Joseph Aoun’s candidacy was backed by several political parties, as well as the US, France and Saudi Arabia.

A rival backed by the Hezbollah militia withdrew on Wednesday and endorsed the commander.

The presidency is a mainly ceremonial role which is reserved for a Christian under a sectarian power-sharing system.

The election took place six weeks after Lebanon’s government agreed a ceasefire to end a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah, which significantly weakened the Iran-backed Shia Muslim group.

The Lebanese army was not involved in the conflict and has a key role under the ceasefire deal, which requires it to deploy soldiers in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw and to ensure Hezbollah ends its armed presence there by 26 January.

Aoun, 60, is a career soldier who has been the army’s commander since 2017.

During that time, he has led the institution through deep crises which have affected Lebanon.

They include the 13-month Hezbollah-Israel conflict, a six-year-long economic depression that is one of the worst recorded in modern times, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people.

Lebanon has not had a properly functioning government since the last parliamentary elections in May 2022.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was unable to secure backing for a new cabinet before then-president Michel Aoun’s term ended that October, leaving his administration with reduced powers.

Lawmakers then failed to elect a new president on 12 occasions. The last time was in June 2023, when no candidate secured enough votes to win the first round before Hezbollah and its ally Amal prevented a second round by walking out.

A presidential candidate in Lebanon can usually be elected in the first round if they receive a two-thirds majority – or 86 votes – in the 128-seat parliament, or by a simple majority in a second round. However, Speaker Nabih Berri said Aoun needed a two-thirds majority in any round because he was a sitting army commander.

In Thursday morning’s first round, 71 lawmakers voted in favour of Aoun, 15 short of what he required. Another 37 lawmakers – many of them reportedly from Hezbollah and Amal – cast blank ballots, while 20 ballots were declared invalid.

Berri, who is the leader of Amal, then suspended the session until the afternoon, sparking anger among lawmakers who wanted the second round to take place immediately.

Eventually, Aoun was elected president after receiving 99 votes in the second round, easily achieving the required two-thirds majority. Nine lawmakers cast blank ballots, in addition to 18 invalid ballots.

As soon as the result was announced by the speaker, TV channels showed scenes of celebration around the country.

Aoun was later shown arriving at the parliament building in a suit and then inspecting guards before entering the chamber to be sworn in.

By BBC News

The post Army Chief Joseph Aoun Elected Lebanon’s President After Years of Deadlock appeared first on KahawaTungu.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi said section 226 of the penal code shames victims of suicide ideation in the eyes of the community for actions that are beyond their mental control.

He added this is a violation of Article 28 of the Constitution which states that every person has inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected.

“A declaration is hereby made that section 226 of the penal code is unconstitutional for violating article 27, 28 and 43 of the constitution,” he ruled.

Section 226 of the Penal Code criminalized attempted suicide and provided punishment of two years imprisonment, a fine or both once found guilty.

A case was filed in court by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, Charity Muturi and the Kenya Psychiatric Association.

They asked the court to intervene and determine whether suicide is a mental issue or a crime.

They argued that the drive for a person to die by suicide or attempt suicide is undiagnosed and untreated mental health conditions as well as mental disability and not a criminal thought.

According to their papers they argued that survivors ought to be placed under mental care and not jail.

“The petitioners contend that persons who have suicidal thoughts or who attempt suicide require medical support or assistance and not criminalisation or punishment,” said court papers read in part.

The petitioners also argued criminalising attempted suicide is tantamount to punishing persons with mental conditions.

“It is the petitioners’ contention that Section 226 of the Penal Code is highly discriminatory against persons with mental health conditions and is tantamount to degrading treatment owing to the reason that prosecutions and convictions are akin to punishing the symptom of mental health condition,” they argue.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, in his 2019 Madaraka Day address, said the country was facing a mental health crisis.

He directed the Health ministry to implement programmes and policies to address the problem.

Following the directive, the ministry on December 11, 2019, constituted a task force which a year later presented a report titled Mental Health and Wellbeing; Towards Happiness and National Prosperity 2020.

The task force’s recommendation was that Section 226 should be repealed in order to enable persons with depression to seek early treatment and improve the accuracy of data on suicide.

The court was told that decriminalising attempted suicide will increase attempts to seek help and reduce stigma.

“Continued criminalisation of attempted suicide exacerbates social stigma thus discouraging persons with mental health conditions from seeking requisite healthcare services.”

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More than 1,000 structures have been destroyed as six separate blazes burn in and around the city, which is dotted with film stars’ mansions.

Some of the worst devastation was in the scenic enclave of Pacific Palisades, where a wind-whipped inferno exploded from several hundred acres to more than 15,000 in size since Tuesday.

