Strike over high fuel prices paralyses transport in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya 

Thousands of Kenyan commuters have been stranded and businesses paralysed as public transport operators went on a nationwide strike to protest against recent increases in the cost fuel.

Key roads in the capital Nairobi remained largely empty, forcing some commuters to walk to work, with other parts of the country also affected by the transport crisis. Businesses in parts of Nairobi remained shut and schools asked students to stay at home.

Local TV on Monday showed protesters barricading roads and lighting fires.

The strike comes days after the authorities raised petroleum prices to record levels, with costs increasing by more than 20%.

Kenya, like many other African countries, relies heavily on fuel imports from the Gulf, a supply route disrupted by the US-Israel conflict with Iran that began on 28 February. 

Even though a ceasefire has been declared, fuel prices have remained high as the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's oil passes through, is still blocked.

In parts of Nairobi and elsewhere across the country, police clashed with protesters, using tear gas to disperse them. This came amid reports of demonstrators stopping and harassing some motorists.

Ahead of the strike, the police assured Kenyans that security measures would be in place and warned against any disruptive conduct.

The association representing transport operators had earlier urged all vehicle users, including private motorists, public transport buses (locally known as matatus) and truckers, to stay off the roads as part of a coordinated shutdown.

"This action is not only for transport operators, but for every Kenyan citizen," the Transport Sector Alliance (TSA) said in a statement.

The alliance has accused the government of not doing enough to shield Kenyans from the rising fuel prices, amid a broader high cost-of-living crisis.

It has called for the reversal of the price increases announced last week, and for fuel prices to be reduced by about 35%.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) on Thursday raised prices to a high of 242 shillings ($1.8; £1.4) a litre for diesel and petrol to $1.65.

Treasury Minister John Mbadi told local NTV station on Monday that the increase in fuel prices was "unfortunate" and acknowledged that it was hurting the economy.

He however said the strike was "completely uncalled for" and the government would only make decisions that are "informed and not emotional".

"Why are we trying to solve a global problem using domestic means?" he asked.

The high cost of fuel is being blamed for increases in the price of food and other basic goods and services, with public service vehicles already raising commuter fares.

Last month, the government cut VAT on fuel from 16% to 8% until July but there have been calls for it to do more.

Ebola outbreak kills 88 in DR Congo as WHO declares global emergency

GOMA, DR Congo

A fast‑moving Ebola outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain has killed more than 80 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and reached the major city of Goma, prompting the World Health Organization to declare an international health emergency amid fears the real scale of the crisis is far larger than reported.

Professor Jean‑Jacques Muyembe, head of the National Institute of Biomedical Research, confirmed that the epicentre lies in the Mongbwalu health zone, with infections quickly moving to Bunia, Rwampara — and now Goma.

“The epicentre must be the Mongbwalu health zone… and yesterday… there was a case in Goma,” he said, describing a woman infected by her husband who died in Bunia.

Health officials warn that the outbreak is unfolding in a densely populated, conflict‑affected region, complicating containment.

“It is an epidemic that will spread very rapidly… there are many armed groups in this province. That is what will make managing this epidemic very, very, very complicated,” Muyembe added.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the situation now constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the organisation’s second‑highest alert level.

He stressed that the outbreak “does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency”, but warned of major uncertainties around the true number of infections and the geographic spread.

Africa CDC reports 88 deaths and 336 suspected cases, while Doctors Without Borders prepares a “large‑scale response”, calling the rapid spread “extremely concerning”.

The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain, first identified in 2007.

Unlike the Zaire strain — for which vaccines exist — Bundibugyo has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, and its fatality rate can reach 50%.

DR Congo’s health minister Samuel‑Roger Kamba confirmed that patient zero was a nurse who reported symptoms in Bunia on April 24. Uganda has also reported one death linked to the same strain.

Local civil society groups describe a dire situation: “There is nowhere to isolate the sick. They are dying at home and their bodies are being handled by their family members,” said Isaac Nyakulinda in Bunia.

Poor roads, insecurity and limited laboratory capacity mean few samples are being tested, raising fears the outbreak is far larger than official figures suggest.

The WHO notes that the high positivity rate, confirmed cases in two countries, and growing reports of suspected infections “all point towards a potentially much larger outbreak”.

This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, a country four times the size of France with over 100 million inhabitants. The deadliest outbreak in the region, between 2018 and 2020, killed nearly 2,300 people.

Ebola spreads through bodily fluids, with symptoms including fever, vomiting and haemorrhaging. The incubation period can last up to 21 days.

As MSF mobilises staff and equipment, and WHO ramps up surveillance, authorities warn that the coming weeks will be critical in determining whether the outbreak can be contained.

