Sep 07, 2024 at 04:00PM
Every time it seems he can’t possibly sink any lower, the billionaire CEO grabs a shovel and starts diggingEvery time I think Elon Musk can’t possibly sink any lower, he grabs a shovel and starts digging. In recent months, Apartheid Clyde (as he is nicknamed) has been doing his best to get Donald Trump elected by any means possible. As well as throwing money and an endorsement Trump’s way, Musk has posted multiple false election claims and reposted a fake version of Kamala Harris’s first campaign video that has been doctored to make her say she is the “ultimate diversity hire”. Continue reading...
Sep 07, 2024 at 02:45PM
Inquiry ramps up into blaze that killed 17 boys in dormitory, as president declares three days of national mourningKenyan police stepped up their investigation on Saturday into a fire at a boarding school that killed 17 boys, as the president announced three days of national mourning.Detectives said DNA testing was due to begin to identify the remains of the children who died in the blaze. Continue reading...
Sep 06, 2024 at 08:31PM
Several dead after blaze engulfs dormitory housing more than 150 children aged 10 to 14At least 18 boys have been killed and 27 more were taken to hospital after a fire raged through the dormitory of a boarding school in central Kenya in the early hours of Friday.Kenya’s vice-president, Rigathi Gachagua, gave the toll at the scene at the Hillside Endarasha academy, a primary school in the town of Endarasha, where the fire broke out at about midnight engulfing rooms where more than 150 children were sleeping. Continue reading...
Sep 06, 2024 at 06:54PM
The dormitory of a boarding school in central Kenya has caught fire, killing at least 17 boys, police have said. The blaze erupted at the Hillside Endarasha academy, a primary school in Nyeri county. The cause was not immediately clear. Kenya has a history of school fires, many of which have been attributed to arsonFire in Kenya boarding school kills at least 17 sleeping boys Continue reading...
Sep 05, 2024 at 06:53PM
A Ugandan long-distance runner has died at a Kenyan hospital after being injured during an attack by her former partner. Rebecca Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter had bought land in Trans-Nzoia to be near Kenya's many athletic training centres. According to a police report, she was arguing with her former boyfriend over the land before he poured petrol over Cheptegei and set her on fire. Last month, Cheptegei competed in the women's marathon race at the Paris Olympics and finished 14th in the event at last year’s world championships in Budapest.Rebecca Cheptegei’s family demand justice after death of runner set on fire by former partner Continue reading...
Sep 05, 2024 at 05:10PM
Olympian sustained 80% burns during attack in KenyaPolice say former boyfriend attacked her amid disputeThe family of a Ugandan athlete who died in Kenya after allegedly being set on fire by her former boyfriend has called for justice and legal action against the culprit.“I have a lot of grief because I’ve lost my daughter. I seek your help so that this person who has killed my daughter can be prosecuted,” Joseph Cheptegei, the father of Rebecca Cheptegei, told reporters at the hospital where she died. Continue reading...
Sep 03, 2024 at 08:00AM
Three female film-makers talk about their pioneering work documenting nature in Africa, the Amazon and India, and paving the way for future generations to build a career in filmWhen Fiona Tande started in Kenya’s film industry after working in conservation, she was disappointed to find it laced with the same pervasive racism she had seen throughout her career. Continue reading...
Aug 22, 2024 at 02:18PM
Youthful, growing cities expected to create wealth and opportunities but stretch public and utility servicesSix African cities will have more than 10 million people by 2035, with the continent’s booming young population making it the world’s fastest urbanising region, according to a report.Angola’s capital, Luanda, and Tanzania’s commercial hub, Dar es Salaam, will join the metropolises of Cairo, Kinshasa, Lagos and Greater Johannesburg with populations of more than 10 million, the Economist Intelligence Unit said in a report on African cities. Continue reading...
Aug 20, 2024 at 07:28PM
Head of Africa CDC Jean Kaseya urges international community to support rollout of testing and vaccinationsAfrican health officials have appealed to the international community not to impose travel bans on countries dealing with an outbreak of mpox, but instead to support the continent in rolling out testing and vaccinations.There have been about 1,400 new cases and 24 deaths linked to a new variant of mpox over the past week, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Continue reading...
Aug 20, 2024 at 12:27PM
The World Health Organization is warning that the increasing spread of the virus in Africa could cross over into other continentsFailure to deal with mpox outbreak ‘is risk not just to Africa but whole world’ The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the latest mpox outbreak in Africa a “public health emergency of international concern”, the category used in the past for Ebola outbreaks, Covid-19 and a 2022 mpox surge in Europe.Many countries in Africa are experiencing more cases of mpox, as the deadly virus crosses national borders, with fears it could cause a significant global outbreak. Here is what we know so far. Continue reading...
Aug 20, 2024 at 12:05PM
Man accused of murdering and dismembering 42 women named as one of 13 detainees on the run in NairobiKenyan police have arrested eight officers over the escape of 13 people, including an alleged serial killer, from Nairobi police cells, an official said.The eight, among them the head of the station, were on duty during the escape, the acting inspector general of police, Gilbert Masengeli, said. Continue reading...
