American musician and satirist Tom Lehrer has died at the age of 97, according to US media reports. Lehrer, a Harvard-trained mathematician, wrote darkly humorous songs, often with political connotations, that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Modern comedians such as Weird Al Yankovich said they have been influenced by Lehrer’s work. His death was confirmed to the New York Times by David Herder, a friend. Born in Manhattan in 1928, Lehrer was a classically trained pianist. But despite his musical success, he spent most of his life pursuing academia. His teaching posts included spells at Harvard University, the…
Author: Oki Bin Oki
Destiny’s Child have reunited for the first time in seven years for the grand finale of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour in Las Vegas. The trio surprised fans with a medley of some of their best-loved songs, including Lose My Breath and Bootylicious. Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams also joined Beyoncé for a rendition of her 2022 hit, Energy. The chart-topping group went their separate ways in 2006, but have previously reunited during Beyoncé’s half-time performance at the Super Bowl in 2013 and at her Coachella headline slot in 2018. After the show on Saturday, Beyoncé shared a photo of the…
Travelers planning to visit the United States and apply for a tourist visa may experience some sticker shock after a new “visa integrity fee” goes into effect. What to know about new US visa Integrity Fee Although it has yet to be implemented, President Donald Trump’s megabill — which encompasses tax cuts, spending packages and immigration policy and was signed into law earlier this month — includes a provision that gives the Department of Homeland Security authority to charge fees on foreign visitors. The new $250 “visa integrity fee,” as defined in the legislation, applies to travelers who are applying…
A group of civil society organisations Sunday condemned what it terms the enforced disappearance, harassment, and incommunicado detention of Kenyan activist Mwabili Mwagodi. They accused law enforcement of complicity and neglect. A statement issued on Sunday by the Police Reforms Working Group-Kenya (PRWG-K) said Mwagodi was kidnapped in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on July 23 and then abandoned in a forested area in Kinondo, Kwale County, around 3 a.m. on July 27. Disoriented and exhausted, he reportedly walked kilometers to Diani Police Station to seek help, only to be met with threats of arrest by police officers. Mwagodi, known for…
Islamist militants took control of the strategic town of Maxaas in central Somalia on Sunday after heavy fighting with the army and local militias, military sources said. The Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab has taken dozens of towns and villages since launching an offensive early this year, reversing almost all of the gains made by the government in its own military campaign in 2022 and 2023. Al-Shabaab said it had taken the town of Maxaas, around 300 kilometres from the capital Mogadishu, which is considered a strategic hub for transport and logistics in the central region. Members of the Somali National Army confirmed…
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki Sunday declared the government’s sweeping education reforms irreversible. He cited recent policy shifts, infrastructure investments, and staffing increases as having reshaped Kenya’s learning ecosystem. He said the education sector’s transformation over the last 22 years has reached a tipping point, with reforms implemented in just the last two years anchoring long-term change. “These milestones are not cosmetic. They are foundational, permanent shifts that will define the future of education in Kenya,” Kindiki said in a statement released Sunday. Among the reforms, he stated that the resolution of early challenges associated with the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). CBC…
Oscar Piastri increased his world championship lead over Lando Norris after overtaking his team-mate and then withstanding late pressure from his title rival to win a wet-dry Belgian Grand Prix. After heavy rain at Spa-Francorchamps had delayed the race start by 80 minutes, and then the first four laps of belated running took place behind the Safety Car, Piastri wasted little time in seizing the lead by sling-shotting past the sister McLaren down the Kemmel Straight into Les Combes – the same move Max Verstappen pulled on him to win Saturday’s Sprint. Piastri’s initial slender early lead on a wet…
Liverpool have agreed a deal to sell Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich. The total fee for the deal is £65.5m. Diaz, who has two years remaining on his Liverpool contract, now has permission to leave the club’s Asia tour. He is currently in Tokyo with the team, but will look to travel in the next 24 hours. Liverpool rejected Bayern’s initial advances and an offer believed to be in the region of £58.5m (€67m) but the German returned with a second offer of £65.5m (€75m) including add-ons. The Reds have accepted the offer after securing what the club considers to…
Jennifer Lopez has been praised for sensationally styling out a wardrobe malfunction on the Polish leg of her world tour. The singer and actor was performing in Warsaw on Friday (July 25) when her skirt slipped off her body mid-show, leaving her standing in her underwear. But despite initially gasping at the malfunction, Lopez quickly took it in her stride, laughing and joking with her dancers and saying to the crowd, “I’m here in my underwear!” Lopez then waited as one of her dancers re-affixed the tear-off skirt to her body, while her back-up band continued to sing “Happy Birthday”…
Dozens of people were killed in an attack by an Islamic State affiliate in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials say. About 20 of the dead were worshippers taking part in a night vigil at a church in the town of Komanda when they were attacked by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters, they say. Nearby shops and businesses were looted and set on fire. The ADF emerged in Uganda in the 1990s, accusing the government there of persecuting Muslims, but is now based over the border in DR Congo, where it regularly attacks civilians of all religions, as well…
Viktor Gyokeres says he decided to sign for Arsenal after the Gunners thrashed his Sporting side 5-1 in the Champions League last season. The 27-year-old Sweden striker has joined Arsenal for 73m euros (£64m) on a five-year contract. The move was held up because of negotiations between the clubs over add-on payments, with the final sum made up of a 63m euro transfer fee plus 10m euros in add-ons. Gyokeres was in the Sporting side dismantled by Mikel Arteta’s team in the group stage of Europe’s top competition in November. “I just felt it was the right club for me,”…
Hackers have stolen personal information of a majority of insurance firm Allianz Life’s 1.4 million customers in North America, its parent company said. “On July 16, 2025, a malicious threat actor gained access to a third-party, cloud-based CRM system used by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life),” Allianz said in a statement to the BBC. The German parent company added that the hackers were “able to obtain personally identifiable data related to the majority of Allianz Life’s customers, financial professionals, and select Allianz Life employees, using a social engineering technique”. The data breach was only related to…
I feel bad for Juja MP George Koimburi. Not because he abducted himself or maybe not, but because everything around his case now has the image of him holding a placard made by the DCI artists. And with this, the Kenyan criminal justice system is rapidly descending into a dangerous culture of mob lynching & public trials by spectacle- driven not by law, but by fantasy, likes, excitement, and populist social media freestyles as opposed to law and order. It is now routine for suspects, many of them innocent & others never even charged or even before they are investigated…
The government Saturday inducted 25,000 young people into its Climate Worx programme. The move is a bold step to tackle urban climate challenges and youth unemployment. The induction ceremony, held at Uhuru Gardens on Saturday, signaled a new phase in the nation’s urban climate response strategy — one that blends environmental clean-up with meaningful job creation. The Climate Worx programme is a multi-agency initiative targeting polluted rivers, solid waste hotspots, and degraded urban spaces. It aims to restore the environment while creating green jobs, particularly for youth, women, and graduates of the National Youth Service (NYS). The new recruits —…
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki Saturday called on politicians to put aside selfish interests and embrace Nation hood as exhibited in many occasions by the former prime Minister Raila Odinga. Speaking at an empowerment in Ong’er grounds in Nyatike Constituency in Migori County, Kindiki once again lauded the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for agreeing to work in a broad-based government with leaders of Kenya Kwanza coalition led by President William Ruto. “I am grateful to our Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for his statesmanship, his Vision and clarity that Kenya is bigger than any particular person, and when the interests…