Author: KahawaTungu Reporter

Soldiers were Wednesday sent to the streets in several cities in Ecuador as the country reels from an unprecedented day of violence. Masked gunmen stormed a public TV studio during a live broadcast in the city of Guayaquil and bombs were detonated across Ecuador on Tuesday. More than 130 prison staff are being held hostage by inmates in five jails. A 60-day state of emergency began on Monday after a notorious gangster vanished from his prison cell. It is unclear whether the attack on the TV studio in Ecuador’s largest city was related to the disappearance of the boss of…

Hunter Biden shocked Republicans on Wednesday, after unexpectedly arriving at a House hearing on the charges of contempt of Congress against him. The Oversight Committee was meeting to consider a resolution to hold the president’s son in contempt for defying a House subpoena. Cameras blazed as he strode into the room with his attorney, Abbe Lowell. Republicans appeared angered by the move, with Rep Nancy Mace accusing him of “white privilege”. “I think that Hunter Biden should be arrested right here, right now, and go straight to jail,” the South Carolina congresswoman said. “Our nation is founded on the rule…

Nine members of a New York Hasidic Jewish community were arrested and charged over a secret tunnel that connected to a historic synagogue. They fought police after city officials and leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters came to close the tunnel. The men are charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and obstructing governmental administration. A spokesperson for the Chabad called them a “group of extremist students”. The tunnels were built under a prominent street in Brooklyn, where the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters are located. The building is one of the most significant Jewish sites in the city. City inspectors were called to the…

The Somali armed Islamist group al-Shabaab Wednesday seized a United Nations helicopter, along with about eight people, both passengers and crew.  The helicopter landed in territory controlled by the group in central Somalia. Some reports said it had been forced to make an emergency landing, while others said the landing was a mistake. Al-Shabaab controls large parts of southern and central Somalia. The group is affiliated to al-Qaeda and has waged a brutal insurgency for nearly 20 years. The seizure of the helicopter was confirmed to the BBC by Galmudug region Security Minister Mohamed Abdi Adan. Several foreigners and two…

Polish police arrested the former interior minister and deputy interior minister inside the presidential palace in Warsaw in a day of unprecedented political theatre. Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik were sentenced to two years’ jail last month for abuse of power when they led an anti-corruption office in 2007. Following the arrests, the new interior minister Marcin Kierwinski wrote on X: “Everyone is equal before the law.” The arrests highlight the political turmoil between the Law and Justice (PiS) party and the new pro-EU coalition. The men, who were elected PiS MPs in October, refused to recognise last month’s court…

Actor Adan Canto, who was known for US TV shows like Designated Survivor and films including X-Men: Days of Future Past, has died at the age of 42. The Mexican star had suffered from appendiceal cancer, his publicist said. Canto was the national security adviser in Designated Survivor alongside Kiefer Sutherland, who paid tribute to the actor as “such a wonderful spirit”. In the 2014 X-Men film, Canto played mutant Sunspot, and co-star Halle Berry later cast him in her movie Bruised. ‘Dear sweet friend’ The actress and director wrote on Instagram: “I don’t have the words just yet… but…

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has ordered the arrest and prosecution of a male suspect caught on tape harassing Busia hospital staff. The unidentified male had accompanied Vanessa Ogema to Port Victoria Hospital on January 3 when the incident occured. Ms Ogema was on Monday arraigned and charged with assault, causing malicious damage to property and issuing threats of injury to persons employed in the public service. She was arraigned before Port Victoria law court where she denied the charges and was released on bond of Sh200,000 with surety of similar amount, without an option for cash bail. She…

The ODM party’s National Elections Board has been dissolved. The announcement was made by party leader Raila Odinga during the Central Committee meeting held at the Orange House, Nairobi. The party on Wednesday declared that it was bringing party elections back to the people. Read: ODM Urges Gov’t to Reconsider Deployment of Officers to Haiti “Party elections to be managed at County level with 2 coordinators,” the Committee recommended. Without a functioning NEB, ODM explained that it would involve a coordinating committee made up of three national representatives who would answer directly to the party central committee. “This is aimed at…

Eleven bouncers working with the Kettle House Bar and Grill in Nairobi were Wednesday charged with assault.  The court also issued a warrant of arrest against 10 other employees of the bar over the incident. The ten were not present during the arraignment, where 11 others pleaded not guilty to the assault charges. Appearing before Milimani Law Courts Principal Magistrate Gilbert Shikwe the 11 present included 10 bouncers- eight men and two ladies, and a manager. They pleaded not guilty to the seven charges before them including three counts of assault causing actual bodily harm, three counts of assault in…

A cop who in December last year shot four people at Vegas Club, Nakuru County will be charged with murder. Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Wednesday said it was satisfied with investigation conducted by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) into the incident. According to the ODPP, evidence presented before it was enough to sustain a murder charge against constable Nicholas Musau. Musau will on Wednesday be charged with two counts of murder contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the penal code. The cop fatally shot Ann Maina and Laura Kwasira and injured Benjamin Kote…

Democratic Republic of Congo’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday rejected two legal challenges to the provisional results of a contested presidential election last month and declared President Felix Tshisekedi the final winner. The verdict paves the way for Tshisekedi to serve another five years as head of Africa’s second-largest country and the world’s top producer of cobalt and other prized industrial commodities. The Constitutional Court validated the incumbent’s victory despite independent observers’ reports of widespread irregularities during and after the December vote that have led the main opposition candidates to call for a re-run and allege fraud. Logistical mishaps, a last-minute…

Afrobeats star Davido is under investigation by Nigerian police after fellow singer Tiwa Savage reported him for allegedly bullying and threatening her. Tensions between the two prominent musicians reportedly began last month after Tiwa shared a picture of herself and the mother of one of Davido’s children on her Instagram story. In her police report cited by several local news outlets, Tiwa says that Davido took offence to the post, deeming it as a taunt against him. She alleges that Davido responded by “uttering very disrespectful, malicious and derogatory words” against her. Tiwa also accuses Davido of sending people to…

An unauthorized message posted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s official X account briefly sent bitcoin prices soaring, forcing the market regulator to deny it had approved a new cryptocurrency product. Just after 4 pm local time (2100 GMT), the price of the world’s largest digital currency in terms of circulation surged towards its highest level for more than 22 months, before falling again a few minutes later. The jump in the price of bitcoin to almost $48,000 came immediately after the SEC published a message on its X account suggesting that it had approved the long-awaited launch of…

Police are looking for a man who stabbed and killed a 26-year-old woman in a suspected love triangle outside a bar in Suneka, Kisii County. The body of Elizabeth Wankio, a bar attendant in the area was found lying in a pool of blood outside the premises hours after the murder. She worked at the bar where she was killed on January 8 at about 10 pm, police said. Police said the body had a deep wound on the neck inflicted by a sharp object. Witnesses said they saw a man suspected to be her boyfriend escape the scene moments…

Detectives are investigating separate cases of the death of two men in lodgings in Nairobi and Bondo respectively. The cause of the deaths is yet to be known and police said they are investigating the same. In the first incident, the body of a 61-year-old was found in a guesthouse in Bondo Town, Siaya County. The deceased was identified as Nicholas Ogol and was discovered by attendants at the guesthouse on Tuesday morning. Police said they are yet to know the cause of his death. Siaya County Police Commander Cleti Kimaiyo said the caretaker of the guesthouse reported to police…