A swathe of the neighbourhood, which is a haven of hillside streets nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains and winding down to beaches along the Pacific Ocean, was reduced to ash.

Actor James Woods, who starred in films including Nixon and Casino, broke down in tears on CNN as he described losing his Pacific Palisades property.

“One day you’re swimming in the pool and the next day it’s all gone,” he told the network.

He wiped away tears as he described how his wife’s eight-year-old niece offered them her piggybank to help rebuild their house.

Actor Crystal said in a statement that he and his wife Janice were “heartbroken” by the loss of their Pacific Palisades home where they had lived since 1979.

The When Harry Met Sally star said in a statement: “We raised our children and grandchildren here.

“Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away.

“We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this.”

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton said she had lost her home in Malibu.

She wrote in an Instagram post: “Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience.

“This home is where we built so many precious memories… My heart and prayers are going out to every family affected by these fires.”

A home reportedly belonging to Brody, who stars in hit Netflix show Nobody Wants This, and Gossip Girl star wife Leighton Meester, was also destroyed.

The Hills stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, who are married, also lost their home in the blaze.

“I’m watching our house burn down on the security cameras,” Pratt posted.

Montag said: “So our house is on fire and we were able to get out in time, but I keep going over and over in my mind of the things I should’ve got, but we’re out safe and that is the most important thing, and Spencer is behind me.”

In a later post, she said while tearing up that she was “so sad our house has gone” and they had lost “everything we worked so hard for”.

‘Feeling numb’

Singer and This Is Us actress Mandy Moore posted a video of the scene of destruction as she evacuated. “Grateful for my family and pets getting out last night before it was too late (and endless gratitude to friends for taking us in and bringing us clothes and blankets).

“Honestly, I’m in shock and feeling numb for all so many have lost, including my family. My children’s school is gone.

“Our favourite restaurants, levelled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too. Our community is broken but we will be here to rebuild together.”

TV host Ricki Lake told followers she had lost her “dream home”, adding: “I grieve along with all of those suffering during this apocalyptic event.”

Actors Sir Anthony Hopkins, John Goodman, Anna Faris and Cary Elwes also reportedly lost their homes.

Miles Teller, best known for his role in Top Gun: Maverick, and his wife, Keleigh Sperry, reportedly lost their home in the Pacific Palisades.

Posting on Instagram, Sperry shared a picture of the fires and a broken heart emoji.

She urged people to leave bowls of water for animals left behind as they evacuate their homes.

Other stars forced to flee include Star Wars’ actor Mark Hamill and Schitt’s Creek actor Eugene Levy.

In a post on Instagram, Hamill called the blaze the “most horrific” since 1993, when 18,000 acres burned, destroying 323 homes in Malibu.

He said he had evacuated his Malibu house “so last-minute there [were] small fires on both sides of the road”.

Levy described to local media “black and intense” smoke over Temescal Canyon.

“I couldn’t see any flames but the smoke was very dark,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

Actor Cameron Mathison also shared a clip of his house reduced to smouldering ruins. “We are safe. But this is what’s left of our beautiful home,” the General Hospital star wrote.

“Our home where our kids were raised and where they wanted to raise their own someday.”

Legendary songwriter Diane Warren, who composed classic hits including If I Could Turn Back Time and I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, also lost her home.

She posted a picture of the beachfront near her house, saying that the property she’s had for close to three decades was gone.

Actor Steve Guttenberg, known for Police Academy, stayed to help firefighters by moving cars to clear a path for incoming fire trucks.

He urged fellow Pacific Palisades residents to leave the keys in their abandoned cars so they could be moved.

Meanwhile, the Palisades Charter High School – used in the 1976 horror classic Carrie – has been devastated.

The Oscar nominations have been postponed by two days because of the fires, and other star-studded events were also cancelled.

Film premieres for Unstoppable, Better Man and Wolfman have been called off, as has the Screen Actors Guild Awards live ceremony, while the Oscar nominations event was postponed.

Meanwhile, a new blaze broke out on Wednesday night, the Sunset fire, in the Hollywood Hills, near where the world-famous Hollywood sign nestles in the hillside.

By BBC News

The post Paris Hilton and Adam Brody Among Celebrities to Lose Homes in Wildfires appeared first on KahawaTungu.

The flashy and well-known Public Service Vehicle (PSV) Moneyfest sparked widespread criticism after it was caught blatantly breaking traffic rules along Magadi Road heading toward Ongata Rongai.

Police have complained they are harassed by those close to the First Family whenever they take action on the matatus linked to them.

“They call to threaten you and demand the release of the vehicle detained. We are helpless as Kenyans suffer on these roads,” said one officer aware of the trend.

The matatu at times use roads like Harambee Avenue which is a no go zone for such vehicles.

And when police take action, they are reprimanded.