Rwandan genocide suspect Kabuga, 93, dies in custody

THE HAGUE, Netherlands 

Felicien Kabuga, a suspect in ​the 1994 Rwanda genocide, has died in ‌custody, a U.N. court said on Saturday. He was 93.

Kabuga was arrested in France in 2020 after ​more than two decades on the ​run and extradited to The Hague. He ⁠was later ruled unfit to stand trial ​because of dementia and was also deemed too ​ill to return to Rwanda.

With no country willing to accept him, Kabuga remained in the U.N. detention centre ​in The Hague. The court said it ​had ordered an inquiry into the circumstances of his ‌death.

The ⁠former businessman and radio station owner was among the last fugitives sought over the genocide, in which Hutu extremists killed more than 800,000 ​Tutsis and ​moderate Hutus ⁠in 100 days.

Prosecutors accused Kabuga of promoting hate speech through his ​broadcaster Radio Television Libre des Mille ​Collines ⁠and of helping arm ethnic Hutu militias.

The court that announced his death, the Mechanism for ⁠International ​Criminal Tribunals, oversees remaining cases ​from the former U.N. tribunals for Rwanda and the former ​Yugoslavia.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 18/5/2026

 

Senior IS leader killed in joint operation, US and Nigeria say

By Makuochi Okafor, ABUJA Nigeria 

Nigeria and the United States say they have killed a senior Islamic State (IS) leader in a joint-operation.

Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was described by US President Donald Trump as the "second in command of ISIS globally" and "the most active terrorist in the world".

IS has radically shifted in recent years, with around 90% of its attacks now taking place in sub-Saharan Africa. Its Nigeria-based branch is by far the most active.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said the two countries had carried out a "daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow" to IS.

Al‑Minuki was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by Washington in 2023.

He was killed along with "several of his lieutenants" during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin, a huge region of waterways and swampland shared by Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

A military spokesman said intelligence had established Minuki had established a fortified base in the area - in Metele, Borno state.

The Lake Chad basin has long been a stronghold for Boko Haram and its rival faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap).

The Nigerian military said the operation began shortly after midnight on Saturday, after months of intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. 

It said "zero casualties or loss of assets" were recorded, describing the operation as evidence of growing cooperation between Nigerian and US forces.

It said that al-Minuki had been promoted to "Head of General Directorate of States", making him one of the most senior figures within the global IS hierarchy.

He previously oversaw IS-linked operations across the Sahel and West Africa, including attacks targeting civilians and minority communities.

The military also linked al-Minuki to the 2018 Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping when more than 100 girls from a boarding school in north-eastern Nigeria were taken by militant group Boko Haram.

Before pledging allegiance to IS in 2015, he was described as a senior Boko Haram commander.

Boko Haram began its military campaign to impose Islamic rule in northern Nigeria in 2009.

The group pledged its allegiance to IS after what was believed to be the then-leader Abubakar Shekau posted an audio statement on Boko Haram's X account in 2015.

Its aim has been to establish a "caliphate", a state ruled by a single political and religious leader according to Islamic law, or Sharia.

Abu-Bilal al-Manuki is believed to have hailed from Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria. Analysts say his nickname likely came from Mainok, a town in the state, following a common regional tradition where people are identified by their hometowns or family names.

The Nigerian military previously claimed they had killed him in 2024. It has also made similar claims about other jihadists in the Lake Chad basin, including claiming on around five different occasions it had killed former Boko Haram leader Abu Bakar Shekau before his death was confirmed in May 2021.

Trump described al-Minuki's death as a major blow to IS's African and global networks, disrupting funding channels and command structures.

The US president thanked the Nigerian government for their "partnership", adding that Minuki "will no longer terrorize the people of Africa or help plan operations to target Americans".

Nigeria and the US have increased military cooperation as the country ramps up efforts to fight the extremist insurgency that has plagued Nigeria for more than a decade.

The move follows earlier comments by President Trump that Nigeria was not doing enough to protect vulnerable groups, including Christian communities - claims repeatedly denied by Nigerian authorities, who say violence in the country affects people regardless of religion or faith.

In April, IS claimed responsibility after gunmen killed at least 29 people at a football pitch in Nigeria's north-eastern Adamawa state.

Last Christmas, US and Nigeria carried out a joint airstrike in Nigeria's Sokoto state targeting IS-linked groups.

Speaking recently at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, Tinubu defended Nigeria's growing security cooperation with international partners.

"Security challenges will always be there, those are things you cannot do alone, you cannot operate the world in isolation," he said.

