Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

Rebel forces backed by Rwanda have captured the town of Masisi in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to various reports.  This is the second town seized by the M23 group in as many days in the mineral-rich North Kivu province. The group has taken control of vast swathes of eastern DR Congo since 2021, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Angola has been attempting to mediate talks between President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame. But these broke down last month. “It is with dismay that we learn of the…

Lionel Messi was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, by President Joe Biden on Saturday but did not attend the ceremony at the White House. The Argentine World Cup winner and eight times Ballon d’Or winner, now plays in the United States for Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami. Messi is the first Argentine to receive the honor and the first male soccer player. But while other recipients of the award, including U2 singer and activist Bono, former basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, attended the ceremony…

A powerful winter storm hammered the United States on Sunday, with meteorologists warning millions in the east faced blizzard conditions and some areas would see the heaviest snowfall in a decade. More than 60 million people are in the path of the dangerous storm, set to plunge the eastern half of the United States into a deep freeze of Arctic air through Monday resulting in severe travel disruptions. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of ice, snow and gale-force winds in states from the central plains to the Mid-Atlantic. Winter storm warnings have been issued from western Kansas clear across…

Sudan’s army chief has welcomed a Turkish offer to resolve the brutal 20-month conflict between his forces and their paramilitary rivals, the Sudanese foreign minister said. In early December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a phone call with Sudan’s Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that Ankara could help establish “peace and stability” in the war-torn African state. At a meeting in Port Sudan on Saturday, Burhan asked Turkey’s deputy foreign minister Burhanettin Duran to “deliver the Sudanese leadership’s welcoming of the initiative” to Erdogan, Sudanese foreign minister Ali Youssef said in a briefing after the meeting. “Sudan needs brothers and…

Police are investigating an incident in which senior official with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) official was Sunday killed in her house in a robbery in Utange, Mombasa County.  Officials said the deceased Aisha Akinyi Abubakar, 48 was a senior IEBC official based in Kilifi County. IEBC is yet to issue a statement over the incident. She and her son Khasim Hassan, 18 were attacked at about 3 am Sunday January 5 at their compound by two suspects, police said. The son was also seriously injured and admitted in a local hospital, police said. The gang stole electronic…

A Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist has resigned from the Washington Post after the newspaper refused to publish a cartoon satirical of the paper’s billionaire owner Jeff Bezos. Ann Telnaes, a long-time Washington Post cartoonist, created a cartoon of Mr Bezos and other tycoons kneeling before a statue of President-elect Donald Trump. Ms Telnaes announced her resignation in a Substack post Friday: “In all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. Until now.” David Shipley, the editorial page editor at the paper, said he decided not to run the…

The family of a 27-year-old man whose body was found in a river in Mwiki area, Nairobi, says he died by drowning. Ian Singoei went missing on December 31 in the area before his body was discovered five days later on January 4. He is a son to Elgeyo Marakwet County Commissioner Dr John Korir. Korir said his son was not an activist as claimed. He said his son was in the company of his friends on New Year’s Eve in Mwiki area in Kasarani, whereupon he went missing and could not be reached on the phone triggering an extensive…

Nigel Farage has defended Elon Musk after the billionaire attacked the UK government’s response to grooming gangs on X, the social media platform he owns. In a series of posts over several days, Musk suggested Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute gangs and said Home Office minister Jess Phillips “deserves to be in prison”. It came as the Home Office defended its decision to reject a request for it to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham. The Conservatives and Reform UK have called for a wider national inquiry. Asked about Musk’s comments on Sunday with Laura…

Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer says he will resign in the coming days, both as chancellor and party leader, after talks about forming a coalition government collapsed.  The chancellor said his party – the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) – and the Social Democrats had failed to agree on key issues. The liberal Neos, another party involved in the talks, also pulled out on Friday. In September the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) won an unprecedented victory in Austria’s general election, but the other parties ruled out forming a coalition with the FPÖ’s leader Herbert Kickl. The collapse of the talks could lead…

A revolution in vehicle fuel is gaining momentum in Tanzania, but a lack of filling stations means it is stuck in second gear. Like Nigeria and some other countries on the continent, Tanzania is beginning to embrace compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative to petrol and diesel. It is seen as cleaner and better for the environment than those fossil fuels, but its relative cheapness is the biggest draw for the 5,000 or so motorists in the East African state who have embraced the change – particularly commercial drivers. This represents a small fraction of Tanzania’s vehicles, but the…

Vogue editor Dame Anna Wintour, U2 frontman Bono and billionaire George Soros are among those who will receive America’s highest civilian honour from outgoing President Joe Biden. The Presidential Medal of Freedom will be awarded to 19 people this year, spanning cultural icons, politicians and campaigners. They have been chosen because they are “good people who have made extraordinary contributions to their country and the world”, the White House said. Biden will present the medals at the White House in a ceremony on Saturday. Bono, who’s real name is Paul David Hewson, has already been awarded the highest cultural honour…

A Japanese woman, recognised as the world’s oldest person by Guinness World Records, has died aged 116. Tomiko Itooka died in a nursing home in the city of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, according to officials. She became the oldest person in the world after Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera passed away in August 2024 at age 117. “Ms Itooka gave us courage and hope through her long life,” Ashiya’s 27-year-old mayor Ryosuke Takashima said in a statement. “We thank her for it.” Ms Itooka was born in May 1908 – six years before the World War One and the same year that…

Four siblings identified a suspect arrested as the man who attacked and left them for near death along Southern bypass in Nairobi.  The identification parade was conducted at the Karen police station a day after the suspect was arrested in an operation. Such an exercise is key in strengthening the case when it is prosecuted. Police arrested Martin Otieno, a suspect linked to a string of robberies targeting motorists along Nairobi’s Southern Bypass. The arrest followed intensified patrols by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Lang’ata, Dagoretti, and the Regional Criminal Investigations Office in response to rising…

The historic Limuru Country Club’s clubhouse, established in 1945, was Saturday destroyed by a fire.  Police said they are investigating the cause of the fire. The Club later announced the temporary closure of its clubhouse following the fire outbreak. According to a memo released by the club’s Chairman, John Keru, the fire broke out at approximately 3:30 AM, but fortunately no injuries were reported. “We are relieved to report that no staff, members, or guests were present at the time of the incident,” the statement shared said. Keru said that fire marshals responded promptly to the scene and are working…

The body of a 24-year-old activist who went missing in November 2024 was found at Thika Level Five Hospital mortuary. This was more than a month after he went missing in unclear circumstances. Ibrahim Hilal Mwiti was last seen in Nairobi city centre before he disappeared, prompting a search by his family as his friends resorted to social media platforms seeking help to locate to him. The family filed a missing person report at Kamukunji Police Station on November 15, 2024, under OB number 80A/13/11/24, they said. Their search ended in death after identifying his body at a mortuary in…