Author: Agencies

Qatar Airways Places A ‘Record’ Order For 160 Planes From Boeing, Trump Announces

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday Qatar Airways had placed a “record” order for 160 planes from Boeing, as he signed a raft of deals in Doha alongside Qatar’s emir.

The order, which the White House said was Boeing’s largest ever for wide-body jets, deepens ties between the US aerospace giant and the giant Middle East carrier.

Qatar Airways will honor a “$96 billion agreement to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines,” according to a White House fact sheet.

“This is Boeing’s largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order,” it said.

Comprehensive details about the order were not available. Boeing declined immediate comment.

The order represents a win for new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, although analysts noted that the planes won’t be delivered for at least five years due to industry backlogs.

Both Boeing and rival Airbus, which has also sold extensively to Qatar Airways, have struggled in recent years with supply chain problems as they have taken thousands of plane orders amid strong airline demand. Boeing has also been beset with safety and labor problems that have limited output.

Ortberg joined Trump for part of Wednesday’s signing ceremony that also included defense agreements and the purchase by Qatar of American MQ-9B drones, after about two hours of talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

“It’s over $200 billion but 160 in terms of the jets. That’s fantastic. So that’s a record,” Trump said, adding: “It’s the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing. That’s pretty good.”

The list prices of the 777X and 787 Dreamliner suggest the total value of the Boeing deal is well under $200 billion. The $96 billion figure in the White House factsheet also appears to include some business for GE Aerospace.

Plane backlog

Trump’s Qatar visit is the second destination of his Gulf tour, after a first stop in Riyadh, where he made a surprise announcement lifting sanctions on Syria and met the country’s president.

Relations between Washington and Doha have been in the spotlight over Qatar’s offer to Trump of a $400 million luxury aircraft to serve as a new Air Force One and then pass into his personal use.

Since 2016, Boeing has received 118 gross orders from Qatar Airways and delivered 65 planes to the carrier, according to Boeing’s website.

Morningstar analyst Nicolas Owens said the order represents “good news” for Boeing, but noted that it would be years before Boeing receives revenues for the jets in Wednesday’s order.

“If you’re ordering a plane today it’s not going to be on your landing strip for at least five years,” Owens said.

Owens said the announcement is also a “vote of confidence” in the much-delayed 777X, which is still be certified, with Boeing pointing to first deliveries in 2026.

Ortberg joined Boeing in August 2024 following a leadership shakeup after a series of safety and quality control problems. He has focused on upgrading Boeing’s operations under the close scrutiny of US air safety regulators, saying improving Boeing’s corporate culture will take time.

Shares of Boeing rose 1.6 percent after midday.

(AFP)

May 14, 2025
El Chapo & Deputy Jesus – Why Kenya’s President Has So Many Nicknames

(BBC) — Kenya’s President William Ruto is a man of many nicknames.

Deputy Jesus, El Chapo, Hustler and Chicken Seller are just some that he has acquired in recent years.

As is often the case when people are given alternative monikers, some are affectionate but some are intended to mock and reflect a profound anger.

A history of the president’s aliases offer a window into how the perception of him has changed.

Ruto has acknowledged the rechristening trend, joking recently that Kenyans are “finishing” him with the numerous labels.

“You have given me so many names. I had the name William Kipchirchir Samoei Ruto. You added Survivor… Zakayo… now you are at Kasongo (the title of a Congolese song about abandonment and heartbreak). Will you stop at ten, or should I prepare for more?” he recently asked.

The crowd, at a rally in the capital, Nairobi, responded that they had yet more.

Before he was elected president in 2022, Ruto attracted handles that bolstered his reputation as a man of the people.

Hustler – Kenyan parlance for someone eking out a living against the odds – helped portray him as someone who would prioritise the needs of the struggling folk.

Chicken Seller, referring to his childhood when he hawked poultry on the roadside, resonated with many who saw his life as an epitome of their own.

“These were very positive [names]. They sold him to the public in terms of votes,” political analyst Prof Herman Manyora told the BBC arguing that they helped catapult him into the top job.

“Names really stick with Ruto,” he added.

But the president has been a high-profile figure in Kenyan politics for a long time, including serving as deputy president for nine years up until 2022, and has never been far from controversy.

Prof Manyora recalls the label Arap Mashamba – which translates as “son of farms” – coined just under a decade ago and relates to Ruto’s ownership of vast tracts of land across the country. Concerns have been raised about how some of these have been acquired.

In 2013, a court ordered Ruto to surrender a 100-acre (40-hectare) farm and compensate a farmer who had accused him of grabbing it during the 2007 post-election violence. He denied any wrongdoing.

Ruto’s penchant for quoting Bible verses also earned him the Deputy Jesus tag.

However, it is since his rise to the presidency that the nickname manufacturers have been working overtime – with at least a dozen being created – and they have become increasingly critical.

One that has stood out is Zakayo – Swahili for the name Zaccheaus, a Biblical figure who is portrayed as a greedy tax collector who climbed a tree to see Jesus.

Ruto’s government introduced a raft of unpopular taxes and many Kenyans began to say that he had betrayed the “hustlers”.

“He failed to deliver after becoming president,” Prof Manyora said.

The pain of paying more taxes, and a perception that the extra money will be wasted, is often the focus many conversations.

Last year, young people came out onto the streets of Nairobi for weeks of protests, which turned deadly, against a fresh government proposal to raise taxes that was later dropped.

The chant “Ruto must go” became a rallying call for the demonstrators and now Must Go has become another way to refer to the leader.

The creative christeners have also focussed on the allegation that the president enjoys foreign travel.

Hence the title Vasco da Ganya – a play on the name of the 15th Century Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, and the Swahili word danganya, which means “to lie”.

Ruto’s honesty has also been called into question with Kaunda Uongoman, which mimics late Congolese musician Kanda Bongoman.

The first part refers to the president’s love for the Kaunda suit – a safari jacket with matching trousers – and Uongoman, which incorporates the Swahili word uongo, meaning “lies”.

But the president seems impervious to this volley of verbal attacks.

Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said the manifold nicknames “don’t raise concerns” in the office of the president but simply “capture how people view a person”.

Ruto is “very hands on and doing his best to transform the economy… It’s normal for any leader to have many nicknames as this signifies his various attributes and initiatives as a leader”, he told the BBC.

Mwaura also argued that in spite of the Zakayo nickname, the government has had to raise taxes to pay for new projects, reduce the budget deficit and fix the economy.

Nevertheless, when people have gone beyond inventing new names and used satire and forms of art to ridicule the president, there has been a negative reaction from officials.

Some cartoons and AI-generated images, including showing the president in a casket, have been described as “reckless” and “distasteful”.

Some of the alleged producers of this online content have been victims of abductions. This, Prof Manyora said, should been seen as a sign of intolerance by the government.

