"Pursue dialogue ahead of elections" - Ruto tells South Sudan President

By Our Correspondent, NAIROBI Kenya 

Kenyan President William Ruto urged South Sudan’s political leaders to pursue dialogue and consensus on Monday as Nairobi pledged to support preparations for elections scheduled for December.

Ruto made the remarks after meeting South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit at State House in Nairobi, as Juba seeks regional support for general elections.

“Kenya stands ready to support South Sudan in this endeavour while encouraging dialogue and consensus among all parties,” Ruto said in a post on X.

South Sudan is scheduled to hold general elections on Dec. 22, 2026, in a vote intended to end the country’s prolonged transitional period. The elections have been repeatedly delayed since independence in 2011.

Kiir dissolved the transitional unity government and the national legislature on Sept. 22 and appointed a caretaker administration, following amendments to the electoral law that removed some legal conditions previously linked to holding the elections.

The move has raised the stakes for political dialogue as South Sudan prepares for the polls under a power-sharing arrangement established by a 2018 peace deal that ended five years of civil war.

The African Union and other regional and international actors have called for a peaceful transition and credible, inclusive and transparent elections.

Ruto said Kenya would support South Sudan’s electoral preparations and also expressed satisfaction with relations between the two countries.

“We expressed satisfaction with the strong relations between our two nations and resolved to continue opening more opportunities for trade and investment for our citizens,” he said.

The two leaders also discussed regional economic cooperation. Ruto thanked Kiir for South Sudan’s participation in last week’s launch of the Dangote East Africa Refinery in Lamu.

For its part, Kiir’s office said he told Ruto that South Sudan had completed the legal steps required for the elections, while logistical and financial preparations are under way. An inter-party dialogue is also continuing, with Kiir urging political parties to build consensus on election-related issues.

Ruto welcomed the dialogue and encouraged South Sudanese parties to maintain negotiations, according to Kiir’s office. The two leaders also said credible elections are important for peace and security in the region.

The leaders also discussed economic cooperation, including reducing charges on containers bound for South Sudan and operationalising a dry port allocated to the country in Naivasha, according to Kiir’s office.

Kiir arrived in Nairobi on Sunday for his first known foreign trip since dissolving the transitional government.

His visit followed reports circulating on social media about his health. Kiir’s office has not publicly commented on the reports.

Trump says 'threat' led US to pull bombers from RAF Fairford

WASHINGTON, United States 

United States President,  Donald Trump has said the US moved its bombers out of RAF Fairford because of "some threats" to the base.

The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday it had removed its bombers - thought to be about a dozen B-1s - from the base back to their home stations in America.

Speaking to reporters as he departed for Nebraska on Monday, Trump said the US had known of a "threat", which led them to move the bombers.

Earlier on Monday, a No 10 spokesperson had insisted RAF Fairford was safe and pointed to Trump's comments last week, where he praised the UK's "police, defence and security services" in relation to the base.

Trump's comments appear to confirm reports by US media that a new threat led to the bombers being removed after a major incident on 27 September when police were alerted to three "suspicious vehicles" near the airbase.

While speaking to a gaggle of reporters outside the White House, Trump was asked if a "specific threat" had led the US to pull its bombers from the airbase.

Trump replied: "Yeah I think we can say that. They didn't fly out by accident.

"There were some threats. And rather than tempting the enemy, we'll capture the enemy and beat the enemy. But why should we leave them there? So we moved them around a little bit. Not very far."

He added Washington "actually knows the people that made the threat", but he did not confirm who.

The exact nature of the threat that prompted the aircraft's removal from RAF Fairford remains unclear, but sources in Washington speculated it might have revolved around sabotage attempts or attempts to strike the sensitive, expensive aircraft in the event of resumed hostilities with Iran.

One source close to the White House pointed to Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb - a covert drone attack on five Russian bases in June last year - as an example of what an enemy force could do, even at a distance.

"Whatever they thought it was, it was taken extremely seriously," the source said.

