India’s viral “cockroach” political parody group says its website has been blocked just days after it launched. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has gained more than 20 million online followers since being set up as a joke after India’s chief justice reportedly compared unemployed young people to the insects. He later clarified he was referring to people with “fake and bogus degrees”, not India’s youth more broadly. Its website can no longer be accessed in the country and also appears to be down elsewhere. The group’s founder Abhijeet Dipke said Indian officials had “taken down our iconic website” and asked…
Author: Oki Bin Oki
Rap artist Rob Base, best known for the 1980s hip-hop classic It Takes Two, has died after a bout of cancer aged 59. The musician, whose real name was Robert Ginyard, created the hit song with his musical partner DJ E-Z Rock, and it is credited with helping to take hip-hop to mainstream success in dance clubs and the pop charts. Base died “surrounded by family after a private battle with cancer” on Friday, just days after his 59th birthday, according to a post on his official Instagram account. “Thank you for the music, the memories, and the moments that…
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi as part of a four-day visit to the country. Rubio arrived in the eastern city of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) on Saturday morning before travelling to the capital. He is also due to visit Jaipur and Agra. He extended an invitation to visit the White House to Modi during their meeting, US officials said. The Indian premier, meanwhile, said the pair had discussed “issues related to regional and global peace and security”. The visit comes as the two nations seek to reshape their economic…
Police in Embu are investigating an incident of alleged harassment and disruption at Siakago Girls High School after a group led by Leonard Muriuki Njeru Wamuthende reportedly stormed the institution demanding the transfer of the principal. According to the police, the incident happened on Friday at around 11am at the school located in Nthawa Location, Mbeere North Sub-County. The matter was reported by the school officials who told police that a group of about 40 people arrived at the school compound uninvited. The group allegedly included the area MP Leonard “Wamuthende” Muriuki Njeru, CDF manager Eric Konji and members of…
Tulsi Gabbard will resign from her position as the US director of national intelligence in the Trump administration, citing her husband’s recent bone cancer diagnosis. “His strength and love have sustained me through every challenge,” she wrote in her resignation letter obtained by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. “I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming position.” President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Gabbard “has done an incredible job, and we will miss her”. Her resignation is effective 30 June. Aaron Lukas, the…
A Dornier 228-202 aircraft operated under the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service crash-landed at Nairobi’s Wilson Airport on Friday after reportedly developing landing gear problems, temporarily disrupting operations at the busy airfield. Witnesses said the aircraft veered off the runway during landing and came close to the airport fence along Langata Road, triggering panic among airport users and nearby motorists. Preliminary reports indicated the plane was carrying a pilot and at least two other occupants. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported following the incident. Emergency crews were immediately dispatched to the scene to secure the aircraft and assist those…
Turkish opposition leader Özgür Özel has vowed to fight a court ruling removing him and fellow party leaders, in the latest legal move that helps cement President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s grip on power. The appeal court declared the 2023 leadership election in Özel’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) null and void, prompting thousands of demonstrators to gather outside party headquarters in Ankara. “We are experiencing a dark day for Turkish democracy,” said Özel, who vowed to challenge the ruling in the courts and with Turkey’s supreme election council (YSK). Justice Minister Akin Gürlek insisted the ruling “reinforces our citizens’ trust in…
The boss of Standard Chartered has apologised after describing employees whose jobs are vulnerable to being replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI) as “lower value human capital”. Discussing how automation was likely to lead to thousands of job cuts at the bank at a recent conference, Bill Winters said it wasn’t about cost cutting but “replacing, in some cases, lower value, human capital, with the financial capital and the investment capital that we’re putting in”. He later sought to contextualise the remarks via LinkedIn and said he was sorry for his wording, which had “caused upset to some colleagues”. He said…
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said the country is on course to achieve the targeted 15 billion trees by 2032 which aims to significantly raise Kenya’s forest cover. Prof. Kindiki noted that conservation of environment is a priority agenda for the government and planting of trees align perfectly with it, adding that 1.7 billion trees have already been planted across the country since the programme was launched in 2022. “As a government we are focused on planting 15 billion trees by 2032 because conserving the environment is one of our priorities,” DP said. The DP spoke on Friday during celebrations to…
Scientists at Oxford University are developing a new vaccine that could be ready for clinical trials within two to three months to help tackle the Ebola emergency. The outbreak, centred on the Democratic Republic of Congo, has resulted in 750 suspected cases and 177 deaths. The rare species of Ebola, known as Bundibugyo, for which there is no proven vaccine, kills around a third of those infected. There are no guarantees the vaccine will prove effective and it will take animal research and trials on people to know if it will be. But scientists say they are working urgently in…
Actress Lupita Nyong’o has told people who have criticised her casting as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey to remember that “this is a mythological story”. The Oscar winner will play Helen, whose beauty famously “launched a thousand ships” and resulted in the Trojan war, according to Homer’s ancient Greek legend. But her casting has now sparked a culture war too, with critics including Elon Musk claiming it’s wrong to cast a black actress as the character in Nolan’s hotly anticipated movie. Speaking to Elle, Nyong’o responded: “I’m very supportive of Chris’s intention with it and with the…
Manchester United have confirmed the appointment of Michael Carrick as their permanent head coach on a two-year contract. The 44-year-old took interim charge after Ruben Amorim was sacked in January and has delivered Champions League qualification with an impressive run of form. Former Middlesbrough boss Carrick has led United to a guaranteed third place in the Premier League after Sunday’s thrilling win over Nottingham Forest. He has won 11 of his 16 matches in charge and has been named on a six-man shortlist for the Premier League’s manager of the season award. No top-flight club has won more points than…
The incident at the centre of a murder charge against Cuba’s former president, Raúl Castro, is burned into the collective memory of both Havana and Miami. The US case, unveiled on Wednesday, accuses Castro and five others in the shooting down of two planes belonging to Cuban-American group Brothers to the Rescue in 1966 – killing four people, including three Americans. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has called this and other charges levelled at Castro “a political manoeuvre, devoid of any legal foundation”. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since said Cuba poses a “national security threat” and the likelihood…
President Donald Trump says the US will send an extra 5,000 troops to Poland, a week after the Pentagon cancelled a planned deployment of 4,000 troops to the country. Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed the move ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers in Sweden – adding the trajectory towards Europe becoming less reliant on the US “will continue”. Writing on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump said the decision was based on the US’s relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom he backed during presidential elections last year. He did not give further details on whether the…
Vanessa Trump, the former wife of Donald Trump Jr, the US president’s eldest son, was diagnosed with breast cancer, she said in a social media post. “While this isn’t news anyone expects, I’m working closely with my medical team on a treatment plan,” she wrote on Instagram on Wednesday. Vanessa Trump said she underwent a medical procedure earlier this week and asked the public for privacy while she focuses on her health and recovery. She separated from Donald Trump Jr, with whom she has five children, in 2018. Vanessa Trump and US pro golfer Tiger Woods announced they were dating…