Lachon Kiplimo, a 23-year-old university student, said that while he supported the president, some of the promises he has made are sometimes “unrealistic”, which fuels the nicknames.

He cited the use of El Chapo, referring to the former Mexican drug lord, after Ruto promised a machine that would produce a million chapatis (also known as chapo in Kenya) every day to feed schoolchildren in the capital.

Mr Kiplimo however reckons that the way the president brushes off the monikers, and in fact seems to embrace them, shows how strong he is.

Prof Manyora believes the young people who come up with the alternative labels for the president do it as a form of catharsis, a way of releasing tension.

This view is backed up by 24-year-old student Margaret Wairimu Kahura, who said that many Kenyans “are in a lot of pain”.

She feels that the mockery is a way of letting Ruto know how the youth are feeling.

She says that no other Kenyan president has been subjected to this level of lampooning, and “so this is unique [but] in a bad way”.

It is true that previous heads of state had had nicknames but they have not been so numerous.

The last President, Uhuru Kenyatta, was called Kamwana (“young boy”), Jayden (a Kenyan reference to a pampered or lazy child) and Wamashati (for his love of print shirts).

His predecessor, Mwai Kibaki, was known as General Kiguoya (a general who is afraid) and Fence Sitter.

Perhaps the age of social media, with its insatiable appetite for new content to keep people amused has increased the trend towards name calling.

But for many, like Ms Kahura, the volume of nicknames for Ruto are a genuine reflection of “the different problems that people are facing”.

May 14, 2025
Diddy’s Ex, Cassie, Tells Jury He Controlled Her Life and Humiliated Her with ‘Freak Offs’

The prosecution’s star witness testified about the alleged physical and emotional abuse she endured at the hands of the rapper during so-called “freak-offs”, or sexual encounters the couple had with male escorts.

Family and friends have come to court in large numbers to support Mr Combs, whose legal team has not yet questioned Ms Ventura.

Mr Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

^{Ms Ventura fell ‘in love’ with Mr Combs}

Prosecutors began by questioning Ms Ventura – one of their two central witnesses in the case – about her 11-year, on-and-off relationship with Mr Combs.

Now 38 and pregnant with her third child, she met Mr Combs when she was a 19-year-old aspiring singer and he was 37.

His record label would later sign Ms Ventura as an artist, and shortly afterwards their romantic relationship began.

At the time, she testified, she felt like they were in a monogamous relationship, though she knows now that he had other girlfriends.

She said she “fell in love” with the “larger-than-life entrepreneur and musician”. But it was not long before she noticed another side to him, she said.

^{Mr Combs wanted to ‘control’ every part of her life, Ms Ventura says}

Mr Combs wanted to “control” her life, Ms Ventura said. She said he paid for her home, her cars, her phone and other technology that he would sometimes take away to “punish” her.

“Control was everything, from the way that I looked… to what I was working on,” Ms Ventura said.

Eventually, she claimed, the control turned violent. Mr Combs would “bash on my head, knock me over, drag me and kick me” frequently, Ms Ventura testified, sometimes through tears.

She alleged that she was left with swollen lips, black eyes and knots on her forehead.

^{Ms Ventura felt ‘humiliated’ by ‘freak-offs’}

Prosecutors spent hours on Tuesday asking Ms Ventura about so-called “freak-offs”.

Ms Ventura told the court how Mr Combs introduced her to the sexual events during the first year of their relationship. They would hire a male escort or stripper to have sex with Ms Ventura while Mr Combs watched.

Ms Ventura told the court that she first tried the encounters to make Mr Combs “happy”. But she said they humiliated her, and sometimes lasted three to four days.

“I felt pretty horrible about myself,” she told the court, wiping away tears. “It made me feel worthless.”

Ms Ventura told the court she never wanted to have sex with anyone but Mr Combs, and claimed she would take myriad drugs – marijuana, ecstasy and ketamine – to help her perform to Mr Combs’ satisfaction, but also to “disassociate”.

The drugs were “a way to not feel it for what it really was”, she said, “having sex with a stranger I didn’t really want to be having sex with”.

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^{Mr Combs flew male escorts in for freak-offs, court hears}

As prosecutors pressed Ms Ventura about the “freak-offs”, she told the court of how Mr Combs would direct her to find male escorts, strippers or dancers to have sex with while he watched.

She alleged that Mr Combs would pay the men anywhere from $1,500 to $6,000 in cash, depending on their performance.

They found the men through stripper companies and sites like Craigslist. Some of their photos were displayed to the jurors, including Daniel Phillip, who finished his testimony earlier on Tuesday.

Ms Ventura and Mr Combs had the enounters in cities around the world, including Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and Ibiza, Spain, Ms Ventura testified.

Sometimes, men would be flown in during vacations, she alleged, and Mr Combs would direct her to ask staff to pay for and arrange their travel, calling them new employees.

Among other charges, prosecutors are trying to prove that Mr Combs engaged in sex trafficking – human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation – and transportation to engage in prostitution.

^{Mr Combs ‘directed’, Ms Ventura says}

As prosecutors pressed Ms Ventura for graphic details, one key element emerged: Ms Ventura claimed that Mr Combs controlled every part of the encounters.

He chose the outfits she wore – down to the extremely high heels she kept on for hours – as well as the sexual acts that transpired and the lighting, Ms Ventura told jurors.

“If Sean wanted something to happen, that was what was going to happen,” she said. “I couldn’t say no.”

Sometimes, Ms Ventura said, she would take the lead on which male escorts to hire because Mr Combs was “very busy”, but she only did so at his direction, she said.

She said freak-offs had a very specific “pattern” of sexual acts each time.

“He was controlling the whole situation,” she alleged. “He was directing it.”

At times, Ms Ventura said, she tried to tell Mr Combs that she felt “horrible”. But when he dismissed her concerns, she said, she relented, worried he would get angry or question their relationship.

Ms Ventura is expected to continue her testimony on Wednesday, when she could also face cross-examination.

(BBC)

May 14, 2025
Trump Pledges to Lift Syria Sanctions As He Seals $142bn Arms Deal on Saudi Visit

President Donald Trump has said the US has “no stronger partner” than Saudi Arabia during his first major foreign trip – a whirlwind visit of Gulf countries mainly focused on shoring up investment.

Speaking in Riyadh, the US president also pledged to lift all sanctions against Syria, saying it was now time for the country to move forward with “a chance at greatness”.

Day one of the tour saw the US and Saudi Arabia announce a $142bn (£107bn) arms deal, as well as other investments that the country’s crown prince said could eventually be worth $1tn.

Trump also made Saudi Arabia the first foreign stop during his first term, in 2017. The rest of his trip will include stops in Qatar and the UAE.

US President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman photographed with other officials in Riyadh

Trump’s arrival in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday was met with a grand reception, including a lavish lavender-coloured carpet rolled out to greet him. He had even chosen a purple tie to match it.

