Tunisians protest poor governance as election campaigns get underway

TUNIS, Tunisia

Demonstrators took to the streets of Tunisia's capital on Saturday to protest against what they say is the deteriorating state of the country, as the presidential campaign season officially begins.

Samia Abbou, a former Tunisian assembly member who took part in the demonstration, said Saied has failed on many important fronts.

Her and other demonstrators slammed both Tunisia’s economic and political woes, carrying signs that grouped together the growing costs of staple items and growing concerns about civil liberties.

In 2011, longtime Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled by nationwide protests that unleashed revolt across the Arab world.

More than a decade later, demonstrator Sghaier Zakraoui said he was worried about the growing number of political figures who’ve been thrown in jail under Saied and said he wants to ensure that there no more attacks on civil rights.

The protests capped off a week in which the North African country’s largest opposition party, Ennahda, said its senior members had been arrested en masse, at a scale not previously seen.

They come as Saied prepares to campaign for reelection on Oct. 6, when he will ask voters to grant him a second term.

When first elected in 2019, Saied used anti-corruption promises to win over people disillusioned with the political controversies that plagued Tunisia’s young democracy in the years that followed the Arab Spring.

Since taking office, the 66-year-old former law professor has gone to lengths to consolidate his own power, freezing the country’s parliament and rewriting the constitution. 

Throughout his tenure, authorities have arrested journalists, activists, civil society figures and political opponents across the ideological spectrum.

And though he promised to chart a new course for the country, its unemployment rate has steadily increased to one of the region’s highest at 16%, with young Tunisians hit particularly hard.

Al Ahly whitewash Kenyan champions Gor Mahia in one-sided affair

NAIROBI,  Kenya 

Kenya Champions,  Gor Mahia FC, face a daunting challenge in the second leg of the CAF Champions League after suffering a heavy home defeat to Al Ahly.

Gor Mahia suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of record Egyptian champions Al Ahly in their CAF Champions League second preliminary round first-leg match played at Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday.

K'Ogalo were second-best throughout the match which ended with their opponents placing one foot in the group stages and moving closer to their goal of defending the title.

The two African football giants started the match brightly - launching attacks as they searched for an early goal.

The Red Devils took the lead in the 14th minute courtesy of an easy tap-in by Rami Rabia after goalkeeper Kevin Omondi slipped, gifting the visitors the advantage.

One minute later, they doubled their lead after their opponents lost the ball inside the box, which landed at the feet of South African international Percy Tau who produced a classy finish.

Kevin Omondi had to produce a decent save from Akram Tawifk's powerful shot in the 20th minute minutes into the encounter.

Gor Mahia nearly got themselves back into the game courtesy of Ghanaian import Enoch Morrison but his shot went straight into the hands of goalkeeper Mohamed El Shennawy.

The blistering pace and contrasting styles of play saw Gor Mahia go up against a direct approach while the North Africans created a mind-blowing number of chances as they searched for a third goal.

In a bid to counter the Red Devils' threat, K'Ogalo coach Leonardo Neiva made a double change, sending out the rusty Alpha Onyango and Philemon Otieno for Kennedy Ochieng and Paul Ochuoga, respectively.

Gor Mahia took control of the match towards the half-hour mark and they started creating goalscoring opportunities.

Boniface Omondi had a chance to find the back of the net in the closing stages of the first half but his shot went over the bar. Similarly, Rooney Onyango's dangerous attempt went inches wide.

The second half saw the pace of the game slow to a crawl, which very much suited the North African visitors and caused frustrations to boil over for Gor Mahia.

After a quiet spell in the game, Enock Morrison tried his luck from the edge of the area in the 62nd minute, but the striker fired his effort straight at Mohamed El Shennawy.

The game opened up as Al Ahly pushed for a third goal, prompting Marcell Koller to make tactical changes in the 62nd minute where he brought off El Shahat, Emam, and Marwan in a triple substitution, bringing on Koka, Taher, and Afsha.

The visitors looked dangerous every time they pushed forward and extended their lead in the 73rd minute following another mistake by Leo Neiva's men at the back, allowing Tau to secure his brace.