Videos and images circulating on social media show the vehicle overtaking dangerously, ignoring road regulations, and allowing passengers to ride unsafely on its rooftop.

Many Kenyans took to social media to voice their concerns and frustrations, with some tying the matatu’s behavior to its ownership and alleged connections to Kenya’s First Family.

Many believe that matatus like Moneyfest, regardless of their connections, should face the same consequences as any other vehicle breaking the law.

Police have promised to take action. Many Kenyans protested online when the video circulated.

Moneyfest is rumoured to be owned by someone closely linked to President William Ruto’s family, although official records remain unclear.

This connection has fueled accusations of impunity, with critics alleging that traffic police and NTSA officers turn a blind eye to its violations.

The matatu previously gained public attention when First Lady Rachel Ruto endorsed it as a symbol of youth empowerment.

She lauded the vehicle’s flashy design and message of hope, underscoring her belief in supporting innovative youth initiatives.

The post Uproar as Matatu Linked to Ruto’s Son Flouts Rules as Police Watch appeared first on KahawaTungu.

Everline Nabalyo Loice alias Eva appeared before the Makadara Law Courts where she was charged, jointly with another not before court, with violently robbing Hakimo Muhidin Ali of a mobile phone valued at Sh30,000.

Further, the court heard that the accused was armed with an offensive weapon namely a hammer, which she used to hit at her target.

Nabalyo who was arrested at Kariokor in Nairobi while attempting to board a Kampala bound bus, was also charged, with another not before court, of stealing a laptop worth Sh110,000 and 22 grams of gold worth Sh210,000.

These items were properties of Abdirazak Jamaa Ali.

Nabalyo was denied bond following a request by the prosecution, which detailed several grounds to the court, including demonstrating that she is not a Kenyan national and hence a flight risk who has been on the run since she committed the office in November 1, 2024.

Hearing will commence in March 2025.

According to reports filed at Pangani Police Station, Nabalayo was in the house with a colleague housemaid when she intentionally opened the door, admitting an unknown assailant armed with a hammer.

In a shocking turn of events, the duo reportedly assaulted the other maid, leaving her for dead in the bathroom.

They then made off with a haul that included a gold set valued at Sh210,000, a Lenovo XY laptop worth Sh110,000, and an Infinix phone priced at Sh15,000.

After days of manhunt, detectives have finally apprehended Nabalayo at Kariokor while she was attempting to escape on a bus bound for Uganda.

The robbery captured on CCTV happened on November 1 at around 4:40pm when an individual armed with a hammer entered into Ushirika Tower in Eastleigh when the owner, a Somali man  was out with his children, while his wife was reported to be in India for medical treatment.

The post Ugandan Nanny in Robbery Drama in Eastleigh Charged in Court appeared first on KahawaTungu.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba will preside over the event which had been delayed for weeks.

Officials at the ministry said all was set for the event.

He had announced in December 2024 that the results will be released in the second week of January 2025.

He explained there was no delay in the process of releasing the results.

“If any, the students are to report to universities and other colleges from June. There is no delay,” he said.

Kenya National Examination Council officials had met president William Ruto to brief him on the results before announcing they would release the same.

The exam began on October 28 with 965,501 candidates sitting the assessment across 10,755 exam centres across the country.

Ogamba said that the Ministry of Education recorded 621 examination malpractices after the exams, adding the cases were reported across 198 examination centres. The government had contracted 32,800 examiners this year, up from 29,876 in 2023, to ensure timely and accurate marking, adding that the marking of the KPSEA exams has already been completed.

The post Ministry to Release KCSE Results on Today, Officials Say  appeared first on KahawaTungu.

Police and witnesses said the boy and girl had been left at home with their grandmother when the incident happened on Wednesday.

Their mother at the time had gone to look for a school where they were supposed to join a playgroup.

The grandmother then left the minors in the house and went to the farm at around 3:00 pm only to hear a loud bang followed by smoke billowing from the house.

Neighbours rushed to the scene in effort to put off the fire and rescue the children in vain.

Firefighters from Kirinyaga and Embu also arrived to save the situation but the house had already been burnt down.

The remains were removed to the local mortuary pending investigations and autopsy, police said.

Elsewhere at Siyepei Bridge along Narok-Mai Mahiu highway, a rider and his passenger were killed in an accident.

This involved a lorry and a motorcycle.

According to police, it happened that both the truck and the motorcycle were heading toward Mai-Mahiu general direction of Narok.

Upon reaching Siyapei Bridge, the lorry driver tried to overtake the motorcycle but unfortunately pushed them and ran over the rider and one pillion passenger.

As a result of the accident, both the rider and the pillion passenger died on the spot.

The other passenger survived the accident, police said.

The bodies were removed to Narok County referral hospital mortuary pending postmortem.