Riyadh swapped red carpets for lavender in 2021, saying that it was a symbol of the kingdom’s desert wildflowers and generosity.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Trump on the tarmac and provided an honour guard of Arabian horses to accompany his presidential limo.

In his remarks at an investment forum, Trump lauded the US-Saudi relationship as “more powerful than ever before”.

“From the moment we started we’ve seen wealth that has poured – and is pouring – into America,” he said.

Trump is trying to woo foreign investors to the US to boost the American economy, a key focus of his administration in the nearly four months of his second term.

“I like him too much,” Trump said of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. “That’s why we give so much.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is one of a few corporate leaders that joined Donald Trump on his trip to Riyahd

The pomp and ceremony was a step up from the muted welcome for former US President Joe Biden, who travelled to the oil-rich kingdom in 2022 to seek their help in lowering petrol prices, fist-bumping the crown prince.

That visit came two years after he declared Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state following the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump flew to the Gulf to strike financial deals and argued in his speech that it is through this kind of commerce and economic development that the Middle East would transcend violence and division.

Underscoring his commitment to deal-making, Trump was joined by a number of business leaders including billionaire ally Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

The high-profile executives are meeting a Saudi Arabia eager to diversify its oil-rich economy by increasing its artificial intelligence capabilities.

Mr Huang announced during the visit that Nvidia will sell more than 18,000 of its latest AI chips to Saudi company Humain.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman accompanied Donald Trump and other business leaders during the president’s trip to Riyadh

During his address, Trump said it was his “dream” to have Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered in his first administration that saw relations between Israel and some Gulf countries normalised for the first time.

But his good friend, Mohammed bin Salman, has made it clear that will not happen until there is a permanent end to the war in Gaza and a clear path to Palestinian statehood.

There is a limit to what this friendship can deliver.

Trump only briefly addressed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

He told those in attendance that people in Gaza deserved a “better future”, which had been held back by Hamas choosing “to kidnap, torture and target” for “political ends” – a reference to the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

Trump also announced he was lifting sanctions on Syria to improve the country’s new government, a move he suggested was requested by Mohammed bin Salman.

“Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” the US leader said.

American sanctions on Syria had been in place for over a decade, meant to apply pressure and economic pain against the dictatorship of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December.

Syria has since elected a new transitional president, creating an opening for renewed US diplomacy efforts.

The surprise announcement to lift the sanctions represents a sea change for Syria, described by its foreign minister Asaad Shibani as a “new start” in the country’s reconstruction path.

Robert Ford, who served as US ambassador to Syria under President Barack Obama, applauded the Trump administration’s move to lift sanctions.

“I visited Syria three months ago and the country is simply devastated after the 13-year civil war. It needs to rebuild, it needs reconstruction, it needs foreign financing to do that,” he told the BBC.

“So removing the sanctions, that will enable international capital flows to go into Syria from Gulf states, from other Arab states and from different aid agencies is absolutely vital.”

Trump was expected to meet Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia.

From Riyadh, Trump will head to both Qatar and the UAE, which has already committed to investing $1.4tn in the US over the next decade.

(BBC)

May 14, 2025
Russia Responsible For Downing Of Malaysian Plane MH17, UN Body Rules

Russia was responsible for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines flight, MH17, over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, the United Nations aviation agency has ruled.

All 298 people on board the passenger plane were killed when it was shot down by a Russian-made missile.

The Kremlin has always denied any responsibility for the air disaster.

On Monday, the UN’s Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) voted that the Russian Federation failed to uphold its obligations under international air law, which requires states to “refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight”.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was struck down over the Donbas region of Ukraine, during a conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces.

The majority of passengers and crew, 196 people, were from the Netherlands.

There were also 38 people from Australia, 10 British citizens, as well as Belgian and Malaysian nationals on board.

The case to the UN was brought in 2022 by the Australian and Dutch governments, who have both welcomed the ICAO’s ruling.

“We call upon Russia to finally face up to its responsibility for this horrific act of violence and make reparations for its egregious conduct”, said Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong in a statement.

The Dutch foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp, said it marked an “important step towards establishing the truth and achieving justice and accountability”.

It sends a clear messaged to the international community, he added: “states cannot violate international law with impunity” .

In 2022, a Dutch court ruled that a Russian-controlled group had downed the plane and two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian national were convicted of murder in absentia.

The trio were all sentenced to life in prison however, as they were not extradited, they have not served time in jail.

(BBC)

May 13, 2025
Rapper Tory Lanez Stabbed 14 Times in California Prison Attack

Rapper Tory Lanez has been rushed to hospital after he was stabbed 14 times in a California prison.

The Canadian hip-hop artist was attacked by another inmate on Tuesday morning in a housing unit at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, about 75 miles (120km) north of Los Angeles, prison officials told the BBC.

The 32-year-old rapper suffered wounds across his body – causing both of his lungs to collapse, according to a post on his Instagram account.

Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is serving a 10-year prison sentence for shooting fellow musician Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.

The star’s Instagram post said he was stabbed in the back, torso, head and face. He was temporarily placed on a breathing apparatus but is now able to breath on his own, the Instagram post adds.

“Despite being in pain, he is talking normally, in good spirits, and deeply thankful to God that he is pulling through,” the post said.

The attack happened around 07:20 local time (15:20 GMT), said Pedro Calderón Michel of the state’s corrections department.

Prison staff began first aid before Lanez was taken to a local medical facility for further treatment, he said.

An investigation is underway into the stabbing, Mr Calderón Michel told the BBC. He did not comment on the attacker’s motive.

Lanez was sentenced in 2023 for three felony gun-related charges, including assault with a semi-automatic firearm.

He shot Megan Thee Stallion, whose legal name is Megan Pete, as they were leaving a pool party at reality star Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood mansion.

The pair argued inside a vehicle about their previous sexual relationship and careers, Megan Thee Stallion testified during the trial.

She said she had demanded to be let out of the vehicle, at which point Lanez started shooting at the ground and shouted at her to “dance”.

She required surgery to remove bullet fragments from her foot.

Lanez refused to apologise and maintained his innocence in the shooting.

The case divided the hip-hop world with rappers – including 50 Cent and Iggy Azalea – appearing to take sides in the conflict. Some of them wrote to the court to ask for leniency in Lanez’s sentencing.

Lanez had seven US top 10 albums in the seven years before his conviction. He has teased the release of a new upcoming album from prison titled Peterson.

(BBC)

May 13, 2025
Robert Prevost of the United States is named Pope Leo XIV
Cardinal Robert Prevost, an American missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV.

White smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney Thursday at 6:07 p.m. local time, signaling that a pontiff had been elected to lead the Catholic Church.
What to know

Who is Robert Prevost? The former pope, Francis, brought Prevost, 69, to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. As a result, Prevost has a prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals have.

