Royal Marine Commandos have boarded a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the English Channel in the early hours of Sunday morning. Marines, joined by National Crime Agency officers, with the support of the RAF, intercepted and boarded the vessel in a six-hour operation – the first operation of its kind by UK armed forces. The vessel, Smyrtos, will be held and monitored off the south coast of England as investigations continue, the MoD said. Sir Keir Starmer said: “This successful operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fuelling Putin’s war in Ukraine that we will not…
Author: Oki Bin Oki
Voters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to limit the country’s population to 10 million, early projections suggest. Not all votes have been counted, but the current trend suggests 55% of participants voted against, to 45% for. The proposal came from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which has long campaigned on an anti-immigration platform. The divisive vote risked putting the country’s free movement agreement with the European Union in jeopardy. Switzerland’s population has grown rapidly since 2002, when it stood at 7.3 million. Now it is 9.1 million, 27% of whom are not Swiss citizens. However, the People Party’s argument…
A deal to end fighting between the US and Iran is “scheduled to get signed” on Sunday, US President Donald Trump has said – but Iran has cast doubt on the timing. In a post on social media, Trump also said the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route, would be “open to all” following the deal. Pakistan, a key mediator, also said finalisation of the deal was expected within 24 hours and they were “preparing for the electronic signing”. Before Trump’s comments Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei expressed caution saying: “We will have to wait and see about…
A 67-year-old foreign tourist who had been reported missing while kitesurfing off the Watamu coastline has been found safe, bringing relief to fellow surfers and local authorities. Police identified the tourist as Gustavo Pascual Adolfo Strazza, an experienced kitesurfer who disappeared on Friday afternoon while participating in the sport along the Watamu coast. According to police, Strazza had joined five other surfers at around 3 p.m. for a kitesurfing session between Garoda Beach and Ocean Sports Beach using their personal equipment. However, at about 4:30 p.m., strong winds and rough waves pushed him off course, causing him to lose sight…
A 78-year-old man was found dead in a lodge room in Meru Town on Friday evening, with police launching investigations into the circumstances surrounding his death. The deceased, identified as Patrick Ndungu M’Geramburi, a resident of Athwana in Tigania Central Sub-County, had checked into Tokkos Lodge, located opposite Best Lady Shop in Meru Town. Staff at the facility conducted a routine check on the guest at about 5.30 p.m. and found him responsive and in normal condition. However, when the caretaker returned to the room an hour later at around 6.30 p.m., he found the occupant unresponsive. Efforts to wake…
Can a country put a fixed limit on its population? That is the question Switzerland will be answering on Sunday when voters go the polls to decide on a proposal to cap their population at 10 million, a move that has exposed divisions about immigration in the Alpine nation. The move is backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which describes it as a “sustainability initiative” aimed at easing pressure on housing, public services and the environment. Dubbing it a “chaos initiative”, the government, other political parties, business leaders and trade unions argue it will deprive hospitals and hotels of…
Anthropic suspended its powerful new AI model after US authorities raised security concerns just days following its public release. In a statement published on its website, Anthropic said it was ordered to suspend foreign nationals from using Claude Fable 5, a program that the company self-described as “too powerful”. “The net effect of this order is that we must abruptly disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all our customers to ensure compliance,” the company wrote. Anthropic and the Trump administration are involved in a separate ongoing lawsuit over an order to stop government agencies using the company’s AI tools.…
Workers have begun taking down US President Donald Trump’s name from the front of the Kennedy Center in Washington, a day after the court deadline for its removal. The president’s name had been added to the performing arts venue unlawfully, a federal judge found last month, ordering it to be taken down by Friday 12 June. Crews erected scaffolding on Friday as onlookers gathered into the evening, though thunderstorms delayed the work until early on Saturday. A last‑minute attempt by the Trump administration to pause the order was rejected by the judge. The case stems from a broader legal dispute…
A retired Nigerian army general who had been kidnapped by gunmen in the country’s north-west has died while being held captive, the military has said. Maj Gen Rabe Abubakar, who had a high-profile job as military spokesman between 2015 and 2017, was abducted with his wife while travelling in Katsina state last month. No group has said it was behind the kidnappings. The abduction and death of Abubakar highlights the continuing security challenges facing parts of north-west Nigeria, where criminal gangs known locally as “bandits” frequently carry out kidnappings for ransom, as well as cattle rustling and attacks on rural…
Residents of Gikomba and surrounding areas can now access maternity services closer to home following the launch of a fully operational 36 bed capacity maternity wing at Pumwani Majengo Health Centre. The move expected to ease pressure on larger referral hospitals and improve maternal healthcare outcomes in Nairobi. The health centre, which is accredited by the Social Health Authority (SHA), has already welcomed its first mothers and newborns, marking a significant milestone in the county government’s efforts to expand access to quality healthcare services. Located within the densely populated Majengo-Gikomba area, the facility now offers safe delivery services alongside antenatal…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX made its highly anticipated stock market debut Friday morning, establishing him as the first person to ever be worth $1 trillion. The spacecraft and satellite communications company began trading on the Nasdaq with shares opening at $150, about 11 percent above the initial public offering (IPO) price of $135. It is expected to be the largest IPO ever, with SpaceX aiming to raise $75 billion at a $1.77 trillion valuation. “It is certainly hard to believe that a little company that started in a warehouse in El Segundo is now going public with the largest IPO ever,”…
About a dozen people were shot Friday morning in the west Texas city of Midland, the mayor said, and the suspect is still holed up hours later. “We do have 11 known victims at this time,” Mayor Lori Blong said at a news conference Friday. “There’s at least one victim that is dead on the scene.” Officers heard gunfire coming from a building in the 4600 block of West Wall Street and “worked quickly to secure and clear the area,” Police Chief Greg Snow said in a statement posted on Facebook. “Efforts to bring the standoff with the shooter to…
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has established an Ebola Simulation Centre for healthcare workers in Nairobi, Kenya, to reinforce regional emergency response capacity for the ongoing Ebola disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This temporary facility will prioritise training for MSF medical responders and frontline workers who will support Ebola disease response operations in the DRC. The initial participants will be experienced MSF staff who will support the response in DRC, and the training will eventually be rolled out to Kenya’s Ministry of Health and other organisations to support outbreak responses. “Preparedness saves…
British painter David Hockney, whose vibrant portraits and sun-drenched depictions of the everyday made him one of contemporary art’s most beloved figures, has died at 88. The artist died “peacefully at home” on Thursday, one month short of his 89th birthday, according to a statement provided to CNN by his longtime publicist Erica Bolton. Born in Bradford, UK, in 1937, Hockney attended his local art school before studying at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London. Successful from the earliest stages of his career, he soon relocated to Los Angeles, where he would spend much of the 1960s and…
Armed groups operating in Nigeria must “surrender or face the full force” of the state, the country’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has warned. Speaking during a national broadcast marking Nigeria’s Democracy Day, he said that although the year’s celebrations had been “dampened” by the recent kidnappings of school children, security remained at the heart of the government. Nigeria has long battled with an economic crisis and insecurity. Public fear has been reignited as attacks on schools and villages as well as mass abductions for ransom have increased, largely in the country’s northern and central regions. Referring specifically to the abduction…