#United Nations Office at Nairobi

[russianlanguageday]

Russian Language Day 2024 celebration at the United Nations Offic at Nairobi (UNON).

On June 6th for the birthday of the great Russian poet Alexander.S. Pushkin, the United Nations celebrates the Russian Language Day/День русского языка.

Watch the Russian Language Day 2024 celebration at the United Nations Offic at Nairobi (UNON)!

[translationday]

Enhancing oral comprehension skills and vesability.

Translator’s other major activity, précis-writing, or preparing summary records for all the bodies, affords an opportunity to attend meetings and experience the proceedings of inter-governmental bodies.  Précis-writers work in teams; they need to have excellent oral comprehension skills, versatility, and an ability to stay calm under pressure and complete their work within prescribed deadlines.

Translators normally spend their first six months to two years being trained at United Nations Headquarters; after successfully completing their training period, they may transfer to the translation services of the other main duty stations, United Nations Office at Geneva, United Nations Office at Vienna and United Nations Office at Nairobi, or one of the regional commissions in Asia, Africa or Latin America.  

[camillasgirl]

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will undertake a State Visit to Kenya

The visit will take place from Tuesday 31st October to Friday 3rd November 2023, and will celebrate the warm relationship between the two countries and the strong and dynamic partnership they continue to forge.

The visit is at the invitation of President Ruto and comes as Kenya prepares to celebrate 60 years of independence. His Majesty’s first visit to a Commonwealth nation as King is therefore to the country in which Queen Elizabeth II’s reign began, having acceded to the throne in Kenya in February 1952.

The King and Queen will visit Nairobi City County, Mombasa County and surrounding areas. Their Majesties’ programme will reflect the ways in which Kenya and the United Kingdom are working together, notably to boost mutual prosperity, tackle climate change, promote youth opportunity and employment, advance sustainable development and create a more stable and secure region.

During the visit, Their Majesties will meet President Ruto and the First Lady as well as and other members of the Kenyan Government, UN staff, CEOs, faith leaders, young people, future leaders and Kenyan Marines training with UK Royal Marines. The King will also attend an event to celebrate the life and work of the Nobel Laureate the late Professor Wangari Maathai, together with Wangari’s daughter, Wanjira Mathai.

The King and Queen’s programme will celebrate the close links between the British and Kenyan people in areas such as the creative arts, technology, enterprise, education and innovation. The visit will also acknowledge the more painful aspects of the UK and Kenya’s shared history, including the Emergency (1952-1960). His Majesty will take time during the visit to deepen his understanding of the wrongs suffered in this period by the people of Kenya. Together, Their Majesties will tour a new museum dedicated to Kenya’s history and will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Uhuru Gardens, as well as visiting the site of the declaration of Kenya’s independence in 1963.

The King and Queen’s programme also will include:

Their Majesties will be greeted in Nairobi with a ceremonial welcome at State House and will each attend bilateral meetings – The King with The President and The Queen with the First Lady, before The President hosts a State Banquet at State House.

His Majesty will visit the United Nations Office at Nairobi, to learn more about the work of UN Habitat and the UN Environment Programme. UNON is the only UN Headquarters in the Commonwealth.

His Majesty will attend a technology showcase, meeting Kenyan entrepreneurs who are driving forward innovation in the country’s tech sector. Kenya has the third largest start up eco-system in Africa.

His Majesty will host a reception focussed on Kenya’s young people and future leaders across development, trade, media, the creative arts and environmental conservation.

Their Majesties will visit a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery, joining British and Kenyan military personnel in an act of Remembrance, before hearing about the Commission’s recent work to ensure all those who supported Britain’s efforts in both World Wars are commemorated.

The King and Queen will visit Nairobi National Park to witness the vital conservation work being undertaken by the Kenya Wildlife Service, which is integral to Kenya’s thriving tourism industry.

Her Majesty, Patron of the equine welfare charity Brooke, will hear how the charity is working with the Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals to rescue donkeys at risk and promote their welfare.

The King, as Captain General of the Royal Marines, and The Queen, will visit Mtongwe Naval Base in Mombasa. There, Their Majesties will witness Kenyan Marines, trained by the Royal Marines, demonstrating a covert beach landing, showing defence collaboration in action.

The Queen will meet survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, learning how they are supported and sharing her own insights from working in this area.

The King will meet faith leaders from Mombasa’s diverse community, hearing how they are working together to promote harmony amongst the city’s population.

