International news Archives - Page 12 of 18

Uhuru directs heightened security as cops look for five terror suspects

12Nov

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Uhuru directs heightened security as cops look for five terror suspects

President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed internal security institutions to heighten vigilance and surveillance across the country following the unfolding security situation in the region. The Head of State gave the instructions during Friday's National Security Council meeting. Uhuru gave the directive even as police officers put Sh50m bounty on five terror suspects. The police put the bounty on missing terror convict Elgiva Bwire, Salim Rashid Mohammed, Mohammad Abubakar, Barigi Abdikadir Haila and Trevor Ndwiga. Tales of Bwire took a new twist after the state announced he had gone underground and described him as armed and dangerous. According to DCI, Bwire, either joined terror groups, including al Shabaab and ISIS, or went underground to plan attacks. Afte...

4Nov

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International news

Ethiopia’s war marks one year.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 26, 2021 A damaged tank stands on a road north of Mekele, the capital of Tigray. - Ethiopia's cabinet on November 2, 2021 declared a nationwide state of emergency after Tigrayan rebels seized two crucial towns in an apparent push towards the capital, state-affiliated media reported. (Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS / AFP) A year ago, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed troops in Ethiopia's Tigray region, launching a campaign that he vowed would be swift and targeted. Instead, it devolved into a prolonged war marked by atrocities and starvation, and fighting now threatens the Ethiopian capital. How did we get here? The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner said he aimed to detain and disarm leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the...

President Biden is in Rome for a G20 summit

29Oct

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International news

President Biden is in Rome for a G20 summit

US President Joe Biden has arrived in Europe for two international summits, leaving his $2.75tn (£2tn) domestic agenda in limbo back in Washington. Mr Biden had hoped to trumpet a bumper environmental package at next week's global climate summit in the UK. But his fellow Democrats abandoned plans for a vote on Thursday, leaving his whole platform up in the air. Mr Biden, whose approval rating has been falling, said his presidency itself was hanging in the balance. "The rest of the world wonders whether we can function," he said. He landed in Rome early on Friday for a G20 summit where plans for a global minimum tax will be on the agenda. America's second Catholic president will also meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday. He will head to Scotland on Sunday nig...

AU calls for immediate release of detained officials in Sudan

25Oct

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International news

AU calls for immediate release of detained officials in Sudan

African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat has called for the immediate release of arrested leaders in Sudan. Unidentified armed men arrested a number of Sudanese leaders early Monday, after weeks of tensions between the military and civilian transitional authorities. The detentions came as tensions peaked between the military and civilian figures who shared power since August 2019 following the ouster of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir months earlier. In a statement on Monday, Moussa said the arrest of political leaders goes against human rights. Among those arrested are Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdock and other civilian officials. Mousa further called for the immediate resumption of consultations between civilians and the military. This, he ...

Biden says US would defend Taiwan against China

22Oct

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International news

Biden says US would defend Taiwan against China

US President Joe Biden has said the United States would come to Taiwan’s defence if the island were attacked by China, in comments that appeared to be a departure from a longstanding US policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’. “Yes,” he responded when asked in a CNN town hall about defending Taiwan, whose government has been under mounting military and political pressure from Beijing, which claims the island as its own. “We have a commitment to that.” He was then queried a second time by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper if the US would come to Taiwan's defence in the event of an attack by China. Mr Biden replied: "Yes, we have a commitment to do that." A White House spokesperson later appeared to walk back Mr Biden's comments, telling US media outlets that the US was "not announcing any ch...

22Oct

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International news

Jacob Zuma in first public since parole

South Africa's ex-president Jacob Zuma on Thursday made his first public appearance since his release from prison on medical parole last month to lay charges against a chief state prosecutor. Zuma walked into a police station in the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg, where he is on trial for corruption, to open a criminal case against advocate Billy Downer for allegedly leaking his medical records. Zuma stepped briskly out of his vehicle and up to the building's entrance surrounded by security personnel, according to AFP reporters at the scene.

Ethiopia tells off UN, says decision to expel staff is final

8Oct

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International news

Ethiopia tells off UN, says decision to expel staff is final

Ethiopia says the decision to expel seven senior United Nations (UN) staff last week is final, meaning there’s no room to reverse it despite the global agency’s efforts at negotiations. Taye Atske Selassie, Ethiopia’s permanent representative to the UN, said his country had found a “multitude of transgressions” against the expelled bosses and alleged that “they openly conducted activism for the TPLF”, the country’s former ruling party that has been fighting government forces in Tigray. The diplomat argued that Addis Ababa will no longer engage on how to reaccept the officials because the expulsion was legal and should never have become an agenda for discussion at the UN. “There have been several instances where governments expelled UN staff and other diplomatic envoys for so ...

Ethiopia to expel seven senior UN staff for ‘meddling’

1Oct

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International news

Ethiopia to expel seven senior UN staff for ‘meddling’

Ethiopia said on Thursday it would expel seven senior UN officials for "meddling" in its affairs, ratcheting up worries over the humanitarian response in the war-torn and famine-threatened Tigray region. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "shocked" by the decision, expressed full confidence in his staff in Ethiopia and said the UN was engaging with the government "in the full expectation" that the officials would be allowed to return. According to diplomats, an emergency UN Security Council meeting will be held behind closed doors midday on Friday to discuss the matter. The White House condemned the ejections of the UN staffers "in the strongest possible terms" with Press Secretary Jen Psaki calling it "unprecedented action to expel the leadership of all of the...

Germany’s centre-left secures narrow win against outgoing Chancellor Markel.

27Sep

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International news

Germany’s centre-left secures narrow win against outgoing Chancellor Markel.

Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) secured a narrow win over outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in national elections with party leader Olaf Scholz claiming a “clear mandate” to form the government for the first time since 2005. Preliminary results on Monday morning showed the SPD on track for 26.0 percent of the vote, ahead of 24.1 percent for Merkel’s CDU-CSU conservatives, the worst by the CDU in 70 years. Figures on the election commission’s website showed the Green party came third with 14.8 percent. An official announcement from the Federal Returning Officer is expected shortly. With neither main group commanding a majority, and both reluctant to repeat their awkward “grand coalition” of the past four years, the most likely outcome of the vote i...

Explosion near presidential palace in Mogadishu, Somalia

25Sep

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International news

Explosion near presidential palace in Mogadishu, Somalia

A heavy explosion has been reported near the presidential palace in Somalia's capital Mogadishu. Sources said the explosion came from a car bomb that was near a checkpoint leading to the presidential palace. According to state broadcaster, Somalia National Television, police have so far confirmed seven deaths from the explosion. Another nine people sustained injuries from the Saturday morning explosion, within El-Gab. The explosion comes even as the country is expected to begin the second phase of its election cycle which is set to begin on October 1 to November 25, 2021. Authorities are yet to issue a statement on the cause of the explosion. Additional reports say al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the suicide car bomb, saying that they were target...