Arsenal hit wasteful Spurs with sucker punch

LONDON, England 

Gabriel Magalhaes headed Arsenal to a 1-0 win at Tottenham on Sunday as the Gunners overcame the absence of key midfielders Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard to extend their north London derby dominance.

Mikel Arteta's side were without skipper Odegaard due to an ankle injury suffered on Norway duty, while Rice served a suspension for his red card against Brighton.

Losing two such influential players appeared to make Arsenal vulnerable on their trip up the Seven Sisters Road to face their bitter rivals.

But the Premier League title contenders dug deep with a combative display, benefitting from Tottenham's latest display of wasteful finishing before Gabriel bagged the winner in the second half.

The Brazilian defender's first goal since February made it three wins from four league games for unbeaten Arsenal as they chase a first title since 2004 after two successive runners-up finishes.

Arsenal have now won on their last three visits to Tottenham, losing just once, in May 2022, in their last eight meetings with their hated neighbours.

The second placed Gunners are two points behind Manchester City as they turn their attention to their Champions League opener at Atalanta on Thursday before travelling to face Pep Guardiola's champions next weekend.

The 196th north London derby showed Arsenal have steel and spirit aplenty, but they also needed a dose of good fortune as Tottenham let them off the hook in the first half.

Failing to turn dominant spells into goals has been a familiar story for Tottenham this season and once again Ange Postecoglou's men were let down by their lack of cutting edge.

Tottenham's second successive defeat leaves them with only one win from four games in a worrying start to the season for Postecoglou after their late swoon last term cost them a top four place.

Turning to Jorginho and Gabriel Martinelli to replace Rice and Odegaard, Arteta had urged his team to show the "resilience, depth and hunger" needed to overcome their selection issues.

Trains collide in Egypt's Nile Delta leaving 3 dead, 29 injured

NILE DELTA,  Egypt 

Two passenger trains collided in Egypt’s Nile Delta on Saturday, killing at least three people, two of them children, authorities said.

The crash happened in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya province, the country's railway authority said in a statement. Egypt's Health Ministry said the collision injured at least 40 others.

Train derailments and crashes are common in Egypt, where an aging railway system has also been plagued by mismanagement. In recent years, the government announced initiatives to improve its railways.

In 2018, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said some 250 billion Egyptian pounds, or $8.13 billion, would be needed to properly overhaul the North African country’s neglected rail network.

Video from the site of the crash showed a train car crumpled by the impact, surrounded by crowds. Men tried to lift the injured through the windows of a passenger car.

Last month, a train crashed into a truck crossing the train tracks in the Mediterranean province of Alexandria, killing two people.

Man who attacked Comoros president dies in cell

MORONI,  Comoros 

The man who was arrested for attacking the Comoros president with a knife on Friday has been found dead in prison, the authorities there say.

The attack took place during a funeral for a well-known religious leader and injured President Azali Assoumani's hand.

National prosecutor Ali Mohamed Djounaid said that after being arrested the attacker had been isolated in a cell to calm him down.

He said a lifeless body was found lying on the floor of the cell on Saturday morning.

The Prosecutor said the dead man was a 24-year-old soldier called Ahmed Abdou from the village of Salimani-Itsandra, where the funeral took place. 

"A doctor declared him dead. An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of his death," Mr Djounaid told a press conference in the Indian Ocean archipelago's capital, Moroni.

As for the 65-year-old president, he was "doing well. He has no health problems, he is out of danger. A few stitches were given," energy minister Aboubacar Saïd Anli is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. He was also at the press conference, which was attended by almost all government ministers.

The motive for Friday's afternoon's attack is not clear but the authorities are looking into it.

They have identified the knifeman as a 24-year-old soldier called Ahmed Abdou, AFP reports.

Witnesses told AFP they saw the man in the room where well-wishers were paying their respects to the deceased.

They say the attacker injured the president's hand in the stabbing, before being stopped by one of the mourners.

President Azali first came to power in a military coup in 1999.

After a decade out of office, he won a disputed election in 2016 and was re-elected last January.

The vote was marred by allegations of ballot stuffing and was followed by two days of deadly protests.