[beardedmrbean]

Haiti's government declared a 72-hour state of emergency on Sunday after armed gangs stormed a major prison. At least 12 people were killed and about 3,700 inmates escaped in the jailbreak.

Gang leaders are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whose whereabouts are unknown since he travelled to Kenya.

Gangs control around 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Gang violence has plagued Haiti for years.

A government statement said two prisons - one in Port-au-Prince and the other in nearby Croix des Bouquets - were stormed over the weekend.

It said the acts of "disobedience" were a threat to national security and said it was instituting an immediate night-time curfew in response, which started at 20:00 local time (01:00 GMT on Monday).

How gangs came to dominate Haiti

Haitian media reported that police stations were attacked, distracting authorities before the coordinated assault on the jails.

Among those detained in Port-au-Prince were suspects charged in connection with the 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse.

In the capital, gangs have erected barricades to prevent security forces from encroaching on their territory, while their strongholds in Port-au-Prince's vast shantytowns are still largely on lockdown.

Schools and many businesses are closed, and there are reports of looting in some neighbourhoods.

Police have set up roadblocks and there is much uncertainty on the streets.

The latest upsurge in violence began on Thursday, when the prime minister travelled to Nairobi to discuss sending a Kenya-led multinational security force to Haiti.

Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier (nicknamed Barbecue) declared a co-ordinated attack to remove him.

"All of us, the armed groups in the provincial towns and the armed groups in the capital, are united," said the former police officer, who is accused of being behind several massacres in Port-au-Prince.

Haiti's police union had asked the military to help reinforce the capital's main prison, but the compound was stormed late on Saturday.

On Sunday the doors of the prison were still open and there were no signs of officers, Reuters news agency reported. Three inmates who tried to flee lay dead in the courtyard, the report said.

A journalist for the AFP news agency who visited the prison saw around 10 bodies, some with signs of injuries caused by bullets.

One volunteer prison worker told the Reuters news agency that 99 prisoners - including former Colombian soldiers jailed over President Moïse's murder - had chosen to remain in their cells for fear of being killed in crossfire.

They have now been transferred to a different prison.

The US embassy in Port-au-Prince on Sunday urged its citizens to leave Haiti "as soon as possible". The French embassy said it was closing visa services as a "precaution".

While Haiti has been plagued by gangs for years, the violence has further escalated since President Moïse's assassination at his home in 2021. He has not been replaced and presidential elections have not been held since 2016.

Under a political deal, Mr Henry was due to stand down by 7 February. But planned elections were not held and he remains in post.

A spokesperson for the White House's National Security Council said it was "monitoring the rapidly deteriorating security situation" with "grave concern".

They said the path forward "lies with free and fair elections" and violence serves "only to delay a democratic transition while... upending the lives of thousands".

Speaking to the BBC's Newsday, Claude Joseph - who was serving as acting prime minister when President Moïse was assassinated and who is now head of the opposition party called Those Committed to Development - said Haiti was living through a "nightmare".

Mr Joseph said Prime Minister Henry wanted "to stay as long as possible in charge".

"He agreed to step down on 7 February. Now he decides to stay, despite the fact that there are huge protests throughout the country asking him to step down - but it's unfortunate that now those criminals are using violent means to force him to step down."

In January, the UN said more than 8,400 people were victims of Haiti's gang violence last year, including killings, injuries and kidnappings - more than double the numbers seen in 2022.

Many health facilities have stopped operating because of the bloodshed.

Anger at the shocking levels of violence, on top of the political vacuum, have led to several demonstrations against the government, with protesters demanding the resignation of the prime minister.

[coochiequeens]

praying for the ladies in Kenya, to stay safe from this freak and the cops that should have prevented this guy and other prisoners to escape

By Olivia Christie and Afp

Published: 11:53 EDT, 20 August 2024 | Updated: 11:58 EDT, 20 August 2024

A 'vampire serial killer' who police said confessed to killing 42 women has escaped from custody in Kenya in a mass jail break. 

Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, was arrested in July after ten bodies and several body parts wrapped in plastic sacks were found in a rubbish dump in a Nairobi slum.

Jumaisi was being held at a police station in the capital when he escaped along with 12 other inmates who were all Eritrean nationals, officials have said. 

The prisoners fled by cutting through the wire mesh roof and scaling the perimeter wall - an escape which national police chief Gilbert Masengeli said was 'aided by insiders'.  