Aug 19, 2024 at 10:00AM
Africa has the youngest population of any continent, and recent protests in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda suggest growing youth disillusionment. Will they be able to turn discontent into action?The youth-led protests that have broken out in several African countries over the past weeks should, say observers, serve as warnings that a disillusioned generation blame the elders of the ruling political classes for missed economic opportunities.From mid-June to early August, young people in Kenya hit the streets protesting against what they described as runaway corruption and high taxes levied by President William Ruto’s regime. In Uganda, what was shaping up as protests against the government in July were nipped in the bud by police after President Yoweri Museveni’s warning that those thinking of such protests “were playing with fire”. Nigeria saw short-lived protests against the poor handling of the economy by President Bola Tinubu’s government. Continue reading...
Aug 15, 2024 at 07:52PM
Eldoret forced to remove statues of runners deemed a poorly done ‘joke’ on eve of event to confer city status on townAuthorities in a Kenyan town known for its athletics prowess rushed to remove statues of runners on Wednesday night that some people had deemed shoddy, on the eve of an event to confer city status on the municipality.The Rift Valley town of Eldoret, home to many great runners, had earlier this week put up a number of thematic pieces of art to showcase its agricultural and sports heritage. The sculptures included statues of athletes and one of a maize cob next to a wheat stalk. Continue reading...
Aug 15, 2024 at 03:38PM
Dozens are reported as having gone missing since demonstrations began, and some have turned up deadOne mid-morning in June, Emmanuel Kamau prepared to leave his home for work as a bus conductor in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.It was the second week of nationwide protests against proposed tax increases, and demonstrations were expected to disrupt the transport network. But as a casual worker who got jobs on an irregular basis, the 24-year-old decided to take a chance to try to earn some money to put food on the table. Continue reading...
Aug 06, 2024 at 02:15PM
Young people have taken to streets in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria amid cost of living crises and lack of jobsYoung protesters in Kenya successfully demanded the withdrawal of a bill that would have raised taxes on everything from bread to vegetable oil and sanitary towels. Inspired by their neighbours, Ugandans marched against corruption. Nigerians rallied against “bad governance” and the soaring cost of living.Since the Covid pandemic, people have also taken to the streets in several other African countries including Ghana, Angola, Malawi and Senegal. Continue reading...
Aug 03, 2024 at 08:39PM
A demonstration against the president about the cost of living crisis has spread, after youth groups saw protests across the continent force a change in the lawA protest organised by unions and youth groups about the cost of living crisis on Nigeria’s Democracy Day in June passed off quietly, drawing just a few hundred people in the country’s biggest city, Lagos, and the capital, Abuja.Then things started to kick off in Kenya. Young Kenyans angry at the prospect of increased levies on essential foodstuffs occupied parliament in Nairobi amid violence that claimed more than 20 lives. Kenya’s president, William Ruto, was forced to withdraw his finance bill and dissolved his cabinet. Continue reading...
Aug 02, 2024 at 09:00AM
Parasites in ponds and rivers cause female genital schistosomiasis – easily treated but rarely diagnosed. A health campaign in Kenya aims to change thisAfter a year of debilitating pain, Penina Kitsao discovered what was really wrong with her after a routine screening for something else. The farmer from Kilifi in eastern Kenya had contracted female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) from the small parasitic worms in the pond her family uses for all their water.“I couldn’t do anything for weeks,” says Kitsao, a 33-year-old mother of four. “Doctors kept giving me the same pills every time I went to the hospital. They would suppress the symptoms for a few days, and then they would return even worse.” Continue reading...
Jul 28, 2024 at 10:00AM
Special report A meeting in a New York coffee shop helped US investigators get the inside track on a network of doping and the agents that prey on vulnerable athletesA winter’s day, 2015, New York. Investigator Victor Burgos turned over the conversation he was about to have in his mind. In the next minutes, he was either going to recruit an ally in the fight against anti-doping or have a hostile, frustrating encounter that would send him back to the drawing board. Chances were it would be the latter. The omertà of dopers matches the mafia. No one talks. Few inform on their peers.He was meeting a distance runner who was blissfully unaware of what was coming. The man was superb by normal standards, his marathon personal best well within what might be regarded as world class. In Kenyan terms, though, he was a mid-ranker and never going to be an Olympic superstar. He also had tested positive for 19-nortestosterone, a hardcore steroid. Continue reading...
Jul 25, 2024 at 07:00AM
A series of super tusker elephant killings has sparked a bitter international battle over trophy hunting and its controversial, often-counterintuitive role in conservation. Biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston speaks to Amy Dickman, professor of wildlife conservation at the University of Oxford, about why this debate has become so divisive, and the complexities of allowing killing in conservationTrophy hunter killings spark fierce battle over the future of super tusker elephants Continue reading...
Jul 23, 2024 at 07:31PM
Police in Kampala stop and detain anti-corruption demonstrators after earlier round-up of opposition MPsScores of demonstrators have been arrested in the Uganda capital, Kampala, for taking part in a banned rally that has drawn inspiration from the youth-led anti-government protests that have roiled neighbouring Kenya for a month now.Police stopped and detained people from among small groups of protesters who were marching and shouting anti-corruption slogans in different parts of the city. Continue reading...