How was the new pope chosen? 135 eligible cardinals participated in a secretive voting process known as “the conclave.” The cardinals had no contact with the outside world, and their votes will not be revealed.

Which cardinals were the leading contenders? There are never official candidates for the papacy, but some cardinals were considered “papabile,” or possessing the characteristics necessary to become pope. Some names include Pietro Parolin, who oversaw the conclave, Luis Tagle, dubbed the “Asian Francis,” Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, a conservative cardinal native to the Congo, and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, potentially the first Italian pope in decades.
May 8, 2025
Latest: Conclave is Black Smoke Again, No Pope
Black smoke is again pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no pope was elected on second or third ballots of the conclave.

The smoke appeared just before noon after morning voting sessions to elect a successor to Pope Francis.

The cardinals will now return to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered for lunch. After that, they will go back to the Sistine Chapel for the afternoon voting session.

Two more votes are possible today.

What to know
- How the pope is elected: The College of Cardinals, composed of 133 voting eligible cardinals, is sequestered inside the Vatican to pray, discern and vote for the next pope without distraction. A two-thirds majority is required for a new pope to be elected. Voting will occur regularly in the morning and afternoon until a pope is selected.
- Smoke watch: After voting, ballots are burned in a special stove — black smoke signals no decision, while white smoke means a new pope has been chosen. Before the conclave began, the Vatican press office said that morning smoke would likely rise around 10:30 a.m. or noon local time, though cardinals overshot the office’s Wednesday estimates by hours.
- Cardinals contenders: There are no official candidates for the papacy, but some cardinals are considered “papabile,” or possessing the characteristics necessary to become pope. Some names include Pietro Parolin, who will oversee the conclave, Luis Tagle, dubbed the “Asian Francis,” Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, a conservative cardinal native to the Congo, and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, potentially the first Italian pope in decades.
May 8, 2025
PSG Finish Off Arsenal to Reach Champions League Final

Paris Saint-Germain clinched a place in the Champions League final as goals by Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi gave them a 2-1 win over Arsenal in the second leg of their last-four tie on Wednesday, securing a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

Ruiz crashed in a shot from the edge of the area in the 27th minute at the Parc des Princes to leave PSG firmly in the driving seat after they had withstood an early bombardment from the visitors.

Already leading in the tie after Ousmane Dembele’s goal in last week’s first leg, PSG then saw Vitinha have a second-half penalty saved.

However, Hakimi put the tie beyond Arsenal when he scored in the 72nd minute, even if Bukayo Saka did then pull one back for the visitors.

PSG advance to a showdown in Munich on May 31 against Inter Milan, and it will be the second Champions League final in their history, five years after a defeat by Bayern Munich in Lisbon.

Arsenal, meanwhile, saw their European dream come to an end as they fell short of reaching what would have been their second final, 19 years after losing to Barcelona in Paris.

Still without a trophy since the 2020 FA Cup, all that is left to play for now for Mikel Arteta’s side is securing a third consecutive second-place finish in the Premier League.

There was an electric atmosphere all evening in Paris, and PSG were able to celebrate getting to a final in front of their fans for the first time, after their victory against RB Leipzig in the last four in 2020 was played behind closed doors during the pandemic.

There was a feverish mood in and around the ground pre-match, but PSG have tripped up in big Champions League ties plenty of times over the last decade.

In addition, their top scorer Dembele was not in the starting line-up having come off with a hamstring problem in the first leg.

– Gunners bombardment –

Bukayo Saka pulls a goal back for Arsenal in the second half / AFP

Arsenal, with Thomas Partey back in midfield after missing the first leg through suspension, did their best to silence the raucous home support by throwing everything at the Parisians right from the off.

Declan Rice headed just wide, and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma denied Gabriel Martinelli from close range before producing a stunning save low to his left to keep out a Martin Odegaard shot, all inside the opening eight minutes.

PSG did eventually settle, and they almost went ahead on 17 minutes when Desire Doue teed up Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, whose curling shot hit the far post.

Then Doue wasted a great chance, shooting straight at David Raya in the Arsenal goal after Bradley Barcola had intercepted a loose ball.

But PSG did score before the half-hour mark, the goal coming in the wake of a free-kick awarded for a Rice foul on Kvaratskhelia.

Vitinha’s delivery was headed out by Partey but fell to Ruiz on the edge of the box, and he controlled before smashing in a left-foot shot as the ball bounced back up.

It was the ideal moment for the 29-year-old Spaniard to score his first Champions League goal.

Barcola failed to convert a good chance for the hosts to score again moments later, and Arsenal still had some hope going into the second half.

Only another stunning Donnarumma save with his fingertips prevented Saka from pulling one back on 64 minutes, before PSG were awarded a spot-kick.

German referee Felix Zwayer gave the penalty after being summoned to the pitchside monitor when a shot by Hakimi brushed the outstretched hand of Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Arteta was furious at the decision, yet Vitinha’s kick was turned away by Raya diving to his left.

Nevertheless, PSG made it 2-0 on the night when Dembele, on from the bench, teed up Hakimi to finish in style.

This being PSG, however, there was a wobble as Saka quickly pulled one back from close range after Arsenal substitute Leandro Trossard had got the better of Marquinhos on the wing.

Saka then somehow blazed over with an open goal gaping from Riccardo Calafiori’s cross, ensuring that there would be no miracle Arsenal comeback and it would be PSG’s night.

(AFP)

May 8, 2025
Julius Malema Slams UK Govt After Being Denied Visa To Attend Cambridge University Conference

South African firebrand opposition politician Julius Malema says he has been denied a visa to attend a conference in the UK on 10 May.

Malema said the UK had no “substantial justification” for its decision, and he saw it as an “attempt to silence a dissenting political perspective”.

In a leaked letter to Malema’s deputy, the UK High Commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson, said the Home Office had been unable to process his visa application in time for his trip.

Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, is a fierce critic of what he sees as “Western imperialism”, and also advocates the nationalisation of white-owned land in South Africa.

A Home Office spokesperson told the BBC that they do not comment on individual cases.

In a post on X, the EFF said the High Commission had “actively delayed the processing and approval” of their leader’s visa so that he could not speak at the University of Cambridge on 10 May.

He had been invited by the university’s African Society to address its Africa Together Conference, the EFF added.

In his letter, which the BBC has been told is genuine, Mr Phillipson said that he wanted to “personally apologise” that the Home Office in the UK had been “unable to process the application in time owing to the necessary steps required to consider visa applications and the unfortunate timing of some recent UK Bank Holidays”.

He added that he had taken a “personal interest in the issue” over the last week.

“I recognise that this will be deeply disappointing, especially as the delegation applied in advance and some paid for priority service,” Mr Phillipson said, in the letter to the EFF’s Godrich Gardee.

Mr Phillipson added that the Home Office had agreed to refund the application fee.