He told reporters that eight officers on duty at the time have been suspended and 'placed in custody', adding that the matter was being investigated by the Internal Affairs Unit.

.........

It is the second time in barely six months that a suspect in a high-profile case has escaped from custody in Kenya.

Kenyan national Kevin Kangethe, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend in the United States last year and leaving her body in an airport car park, fled a police station in February before being caught about a week later.

See rest of article

[ausetkmt]

Kenya's Haiti mission in limbo as urgency grows

A convoy of cars carrying members of a Kenyan delegation leave the premises of Haitian National Police (PNH) after meeting with the Chief of the Haitian National Police Frantz Elbe, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, August 21, 2023

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya has said its police officers will soon be in Haiti to confront rampaging gangs controlling the capital, but worsening insecurity and uncertainty about financing are casting doubt on the mission's prospects.

Kenya's government, which first pledged to lead an international security mission last July, says the coast is now clear to deploy after it signed an agreement with Haiti's government on March 1 meant to address concerns raised by a domestic judge who deemed the existing plan unlawful.

The United States and other powers are pushing for a swift deployment of Kenyan officers, seen as a prerequisite to allowing a half-dozen other African and Caribbean countries to also send security forces.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been unable to return to Haiti because of escalating violence since he signed the deal in Kenya. He announced overnight he would resign once a transition council and temporary replacement have been appointed.

Kenya's army has previously been sent to countries including Somalia, but its police officers have never been deployed in such large numbers and, for Nairobi, thorny issues remain to be worked out.

"The deteriorating security situation is likely to force a rethink in Nairobi," said Murithi Mutiga, the program director for Africa at the International Crisis Group think-tank.

"The state seems to be crumbling from within and the security situation is much worse than when Kenya offered to lead the mission."

Kenya's presidency and government did not respond to requests for comment.

One major challenge, according to diplomats with knowledge of the matter, is financing. The United States is providing the bulk of the funds for the mission, which was authorised by the U.N. Security Council in October.

The United States has pledged $300 million. However, a U.N. spokesperson said that as of Monday, less than $11 million had been deposited into the U.N.'s dedicated trust fund.

A senior U.S. State Department official said President Joe Biden's administration was working with Congress to get the money transferred.

Kenya has asked to be paid the costs of the deployment upfront, but U.N. rules require that funds it administers be used only to reimburse costs already incurred, according to a diplomat based in Nairobi and U.N. officials.

Kenya would therefore need to find a country willing to pay it directly, said the diplomat and U.N. officials who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

A senior U.S. official said $100 million in Defense Department funding to the mission announced on Monday would be used for logistics and equipment, and would not pass through the U.N. trust fund.

It was not clear whether that money could cover some or all of the Kenyan government's requests. Kenya has pledged 1,000 officers to a mission that experts expect to have up to 5,000 personnel.

PRE-DEPLOYMENT STAGE

Addressing reporters on Monday, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said Kenya was in the pre-deployment stage.

"There was a small court matter and that has been resolved," he said.

A High Court judge ruled in January that the government's plan was unlawful because there was no "reciprocal agreement" with the host country.

Although the government believes the March 1 agreement addressed the judge's misgivings, the opposition politician who spearheaded the lawsuit has vowed to launch a new challenge. He argues that the unelected Henry did not have the legal authority to enter into such an arrangement.

Meanwhile, the surging violence over the past week in Port-au-Prince, where gangs besieged the international airport and released thousands of prisoners, has deepened concerns in Kenya about the wisdom of the mission.

Opposition politicians, already critical of the mission as too dangerous and not in Kenya's national interests, have stepped up their criticism.

Opiyo Wandayi, the minority leader in the National Assembly, warned last week of immense losses. Makau Mutua, a prominent law professor, said Kenyan officers would be "sitting ducks".

Enock Alumasi Makanga, a former police officer and the national chairman of the Protective and Safety Association of Kenya, told Reuters that Kenyan police lacked the training and equipment to carry out such a mission.

"The level of criminality in Haiti is beyond what our guys can do," he told Reuters.

Kenyan officials have said that the highly-trained paramilitary officers were well prepared for the challenges.

President Ruto has said the mission is a "bigger calling to humanity" motivated by solidarity with a brother nation. Haiti requested an international force in October 2022, but foreign governments were reluctant to participate.

