Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

The fire brigade was recalled Thursday morning to the University of Nairobi to contain a fresh fire that broke out there. This came hours after a huge fire broke out at the institution’s Taifa Hall on Wednesday night, causing huge damage to the building. Flames were detected from the same scene on Thursday morning forcing officials there to call the fire brigade. The fire is said to have started from a kitchen of a restaurant within the structure before it spread out to other areas. The wing also houses part of the administration offices. Central Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD)…

Germany’s cabinet has decided to authorise the army to shoot down suspicious drones seen near military sites or other critical infrastructure. A statement from Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that, “especially since [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we have seen that drones are being used more and more frequently, which poses an increasing challenge for the police and their current technology”. Russia is suspected of launching a “shadow war” against Western countries supporting Ukraine – a charge it denies. This has included alleged attempts to blow up international airliners, attack infrastructure – or interfere with democratic…

Sweden’s political parties have agreed that dual citizens who commit crimes that threaten national security should lose their citizenship. A cross-party committee recommended that the change could be applied to anyone who had used bribes or false information to obtain their citizenship; and also if they committed crimes that were a threat to the state or came under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. But it stopped short of proposals by the minority government for gangsters to have their citizenship revoked. Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said Sweden was dealing with “violent extremism, state actors acting in a hostile manner…

TikTok is preparing to shut down its popular short-video app to hundreds of millions of users in the U.S. if a federal ban goes into effect Sunday, reports say. Sunday is the deadline for TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. assets or allow the app to face a nationwide ban unless the Supreme Court moves to block it. But while such a ban would effectively remove TikTok from app stores, it appears TikTok is making other plans not strictly required under the law. If the federal ban on the app goes into effect as scheduled, TikTok appears…

The Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s top cobalt supplier, is courting new mining investors from Saudi Arabia to help it diversify and curb overreliance on companies from China, Marcellin Paluku, a senior government official, told Reuters. Congo, which is also rich in copper and other critical minerals, wants more partnerships with the new investors to limit the risk of relying solely on Chinese investors, Paluku, who is a deputy cabinet director in the ministry of mines, said. Chinese companies, some of which are state-backed, have over the past years emerged as the biggest investors in Congo, ramping up investment…

Two lunar landers built by private companies in the US and Japan left Earth aboard a SpaceX rocket as part of a rideshare to the Moon.  The Falcon 9 took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 01:09 local time (06:09 GMT) on Wednesday, carrying landers belonging to America’s Firefly Aerospace and Japan’s ispace. The landers will eventually separate once they reach the Moon’s orbit and conduct independent explorations. They are the latest in a growing number of commercial missions to the Moon. Firefly’s rover, Blue Ghost, is expected to take about 45 days to reach the Moon,…

Eight people have died in Tanzania following an outbreak of suspected Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) in the Kagera region, with health officials advising against any travel and trade restrictions with Tanzania. This has triggered fears of the spread of the disease regionally. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a high alert for neighboring countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique. “Surveillance and response capacities should be strengthened at relevant points of entry. Collaboration with neighboring countries should be enhanced to harmonize reporting mechanisms,” WHO said in a statement. WHO added that surrounding countries should…

South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol has become the country’s first sitting president to be arrested, ending a weeks-long standoff between investigators and his personal security. Yoon, whose failed attempt to impose martial law plunged the country into turmoil and saw him impeached by parliament, is being investigated on charges of insurrection. He is, however, still technically the president as a constitutional court has to decide whether his impeachment is valid. Investigators used ladders and wire cutters in the freezing cold to get to Yoon, whose Presidential Security Service (PSS) personnel had erected barricades in a bid to thwart his arrest.…

Multi-agency teams were Wednesday pursuing gunmen who shot and injured two herders in a village in Baragoi, Samburu County. The incident happened on Monday evening in Simale Sub Location when gunmen raided in Mparasian area and made away with an unknown number of livestock. During the drama, two herders were injured and later rushed to Tuum Dispensary. This is the latest such incident to happen in the area amid operations to address the menace. Police said they had joined in the hunt for the gunmen. In Turkana’s Katilu area, police recovered an AK47 rifle and 100 stolen goats in an…

The US markets watchdog has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk alleging he failed to disclose that he had amassed a stake in Twitter, allowing him to buy shares at “artificially low prices.” The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit alleges that the multi-billionaire Tesla boss saved $150m (£123m) in share purchases as a result. According to SEC rules, investors whose holdings surpass 5% have 10 days to report that they have crossed that threshold. Musk did so 21 days after the purchase, the filing says. In a social media post, Musk called the SEC a “totally broken organisation.” He…

A senior police officer was on Tuesday January 14 arrested for illegally conducting traffic duties outside his station.  Inspector Guyo Dida was found at the Globe Cinema roundabout in Nairobi conducting traffic duties and detaining a motorist. It was the second time in three months Dida was being arrested over similar drama. He is attached to Mavindini Police Station in Kathonzweni sub-county within Makueni County as a deputy Officer Commanding Station (OCS). He had on October 23, 2024 arrested along Bunyala Road while in full uniform, on leave and away from his work station. On Tuesday, Dida had positioned himself…

The prosecution wants the bond of a suspect facing charges of being in the country illegally be canceled.  The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions filed an application Tuesday January 14 seeking to cancel bond terms of Abdirizak Mohamed Hassan citing interference of witness. The ODPP informed Senior Principal Magistrate Boaz Ombewa at Kahawa Law Court that there were matters that arose from the side of the suspect that required serious attention of the court. As a result, the ODPP informed court that they will be moving with speed to make an application for the cancellation of the accused…

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi is Tuesday afternoon expected to record a statement with the police over the abduction of his son last year in Nairobi.  Muturi said he will present a written statement on the issue Tuesday January 14. This will take the debate on abductions in the country a notch higher. Whereas some government officials are opposed to the trend, others seem to be supportive of the same. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had asked Muturi to record a statement over an incident in which his son was last year abducted by unknown people. Muturi had…

US President-elect Donald Trump has hired a former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier who saved lives during the 2019 Dusit terror attack in Nairobi as one of his bodyguards. Christian Craighead (not his real name), 48, is now set to serve a crucial role in Trump’s security team ahead of the president-elect’s upcoming inauguration in Washington DC on January 20. The attack, carried out by Somalia-based al-Shabaab terrorists rocked Nairobi on January 15, 2019, leaving 21 people dead. All the five terrorists were also killed in the drama. Last year, the former SAS Warrant Officer was invited by the Trump…

Detectives arrested three prime suspects in connection with the murdered Kilifi County Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission election manager Aisha Abubakar. The suspects were identified as Isa Omari, Brian Shikuku Mudari and Brian Templer Oyare. The suspects have been operating in Bamburi area, police said. Aisha was stabbed to death at her home in Utange, Mombasa County on January 5, 2025. During the attack, her son was attacked and seriously wounded. He is recovering from the injuries. A team of detectives combing the area said they recovered a mobile phone that was stolen from the son Hassan Abubakar during the…