Azali has been accused of growing authoritarianism.

He served as president of the African Union between 2023 and 2024.

Venezuela arrests US and Spanish citizens over 'plot'

By Malu Cursino, CARACAS Venezuela 

Venezuelan authorities say they have arrested three US citizens, two Spaniards and one Czech citizen suspected of plotting to destabilise the country.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said hundreds of weapons had also been seized, and that the detainees were plotting to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other top officials.

It comes two days after Washington sanctioned 16 Venezuelan officials who are closely aligned with President Maduro, following his disputed election victory.

The Venezuelan government said the Spaniards detained were linked to Madrid's National Intelligence Centre (CNI). However, Spanish government sources have told local media the two do not belong to the intelligence organisation.

In a news conference on Saturday Cabello said: "The CIA is leading this operation, and that does not surprise us but they, the National Intelligence Centre of Spain, have always maintained a low profile knowing that the CIA operates in this area.

"These two detainees even tell us about a group of mercenaries they are looking for to bring to Venezuela with very clear objectives to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, myself, and another group of comrades who are leading our party and our revolution."

The US has rejected the accusations.

"Any claims of US involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false," according to the State Department, who says Washington "continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela".

The arrests come amid a feud between the Maduro government and the US and Spain.

Cabello said the Spaniards were detained in Puerto Ayacucho, south of the capital Caracas.

Spanish authorities have requested more information from Venezuela, with the Spanish embassy requesting access to those detained.

"They contacted French mercenaries, they contacted mercenaries from eastern Europe and they are in an operation to try to attack our country," Cabello said, adding that 400 firearms were confiscated in the operation.

On Friday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil summoned Spain’s ambassador in Caracas to protest at a minister’s description of the Venezuelan government as a “dictatorship”, after days of mounting bilateral tensions.

On Thursday, the US Treasury said it was targeting "key officials involved in Maduro’s fraudulent and illegitimate claims of victory and his brutal crackdown on free expression following the election".

Maduro was declared the winner of July's presidential election by Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE), which is closely aligned with the government.

But the CNE has not published any detailed voting tallies supporting a Maduro victory. Data published by the opposition suggests its candidate, Edmundo González, won instead.

Somalia 'open' to supporting Ethiopia rebels

MOGADISHU,  Somalia 

Somalia's minister of foreign affairs has said Somalia will consider establishing contacts with and support rebels fighting in Ethiopia if the Ethiopian government attempts to implement the deal it signed with Somaliland.

Ahmed Moalim Fiqi was answering a question from local Universal TV on September 12.

"The option to have contacts with armed rebels in Ethiopia or rebels that are fighting against the Ethiopia regime — if it continues this, to have contact with them is an option open to Somalia, it's a door open to us," he said.

Fiqi insisted the situation has not yet reached that stage.

"We have not reached that stage, there is a hope there will be a solution. But it is a path open to us … it's the correct thing to go there, to take that path to meet them, to support them, to stand by them (the rebels). But that will come when they continue their hostility, and attempt to implement the so-called agreement," he said.

Fiqi was asked if the Somali government has a plan to contact the Tigray People's Liberation Front, which was involved in two years of deadly war against Ethiopia's federal government until the Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in November 2022.

"We discussed that, but at this time the collapse of Ethiopia is not in the interest of Somalia and the Horn of Africa region. But if they continue to [support] those opposing Somalia and with the secessionist groups [that] they have signed [an] agreement with, it's an option for us," he responded.

Ethiopia's deputy permanent representative to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Nebiyu Tedla, criticized the comments from Somalia's minster of foreign affairs.

"It's comical to witness al-Shabab agents posing as government officials, who are unable to function effectively outside of Banaadir (the Mogadishu area) babbling hallow nationalism, driven by narrow clan centralization," Nebiyu posted on X.

"Such will only undermine years of progress and lead Somalia into the pit," added Nebiyu, who formerly served as spokesperson for Ethiopia's ministry of foreign affairs.

Relations between the two countries have been warming up during the last three decades as Ethiopia hosted reconciliation conferences and sent troops to help successive Somali governments. But relations turned sour when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the president of the self-declared, breakaway republic of Somaliland on January 1, 2024.