[jobskenyaplace]

PROCUREMENT OF ASSORTED MEDICAL SUPPLIES FOR UNHCR OFFICES IN DADAABAND KAKUMA

UNHCR TENDER SEPTEMBER 2024  TENDER NOTICE The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], Nairobi, Kenya, hereby invites interested, reputable and qualified companies, to submit offers for the following goods and services. TENDER REF NUMBER TENDER DESCRIPTION HOW TO RECEIVE THE TENDER DOCUMENTS/UPLOAD OFFERS ITB/B0N/2024/003/JK PROCUREMENTOF ASSORTED MEDICAL SUPPLIES…

[aashishmnhr24]

United Nations

In the century prior to the UN's Creation, several International organizations such as the international committee of the Red Cross were formed to ensure protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and strife.

During world war I, several major leaders, especially US President Woodrow Wilson, advocated for a world body to guarantee peace.

The winners of the war, the allies met to decide on formal peace terms and Paris Peace Conference (PPC). The League of Nations was approved and started operations but the United States never Joined.

On 10/01/1920 The League of Nations formally came into being. When the Covenant of League of Nations, gratified by 42 Nations in 1919 to affect the League Council acted as an executive body directing the Assembly's Business.

It began with four prominent members- The United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan.

After some failures and successes the League proved ineffective against the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and also second Italo- Ethiopian war.

Calls for economic sanctions against Italy failed. Italy and other Nations left the League.

In 1939 the League of Nations closed down.

On 24th September 1941, unanimously adopted adherence to the common principles of policy set forth by Britain and the United States.

Roosevelt and Churchill met at the White House in December 1941 for the Arcadia conference.

Roosevelt considered a founder of the UN coin the term United Nations to describe the allied Countries.

The text of the declaration by United Nations was drafted on 29th December 1941.

Roosevelt's idea of the "Four Powers" referring to the four major allied Countries, The United States, The United Kingdom, The Soviet Union and China emerged in the declaration by the UN.

On New Year's day 1942 Roosevelt, Churchill, the Soviet Union former foreign minister Maxim Litvinov and Chinese premier T. V. Soong signed the declaration and the next day the representatives of 22 other nations added their signatures.

On March 01,1945, 21 additional states had signed the declaration. After months of planning, the UN Conference on international organizations opened in San Francisco on 25th April, 1945.

It was attended by 50 Nation's Governments and a number of Non-Governmental Organizations. The drafting of the charter of the UN was completed over the following two months and it was signed on 26th June, 1945 by the representatives of the 50 Countries.

The UN officially came into existence On 24th October, 1945. The general assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN.

Though the UN's mandatory was peace keeping, the division between the United States and Soviet Union often paralyzed the organization.

The UN is a diplomatic and political international organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation and serve as a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.

The UN is the world's largest organization it has other offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna and Hauge where the International Court of Justice is headquartered at the Peace Palace.

The UN was established after world war II with the aim of preventing future world wars.

Name of the Student:- Aashish Manohar

Enrollment Number:- 224000504365DJMC

Name of the Institute:- BAOU Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.4 (after 1950)

1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea. 1959 – The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held. 1961 – American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South. 1961 – Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km). 1970 – Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the Cambodian Campaign of the United States and South Vietnam. 1972 – The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation". 1973 – The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out at 1,451 feet (442 m) as the world's tallest building. 1978 – The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people. 1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War. 1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire. 1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal. 1989 – Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-30 to deploy the Venus-bound Magellan space probe. 1990 – Latvia declares independence from the Soviet Union. 1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. 1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty. 2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London). 2002 – One hundred three people are killed and 51 are injured in a plane crash near Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, Nigeria. 2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita scale. 2014 – Three people are killed and 62 injured in a pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya. 2019 – The inaugural all-female motorsport series, W Series, takes place at Hockenheimring. The race was won by Jamie Chadwick, who would go on to become the inaugural season's champion. 2023 – Nine people are killed and thirteen injured in a spree shooting in Mladenovac and Smederevo, Serbia. It is the second mass shooting in the country in two days.

