Nominated Senator Crystal Asige spoke out after being removed from the Senate Committee on Roads, Transport and Housing. She described the move as a setback to her advocacy for persons with disabilities but insisting it would not deter her from serving Kenyans. In a statement shared on X on Thursday evening, Asige said she had used her position on the committee to champion inclusive transport, sustainable cities and accessibility in the built environment for more than eight million persons with disabilities. “Today everyone’s getting it! They removed me from the Senate Committee on Roads, Transport & Housing where I champion…
Author: Oki Bin Oki
European football’s 55 member associations have voted to boycott World Cups if the sport’s governing body proceeds with a plan to sell stakes in its competitions to private investors. The decision was made at an emergency meeting called to discuss the proposals announced earlier this week by Fifa, which oversees world football. Uefa, which governs European football, had already made its opposition clear by releasing two damning statements – and that strength of feeling has been reaffirmed. The boycott would cover all Fifa competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cups and Club World Cup, and be triggered if Fifa…
Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has confirmed that his government has denied visas to two US officials who planned to travel to Brazil, accusing them of trying to interfere in October’s election. “We had to deny visas to two young folks they were sending to Brazil to meddle in Brazil’s elections,” Lula said on Wednesday. Two state department officials were due in Brazil in late July for what they said was a visit regarding freedom of expression and religion, and election integrity. They were also expected to meet the right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. Previously, the US state department…
US talk-show host Oprah Winfrey says the school for girls that she launched in South Africa nearly 20 years will close next year. At the end of the 2027 academic year, the expansive boarding school campus near Johannesburg is to be handed over to local education authorities as per the original agreement, her statement says. Students enrolled at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) who will not have graduated when it closes will be offered full scholarships elsewhere. More than 1,000 girls have graduated from the school aimed at those from under-privileged backgrounds and inspired after Winfrey met…
A Singapore court has fined a French student S$600 ($465; £348) for licking a straw from an orange juice vending machine and putting it back into its dispenser. Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of public nuisance. Maximilien, who is studying in Singapore, posted the video of himself licking the straw on Instagram with the caption “city is not safe”. Many online reacted with disgust to his video, which was reposted on a community page and picked up by local news outlets. The company that owns the vending machine, iJooz, said it replaced all 500 straws…
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has dismissed media reports claiming that the proposed Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 seeks to abolish live transmission of election results, ban media coverage of polling results, and reintroduce manual voter identification similar to the system used during the 2007 General Election. In a statement issued by IEBC Chairperson Erastus Edung Ethekon, the Commission described the reports as inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the Bill currently before Parliament. The Commission clarified that the Bill does not propose any changes to Section 44 of the Elections Act, which provides for the use of the…
Democratic Republic of Congo’s constitutional court this week approved a proposal that could see President Felix Tshisekedi run for a third term after a referendum. Here is what we know: Third term – Tshisekedi, 63, has been in power since 2019 and under the current constitution has to step down at the end of his second five-year term at the end of 2028. The head of state and his supporters have for months been preparing public opinion, without explicitly stating that he will seek a third term. But they have called for a revision of the constitution that they deem…
Congo said on Tuesday that a Rwandan armed group operating in eastern Congo had signed a protocol committing to disarmament, but Rwandarejected the move as inconsistent with a U.S.-brokered peace agreement between the two countries. Congo’s government said the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a group founded by ethnic Hutu fighters including some linked to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, had signed a protocol on disarmament, demobilisation and cantonment. The FDLR is a central issue in a peacedeal signed by Congo and Rwanda in Washington last year aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Congo.…
George and Amal Clooney left their home in the south of France amid wildfires ravaging the region. Actor Clooney, his human rights lawyer wife and their two children left their Brignoles property earlier this week. He told the city’s mayor Didier Brémond in a letter: “We have no idea whether our beautiful home makes it through this terrible moment”. Clooney added he and his wife were committed to help repairing their village after the fires “whatever happens”. The family bought their Brignoles home in 2021 and were all awarded French citizenship in December 2025. The letter, which was shared with…
Egypt’s cabinet has confirmed that a drone attack caused the fire that broke out on Wednesday on two ships at the Mediterranean port of Damietta, a key liquified natural gas (LNG) hub. “No party has claimed responsibility,” a statement said, adding that authorities were continuing to investigate the incident and “take the necessary measures to preserve Egypt’s interests and national security”. The drone reportedly hit a US-owned floating storage and regasification vessel, Energos Winter, sparking a blaze that spread to a Greek-owned LNG tanker, GasLog Salem. Verified videos posted on social media showed clouds of black smoke rising from the…
A fifth-year student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) died after suffering convulsions while asleep at his rented house in Juja, Kiambu County. According to police, the incident occurred on the night of July 28 and was reported to Juja Police Station at about 3:53 p.m. on July 29 by a second-year pharmacy student, who told investigators she had spent the evening with her boyfriend at his residence in Skyline Apartments. The student said they had supper together, after which they went to bed at around 9 p.m., with the deceased appearing to be in good…
The National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) has approved a series of reforms aimed at strengthening Kenya’s justice system, including endorsing the draft Sexual Offences Bill 2026, reactivating its election preparedness committee ahead of the 2027 General Election, and adopting new measures to improve criminal investigations and child protection. The resolutions were adopted during the Council’s 38th meeting chaired by Chief Justice Martha Koome. Before deliberating on its agenda, the Council launched five justice reform initiatives, including people-centred justice guidelines, a background study on people-centred justice, the Justice Sector ICT Policy and Action Plan, procedures for handling sexual…
A judge ordered all videos featuring popular animated character Wolfoo to be removed from platforms including YouTube after ruling that the cartoon illegally copied audio from Peppa Pig. Wolfoo, a Vietnamese animation about a young wolf who lives with his family, has had hundreds of millions of views online. A High Court judge in London recently ruled in favour of entertainment giant Hasbro, which owns the rights to Peppa Pig, after it sued Wolfoo’s makers SConnect for copyright infringement. Mr Justice Smith said the copying – in which Wolfoo videos used short audio clips of Peppa and her family saying…
The National Crime Research Centre (NCRC) will on Thursday launch a landmark report detailing the extent of theft and illegal trade in donkey skins and related products in Kenya, shedding light on what it describes as an emerging security and socio-economic challenge. The report, titled Theft and Illegal Trade in Donkey Skins and Related Products in Kenya, is the first comprehensive national study examining the scale, drivers and impacts of donkey theft and the illicit trade in donkey skins. According to the NCRC, the findings expose the complex nature of the illegal trade, including the involvement of organised criminal actors,…
Large parts of Kenya were plunged into darkness on Wednesday night following a widespread power outage that disrupted electricity supply across several regions of the country. The outage, which was first reported shortly after 8:20 p.m., affected Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, Nakuru, Kilifi, Nyeri and several other towns, with residents taking to social media to report losing power almost simultaneously. The blackout disrupted evening activities in homes and businesses, prompting many Kenyans to seek information online about the cause of the outage and its geographical extent. In a statement, Kenya Power confirmed the widespread outage, attributing it to a system disturbance…