Russia has said it is aware of US intelligence efforts to use commercial satellite operators such as SpaceX and has cautioned that such moves made their satellites legitimate targets. The Reuters news agency reported this month that SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a US intelligence agency, demonstrating deepening ties between Elon Musk’s space company and national security agencies. “We are aware of Washington’s efforts to attract the private sector to serve its military space ambitions,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday. Such systems “become a legitimate target…
Author: KahawaTungu Editor
Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves can be released from jail on a 1 million euro ($1.1 million) bail while he appeals his rape conviction, after serving about a quarter of his four-and-a-half-year sentence, a Barcelona court ruled on Wednesday. The conditions for Alves’ release include relinquishing both his Brazilian and Spanish passports so he cannot leave Spain as well as an obligation to appear before the court on a weekly basis or whenever summoned. The court also imposed a restraining order barring Alves from coming within 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) of the victim. The case of Alves, one of the…
Kenyan lender KCB Group (KCB.NR), is set to announce the sale of its subsidiary National Bank of Kenya (NBK), the Daily Nation newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. The value of the proposed deal has not been disclosed, the Daily Nation reported, adding the bank was likely to be sold to an unidentified lender from Nigeria. Also Read: KCB Announces Sh65 Million Investment in Second KCB East Africa Golf Tour KCB, which is the second-biggest lender in the East African nation, acquired NBK, a medium-sized lender that was then controlled by the state in 2019, in a rescue deal engineered by…
Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab is in talks to build Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) engine into the iPhone, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the situation. Apple also recently held discussions with the Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab-backed OpenAI and has considered using its model, the report added. Apple is preparing new capabilities as part of its upcoming iPhone iOS 18 based on its own homegrown AI models, but it is seeking a partner to power generative AI features, including functions for creating images and writing essays based on simple prompts, the report said. The two parties have not…
US President Joe Biden has joked about former President Donald Trump’s mental fitness during a speech at the Gridiron Club dinner, a Washington tradition that began in the 1880s. “One candidate is too old and mentally unfit to be president. The other one is me,” Biden said on Saturday in front of more than 650 guests who included the Taoiseach of Ireland Leo Varadkar, Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, whose US business could be banned by Biden. “Don’t tell him, he thinks he’s running against Barack Obama, that’s what he said,”…
Data from Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) confirms President Vladimir Putin officially garnered 87.97% of the votes after processing 24.4% of the ballots. Second place is Nikolai Kharitonov with 3.87%, followed by Vladislav Davankov with 3.77% and lastly, Leonid Slutsky with 2.97%. Also Read: Putin Gifts Car To Kim Jong Un In Sign Of ‘Special Personal Relations’ Putin is leading in the Belgorod region with 96.45% of the votes after processing 2.68% of the protocols. He has over 90% of the votes in the Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk regions and Crimea plus more than 89% in the electronic voting in Moscow. Voter turnout…
Amad Diallo scored deep in extra time after Marcus Rashford made amends for a bad miss to lift Manchester United to a breathless 4-3 victory over north west rivals Liverpool and into the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday. https://twitter.com/EmiratesFACup/status/1769426879142842785 United’s victory at Old Trafford kept alive their only hope of silverware this season and spoiled Liverpool’s dreams of hoisting four trophies in manager Jurgen Klopp’s final season with the team. Scott McTominay gave United a 10th-minute lead but Liverpool turned the game on its head with goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah before halftime. Antony’s 87th-minute for United, however, sent the game into extra…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would keep on with the military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, where aid agencies say famine is looming, while ceasefire talks were set to resume. Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that Israel would push into Rafah, the last relatively safe place in the tiny, crowded Gaza enclave after more than five months of war, despite international pressure for Israel to avoid civilian casualties. “We will operate in Rafah. This will take several weeks, and it will happen,” he said, without clarifying if he meant the assault would last for weeks or…
At least four foreign students have been injured after a Hindu far-right mob allegedly stormed a university hostel in India’s western Gujarat state and attacked the group of students for offering prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, local media has reported. India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday pledged to take “strict actions against the perpetrators”, as the local police in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi said an investigation was under way in connection with the attack at the Gujarat University. The students told local media that a small group had gathered on Saturday night inside the boys’…
Senegal’s top opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, has been released from prison, triggering jubilant celebrations outside the prison as well as across Dakar, the capital. State broadcaster RTS reported Sonko was freed along with key ally Bassirou Diomaye Faye late on Thursday. Their release comes after a crisis triggered by President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone the February 25 presidential vote and was expected following last week’s passage of an amnesty law for acts committed in connection with political demonstrations since 2021. The election, which authorities wanted to postpone for 10 months, is now due to take place on March 24.…
Jamaican dancehall artist Vybz Kartel’s conviction for murder has been overturned. The 48-year-old was given a life sentence in 2014 for the killing of Clive “Lizard” Williams on the Caribbean island. https://twitter.com/Vybz_Official/status/1768318775814725839 His successful appeal, heard by the Privy Council in London, argued that a juror accused of trying to bribe others should have been thrown off his trial. Authorities in Jamaica will decide whether the case should be retried. The musician, real name Adidja Palmer, is one of the country’s most popular artists and has collaborated with performers such as Jay-Z and Rihanna. His 64-day trial was one of…
Gunmen who kidnapped 286 students and staff from a school in northern Nigeria last week have demanded a total of 1 billion naira ($620,432) for their release, a spokesman for the families of the hostages and a local councillor told Reuters. The school children, some older students and members of the school staff were abducted on March 7 in the town of Kuriga, in Nigeria’s northwestern Kaduna State, in the first mass kidnapping in the country since 2021. Jubril Aminu, a community leader who acts as a spokesman for the families of the hostages, said he had received a call on his…
A crucial body at the African Union Commission- the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC)- met Wednesday and agreed on various recommendations that now gives former Prime Minister Raila Odinga a green light to run for the position of chairman. The recommendations will be incorporated in the Draft Decision to be presented to the Executive Council to meet. Raila has declared interest in running for the position and has so far been backed by regional states. The PRC agreed on Approach 2 option (b), which means that Eastern Africa region will be eligible to nominate candidates for the position of chairperson while…
The chief of staff to Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died last month in an Arctic penal colony, was attacked with a hammer and tear gas outside his home in Lithuania’s capital late Tuesday, according to Navalny’s press secretary, who said the police and an ambulance had been called to the scene. Leonid Volkov, who served as one of Navalny’s top organizers, was pulling up to his house in Vilnius when the attack happened. At least one assailant smashed his car window, sprayed him with tear gas and began beating him with a hammer, Navalny’s press secretary, Kira…
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that it was sending up to $300 million in weapons to Ukraine, the first new aid package for the country since funding ran out in late December. The package, pulled together from money that army accountants cobbled from savings from contracts that came in under bid, includes air defense interceptors, artillery rounds and armor systems, senior defense officials said. Two U.S. officials said the package also includes an older version of the army’s longer-range missile systems known as ATACMS, which can travel 100 miles. It is a stopgap measure at best,…