US media outlets the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Axios reported that the potential attack may have been designed to target the aircraft and kill personnel, citing unnamed officials.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 6/10/2026

 

France closes up to 500 schools Monday over student protests

By Jack Burgess,  PARIS France 

Up to 500 schools across France will be partially or totally closed on Monday after clashes between riot police and student protesters in recent days, the French education minister said on Sunday.

Lessons will be "totally or partly suspended" in some "400 to 500" high schools as security conditions "have not been fulfilled", Édouard Geffray said.

He also said 24 schools had been "burned or ransacked" since the start of the protests.

Thousands of students have been demonstrating over education standards and the protests, which started last week, have spread from Paris to other cities, including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille.

High school pupils and others have objected to a lack of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and run-down buildings.

On Friday, French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said 735 of France's 3,700 schools had been affected "one way or another" by violent protests.

The education minister warned the number of schools potentially affected on Monday could be comparable to Friday's figure but promised a "partial, progressive return to lessons".

"There are activists - particularly from the far-left - who have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence," Édouard Geffray claimed.

"Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students," he said. Geffray added that 78 staff members in education had been wounded, which he described as "something we have never seen before".

On Friday 1,747 people were arrested, according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.

Over 5,000 people have been arrested altogether since the start of the movement, according news agencies, with around 85% of them minors.

Organisers of the protests have called for the demonstrations to continue on Tuesday after accusing the government of a lack of "concrete measures".

On Sunday, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said his government is taking further steps to "address the difficulties faced by high school students and educational staff".

He said this includes ensuring classes continue, improving facilities, better organising school days and making the French university admissions platform more transparent.

Lecornu also said the government is accelerating the review of its "vandal-pays" bill to ensure that people responsible for damage bear the cost of their actions.

Brazil election goes to run-off as right-wing Flávio Bolsonaro wins first round

BRASILIA, Brazil 

The right-wing Flávio Bolsonaro (pictured) has won the first round of Brazil's presidential election, beating the incumbent left-wing President Lula da Silva. But he did not obtain more than 50% of the votes required to win outright.

There will be a run-off vote between these two candidates on 25 October.

Flávio Bolsonaro is the son of the former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for masterminding a failed coup attempt after losing the last election.

The election was close, with President Lula polling slightly ahead during the campaign. With 99% of the votes counted, Bolsonaro had 47.03% to Lula's 45.16% of the vote.

Bolsonaro's result exceeded expectations, meaning the second round now looks like his to lose, given some of the other presidential candidates who were knocked out in the first round were right-wing alternatives.

Bolsonaro's Liberal Party (PL) also had the most governors, senators and federal deputies elected in the results so far, meaning the party is expected to have the most influence in Congress.

The majority of Latin America has now elected right-wing presidents, aligned to the Trump administration, and the run-off will determine whether Brazil – Latin America's largest country and economy – will follow suit or not.

After casting his ballot, Lula, 80, warned that the choice was between democracy and "barbarism".

Bolsonaro, 45, said he wanted to "free the Brazilian people".

Lula and Bolsonaro are the two biggest names in Brazilian politics, on the left and right, and this campaign has polarised Brazil yet again: with themes of sovereignty, crime, the economy and corruption being top concerns for voters.

Lula is more popular in Brazil's poorer northeast, among low-income voters, Catholics, and women.

He is seeking a fourth term in office, after being elected in 2002, 2006 and then a later non-consecutive term in 2022. In that election, he beat Jair Bolsonaro by less than 2% of the vote, the closest presidential election result in Brazil's history.

After that election, Bolsonaro's supporters vandalised government buildings on 8 January 2023.

Jair Bolsonaro was banned from running for re-election even before his prison sentence, but endorsed his eldest son Flávio to run in his place. Jair Bolsonaro's wife, Michelle, was elected to the Senate on Sunday.

Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged to grant his father, and his supporters responsible for the January 8th riots, amnesty if elected.

He is more popular in the south, and among wealthier voters and evangelical Christians.

Bolsonaro said on Sunday he was "very happy" to have led Lula in the first-round vote, and expressed confidence that he would clinch a run-off victory in three weeks' time.