Malema said on X that the EFF delegation had been promised that “everything would be sorted”, but received a “regret letter just hours before our departure”.

“This is unacceptable and spineless,” he added.

The UK had a bank, or public, holiday on 5 May.

May 7, 2025
Black Smoke Signals No Pope Elected in 1st Round of Vatican Conclave

Black smoke rose from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, signaling that the first round of voting in the papal conclave failed to elect a new pope.

Continuing a centuries-old tradition, 133 cardinal electors gathered at the Vatican to begin the process of selecting the 267th head of the Catholic Church, following the death of Pope Francis last month.

The day commenced with a solemn mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who also presided over the 2013 conclave that elected Francis.

Afterward, the cardinal electors convened in the Pauline Chapel and processed into the Sistine Chapel, where the conclave is taking place.

The Sistine Chapel, adorned with Michelangelo’s iconic frescoes, remains sealed off from the outside world until a new pope is chosen.

Under the conclave’s rules, a two-thirds majority is required to elect the next pontiff.

This year’s conclave continues a tradition dating back to 1492, when the Sistine Chapel hosted its first papal election—the same year Christopher Columbus reached the Americas.

While the papal selection process once stretched on for years, as in the mid-1200s, more recent elections have moved swiftly. In 2013, Francis was elected after five ballots over two days.

Pope Francis passed away on April 21 at the age of 88, following a series of health complications, including cardiac arrest.

The conclave will resume voting on Thursday as the Church awaits the emergence of its next leader.

If a new pope is elected, white smoke will billow out of the chimney and the formula “habemus papam” (Latin for “we have a pope”) will be pronounced by the cardinal protodeacon from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

May 7, 2025
Israeli Spyware Firm Odered to Pay $167 Million for WhatsApp Hack

A US federal jury ordered Israeli spyware company NSO Group to pay more than $167 million in damages for hacking the devices of approximately 1,400 WhatsApp users in 2019 using its Pegasus software.

The verdict delivered Tuesday after a five-year legal battle includes $167.25 million in punitive damages and $445,000 in compensatory damages to WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta.

The US District Court for the Northern District of California rejected NSO Group’s claim of sovereign immunity as a private company, finding that the Pegasus spyware exploited vulnerabilities in WhatsApp’s platform.

The Pegasus tool enabled “zero-click” attacks that could infect devices without any user interaction, a capability governments allegedly used to surveil journalists, dissidents and activists worldwide.

Meta hailed the ruling as “the first victory against illegal spyware that threatens the safety and privacy of everyone.”

“The jury’s decision to force NSO to pay damages is a critical deterrent to this malicious industry against their illegal acts aimed at American companies and our users worldwide,” it said in a statement.

Evidence presented during the trial revealed WhatsApp was not NSO’s only target. Meta noted that while it stopped the attack vector that exploited the company’s calling system in 2019, “Pegasus has had many other spyware installation methods” targeting different technologies.

The case began in October 2019 when WhatsApp filed a lawsuit claiming that the NSO Group had deployed malware to some mobile devices.

May 7, 2025
Potential Successors to Pope Francis

With no official campaign nor list of candidates and an election process shrouded in secrecy, speculation about who will succeed Pope Francis after the conclave beginning Wednesday is just that — speculation.

But here are 15 cardinals among the potential favourites to succeed Pope Francis — so-called “papabili” — divided by region.

Europe

Pietro Parolin (Italy), Francis’s number two at the Vatican

Parolin, 70, was secretary of state — the Vatican’s effective number two — during almost all of Francis’s pontificate and its most visible exponent on the world stage.

Known for his calm and subtle sense of humour, the polyglot also has a fine grasp of the intricacies of the Roman Curia, the Holy See’s central government, and was part of a group of cardinal advisers to Francis.

He is currently considered one of the leading candidates to become the next pope.

Parolin played a key role in a landmark — and controversial — 2018 Vatican agreement with China on naming bishops.

Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Italy), Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

Pizzaballa, 60, is the top Catholic in the Middle East with an archdiocese encompassing Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Cyprus.

He was made a cardinal in September 2023, shortly before the war broke out between Israel and Hamas.

The Franciscan has appealed for peace from both sides, and at Christmas in 2024, led mass in both Gaza and Jerusalem.

Matteo Maria Zuppi (Italy), Archbishop of Bologna

A member of the Roman lay community of Sant’Egidio, Zuppi has for more than three decades acted as a discreet diplomat for the Vatica,n including serving as Pope Francis’s special peace envoy for Ukraine.

Known for riding his bicycle around Bologna, 69-year-old Zuppi is a popular figure for his decades of work on behalf of the needy. He also advocates for welcoming migrants and gay Catholics into the Church.

He has been president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) since 2022.

Cristobal Lopez Romero (Spain), Archbishop of Rabat

Spanish-born Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, 72, has spent decades of his career in South America and has Paraguayan nationality. He is now based in Morocco, in majority-Muslim North Africa.

Lopez is seen by some as a successor to Francis due to his support for migrant rights and inter-faith dialogue, while his career is emblematic of the late pontiff’s push into the Catholic Church’s “peripheries”.

But Lopez himself told AFP that the new pope “doesn’t necessarily have to be a Francis mark II, a Francis impersonator”.

Francis named Lopez an archbishop in 2017 and promoted him to cardinal in 2019.

Jean-Marc Aveline (France), Archbishop of Marseille

Born in Algeria, 66-year-old Aveline has spent most of his life in the French port city of Marseille.

Like his close friend Pope Francis, he has been a voice for welcoming migrants and promoting interreligious dialogue.

Appreciated for his discretion, intellectual abilities, and people skills, Aveline has carved out a reputation as a cardinal to watch since his elevation in 2022.

Anders Arborelius (Sweden), Bishop of Stockholm

Appointed in 2017 as Sweden’s first cardinal, Arborelius is a convert to Catholicism in the overwhelmingly Protestant Scandinavian country, home to one of the world’s most secularised societies.

He is the first Swedish Catholic bishop since the Protestant Reformation and a staunch defender of Church doctrine, notably opposed to allowing women to be deacons or blessing same-sex couples.

Like Francis, 75-year-old Arborelius advocates welcoming migrants to Europe, including Christians, Catholics, and potential converts.

Mario Grech (Malta), Bishop Emeritus of Gozo

Born into a small village on the tiny Mediterranean archipelago of Malta, 68-year-old Grech is a peace broker and potential compromise candidate for the papacy.

He was secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, a body that gathers information from local churches on crucial issues for the Church — such as the place of women or divorced spouses who remarry — and passes it on to the pope.

He had to perform a delicate balancing act following Pope Francis’s lead on creating an open, attentive Church while acknowledging the concerns of conservatives.

Peter Erdo (Hungary), Metropolitan Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest

An intellectual and respected expert in canon law, Erdo speaks seven languages, has published more than 25 books, and is recognised for his openness to other religions.