[swldx]

BBC 0408 30 Apr 2024

12095Khz 0359 30 APR 2024 - BBC (UNITED KINGDOM) in ENGLISH from TALATA VOLONONDRY. SINPO = 55445. English, ID@0359z pips and newsday preview. @0401z World News anchored by Neil Nunes. An Iranian teenager was sexually assaulted and killed by three men working for Iran's security forces, a leaked document understood to have been written by those forces says. It has let us map what happened to 16-year-old Nika Shakarami who vanished from an anti-regime protest in 2022. Her body was found nine days later. The government claimed she killed herself. The United Nations’ top court is ruling Tuesday on a request by Nicaragua for judges to order Germany to halt military aid to Israel, arguing that Berlin’s support enables acts of genocide and breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza. New York City's Columbia University has begun suspending students involved in a pro-Palestinian protest on campus after they defied a deadline to disperse. At least four law enforcement officers were killed in a shooting in Charlotte, North Carolina, while trying to serve a warrant Monday afternoon, police said. A suspect was killed in the shootout with police. About 50 people have died in Kenya in a deluge following heavy rains and flooding, a Red Cross official has said. People in villages near Mai Mahiu, about 60km (37 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, were swept away as they slept. Rescue efforts are continuing to pull people out of the mud, with fears that the death toll could rise. More than 100 people have been killed in floods that have devastated parts of Kenya in the last month. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has started distributing the new ZiG banknotes and coins to the commercial banks on Monday, April 29, 2024. The Zimbabwe Gold currency will be distributed with the public set to start withdrawing the cash from their accounts on Tuesday morning i.e. April 30, 2024. Reportedly, the central bank has set a limit for the weekly cash withdrawal at ZiG 3,000 for individuals and the limit of ZiG 30,000 for corporates to manage the initial roll-out. The move was done to fight triple digit inflation, it is the 4th currency in Zimbabwe in 10 years. In Canada, a jury has been selected for the trial of a Winnipeg man accused of killing four homeless indigenous women. Jeremy Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder. The jury has been told to return to court May 8 for the trial's opening statements. A vaccine patch could be a safe and effective alternative way to protect young children against measles, a trial in The Gambia suggests. The device - the size of a sticking plaster - is easier to transport and store than standard injections, especially in remote areas. @0405z "Newsday" begins. 250ft unterminated BoG antenna pointed E/W w/MFJ-1020C active antenna (used as a preamplifier/preselector), Etón e1XM. 250kW, beamAz 315°, bearing 63°. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 15359KM from transmitter at Talata Volonondry. Local time: 2259.

[rmpmw]

 Welcome to the United Nations

Press releases Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Haiti: Türk says situation “untenable”, urges swift and decisive action

06 March 2024

Press releases

Haiti: UN report says gang violence spreading, urges speedy deployment of multinational security mission

Haiti: UN Human Rights Chief warns against ‘never-ending cycle of violence’

Statements

Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Haiti gang violence and rise in human rights abuses

GENEVA (6 March 2024) - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today urged the international community to act swiftly and decisively to prevent Haiti's further descent into chaos.

Last weekend’s mass prison breakout has been described by Haitian officials as a lethal threat to national security, Türk said. More than 4,500 inmates are now known to have escaped, among them prominent gang members as well as those arrested in connection with the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The break followed coordinated gang action against national institutions with the stated aim of bringing down the Government.

“This situation is beyond untenable for the people of Haiti,” the Human Rights Chief said. “Since the beginning of the year, a staggering 1,193 people have been killed, and 692 others injured by gang violence.

“The health system is on the brink of collapse. Hospitals often do not have the capacity to treat those arriving with gunshots wounds. Schools and business are closed, and children are increasingly used by gangs. Economic activity is asphyxiated as gangs impose restrictions on people’s movements.  Haiti's biggest provider of drinking water has stopped deliveries. At least 313 000 people are currently internally displaced.”

Ahead of today’s Security Council meeting, Türk called once again for the urgent deployment, with no further delay, of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSS), to support the National Police and bring security to the Haitian people, under conditions that comply with international human rights norms and standards.

“The reality is that, in the current context, there is no realistic alternative available to protect lives,” the High Commissioner said. “We are simply running out of time.”

