A drone carrying an explosive device has been found at a German airport, police say. A robot was deployed at Leipzig/Halle Airport after the device was spotted by an employee near Ukrainian cargo planes overnight, according to Saxony police. A second unidentified object also collided with a cargo aircraft near the same airport. Minor damage was detected on the aircraft after it landed in Hanover. German airports are on high alert following a series of unauthorised drone flights in recent months over sensitive sites including military bases, airports, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies. Police have warned that the overflights…
Author: Oki Bin Oki
South Africa’s foreign minister wants new rules and “more transparency” to apply to former heads of state undertaking foreign trips. The recommendation to parliament follows a controversial visit to India last month by ex-President Jacob Zuma where he met one of the businessmen allegedly at the heart of a huge corruption scandal that played a role in bringing down his government. The uproar over his meeting with Ajay Gupta prompted one minister to say that Zuma was showing the “middle finger” to South Africa. Around a decade ago, the Gupta brothers were accused of profiting from their close links to…
Left-wing political outsider Abdul El-Sayed is projected to win the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, which exposed bitter divisions over the party’s direction. The former public health official is on course to beat moderate four-term Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. El-Sayed voiced support for left-wing causes like universal healthcare and abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He also called for ending unconditional US military aid to Israel. If officially confirmed as the primary’s winner, he will face Republican and Trump ally Mike Rogers, in November’s midterm elections. The son of Egyptian immigrants would…
A Nairobi lawyer was on Wednesday arraigned with obtaining money by false pretences in an alleged fake gold scam. The lawyer, Alphonce Collins Osewe, was charged with obtaining more than Sh37 million from a businessman, jointly with Patrola Odhiambo Tobias, on diverse dates between May 1, 2023, and May 9, 2023. The prosecution alleged that the two, with intent to defraud, falsely pretended that they were in a position to sell 400 kilograms of gold, a fact they knew to be false. The prosecution urged the court to deny Osewe bail, arguing that he had previously failed to attend court…
A former company director and ex-nominated Member of the County Assembly (MCA), Salim Mohamed Busaidy, has been arraigned before a Nairobi court over an alleged fraud scheme involving Sh363.4 million belonging to First Assurance Investment Company Limited, where he served as a director. Busaidy was a signatory of First Assurance Investment Company Limited representing Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi when he sold it to other parties. He was charged following investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Financial Investigations Unit (FIU), which linked him to the alleged theft of Sh363,420,459 between May 18, 2018 and April 30, 2024. According…
US blogger Perez Hilton is recovering in hospital after members of the public reported that he had appeared to self-harm during a TikTok livestream. Emergency services were called to his home in Miami on Tuesday after concerned viewers reported a man “livestreaming acts of self-harm on social media”. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office told US media that an individual had been “safely recovered” and taken to “a local hospital, where he is receiving medical attention”. Police added that their crisis response unit and licensed mental health professionals were also “on scene providing support Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, was…
Nigerian soldiers are to get a pay increase of up to 80% – their second salary increase in a month – for what President Bola Tinubu says is the government’s “deep appreciation” of those battling the nation’s enormous security threats. In July, the defence minister raised the monthly wages for privates, the lowest-ranking soldiers, from $36 (£27) to $73. With the president’s intervention they will now receive $132 from September. It is part of Tinubu’s efforts to curb violence from various armed groups, including Islamist militants and criminal kidnap gangs, known locally as “bandits”. Last month, he ordered the recruitment…
Two Kenyan birders, James Apolloh Omenya and Simon Odhiambo, have gained global acclaim after their recent sighting of the elusive Red Weaver Bird in the Boni-Dodori Forest in Lamu County last month. The two birders have received global recognition in environmental conservation and ornithology for their recent sighting and documentation of the Red Weaver Bird, which had not been seen or documented since 2014. Speaking when he confirmed the sighting, Simon Odhiambo, a Murang’a County-based conservationist popularly known as The KenyanBirder, said the rediscovery of the Red Weaver Bird was a thrilling experience after an 11-day field expedition in the…
Pakistani authorities have imposed new restrictions on international media reporting in the country in a move that has drawn sharp criticism from journalist organisations. Anyone working for foreign media, including Pakistani nationals, must now seek permission to report from anywhere except the cities of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. The restrictions would leave on-the-ground reporting by foreign media at the discretion and timing of the authorities across most of Pakistan, which currently ranks 153 out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index. “These guidelines are tantamount to choking international media in an increasingly shrinking space,” said political commentator Mustafa Nawaz…
President William Ruto will on Thursday host more than 5,000 private security guards at State House, Nairobi, in what is set to be the first-ever engagement between a Kenyan Head of State and workers from the country’s private security industry. The meeting is expected to provide security guards with a rare opportunity to present their concerns directly to the President, who is also expected to unveil a series of reforms aimed at improving the welfare and working conditions of officers in the sector. Officials familiar with the preparations said the reforms will target the more than 1.2 million private security…
72-year-old Teresia Wanjiku Wainaina was convicted at the Milimani Law Courts on multiple counts of forgery, uttering false documents and forcible detainer, following a protracted investigation into the fraudulent acquisition of land parcels in Ruiru East, Kiambu County. The land belonged to genuine landowners allocated the properties by Nyakinyua Investment Company Limited. The matter, which had its origins in a complaint lodged with the DCI by advocates acting on behalf of ten complainants, centred on allegations that parcels of land duly allocated to the complainants had been invaded and fenced off by the convict, who subsequently produced fraudulent documentation purporting…
A 39-year-old construction worker was killed while two of his colleagues were injured after a trench collapsed at a sewer line construction site in Karen, Nairobi. The incident occurred at about 4pm on Tuesday in the Karinde area during pipe-laying works being undertaken by workers employed on the project. According to police, the collapse buried three workers including Fredrick Nzui Muthoka. The three were trapped beneath the collapsed trench before they were rescued using an excavator. They were rushed to Dagoretti Sub-County Hospital in Mutuini, where Muthoka was pronounced dead on arrival. The two surviving workers received first aid before…
Mexican social media influencer Cesar Gastelum was shot and killed on Tuesday while livestreaming with friends outside a fast food restaurant in the northwestern city of Culiacan, local authorities said. Gastelum, who had nearly 600,000 followers on TikTok and was known for comedy videos, was streaming live outside a fast food restaurant when two people on a motorcycle, both wearing helmets, approached him and his friends. In a recording of the livestream, seen by Reuters, the driver of the motorcycle appeared to fire a gun directly at Gastelum. A security official in Sinaloa state confirmed Gastelum’s death and said a…
Businesses in Homa Bay Town were temporarily disrupted on Tuesday after a group of youths lit bonfires to protest the arrest of six people linked to an incident involving organisers of an opposition rally planned for later this month. The demonstrations briefly disrupted transport and business activities in parts of the town before police intervened to restore calm. The six suspects were arrested as investigations continue into an alleged assault involving members of the team organising the Linda Mwananchi rally, which is scheduled to take place in Homa Bay on August 16. The arrests came amid heightened political activity in…
Police arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with the fatal stabbing of Kennedy Ngeno during a road rage incident in Nairobi. The suspect, identified as Emmanuel Githua Kiburi, was arrested on Tuesday morning along Bunyala Road by officers led by the Makadara Sub-County Police Commander. His arrest follows investigations into the murder of Ngeno, who was fatally stabbed in an incident reported on August 1, 2026. He had been stabbed on August 1, at dawn. Police said Kiburi was booked at Industrial Area Police Station on a murder charge as investigations continue. Authorities are expected to arraign the suspect in…