But the 72-year-old has faced criticism for his ties with the government of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose harsh views on migration clashed with those of Francis.

Known for his enthusiasm for evangelism, Erdo — who grew up under Communism — is a conservative on such issues as gay marriage and the divorced who remarry.

Jose Tolentino de Mendonca (Portugal), prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education

A Portuguese theologian and poet, Tolentino has led the Vatican’s dicastery, or department, of culture and education since 2022.

A former archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church, the 59-year-old was made a cardinal by Francis in 2019.

Regarded as progressive within the Church, his stance on welcoming homosexuals has earned him the hostility of some conservatives.

With a doctorate in biblical theology, he has published books and articles on theology as well as poetic works, which have earned him several literary awards.

Asia

Luis Antonio Tagle (Philippines), Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila

Tagle, Asia’s front-runner for the papacy, is a charismatic moderate who has not been afraid to criticise the Church for its shortcomings, including over the sexual abuse of minors.

Fluent in English and active on social media, the 67-year-old is an eloquent speaker with self-deprecating humour and, like Francis, a leading advocate for the poor, migrants and marginalised people.

Nicknamed “Chito”, he was made a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2012 and was already considered a candidate for pope in the 2013 conclave in which Francis was elected.

Charles Maung Bo (Myanmar), Archbishop of Yangon

Myanmar-born Bo became the Buddhist-majority country’s first and only cardinal in 2015, appointed by Francis.

Bo has called for dialogue and reconciliation in his conflict-ridden country, and after the military coup of 2021 appealed to opposition protesters to remain non-violent.

The 76-year-old has defended the mainly Muslim Rohingya, calling them victims of “ethnic cleansing”, and spoken out against human trafficking uprooting the lives of many young Burmese.

He was head of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) between 2019 and 2024.

Malcolm Ranjith (Sri Lanka), Archbishop of Colombo

Sri Lanka’s conservative Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has long been considered a dark horse for the papacy, but his credentials were boosted in the wake of the island’s worst terrorist attack in 2019.

The 77-year-old Sinhalese prelate has pursued a campaign in the ensuing years, petitioning the United Nations and the international community for justice over the suicide bombings of Easter Sunday in April 2019 that killed 279 civilians.

Ranjith’s efforts have placed the 167 Catholic victims of the attacks on the path to sainthood, after the Vatican declared them “Witnesses of the Faith” last month.

A former papal nunio, or ambassador, to Indonesia and East Timor, Ranjith was made a cardinal in 2010 by Benedict XVI. He is considered a traditionalist who has prohibited cultural practices borrowed from other religions and supports the Latin Mass.

Africa

Peter Turkson (Ghana), Archbishop emeritus of Cape Coast

One of the Church’s most influential cardinals from Africa, 76-year-old Turkson has for years been mentioned as a possible first black pope.

Made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003, the multilingual Turkson has been a papal envoy and mediator, including in South Sudan.

He also served between 2016 and 2021 as the first head of a top Vatican department, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which deals with human rights and migrants, among other issues.

Born into a humble family of 10 children, Turkson has criticised anti-gay legislation in Uganda, but defends Catholic sexual morality and has denied that homosexuality is a human rights issue.

Robert Sarah (Guinea), former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Had Francis lived a few more months, conservative prelate Robert Sarah, who turns 80 on June 16, would have been too old to join the conclave to choose his successor.

As it is, though, he has found himself championed by conservative Catholics in the French-speaking world as a candidate to turn the clock back on progressive reforms.

An ardent opponent of what he called in 2015 “Western ideologies on homosexuality and abortion and Islamic fanaticism”, he denounced Francis’s 2023 text that paved the way for the blessing of same-sex couples.

Experts believe his views make him too conservative to win a two-thirds majority at the conclave — but even a possible candidacy has boosted his profile.

Americas

Robert Francis Prevost (United States), Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo

A native of Chicago, Prevost was in 2023 appointed prefect of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which is charged with advising the pope on appointments of new bishops.

The 69-year-old spent years as a missionary in Peru and is the Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo in the South American country.

Made a cardinal by Francis in 2023, he is also the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

May 7, 2025
Operation Sindoor: The Pakistani Terrorist Sites India Struck and Why

India struck several terrorist-linked locations across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the wee hours of Wednesday (May 7).

The multi-branch military operation is named Operation Sindoor.

The strikes were aimed at dismantling the training and logistical infrastructure of terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen, and others, that have been known to have terror bases in these regions for years.

A total of nine sites were hit, which includes Bahawalpur, Muridke and Kotli. Here is why India chose these places to carry out Operation Sindoor.

Bahawalpur: Jaish-e-Mohammed Headquarters

Bahawalpur has long been known as the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed. Masood Azhar leads the terrorist organisation and has been responsible for the attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001, the 2016 Pathankot attack on an Indian air base, and the Pulwama attack in 2019 in which 44 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel died.

Muridke: Lashkar-e-Taiba Base and Training Ground

Muridke is only 40 kilometres from Lahore and is a major commercial hub. Lashkar-e-Taiba and its charitable wing, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, have terror facilities spread over more than 200 acres here. LeT was responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attack in which 10 members of the terror group opened fire and bombed several places in Mumbai for over four days, killing a total of 175 people.

Kotli: Bomber Training and Terror Launch Base

Kotli lies in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and is a major training facility for terrorists, especially suicide bombers. India has often flagged the place for preparing insurgents to carry out attacks against India.

Gulpur

Gulpur was reportedly used in 2023 and 2024 as a base to prepare for and carry out attacks on civilians and Indian security convoys in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri and Poonch.

Mehmoona camp

The Mehmoona camp near Sialkot was a hub for the terror group Hizbul Mujahideen that carried out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in the past. Although it isn’t seen to be as active today, India believes terrorists are still trained here who then cross the border with support from local networks.

Other places include the Bilal Camp, which is a JeM launchpad. Sawai has been linked to attacks in Kashmir Valley, especially Sonmarg, Gulmarg and Pahalgam in northern Kashmir. Sarjal and Barnal are located near the International Border and the Line of Control and are used by terrorists to infiltrate India.

May 7, 2025
India Launches Strikes on Pakistan

India on late Tuesday said it fired missiles on Pakistani cities and parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Multiple explosions were heard in different parts of Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir.

Lt Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the spokesman of Pakistan’s military, told local broadcaster Geo News that India had fired missiles on the cities of Bahawalpur, Muridke, Bagh, Muzaffarabad and Kotli from its own air space. He confirmed at least three deaths and more than a dozen injuries.

He said Pakistani forces had begun retaliatory attacks against India.

According to an Indian Defense Ministry statement, Indian armed forces launched “Operation Sindoor” and targeted nine sites in Pakistan. It claimed “hitting terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed.”

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” the statement said.

The escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbors comes in the wake of April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir in which 26 people were killed. India had blamed Pakistan for the attack, claiming there were cross-border links.

Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the killings.

Both countries took a plethora of measures against each other after the attack, including suspension of visas and expulsion of diplomats.

Indian missile attacks kill 8, injure 35: Pakistan Army

At least eight people have been killed and 35 injured while two are missing after India launched missile attacks inside Pakistan, a spokesperson for the Pakistani Army said Wednesday.

The Indian army, “using different weapons, targeted six places, which left 24 impacts,” Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told a pre-dawn news conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Pakistan has downed 5 Indian Air Force jets: Defense chief

The Pakistani Air Force has downed five Indian Air Force jets following missile strikes by India, Pakistan’s defense chief said early Wednesday.

“The Pakistan Air Force has shot down at least five Indian fighter jets in response to India’s recent cross-border aggression,” Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed to private broadcaster Geo TV.

Earlier, military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry confirmed downing two aircraft of the Indian Air Force, according to CNN.

“There are other reports of multiple damage that Pakistani forces, both on the ground and air, have inflicted. But I can confirm to you that at least two aircraft of the Indian Air Force have been downed,” Chaudhry added.

There was no immediate reaction from Indian authorities to Pakistani state media reports about the downing of the jets.

“There are other reports of multiple damage that the Pakistani forces, both on the ground and air, have inflicted. But I can confirm to you that at least two aircraft of the Indian Air Force have been downed,” he added.

There was no immediate official reaction from Indian authorities to Pakistani state media reports about the downing of the two jets.

Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said during an interview with Sky News that Pakistan’s response is “ongoing” but declined to share details.

Pakistan giving ‘befitting reply’ to ‘act of war’ imposed by India: Premier Sharif

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif early Wednesday called India’s strikes on Pakistani cities and Pakistan-administered Kashmir a “cowardly attack” and that Islamabad was giving a “befitting reply” to the “act of war” by New Delhi.

The “Pakistani nation and the Pakistani armed forces know how to deal with the enemy very well,” Sharif said in a statement.

“The enemy will never be allowed to succeed in his nefarious objectives,” he added.

Trump hopes tensions between India, Pakistan end ‘very quickly’

US President Donald Trump described the latest flare-up between India and Pakistan as “a shame” and expressed hope that tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors end “very quickly.”

Speaking to reporters Tuesday at the White House when asked for his reaction to attacks between India and Pakistan, Trump said: “It’s a shame. We just heard about it just as we were walking in the doors of the Oval.”

“I guess people knew something was going to happen based on a little bit of the past. They’ve been fighting for a long time. You know, they’ve been fighting for many, many decades and centuries, actually, if you really think about it,” he said.

“I just hope it ends very quickly,” he added.

UN chief ‘very concerned’ over India’s missile attacks on Pakistan

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern Tuesday over recent missile attacks by India against Pakistan.

“The Secretary-General is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries,” said his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric in a statement.

“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” he added.

May 7, 2025
Tatu City: Kenya’s Business Oasis Fights Off Million-Dollar Extortion Schemes!

Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-centre and cold-chain transport firms in the region.

But to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion.

A parade of governors have, according to the city’s owners, demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange for building permits.

A few years ago, a governor “drove around with us, just pointing at different plots of land, saying ‘I want that, I want that’,” said Preston Mendenhall, Kenya country head for Rendeavour, the company building the city.

The American responded with a tactic rarely attempted in Kenya: going public.

More than once, Mendenhall has held press conferences detailing the alleged extortion attempts of local politicians.

“They thought that we, as foreign investors, would leave the country,” he said.

“(But) we’re looking at a 50-year time horizon. For us to challenge somebody, if need be in public, who is trying to extort us… we believe that’s the right thing to do.”

Last year, he publicly accused local governor Kimani Wamatangi of demanding 54 acres (22 hectares) of Tatu City, worth $33 million, free of charge. Wamatangi — who did not respond to an AFP request for comment — denied the accusation.

It’s a risky strategy.

“I’m subject to four defamation cases. It’s their intimidation tactic and they’re used to getting what they want,” said Mendenhall.

“But the first case goes back to 2015 and we haven’t had a hearing yet so I’m not too worried.”

The waiting game appears to be paying off.

The first governor who targeted them, Ferdinand Waititu, is now in prison from a separate corruption case.

Wamatangi was arrested last month by anti-corruption officers who found some $13,000 in cash in his home, also in an unrelated case.

‘World-class facilities’

Meanwhile, Tatu City is slowly but steadily growing.

The resident population is still small, but the 5,000-acre site already includes a supermarket, health clinic and two schools with 5,000 pupils. There are 2,400 homes ranging from studios to lakeside mansions and 2,000 more on the way.

Many are attracted by the fact it has its own electricity and water supply to prevent cuts that are highly common across Africa.

“That is why we chose Tatu City,” said Hannington Opot, commercial director of Hewa Tele, which is currently building a factory to produce medical-grade oxygen for hospitals — a chemical process requiring uninterrupted power and water.

Cold Solutions, which provides storage for food and pharmaceutical partners, also highlighted the infrastructure.

“We wanted to put a stake in the ground and say that Africans can build world-class facilities… and it marries nicely with what Tatu is trying to do,” said managing director Fredd Kambo.

Unity Homes has built over 1,500 apartments.

Buyers are attracted by the “playgrounds, parks, the fact they can drink the water from the tap… and knowing no one will build two centimetres in front of your balcony,” said commercial director Mina Stiernblad.

‘The hardest’

Tatu City is the most advanced of six cities Rendeavour is building across Africa — in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.

Preston Mendenhall, country head of Rendeavour, has challenged corrupt officials head-on

Kenyan corruption has made it “by far the hardest”, said Mendenhall.

Anger over corruption was one of the key drivers of mass protests in Kenya last year.

But Rendeavour’s founders made their fortunes in the free-for-all of 1990s Russia and are unfazed.

The owners have faced their own allegations, including claims of tax evasion.

But investigations have been ongoing for years without resulting in any charges. Mendenhall says they are just more extortion attempts by “bad actors”.

He emphasised that many in the Kenyan government are “incredibly supportive”.

“They understand the vision of this project, understand the number of jobs that it’s created,” he said.

And for all the corruption attempts, Mendenhall has great faith in Kenya.

“Kenya is really an economic hub of the region (and) we think Nairobi will become the capital of Africa,” he said.

(AFP)

May 6, 2025
Trump Administration To Pay Illegal Immigrants Sh129,250 To Leave The Country

Pushing forward with its mass deportation agenda, President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Monday that it would offer ksh129,250 to immigrants who are in the United States illegally if they voluntarily return to their home countries.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that it would also provide travel assistance. Immigrants who use the CBP Home app to notify the government of their intention to leave would be “deprioritized” for detention and removal by immigration enforcement.

“If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “DHS is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App.”