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva

Ravina Shamdasani - +41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org

Liz Throssell - +41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org

In Nairobi

Seif Magango - +254 788 343 897 / seif.magango@un.or

Twitter @UNHumanRights

Facebook unitednationshumanrights

Instagram @unitednationshumanright

[hardynwa]

NDLEA to host heads of antinarcotic bodies in Abuja

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, says delegates from 54 African countries and 15 observer nations will converge in Abuja next week for the 31st meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Africa, (HONLAF) to discuss new trends and partnerships to curb the global drug scourge. A statement by the NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, announced this on Tuesday at a joint press briefing by the Secretary to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Shadrach Haruna and the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, Oliver Stolpe. According to the statement, the agenda will feature discussions and collaborations on alternative development to cannabis cultivation, assets forfeiture, cryptocurrency and money laundering by drug cartels, among others. Haruna represented the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) of the NDLEA at the briefing. He said the 31st meeting was to enable heads of drug law enforcement agencies in Africa, discuss and develop strategies to combat drug trafficking and abuse in the region. “The HONLAF meeting is an annual event. The last one was held in Nairobi, Kenya, where Nigeria was unanimously elected as the host of the 31st edition, which will take place from Tuesday, September 26 to Friday, September 29, 2023, in Abuja. “This annual HONLAF meeting features a line-up of activities that include technical meetings, paper presentations, deliberations on reports and trends, workshops, and bilateral talks among member nations. It is a platform for brokering collaborations in the areas of shared intelligence, joint training, and joint operations against international drug cartels in the African region. “This year, Nigeria has the honour of being the chair and host of the meeting. So, it means delegates from 53 other African countries will converge on the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Monday, and for the rest of the week, they will be guests of NDLEA and the Federal Government of Nigeria. “Aside from delegates from African countries, there will be representatives from observer bodies and other non-African countries who will be attending to watch the proceedings”, he said. President Bola Tinubu is expected to deliver the keynote address and also declare the conference open as the special guest of honour while the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and some invited ministers as well as heads of relevant parastatals and agencies will be at the opening ceremony. In his remarks, Stolpe said the HONLAF meeting will also focus on “regional and national cooperation to reduce illicit production and cultivation of illicit drugs and manufacturing of other drugs like methamphetamine. Read the full article

[beardedmrbean]

BOSTON - The body of missing Whitman woman Margaret "Maggie" Mbitu was found in a car at a Logan Airport garage Thursday, according to Massachusetts State Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. Investigators are looking for her partner, 40-year-old Kevin Kangethe, of Lowell, who left Boston on a flight to Kenya.

Sources told WBZ-TV's I-Team Mbitu was stabbed and left in the passenger seat of the car.

Police have an arrest warrant for Kangethe, charging him with the 31-year-old's murder, authorities said. They are working with Kenyan authorities to find him.

Mbitu was reported missing by her family on Monday. She was last seen Monday night, leaving her job at BAMSI in Halifax.  The company said Mbitu was a nurse who worked in their group homes for more than ten years, helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"She was warm, caring, and loved by everyone she worked with, both staff and the people she cared for in our group homes. As an agency, we are in mourning over the loss of such an amazing young (woman)," executive vice president Ulea Grace Lago said in a statement.

Mbitu's coworkers had posted a flyer on Facebook, praying for her safe return.

It's heartbreaking news for family friend Jane Wambu who said Maggie was like a daughter.

"It's just very, very, unfortunate that somebody would choose to do what they have done," Wambu told WBZ. "It's definitely such a great loss to the parents, to her relatives, and to the community at large and I would say to the nation."  

The FBI has an international operations office in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Former FBI special agent Jennifer Coffindaffer says it's likely agents are already communicating with local authorities to track down Kangethe and bring him back to face charges.

"The United States has an extradition treaty with Kenya, so things look very good in terms of Kenyan authorities cooperating," Coffindaffer said.  

The I-Team first reported that police issued a "be on the lookout" alert for the car at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and found it overnight parked inside the airport's Central Parking garage. Sources tell the I-Team that investigators are piecing together a timeline using video surveillance.

"We're just praying that the Lord may give the family peace and above everything that her culprit, this person may be arrested," Wambu said.

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Global food security at a crossroads (AP) Francis Ndege isn’t sure if his customers in Africa’s largest slum can afford to keep buying rice from him. Prices for rice grown in Kenya soared a while ago because of higher fertilizer prices and a yearslong drought in the Horn of Africa that has reduced production. Cheap rice imported from India had filled the gap, feeding many of the hundreds of thousands of residents in Nairobi’s Kibera slum who survive on less than $2 a day. But that is changing. The price of a 25-kilogram (55-pound) bag of rice has risen by a fifth since June. Wholesalers are yet to receive new stocks since India, the world’s largest exporter of rice by far, said last month that it would ban some rice shipments. It’s an effort by the world’s most populous nation to control domestic prices ahead of a key election year—but it’s left a yawning gap of around 9.5 million metric tons (10.4 tons) of rice that people around the world need, roughly a fifth of global exports. Global food security is already under threat since Russia halted an agreement allowing Ukraine to export wheat and the El Nino weather phenomenon hampers rice production. Now, rice prices are soaring, putting the most vulnerable people in some of the poorest nations at risk. The world is at an “inflection point,” said Beau Damen, a natural resources officer with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization based in Bangkok.