"I am very happy with the real possibility that, three weeks from now, Brazil will give a definitive answer by choosing a modern government," he said.

Lula admitted the outcome of the vote was "unexpected", but insisted that the race was not over.

"I admit I was convinced I would win in the first round," he said on Sunday. "The game is about to start. We are in extra time. In extra time, we will win over the Brazilian people."

Eight countries including China join military exercises in Russia

BEIJING, China 

Troops from eight countries concluded joint military exercises in Russia on Saturday after conducting coordinated ground and air operations, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The Center-2026 strategic military exercise began Monday in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region.

The participating countries were Russia, China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Tajikistan, according to CCTV.

At the Chebarkul training ground, the participating forces practiced long-distance deployment and joint operational planning before carrying out live-action maneuvers against simulated enemy targets, CCTV reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the exercises Friday in the Ural Mountains.

He said Center-2026 involved 47,000 troops training to repel an attack at 11 firing ranges and in the Caspian Sea.

About 6,000 troops from Russia and other countries took part in the final phase at Chebarkulsky, Putin said.

China sent personnel from the Central Theater Command, including members of the 82nd Group Army and a combined-arms brigade, according to CCTV.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 5/10/2026

 

Houthi rebels claim attack on Saudi oil facility in Riyadh

SANAA, Yemen 

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a fire that broke out at an Aramco oil refinery in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday.

If true, it would be the latest in a series of attacks on Saudi facilities.

Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier Yahya Saree said that the alleged attack was in response to the "unjust siege and the launching of aggressive airstrikes" from Saudi territory.

”The Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a military operation using several ballistic missiles and drones, targeting Aramco in the capital of the Saudi enemy, Riyadh," Saree said in a statement posted on social media. "The operation successfully achieved its objective, by the grace of God. The strikes were accurate and direct, resulting in fires breaking out at the targeted sites.”

A major escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iranian-backed Houthis has revived Yemen’s civil war. The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government said it carried out operations against Houthi militia early on Sunday, killing hundreds of fighters.

”We will continue to impose the equation of “siege for siege” and “escalation for escalation,” Saree said, "and to target the Saudi enemy’s military mobilisations until the aggression stops and the siege on our beloved country is lifted.”

The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government has called the statement “misleading.” The rebels claimed a separate attack last month on an Aramco facility in Yanbu but Riyadh said it had intercepted the missiles and no damage was reported.

In recent weeks, renewed violence in the country has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.

The Houthis captured the strategic city of Mokha and a number of Red Sea islands last month, extending their reach to the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It was the Houthis’ biggest land grab in years and ended a 2022 ceasefire that largely stopped major fighting in Yemen’s 12-year civil war.

At least 17 people killed in Kenya road crash, most of them Catholic pilgrims

MOMBASA, Kenya 

At least 17 people, most of them Catholic pilgrims, have been killed in a crash on a highway to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

The accident happened in Salama in the early hours of Saturday morning as a truck driver tried to overtake another vehicle.

"We witnessed an accident that is quite tragic," said Justus Mwanzia, a member of county assembly.

According to Mwanzia, a minivan carrying 14 pilgrims and their driver collided with the truck, killing everyone on board. Mwanzia said three people in the truck were also killed.

The pilgrims were on their way to a prayer site in Nakuru County, west of the capital Nairobi, said Martin Kivuva, archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa.

The archbishop said in a statement that he and others were “saddened with lots of grief” over the deaths.

Road accidents are a problem across Africa. In Kenya and elsewhere in the region, the accidents are often blamed on poorly maintained vehicles, excess speed and poor road conditions.

Kenya's National Transport and Safety Authority called upon all motorists to exercise extreme caution, avoid dangerous overtaking and strictly observe lane discipline. The government agency said the stretch where the crash happened was a so-called “black spot" and that recommendations to address the safety concerns had been made.

President William Ruto has offered his condolences to the families, friends, parishioners and the entire Catholic community.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 3/10/2026