international news Archives - Page 9 of 13

IEBC awards ballot papers tender to Greek firm Lykos

19Oct

By Nasra HusseinNo Comments

Politics

IEBC awards ballot papers tender to Greek firm Lykos

The electoral agency has awarded the tender for ballot papers and the voter register for use in the 2022 general election to a Greek firm at about Sh2.8 billion. Documents obtained by the Star reveal that the commission settled upon Inform Lykos (Hellas) as its provider for the materials in a framework contract for three years. The Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission, in a notice to one of the bidders, said Inform Lykos was the bid with the lowest evaluated responsive price at 7,172.85 Euros (Sh921,326) for 3,000 ballot papers. The IEBC in the tender documents said that considering the six elective positions in the general elections, the minimum quantity that shall be required was 117,600,000 ballot papers and a maximum of 180,000,000 ballot papers. Lykos printed t...

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

8Oct

By Nasra HusseinNo Comments

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 ...

Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel Selling Hollywood Hills Home for $35 Mil

6Oct

By Nasra HusseinNo Comments

Entertainment

Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel Selling Hollywood Hills Home for $35 Mil

and Jessica Biel want to say bye, bye, bye to a significant piece of their L.A. life -- the couple's trying to offload their pad there ... and for quite a bundle, no less. JT & JB have just listed their Hollywood Hills villa for a whopping $35 million -- which has served as Justin's L.A. headquarters since the dude first bought the estate waaaay back in 2002 (N'SYNC's heyday) for a mere $8.3 mil. Damn you, inflation!!! There are other amenities too ... a private screening room, a personal gym, a tennis court (with lights), a gourmet kitchen, and a freaking guest house to boot. It's the epitome of Tinseltown luxury. Speaking of that ... it used to belong to none other than Errol Flynn! If Justin gets anywhere near his asking price here ... he'll have cleared...

Ethiopia to expel seven senior UN staff for ‘meddling’

1Oct

By Nasra HusseinNo Comments

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...

KHLOE KARDASHIAN TOPLESS AD TOO SEXY FOR TV

29Sep

By Nasra HusseinNo Comments

Entertainment

KHLOE KARDASHIAN TOPLESS AD TOO SEXY FOR TV

Khloe Kardashian latest ad campaign's got it all -- she's topless and rolling around in bed -- but you won't catch even a glimpse of her on TV, because networks say it's just too sexy. TMZ's obtained the commercial for Khloe's Good American clothing company, which was intended to launch a brand new "Find the One" campaign to promote its denim jeans. As you can see ... the ad features a topless Khloe rolling around in bed wearing only those sexy, skintight jeans before she drops the new slogan. We're told Good American sent the video out to broadcast networks to air this week, but it got rejected during the approval process ... because it was deemed too risque for TV audiences. This was supposed to be Khloe's company's first-ever TV campaign -- and we're told Kourtney had a...

Anderson Cooper Vows Not Leave His Son an Inheritance

29Sep

By Nasra HusseinNo Comments

Entertainment

Anderson Cooper Vows Not Leave His Son an Inheritance

CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper has disclosed that he will not be living his vast wealth to his son as his inheritance. The media personality appeared in a recent interview on the Morning Meeting podcast, where he said he does not believe in passing down wealth to children, according to Page Six. Cooper, reported to be worth about KSh 22 billion, said he did not know what he would be worth by then, but he was not really interested in money. He is not intending to leave his one-year-old son Wyatt a "pot of gold" but instead follow on his parents, who promised to pay for his college education and figure out life thereafter. Cooper is said to have inherited only KSh 166 million from his late mum, Gloria Vanderbilt's, huge estate after her demise in 2019.

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

27Sep

By Nasra HusseinNo Comments

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...

Rwanda’s President Kagame in Mozambique for a 2 Day State visit

24Sep

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International news

Rwanda’s President Kagame in Mozambique for a 2 Day State visit

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame arrived in Mozambique Friday for a two-day state. The visit comes two-and-a-half months after Rwanda’s deployment of a 1000- strong contingent, made up of the army and the police, that recently launched offensive attacks against insurgents in Cabo Delgado province in the north east of Mozambique. In July, Rwanda, under a bilateral arrangement, was the first to send troops to Mozambique. Botswana followed with a contingent of 296 and South Africa deployed 1,500 soldiers. Despite initial opposition to the deployment by some members of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), both Presidents Nyusi and Kagame have defended the move. They said it was necessary to counter the rising threat of terrorism and insecurity after the insurgents l...

Uganda opens places of worship, keeps schools shut

23Sep

By Nasra HusseinNo Comments

International news

Uganda opens places of worship, keeps schools shut

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday ordered the reopening of worship centres, but with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols to avoid further spread of the coronavirus. “Places of worship can now open under strict guidelines like, limiting the number to 200 people and adhering to all other Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs )in place,” he said. The number of people attending weddings and other social events was also increased to 200, while casinos, gaming, betting shops, and gyms were allowed to operate during the day and close by 6pm. Mr Museveni also allowed weekly and monthly markets to open with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols. Mr Museveni, however, kept other sectors closed, reasoning that the number of people already vaccinated is ...

Boxing champion great Manny Pacquiao to run for president in 2022

20Sep

By Nasra HusseinNo Comments

International news, Sports

Boxing champion great Manny Pacquiao to run for president in 2022

Philippine boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao has launched his presidential bid with vows to tackle poverty and corruption as he seeks to win over voters with his rags-to-riches story. "The time is now -- we are ready to rise to the challenge of leadership," Pacquiao -- currently a senator -- said Sunday, as he accepted the nomination of a rival faction in President Rodrigo Duterte's ruling party. The eight-division world champion and national hero made the announcement weeks after losing what could be his last professional fight, against Cuban Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas. Pacquiao, who entered politics in 2010 as a congressman before being elected to the Senate, has long been expected to make a tilt for the country's highest office. The 42-year-old is deeply admired by many i...