A South Korean judge who more than doubled the former first lady’s prison sentence last month was found dead on Wednesday, police said. Shin Jong-o was “found unconscious around 1:00 am (1600 GMT on Tuesday)… at the Seoul High Court building”, an investigator at Seocho district police station told AFP. Shin was taken to hospital and pronounced dead, he said, adding: “There is no sign of foul play in the death.” Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. Last month, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim Keon Hee’s appeal trial, finding…
Author: Oki Bin Oki
A banditry raid in Isiolo North Sub-County left two suspected raiders dead following a gunfight in Leparua village. According to police, the incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday when about 20 armed bandits raided the home of a local resident, Gitonga Mbatia, with the intention of stealing livestock. A security team led by officers from the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) and anti-crime personnel responded to the attack. Authorities say a fierce exchange of fire ensued between the attackers and National Police Reservists (NPR) from the area. During the confrontation, two suspected bandits were shot dead. Police believe several…
Nine people died in an explosion at a coal mine in Colombia in the latest fatal accident to hit the country’s mining sector. Emergency workers said they had rescued six miners from the shafts in Sutatausa, north of the capital, Bogotá. Colombia’s national mining agency said a build-up of gases was thought to have caused the explosion at 16:00 (21:00 GMT) on Monday. It also published a list of recommendations it said it had made to the mine’s operators after an inspection less than a month ago, in which it had warned of a “potentially dangerous gas build-up”. Many mines…
Car manufacturer Nissan announced it will stop using one of its UK production lines and will be cutting 900 jobs in Europe. The company confirmed it would be merging two of the lines producing the Leaf, Juke and Qashqai models at its Sunderland plant, but said no jobs would lost through the change. However, the Japanese-owned car maker said it was in talks to cut about 10% of its European workforce, which included plans to close part of its warehouse in Barcelona and import cars to Nordic countries. A Nissan spokesperson said the changes were being made under its RE:Nissan…
Sudan has accused neighbouring Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of orchestrating drone strikes on its main airport, describing the assault as “direct aggression”. The international airport, located in the capital, was hit on Monday, along with military installations in the Greater Khartoum area. Recent drone strikes have shattered a period of relative calm in Khartoum, which came after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was pushed out by the Sudanese military last year. Ethiopia has said accusations that it was involved in the airport attack are “baseless”. The UAE has not yet commented, but has previously denied involvement…
Russia and Ukraine declared unilateral ceasefires starting this week, ahead of commemorations held by Russia to mark the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany on Saturday. Russia said it would hold a ceasefire on 8 and 9 May and threatened a “massive missile strike” on central Kyiv if Ukraine violated the truce. But Kyiv announced it would observe an open-ended ceasefire from midnight on 6 May, and that Ukraine would act “symmetrically” from that point on. Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov said that if the ceasefire announced by the Ukrainian president was reciprocated, “we will continue to observe…
Grammy award-winning rapper Kid Cudi has dropped singer-songwriter M.I.A. from his Rebel Ragers tour over “offensive remarks” which left his fanbase “upset”. Videos online show the British star being booed after suggesting she was unable to perform her song Illygal, about an undocumented migrant, because it could apply to members of the crowd. Writing on Instagram, Kid Cudi said he’d been flooded with messages after the Paper Planes singer’s comments during a support slot at his show in Dallas, Texas. In his statement, Kid Cudi said it was “very disappointing” and claimed he had explained to M.I.A.’s management that he…
France’s public sector broadcasters have been lambasted by a parliamentary committee of enquiry, which recommends closing several channels and cutting their budget by a total of €1bn (£863m). The committee, which held six months of at times acrimonious hearings, levelled charges of left-wing bias at state-owned France Télévisions and Radio France, as well as gross financial waste. But the findings were immediately dismissed as politically-motivated and impractical by industry insiders, who said that the committee’s rapporteur, Charles Alloncle, has a far-right agenda to prepare state TV and radio for privatisation. Criticism has also come from the prime minister and the…
Romanian MPs have voted to remove Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in a no-confidence vote in parliament. The largest party, the left-wing Social Democrats, abandoned Bolojan’s four-party coalition last month and joined the far-right opposition to call for the vote. The Social Democrats have repeatedly clashed with Bolojan, a liberal, over austerity measures aimed at reducing the budget deficit. President Nicusor Dan, who is now expected to try to rebuild the coalition under a different prime minister, has sought to give reassurances that Romania – an EU and Nato member which borders Ukraine – will retain its pro-Brussels stance. A total…
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has cautioned that a growing “trust deficit” is the most serious threat to peacebuilding efforts across Africa, warning that even well-negotiated agreements often collapse due to a lack of confidence between governments, citizens, and communities. Speaking at the Johannesburg Arbitration Week 2026, Kenyatta said that while mediators can help conflicting parties reach agreements, sustaining those deals remains a major challenge when trust has been eroded. His remarks came during the “Statesmen in Dialogue: Leadership and Dispute Resolution in Africa” panel, which brought together former African leaders to reflect on governance and conflict resolution. Drawing on his…
Mali’s military leader Gen Assimi Goïta has taken over as defence minister after the officer who previously held the post was killed in a wave of surprise attacks. The West African country remains in a security crisis more than a week after an alliance of jihadists and separatist rebels launched their nationwide raids. During the offensive, Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence near the capital, Bamako. A decree read on state television on Monday said Goïta would replace Camara as defence minister. He will be assisted by army chief of staff…
Spanish police seized what is thought to be a national record haul of cocaine from a ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Between 30,000 to 45,000kg were found when the Civil Guard intercepted a freighter in international waters, the body’s main union, the AUGC, announced. It called the move a “historic blow to drug trafficking”. The vessel was intercepted off Spain’s Canary Islands on Friday and around 20 people were arrested, the AUGC told the AFP news agency. It had travelled from Sierra Leona and was on its way to Libya. The Civil Guard has declined to give details of the…
A large fire broke out at the key oil port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after it was hit by a drone attack from Iran, local officials say. Three Indian nationals were injured in the strike, officials said. It came after the UAE defence ministry said it had intercepted three missiles launched from Iran, with a fourth falling into the sea. Its foreign ministry earlier reported a tanker affiliated with Adnoc, its state-owned oil company, was hit in the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE called the attacks a “dangerous escalation”. Iranian state TV has quoted an unnamed…
A sombre mood engulfed the Tabuga area in Nakuru North Sub-County after a church robbery turned deadly, leaving a cleric murdered and a watchman seriously injured. Police say the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday at PCEA Tabu The crime was first discovered by an ECDE teacher from Glory Nursery PCEA Tabuga, who arrived at the church at around 6:00 a.m. She became suspicious after finding the main gate locked from the inside and noticing that the church office doors were wide open. She alerted church elders, who gained access to the compound and discovered that the office…
A demolition exercise in Nairobi’s Marurui area took a dramatic turn after it emerged that one of the affected properties is linked to a long-running land dispute that was ultimately decided in favour of Langton Investments Limited. The property, reportedly associated with city politician Jared Okoth Okode, also known as General Defao, was brought down following a court-backed enforcement action. Okode, a former Nairobi MCA and a 2027 Ruaraka parliamentary aspirant, was arrested on Sunday as police moved in to quell tensions during the operation. During his arrest, witnesses claim he allegedly confronted officers and threatened to call William Ruto,…