Tropical Storm Hilary moves on (AP) Crews worked to dig roads, buildings and care home residents out of the mud across a wide swath of Southwestern U.S. desert Monday, as the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years headed north, prompting flood watches and warnings in half a dozen states. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Tropical Storm Hilary had lost much of its force as it headed to the Rocky Mountains, but warned that “continued life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding” was expected in parts of the region. Hilary first slammed into Mexico’s arid Baja California Peninsula as a hurricane, causing one death and widespread flooding before becoming a tropical storm. So far, no deaths, serious injuries or extreme damages have been reported in California, though officials warned that risks remain, especially in the mountainous regions where the wet hillsides could unleash mudslides.

Hot, Sticky Summer in the South (NYT) Grab-N-Go, a drive-through and walk-up convenience store in New Iberia, La., has a central air-conditioning system, a window air-conditioning unit and two small, portable air-conditioners. On a recent afternoon, all of them were running. Still, Don Vitto, the shopkeeper, was sweating anyway. “It’s a sticky, heavy heat,” Mr. Vitto said. “You can feel it in your breathing—I know I can. I can feel the thickness in the air.” In Louisiana, and along much of the Gulf Coast, the misery of summer has never been reflected simply by a temperature reading alone. It’s not just the heat, as Southerners have explained for generations. It’s the moist, soupy, suffocating humidity that swallows up everything and conspires with the heat to make any activity without air-conditioning draining and even deadly. And this summer it has been absolutely abysmal. The air has felt swampier and more suffocating. Yet, confoundingly, as moist as the air has been, a scarcity of rain and clouds has made the sun all the more blistering, leaving the earth as dry and cracked as peanut brittle. But what has made recent months so punishing is the relentlessness of it all, as the conditions have dragged on for days on end and the volume of excessive heat warnings has broken records.

Anticorruption Crusader Wins in Guatemala, in Rebuke to Establishment (NYT) An anticorruption crusader won a runoff election for Guatemala’s presidency on Sunday, handing a stunning rebuke to the conservative political establishment in Central America’s most populous nation. Bernardo Arévalo, a polyglot sociologist from an upstart party made up largely of urban professionals, took 58 percent of the vote with 98 percent of votes counted on Sunday, the electoral authority said. His opponent, Sandra Torres, a former first lady, got 37 percent. Alejandro Giammattei, the current president, who is prohibited by law from seeking re-election, congratulated Mr. Arévalo and extended an invitation to organize an “orderly” transition of power. Full official results are expected within the coming days.

Presidential runoff is likely in Ecuador (AP) Ecuadorian voters looking for a new leader to help curb the country’s unprecedented violence will have to head to the polls again in October for a runoff that is likely to see the ally of a convicted former president vie against the principal heir of a banana growing and exporting empire. No candidate in Sunday’s special presidential election received enough support to be declared winner. With more than 85% the votes counted late Sunday, results from the National Electoral Council had leftist Luisa González in the lead, with about 33% of support. She had been the frontrunner heading into the contest, but the Election Day’s surprise came from former lawmaker Daniel Noboa who received about 24% votes even though he never placed above fifth place in polls. To win outright, a candidate needed 50% of the vote, or to have at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest opponent.

Wildfire spreads on Spain’s Tenerife, forcing thousands from homes (Reuters) A wildfire on the Spanish island of Tenerife that has forced thousands of people to flee their homes remained out of control on Sunday, despite a slight improvement in weather conditions during the night. Orange flames lit up the night sky from Saturday into Sunday on hillsides just above the lights of inhabited areas, while thick black smoke billowed high into the air. Late on Saturday, emergency services said the fire was now affecting 10 towns, although 11 had been evacuated as a precaution. Regional authorities said over 12,000 people had been evacuated.

