Ivory Coast arrests 237 youths protesting authoritarian drift after removal of presidential terms limits
Ivory Coast, a nation of 32 million and the largest economy in Francophone West Africa, is due to hold a presidential election in two weeks. Earlier this year, four main opposition figures, including former President Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam, were barred from running by the electoral commission.
Seychelles holds a runoff in a tight race between president and opposition challenger
A week before the first round of voting, activists filed a lawsuit against the government challenging a recent decision to issue a long-term lease for a 400,000-square-metre (100-acre) area on Assomption, one of the country’s 115 islands, to a Qatari company to develop a luxury hotel. The largest island in the archipelago is Mahé.
Kenya’s taxman introduces station-less PIN service delivery to improve taxpayer convenience
To further expand access, KRA is rolling out an agent model, like those used by banks and mobile service providers, to reach rural and underserved areas. The authority plans to recruit 10,000 agents this year to offer basic services such as registration, tax filing, and payments.
Blue economy: Kenya collects views from communities along Indian Ocean coast for Marine Spatial Plan development
Dr Jackeline Uku explained that the process will bring together county governments and users of marine resources, to agree on how specific spaces are allocated, helping to minimise potential conflicts between competing activities.
How Trump bulldozed Netanyahu to apologise to Qatari emir that earned him Hamas trust, peace deal
An important development during the talks was the mediators’ success in convincing Hamas that its continued holding of hostages had become a liability for it rather than leverage, the senior US official and the Palestinian official in Gaza said. Hamas came to a view that continuing to hold hostages undermined global support for Palestinians, and that without them, Israel would have no credibility to restart fighting, the Palestinian official said.
Kenya revisits plan to demolish asbestos-roofed houses with help of World Bank, European Union
Director of London Institute of Railways, D Lawson Kamau Mbuguss, who said resident of crowded settlements like Nairobi’s Eastlands, Kongowea in Mombasa, Nyalenda in Kisumu or Langa Langa in Nakuru, are at a high risk of cancer.
Education minister says Kenyan government will engage striking lecturers to resolve salaries dispute
According to Ogamba, SRC has maintained that money owed to the lecturers was Ksh624 million instead of the Ksh7.9 billion as claimed by the universities Union, as part of the 2017-2021 and 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).
Why out of seven by-elections in Mbeere and Malava are eliciting the most state interest
A common denominator in either by-election is the strong presence of state and ruling party, United Democratic Alliance (UDA). The ruling party has mobilised state machinery at national and grassroots levels to stomp for the nominees, raising fears of possible rigging by the state where possible outcomes may appear to be tilting away from the ruling party.
WHO director: Bill Gates has bragged about making $550m from vaccines for Covid-19, which he ‘and others now admit was not a dangerous virus’
Dore pointed out that a previous WHO director, Margaret Chan, admitted to begging donors for money, which she said was spent on projects highly linked to their preferences. “Bill Gates basically is the biggest funder to the WHO and he basically dictates what they do, and it basically comes down to what’s going to pad his bottom-line,” Dore said.
End of two years of war doesn’t guarantee immediate rebound in Israel’s economy
At 3.25 to the dollar, the shekel has appreciated nearly 20 per cent against the US currency since October 2023, aided by Bank of Israel stabilisation measures. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark index is up nearly 300 per cent, compared to 56 per cent for the S&P 500. Israel has also maintained access to international debt markets, raising a record $8 billion in March 2024 and $5 billion in February 2025.