According to Somaliland officials, under the MOU Ethiopia will be the first country to recognize Somaliland as an independent nation in return for the leasing of 20 kilometers (12 miles) of seashore to be used as a naval base by Ethiopia for 50 years. Somalia sees the deal as infringement to its sovereignty.

On Friday, U.S. Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Mike Hammer, speaking in Addis Ababa, urged both countries to find ways to work together.

"Let me state unequivocally the United States supports Somalia's territorial sovereignty, integrity and unity, and we have made that very clear," he said.

"We want to see peaceful and good relations between all countries in the region and certainly between Ethiopia and Somalia. And we urge both to find ways to move forward and look how they can continue to work together. We are well aware of the ENDF's [Ethiopian National Defense Forces] and Ethiopia's sacrifice in Somalia in the fight against al-Shabab. That is what we should be focusing on, frankly from the U.S. perspective, how we can support Somalia in its fight against al-Shabab."

Hammer said fighting al-Shabab requires good relations between Somalia and Ethiopia.

"There is no reason that these two countries should have difficulties that can't be resolved again through conversations. But again, both countries need to accept the basic principes outlined frankly by the AU charter, which is affirmation and recognition in understanding of each other's territorial sovereignty, integrity and unity," Hammer told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.

Somalia and Ethiopia fought two wars and supported each other's rebels in the 1970s and 80s.

In February 1988, the president of Somalia, Mohamed Siad Barre, and Ethiopian President Mengistu Haile Mariam, reached an agreement in Djibouti mediated by late Djibouti President Hassan Guled Aptidon. They agreed to cease hostilities and committed to cease supporting each other's rebels.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 15/09/2024

 

Three Americans and 34 others sentenced to death over coup attempt in Congo

KINSHASA,  DR Congo 

A military court in Congo handed down death sentences Friday to 37 people, including three Americans, after convicting them on charges of participating in a coup attempt.

From left: Tyler Thompson Jr, Marcel Malanga and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, all American citizens, face the court in Kinshasa 

The defendants, most of them Congolese but also including a Briton, Belgian and Canadian, have five days to appeal the verdict on charges that include attempted coup, terrorism and criminal association. Fourteen people were acquitted in the trial, which opened in June.

The court in the capital, Kinshasa, convicted the 37 defendants and imposed “the harshest penalty, that of death” in the verdict delivered by the presiding judge, Maj. Freddy Ehuma, at an open-air military court proceeding that was broadcast live on TV.

The three Americans, wearing blue and yellow prison clothes and sitting in plastic chairs, appeared stoic as a translator explained their sentence.

Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga in May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Felix Tshisekedi. Malanga was fatally shot while resisting arrest soon after live-streaming the attack on his social media, the Congolese army said.

Malanga’s 21-year-old son Marcel Malanga, who is a U.S. citizen, and two other Americans were convicted in the the attack. His mother, Brittney Sawyer, has said her son is innocent and was simply following his father, who considered himself president of a shadow government in exile.

The other Americans are Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, who flew to Africa from Utah with the younger Malanga for what his family believed was a vacation, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, who is reported to have known Christian Malanga through a gold mining company.

Congo reinstated the death penalty earlier this year, lifting a more than two-decade-old moratorium, as authorities struggle to curb violence and militant attacks in the country.

The country's penal code allows the president to designate the method of execution. Past executions of militants in Congo have been carried out by a firing squad.

Comoros president injured in knife attack

MORONI, Comoros 

Comoros President Azali Assoumani has been wounded in a knife attack, the authorities say.

"Thank God, his life is not in danger," said a government spokeswoman.

He was stabbed while attending a religious leader's funeral near the capital Moroni but was only "slightly injured" and has since returned home, spokeswoman Fatima Ahamada told the Reuters news agency.

She added that the attacker had been arrested.

The motive for the stabbing is not yet clear.

The knifeman’s identity has not been publicly confirmed but multiple reports suggest he is a young military officer.

Witnesses told tour reporter they saw the man in the room, dressed in a robe, where well-wishers were paying their respects to the deceased.