"Even Trump as bold as he is, he's in China, he's talking about Taiwan, so who I am in Nigeria to say I will do it alone? I must embrace my neighbours. I must pursue pragmatic cooperation and partnerships, which is necessary to enhance the security of lives and property of our people."

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 16/5/2026

 

Mali's army carries out overnight strikes on rebel-held city of Kidal

BAMAKO, Mali 

Mali’s army reportedly carried out several strikes overnight Wednesday to Thursday on the town of Kidal in the desert region in the north of the country.

It has been under the control of Tuareg rebels and their allies from the JNIM jihadist group since their large-scale coordinated attacks across the country in late April.

Their rare alliance enabled a rapid campaign that saw several strategic military bases overrun across northern Mali.

Residents have told our Correspondent they heard at least four explosions in Kidal on Wednesday night which caused material damage.

One strike reportedly hit a house near a former market, destroying it, while another struck the governor’s compound.

A Malian army officer says the armed forces are targeting specific objectives and warned the strikes will be intensifying in the coming days.

Witnesses say Kidal was unusually calm on Thursday morning with very little traffic on the roads.

The strategic town served as an unofficial headquarters of the Tuareg Azawad Liberation Front coalition for more than a decade

It was captured by Mali's army in late 2023 with the help of Russian mercenaries.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 15/5/2026

 

How China changed Rubio name to let him join Trump summit despite sanctions

BEIJING, China 

How did United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio enter China despite being under sanctions by Beijing?

Well, this became possible thanks to a linguistic workaround and diplomatic protocol by China, which had sanctioned Rubio twice when he was still a senator.

Rubio accompanied US President Donald Trump on his first trip to China after Beijing changed the transliteration of Rubio’s name.

“China has done that using a sleight of hand: His name is spelled different."

The Chinese government appeared to have used a diplomatic workaround to let the secretary of state in, transliterating the first syllable of his surname with a different Chinese character for “lu”.

The name change to “Marco Lu” enabled Beijing to welcome Rubio without lifting the sanctions, which could be enforced on another occasion.

The Chinese government and official media began transliterating Rubio’s surname with a different Chinese character shortly before he took office as secretary of state in January 2025.

In March, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated it was willing to relax those sanctions against Rubio if he were to travel with Trump for a summit in Beijing.

“China’s sanctions were aimed at Mr Rubio’s words and deeds concerning China during his tenure in the United States Senate,” Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on March 16.

The sanctions date back to when Rubio served as a US senator in Florida, from 2019 up to his nomination to join Trump’s administration.

The Chinese government sanctioned him twice in 2020 for speaking out against Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong, a former British colony that is demanding greater autonomy from China’s grip.

Rubio, a Cuban American and a stark critic of communism, also slammed China’s alleged abuse of the mostly Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwest China.

As senator, Rubio was also one of the proponents of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a congressional bill approved in 2021 that required companies to prove that goods imported from China’s Xinjiang region were not produced with forced labour.

“Many companies have already taken steps to clean up their supply chains,” Rubio said at the time. “For those who have not done that, they’ll no longer be able to continue to make Americans – every one of us, frankly – unwitting accomplices in the atrocities, in the genocide.”

"Differences over Taiwan could bring US and China to conflict more" - Xi warns Trump

By Will Weissert, BEIJING China 

Chinese leader Xi Jinping offered stark warnings about avoiding possible clashes between his nation and the U.S. on Thursday, and even cautioned visiting President Donald Trump that Washington’s handling of its relations with Taiwan could lead to “conflicts.”

His tone was a sharp contrast to Trump, who opened the highly anticipated summit with Xi by praising his Chinese counterpart and declaring that “it’s an honor to be your friend.”

It underscored just how far apart the leaders remain on thorny issues including the war in Iran, trade disputes and Taiwan — and suggested that Trump’s three-day visit to China is likely to be longer on pageantry and symbolism than major bilateral breakthroughs.

The pair met for about two hours behind closed doors at the Great Hall of the People and discussed trade and other issues. 

According to a readout posted on X by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, Xi told Trump that “the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations.”

“If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” she wrote.

That came after a brief public exchange before the meeting began in which Trump offered platitudes, telling Xi: “You’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true.”

“It’s an honor to be with you. It’s an honor to be your friend,” Trump said before promising that “the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before.”

Xi was darker in his opening remarks, expressing hope that the U.S. and China could avoid conflict and asking “whether the two countries can transcend the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new model for relations between major powers.”

He used a term popular in foreign policy studies, referring to the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace an established power, the result is often war.

“Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both,” Xi said. “The two countries should be partners rather than rivals.”

Xi has mentioned “Thucydides Trap” before with regards to U.S.-China relations, dating back to as early as 2014.