated cases of violent protests recently. “We have challenges of late when it comes to public protests, political organisers have been using and misusing young people to organise violent demonstrations,” the CS noted. He put on notice the planners, organisers and executors of the violent protests that they will not be spared regardless of their stature in society.…

M23 rebels killed at least 140 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last month in one of the worst atrocities by the armed group since its resurgence in late 2021, Human Rights Watch has said in a report. This is despite a peace process, brokered by the US and Qatar, to end the conflict in the region. Witnesses told the advocacy group that the Rwanda-backed rebels “summarily executed” local residents, including women and children, largely from the ethnic Hutu group in the Rutshuru area, near the Virunga National Park. The rebels have previously strongly denied any role in these…

The US has reached bilateral deportation agreements with Honduras and Uganda as part of its crackdown on illegal immigration, according documents obtained by the BBC’s US partner CBS. Uganda has agreed to take an unclear number of African and Asian migrants who had claimed asylum on the US-Mexico border, while Honduras will receive several hundred deported people from Spanish-speaking countries, CBS reports. The move is part of an attempt by Donald Trump’s administration to get more countries to accept deported migrants who are not their own citizens. Human rights campaigners have condemned the policy, saying migrants face the risk of…

A traffic accident in western Afghanistan has killed 79 people, including 17 children, most of whom were on a bus carrying Afghan migrants deported from Iran, a Taliban interior ministry spokesperson confirmed to the BBC. The bus, en route to Kabul, caught fire on Tuesday night after colliding with a truck and motorcycle in Herat province. Everyone aboard the bus was killed, as well as two people from the other vehicles, Ahmadullah Mottaqi, the Taliban’s director of information and culture in Herat, told BBC Pashto earlier. In recent months Iran has stepped up its deportations of undocumented Afghan migrants who…

CFAO Mobility Kenya Limited has completed the transfer of assets from DT Dobie & Company Kenya Ltd, consolidating the operations of the two entities under a single brand in a move aimed at improving efficiency and strengthening its market offering. The restructuring, which took effect on April 1, 2023, followed an internal realignment within the CFAO Group. Prior to the changes, the Group operated three subsidiaries in Kenya — CFAO Mobility Kenya (formerly CFAO Motors Kenya), DT Dobie, and LOXEA Kenya. Through the consolidation, CFAO Mobility Kenya has broadened its product and service portfolio to cover 12 internationally recognized automotive…

A man was attacked and killed by an assailant who raided a miraa yard in Maua, Igembe, Meru County. Police said Mauta Kanampio Njao was assaulted while guarding the yard in the Thaico area and sustained serious head injuries. The incident happened on Tuesday August 19 morning, police said. The man was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The body was moved to the mortuary pending autopsy and investigations, police said. Police said the assailant is known and efforts to trace him for grilling are ongoing. Elsewhere in Magumu, Nyandarua County, a woman was murdered…

Three men were on Tuesday August 19 arrested as they waited to meet a potential buyer of elephant tusks weighing seven kilos in Lungalunga, Kwale County. The tusks were valued at Sh700,000, Kenya Wildlife Service and police said. The men had traveled from Samburu County to the area with the six pieces of tusks when they were intercepted by both police and KWS personnel. They told police they were to meet a buyer of the ivory. The buyer failed to show up. The three were detained pending arraignment. Police said the suspects will be charged with the offence of being…