They say the attacker injured the president's hand in the stabbing, before being stopped by one of the mourners.

President Azali first came to power in a military coup in 1999.

After a decade out of office, he won a disputed election in 2016 and was re-elected last January.

The vote was marred by allegations of ballot stuffing and was followed by two days of deadly protests.

Mr Azali has been accused of growing authoritarianism.

He served as president of the African Union between 2023 and 2024.

Russia expels 6 British diplomats over suspected spying

MOSCOW,  Russia 

Federal Security Service (FSB) on Friday announced that the accreditation of six British diplomats had been withdrawn, accusing them of espionage and "threatening Russia's security."

"As a measure of reprisals to the multiple unfriendly acts of London, the Russian Foreign Ministry... has withdrawn the accreditation of six employees from the political department of the British Embassy in Moscow," the law enforcement agency said.

The FSB accused the diplomats of "subversive activities and intelligence" gathering, adding that it had evidence confirming London's "coordination of an escalation in the international political and military situation."

Law enforcement officials also said the British Foreign Office's Eastern Europe and Central Asia department was coordinating activities to inflict a "strategic defeat" against Russia.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said her ministry agreed with the FSB's "assessment of the activities of these so-called British diplomats," alleging that "the British embassy has largely flouted the limits set by the Vienna Convention."

Russian state television showed images of the six diplomats, identifying them by name. It also aired footage claiming to show them leaving the country.

The British government rejected out of hand that six of its diplomats in Moscow were spies, calling the Russian accusations "completely baseless."

The Foreign Office in London indicated that it was a tit-for-tat measure after Western moves against "Russian state-directed activity across Europe and in the U.K."

"We are unapologetic about protecting our national interests," a statement read.

Former Botswana president returns from self-imposed exile, appears in court

GABORONE, Botswana 

Botswana’s former president, Ian Khama, has made a surprise return to the country after a nearly three-year self-imposed exile.

Khama, who faces criminal charges, fled the southern African country in 2021, saying his life was in danger after a fallout with President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Khama appeared Friday in a Gaborone court, where his lawyers asked that a warrant of arrest against him be dropped. He faces 14 charges, which include illegal possession of firearms and money laundering.

His lawyer, Unoda Mack, told reporters outside court that the warrant of arrest has been set aside.

"They wanted him, we brought him. The warrant has been set aside. He will appear in court, he will be coming. He brought himself,” Mack said.

Khama, who leads a splinter opposition party, the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), has denied the criminal charges and says they are part of persecution by Masisi.

Khama handpicked Masisi to succeed him in 2018.

BPF Secretary General Lawrence Ookeditse said Khama, who led Botswana between 2008 and 2018, is back to fight the “bogus” charges.

“He went to the magistrate court to try to get the bogus warrant of arrest that was brought on him quashed,” Ookeditse said.

Khama’s return comes just weeks before Botswana holds its general election on October 30.

Ookeditse said the former president will participate in campaigns for his party.

“We have been very consistent and General Khama has also been very consistent to the effect that we are going to cause an upset in these elections and he is going to be on the ground campaigning for the BPF, as we are going to do all we can to effect regime change in a democratic way in Botswana,” Ookeditse said.

President Masisi has previously said Khama must return to face the law, and denied accusations of persecuting his predecessor. 

Khama will be back in court on September 23.

Ecuador prison director shot dead as she drove with coworker

GUAYAQUIL,  Ecuador

The director of Ecuador's biggest prison was killed in an armed attack on Thursday, the second such killing in under two weeks in the Latin American country, the SNAI prison agency said.

Maria Daniela Icaza (pictured above), director of the infamous Litoral penitentiary in the port city Guayaquil died of injuries sustained "following an armed attack on the road" leading to the nearby town of Daule, the agency said.

She died while being taken to hospital, the agency said in a WhatsApp message, adding that an official from the prison service who was travelling with her was injured in the incident.

"We convey our deepest condolences," the agency wrote on social media.

Ecuador's prisons are among the most dangerous in the world, and many have been taken over by drug gangs.