Ukraine running out of options to retake significant territory (Washington Post) Ukraine appears to be running out of options in a counteroffensive that officials originally framed as Kyiv’s crucial operation to retake significant territory from occupying Russian forces this year. More than two months into the fight, the counteroffensive shows signs of stalling. Kyiv’s advances remain isolated to a handful of villages, Russian troops are pushing forward in the north and a plan to train Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16s is delayed. Ukraine’s inability to demonstrate decisive success on the battlefield is stoking fears that the conflict is becoming a stalemate and international support could erode. A new, classified U.S. intelligence report has predicted that the counteroffensive will fail to reach the key southeastern city of Melitopol this year. Meanwhile, a war weary Ukrainian public is eager for leaders in Kyiv to secure victory and in Washington, calls to cut back on aid to Ukraine are expected to be amplified in the run up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election. “The question here is which of the two sides is going to be worn out sooner,” said Franz-Stefan Gady, a senior fellow with the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Center for a New American Security, who visited Ukraine in July. Gady said that Russia and Ukraine are now in an “attrition” phase, attempting to sap each other’s resources rather than secure significant territorial advances. With its ground forces largely stymied, Ukraine has mounted a flurry of new drone strikes on Russian soil, including targets in Moscow, but the strikes have caused minimal damage.

Ukraine Will Get F-16 Fighter Jets From Denmark and Netherlands (NYT) The Netherlands and Denmark said Sunday that they would donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine—the first countries to do so—in what President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said was a breakthrough. The procurement of American-made F-16s to supplement a fleet of Soviet-era jets has been a priority for Mr. Zelensky’s government for months as it seeks advantage over Russia’s air force and also to improve its own air defenses. Ukrainian officials acknowledged last week, however, that NATO countries would not donate the planes before next year, which is too late for use in a counteroffensive the government in Kyiv launched this summer. President Biden, setting aside months of resistance, said in May that NATO countries could train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, and on Thursday a U.S. official said that the United States would allow allies to send the jets.

Rights group says Saudi Arabian border guards fired on and killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants (AP) Border guards in Saudi Arabia have fired machine guns and launched mortars at Ethiopians trying to cross into the kingdom from Yemen, likely killing hundreds of the unarmed migrants in recent years, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday. The rights group cited eyewitness reports of attacks by troops and images that showed dead bodies and burial sites on migrant routes, saying the death toll could even be “possibly thousands.” The United Nations has already questioned Saudi Arabia about its troops opening fire on the migrants in an escalating pattern of attacks along its southern border with war-torn Yemen. A Saudi government official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, called the Human Rights Watch report “unfounded and not based on reliable sources,” without offering evidence to support the assertion.

Parents explain why they home-school their kids (Washington Post) One parent was fed up with an elementary school’s punitive approach to dealing with her 6-year-old son’s special needs. Another, home-schooled herself, reluctantly followed the same path with her daughter because of fears about her family’s vulnerabilities to covid. A third wanted to impart Christian values while exposing her kids to the food of the Philippines and the museums of Madrid. Their children are among the hundreds of thousands who have started home-schooling over the last three years—the most significant expansion of home education in American history. Aryanna Liddell, 32; home-schooling her daughters, ages 7 and 2, in Hillsboro, Oregon explained her reasons: “We believe that families are the fountainhead of a healthy, moral and functioning society. The family should be the child’s center of gravity. They shouldn’t be looking for that security in their peer group, because that’s not sustainable. In the Bible, it says in Deuteronomy 6 that you shall teach your children about the Lord. They have to be grounded on the truth of God, right? In education, we seek to nourish not just the body, but also the soul and the mind. We want them to appreciate what is true, and to seek what is good and what is beautiful. Because we are not just raising our children to make a living. We want them to have a life, and a life that is full of wonder, because wonder leads to worship. We need to bust the myth that home-schooled children are overprotected and not socialized. That’s not true. I find that my children actually socialize with a broader mix of people. What I’ve noticed is that she’s a lot more confident talking to people and having conversations with grown-ups as well.”

[hicginewsagency]

Kenya Schools, Shops Shut Before National Protests

Residents of Nairobi, Kisuma and other cities are being urged to bang pots and pans in protest against the high cost of living in the country, and what opposition leader Raila Odinga describes as an illegitimate government. Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) said it’s very concerned over reports of police in Kenya using excessive force to quell protests which have left…

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ESTABLISHMENT OF FRAME AGREEMENT FOR THE PROVISION OF TELEPHONE HELPLINE SERVICES FOR UNHCR OPERATIONS IN KENYA

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