DHS reported that it had already funded a plane ticket for one migrant returning to Honduras from Chicago, with more tickets booked for the upcoming weeks.

This initiative is a key part of Trump’s administration, which has made immigration enforcement and mass deportations a cornerstone of its policies. However, these efforts have proven costly and resource-intensive.

While the administration has requested Congress for a significant increase in funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department, it is also pushing people in the U.S. illegally to “self-deport.”

This push is paired with TV ads and social media images showing immigration enforcement actions, including arrests and deportations.

Strategy for future legal re-entry

The Trump administration frames self-deportation as a way for migrants to potentially return to the U.S. legally in the future. Trump himself suggested that those who leave voluntarily and are “good people” might be able to return legally later on.

However, Aaron Reichlen-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, raised concerns. He pointed out that leaving without contesting a case in immigration court could result in an automatic deportation order, jeopardizing migrants’ chances of obtaining asylum or other relief.

Reichlen-Melnick questioned whether DHS was coordinating with immigration courts to ensure no negative consequences for migrants already in proceedings. He also noted that the offer could be a way to encourage voluntary deportation, as the administration struggles to meet its deportation goals.

The Trump administration has repurposed the CBP One app, originally used by the Biden administration to schedule migrant entries into the U.S., into a tool for voluntary departures. Now called CBP Home, the app helps migrants arrange their return trips.

DHS reports that “thousands” of migrants have used the app to self-deport.

Mark Krikorian, head of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for reduced immigration, viewed the offer as a practical way to encourage voluntary returns, acknowledging the difficulty of deporting millions of illegal immigrants. While Krikorian supported the idea, he questioned how it would be enforced.

“How do you make sure that they’ve actually gone home? Do you make them sign an agreement not to challenge their removal if they were to come back?” he asked.

Voluntary return programs have been used globally in various forms. Governments favor them because they are cheaper than detaining and deporting migrants through formal channels. The DHS estimates it costs2,210,109 Ksh to arrest, detain, and remove an illegal immigrant, while paying for a ticket and incentives is far less expensive.

Additionally, voluntary returns do not require complex government-to-government negotiations for deportations, which can sometimes be a barrier, especially when countries are reluctant to accept their own citizens back.

A 2011 study by the Migration Policy Institute found about 128 voluntary return programs worldwide. However, most of these programs have failed to encourage large-scale participation. Few exceptions include a successful program in the 1990s that returned migrants from Germany to Bosnia, but most programs saw limited success and struggled to prevent migrants from attempting to emigrate again.

While the Trump administration’s offer to pay migrants to leave voluntarily may seem like an effective way to reduce the strain on U.S. immigration enforcement, its success remains unclear. The program may help ease resource constraints, but it also raises concerns about fairness and long-term effectiveness, especially for those already engaged in immigration proceedings.

As the administration moves forward with its mass deportation plans, the true impact of voluntary return offers remains to be seen.

May 6, 2025
World’s Most Secretive Election: How The Next Pope Will Be Chosen On Wednesday

The world’s most secretive election begins Wednesday, when 133 Catholic cardinals will be locked inside the Sistine Chapel to choose a successor to Pope Francis.

Each cardinal will have sworn an oath of lifelong secrecy, as will every staff member supporting the process—from doctors and dining staff to Vatican officials. Anyone who breaks the rules faces excommunication.

Electronic devices are banned, and all participants must surrender phones, tablets, and smartwatches. The Vatican enforces strict isolation, with rooms swept for bugs and electronic jammers in place to prevent any communication with the outside world.

“There are no TVs, radios, newspapers or even open windows,” said Monsignor Paolo de Nicolo, a former papal household chief. “The cardinals are completely incommunicado.”

The conclave is not just secret—it’s also secure. Vatican police, walkie-talkies for emergencies only, and heavily vetted staff ensure total lockdown until a new pope is chosen. The result is announced to the world by white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney.

Despite the religious framing, political undercurrents are hard to ignore. Media speculation has swirled around potential successors, and books and videos promoting certain cardinals have circulated. But inside the conclave, external lobbying is blocked out.

“It’s meant to be a decision guided by the Holy Spirit, not by headlines,” said Ines San Martin of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Cardinals have been meeting daily in “general congregations” to prepare for the vote. Many are new and unfamiliar with each other, thanks to Pope Francis’ diverse appointments.

By Wednesday morning, voting cardinals—those under age 80—will be sealed off behind Vatican walls. Over the following hours or days, they will vote up to four times daily until one of them receives a two-thirds majority.

The stakes are global: the pope leads over 1.3 billion Catholics and commands immense influence on moral, social, and political issues worldwide.

As John Allen of Crux put it: “The Vatican takes isolation seriously. This is one of the biggest decisions of their lives.”

May 6, 2025
Sudanese Paramilitary RSF Targets Port Sudan’s Airport, Seaport with Explosive-Laden Drones

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) early Tuesday carried out a drone attack targeting the seaport and airport in the city of Port Sudan, eastern Sudan.

According to an Anadolu correspondent, fires broke out at Port Sudan city’s airport and seaport, following the sound of loud explosions that resulted from an apparent drone attack.

The Sudanese government has yet to comment on the attack.

Following the drone attack, several flights at the Port Sudan airport were delayed or rescheduled, according to a source inside the airport.

The RSF aerial drone attack is the third to be carried out in the past 48 hours against Port Sudan city, local sources said.

May 6, 2025
Rihanna Reveals She is Pregnant With Third Child at Met Gala

Singer Rihanna has confirmed she is expecting her third baby while attending fashion’s biggest night of the year, the Met Gala in New York.

The 37-year-old cradled her bump and smiled for the cameras while appearing on the red carpet, which was navy with daffodils.

Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Fenty, and her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, already have two sons.

A$AP Rocky, also known as Rakim Mayers, thanked reporters who offered their congratulations on the red carpet.

“It is time to just show the people what we were cooking up,” he said.

Rihanna was the last to arrive at the benefit event for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which marks the opening of its Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibit.

Each year celebrities wear extravagant outfits in line with the event’s theme. This year’s concept was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” the first since 2003 to focus exclusively on menswear.

A$AP Rocky, a co-chair of the event, confirmed the couple’s pregnancy news on the red carpet.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” the rapper said.

“I’m glad everybody’s happy for us because we’re definitely happy”, he added.

The couple’s first son RZA was born in May 2022 and their second son, Riot, was born in August 2023.

The pop star and businesswoman is known for her high-profile pregnancy announcements.

She debuted the pregnancy of her first child with a photoshoot with her partner in Harlem, New York City in 2022.

When she performed at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2023 she revealed she was expecting their second child.

She’s not the first star to reveal their baby bump at the Met Gala – the former tennis player, Serena Williams and model Karlie Kloss both publicly revealed their pregnancies at the 2023 event.

May 6, 2025