South Sudan postpones elections by 2 years, citing incomplete preparations

JUBA, South Sudan 

The government in South Sudan has postponed elections scheduled for December for two years citing the need to complete processes such as a census, the drafting of a permanent constitution and the registration of political parties.

The Presidential Adviser on National Security Tut Gatluak on Friday said the extension would provide an opportunity to complete critical processes before the new election date of December 22, 2026.

This is the second time the country, which gained independence in 2011, is postponing elections and extending a transitional period that started in February 2020.

President Salva Kiir and his former rival turned deputy, Riek Machar, signed a peace agreement in 2018 that ended a five-year civil war in which more than 400,000 people died.

Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro said the extension followed recommendations from both electoral institutions and the security sector.

Last month, the chairperson of National Election Commission, Professor Abednego Akok, told The Associated Press the country was behind the electoral calendar, which required voter registration to have started in June but was still pending due to a shortage of funds.

The country is going through an economic crisis that has seen civil servants go unpaid for almost one year, after it's oil exports were affected by a damaged pipeline in war-torn neighboring Sudan through which it exports.

The Tumaini initiative peace talks that have been going on in neighboring Kenya, believed to provide a foundation for the inclusion of non-signatory groups to sustain peace, have also stalled.

A new security act that allows for warrantless detentions became law in August despite concerns from human rights groups that it would create fear in the runup to the elections.

Andrea Mach Mabior, an independent political analyst, warned that any sham elections may result in a waste of resources and chaos.

"Going for elections that do not meet international standards will be a waste of money," Mabior told our reporter.

But others like Edmund Yakani, executive director of the Community Empowerment Progress Organization, said delays to the elections or any extension of the transitional period would create a possibility of violence erupting across the fragile country.

"If we fail to conduct the elections in December 2024 the chance of the country turning into violence is higher than if we go for the elections," Yakani told the AP in August.

The country, which has gone through the shocks of civil war and climate change is in need of humanitarian aid with an estimated 9 million people — 73% of the country's population — projected to be in need of humanitarian assistance during 2024, according to the 2024 UN Humanitarian Needs Overview for South Sudan.

No new pledge on Ukraine missiles after Starmer-Biden talks

By Malu Cursino, WASHINGTON United States 

United Kingdom Prime Minister,  Sir Keir Starmer did not signal any decision on allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia after talks with United States, President Joe Biden in Washington.

When asked if he had persuaded Biden to allow Ukraine to fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russia, Sir Keir said they had had "a long and productive discussion on a number of fronts, including Ukraine, as you would expect, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific".

The White House said they also expressed "deep concern about Iran and North Korea's provision of lethal weapons to Russia".

Earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Western nations not to let Ukraine fire long-range missiles at Russia.

Putin said such a move would represent Nato's "direct participation" in the Ukraine war.

Addressing reporters ahead of his meeting with Sir Keir at the White House, Biden said: "I don't think much about Vladimir Putin".

To date, the US and UK have not given Ukraine permission to use long-range missiles against targets inside Russia, for fear of escalation.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called on Kyiv's Western allies to authorise such use, saying it is the only way to bring about an end to the war.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian cities and front lines have been under daily bombardment from Russia.

Many of the missiles and glide bombs that hit Ukraine's military positions, blocks of flats, energy facilities and hospitals are launched by Russian aircraft deep inside Russia.

Kyiv says not being allowed to hit the bases from which these attacks are launched hinders its self-defence capability.

The UK previously said Ukraine had a "clear right" to use British-provided weapons for "self-defence" which "does not preclude operations inside Russia", following Kyiv's surprise cross-border incursion last month.

However, this excludes the use of long-range Storm Shadow missiles in territory outside Ukraine's internationally recognised borders.

The US provided long-range missiles to Ukraine earlier this year, but like Kyiv's other Western allies these have not been authorised for use on targets deep inside Russia.

Family receives body of Ugandan Olympic athlete set on fire by her partner

ELDORET,  Kenya 

The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.

Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.

She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.

Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels - an organization that was formed in honour of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.

“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.

It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.

Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarrelled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.

Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.

Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.

“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.

He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.

Kenya’s high rates of violence against women have prompted marches by ordinary citizens in towns and cities this year.

Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.