Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

A new fast-moving wildfire erupted in Los Angeles County, prompting tens of thousands to evacuate a region already reeling from the most destructive fires in its history. The Hughes fire ignited about 45 miles northwest of the city of Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, near Castaic Lake in a mountainous area that borders several residential areas and schools. The out-of-control blaze has grown to more than 9,400 acres in several hours fuelled by winds and dry brush that is acting as fuel. No homes or businesses have been damaged, but about 31,000 residents have been forced to flee and Interstate…

Real Madrid have become the first football club to generate more than 1bn euros in annual revenue, according to analysis by Deloitte. The Spanish club retain top spot in Deloitte’s Money League study with revenue of 1.05bn euros (£883m) from a 2023-24 season in which they won La Liga and the Champions League. Manchester City are again second with revenue of £708m. They won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title and the Club World Cup and European Super Cup last season. Paris St-Germain (£681m), Manchester United (£651m) and Bayern Munich (£646m) complete the top five. Aston Villa enter the…

Arsenal all but secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a comfortable 3-0 win over Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb at Emirates Stadium. Only a heavy defeat in Girona next week will prevent the Gunners – who are third – finishing in the top eight places and therefore bypassing the play-off stage of the competition. Arsenal took the lead in the second minute when Gabriel Martinelli’s cross was cushioned into Declan Rice’s path by Kai Havertz and the England midfielder hammered the ball past Zagreb keeper Ivan Nevistic. Havertz added a second on 66 minutes -…

A suspected fraudster accused of orchestrating a non-existent USD currency exchange scheme was on Wednesday arraigned in court for allegedly defrauding Sh40 million from a victim named Fatuma Hassan Abdullah. The suspect, identified as Pincrous Mwandiki Geoffrey, also known as John Ireri, is said to have enticed victims with false promises of converting Kenyan Shillings to US Dollars at an attractive exchange rate of Ksh 110 per dollar. Appearing before the Milimani Law Courts, Pincrous is alleged to have defrauded Fatuma over a span of two months, from November 2024 to mid-January 2025. During this time, the complainant reportedly handed…

Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson announced the waiver of painting permit fees for property owners within the city’s Central Business District (CBD) to encourage building maintenance.  The initiative, aimed at enabling landlords to repaint their buildings, comes with a 90-day deadline, as outlined in a notice issued earlier this week. Speaking during a meeting with sub-county and ward administrators, along with his executive team, Governor Sakaja emphasized the importance of adherence to the directive. “We have waived the painting permit fees to enable landlords to paint their buildings within the 90-day period, as the notice issued yesterday stated,” he confirmed. The…

Leading pan-African communications expert Gina Din-Kariuki has called on African countries to take charge of their own narrative during her address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  Speaking on the impact of media representations on the continent’s economic prospects, she emphasized the urgent need for intentional storytelling that moves beyond the election cycle and prioritizes governance and development. Din-Kariuki’s remarks align with the findings of a groundbreaking report by Africa No Filter and Africa Practice, which revealed that biased media narratives cost the continent up to $4.2 billion annually in inflated debt servicing.The study, titled The Cost of Media…

Tanzania’s main opposition party has chosen a new leader ahead of general elections due in October at a time when it faces increasing political repression.  Freeman Mbowe, who has been Chadema chairman for two decades, congratulated his successor — former deputy Tindu Lissu — on Wednesday. “I congratulate Hon. Tundu Lissu and his colleagues on being entrusted with the responsibility of leading the party,” Mbowe posted on X. The change comes amid a crackdown on the opposition in the country as well as internal divisions in the Chadema party that analysts say could weaken its election chances. The party’s general…

Two petitioners have moved to court under a certificate of urgency challenging a decision to block County governments from issuing bursaries to needy students.  They said that the directive stopping county governments from issuing bursary funds to children was unconstitutional and meant to deny those who are from poor and disadvantaged background an opportunity to get education as other children. The two, George Mwaura and Geoffrey Mugambi all residents of Mombasa County through their lawyer Ramadhan Salim have sued the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, the Controller of Budget and the Attorney General accusing them of trying to sabotage the county…

Public Service Cabinet Secretary (CS) Justine Muturi skipped Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting held at the Kakamega State Lodge in Kakamega County. The absence of Muturi triggered speculations on the motive. State House and Muturi did not explain the absence. Muturi’s absence in the morning meeting as President William Ruto met his other 22 Cabinet Secretaries was clear. He was not captured in pictures taken as the other CS went into the meeting and held their session as it was for the rest. This was linked to his standoff with the State over the spate of abductions witnessed in December 2024. The…

Police in the United Kingdom are investigating an incident where a Kenyan-born woman was murdered in her apartment in Woolwich, South East London. The Metropolitan Police Service said that the body of 43-year-old Marianne Kilonzi was found in Argyll Road, SE18 at around 17:25hrs on Friday, 17 January following concerns for the welfare of the occupant. “This is a tragic crime and our thoughts at this incredibly difficult time are with Marianne’s loved ones and colleagues. We are in contact with her family, who are being supported by specialist colleagues,” lead detective Chief Inspector Suzanne Soren, from Specialist Crime South,…

Kenya police deployed to Haiti handed over a police station to Guatemala personnel after it was liberated from criminal gangs. This was the third Forward Operating Base to be liberated amid an operation to tame the gangs there. President William Ruto Wednesday congratulated the personnel for the move. “The National Police Service officers under the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti hand over the Third Forward Operating Base to Guatemala troops who are part of the peace mission. Hongera!,” he said in a post on X. The Guatemala personnel took over the headquarters of the Haiti National Police to…

A patient died by suicide in a hospital toilet at the Marani Level Four Hospital, Kisii County. An administrator at the facility said the patient identified as Daniel Orare, 47 was found dead in the toilet on Tuesday January 21 in the morning. He was admitted to the hospital for more than a week over an undisclosed disease. Police officers visited the scene and established that the deceased had died by suicide using a hospital bed sheet that was tied to the shower tap. He apparently died by hanging on the shower tap which also serves as the toilet. The…

Detectives are investigating an incident in which the body of a man was found on the roadside along Mombasa Road in Athi River. The body had a bullet wound, police said. Pedestrians stumbled on the body Tuesday before calling police. Police said when they inspected the body at the scene they realized it had a bullet wound. The bullet had entered from the lower back spine and exited through the abdomen. Police said there was blood oozing from the exit wound. Preliminary investigations indicate that the deceased could have been killed elsewhere and the body dumped at the scene. The…

A mob raided the home of an assistant in Malava, Kakamega County and set it on fire over the killing of two suspects accused of stealing livestock. Tension rose in Msalaba Village in Malava, Kakamega County, after the irate residents descended on the homestead of their assistant chief and set his houses ablaze. The residents accused him of colluding with some villagers to kill two suspected livestock thieves in the early hours of Tuesday. The residents retrieved the bodies of the two from Malava Hospital before proceeding to the administrator’s home before turning violent, police said. The villagers claimed the…

Netflix will raise prices across a number of countries after adding nearly 19 million subscribers in the final months of 2024. The streaming firm said it will increase subscription costs in the US, Canada, Argentina and Portugal. “We will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix,” it said. Netflix announced better-than-expected subscriber numbers, helped by the second series of South Korean drama Squid Game as well as sports including a boxing match between influencer-turned-fighter Jake Paul and former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. In the US, prices will increase…