The driver of the truck escaped after the accident and is still at large, police said.

And in Samburu, a fight between two cousins turned tragic when one of them was stabbed and killed.

The deceased identified as Lemama Lengarawet was stabbed at the back head, both hands and sustained deep cuts.

Police said he was rushed to Ndonyowasin dispensary for treatment where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police officers visited the scene and recovered the murder weapon, which was a knife.

The body was moved to the mortuary for preservation pending autopsy. The assailant escaped the Tuesday incident and efforts to trace him are ongoing, police said.

The post Twins Aged Four Killed in Fire Incident in Kirinyaga appeared first on KahawaTungu.

The man was stabbed and seriously wounded before he jumped from the balcony of his first-floor house for his safety.

He had engaged a woman believed to be his wife in a fight in their house on Wednesday morning before the woman chased her to the balcony while armed with a kitchen knife.

Witnesses said the man ran out screaming for help before he jumped to the ground floor and was later rushed to hospital with stab wounds.

Police said he was admitted to the Aga Khan Green Span Medical Center for attention.

It was then that the woman locked herself in the house and lit a fire, police said.

Neighbours raised an alarm and rushed there before helping to contain the spread of the fire.

Officials from the Nairobi Fire brigade came to the aid of the incident and the woman was rescued from therein unconscious, police said.

She was rushed to the Mama Lucy Kibaki hospital in unstable condition.

Property of unknown value was destroyed by the fire.

Police said they are waiting for the woman and man to recover for grilling to establish what motivated the incident.

Cases of murder and suicide have been on the rise amid campaigns to address them.

Meanwhile, three suicide incidents were reported to police separately.

The first incident happened in Siongiroi, Bomet County where a teacher at Irongo primary school in Nakuru County was found dead after a suicide mission.

He was identified as Kennedy Kipkemoi, 38.

Police said he hanged himself on a rooftop of a toilet.

The motive of the incident is yet to be known. The body was moved to the mortuary.

In Ntulele, Narok County, a decomposed body of one Jacob Mungai, 22 in a thicket after a suspected suicide.

Police said the deceased had threatened to die by suicide after his attempts to marry a neighbor were rejected.

The body was moved to the mortuary pending autopsy and other investigations.

In Migori, a man who had gone missing was found dead in a forest in a suspected suicide incident.

Police said Dominic Osiro, 47 went missing on January 5 prompting a search, which led to the discovery of the body in Migori Nyasare forest with a rope on the neck hanging from a branch of a Cyprus tree.

The body had no physical injuries and no suicide note was found.

Police officers visited the scene and moved the body to Migori County Referral Hospital mortuary pending post-mortem and investigations.

The post Woman Stabs, Injures Man in Fight, Attempts Suicide by Lighting Fire in House in Donholm appeared first on KahawaTungu.

Agripina Khayesi, 29 was among more than a dozen workers at the construction site when the incident happened on Wednesday January 8 evening.

She was on the ground floor of the structure under construction when the piece of timber fell off and hit her on the head, witnesses said.

She was rushed to hospital where she succumbed due the head injuries.

Police visited the scene and the hospital before the body was moved to the mortuary.

The team said they are investigating the tragedy.

This is the latest such incident to happen in the sector.

Dozens of construction workers are annually killed at sites in accidents, which investigators say are unavoidable.

Some of the incidents are pending under probe while others have been solved through compensation.

Hundreds of workers flock to various sites for a living but some die or are injured at the places.

Officials say lack of protective gear and failure to follow procedures in the construction are the leading causes of the tragedies.

Corruption has also been cited as part of the reasons the accidents happen.

Last month, three people died after falling off from a house under construction in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area.

This increased to four, the number of those who died at the same site.

Officials said the incident is under probe. Most contractors in the area have been accused of failing to follow the rules in their work. This has led to such tragedies amid calls on authorities to take action to tame the trend.

Police, officials from the National Construction Authority and counties have been accused of being compromised hence the accidents.

The post Female Casual Worker Dies After Being Hit by Falling Wood at Site in Parklands appeared first on KahawaTungu.

More than 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate as dry, hurricane-force winds hindered firefighting operations and spread the fires, which have burned parched terrain almost unimpeded since they began on Tuesday.

A new fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference, forcing more evacuations and raising to six the number of wildfires burning in Los Angeles County.

All but one of them were 0% contained according to state officials, including a pair of major conflagrations on the eastern and western flanks of the city that continued to grow as night fell on Wednesday.

In between, the so-called Sunset Fire in Hollywood Hills doubled in size within minutes to 20 acres on Wednesday, Cal Fire said.

The L.A. Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west – all iconic addresses for people in the entertainment industry.

Within that area is the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars are held. Next week’s Oscar nominations announcement was already postponed by two days because of the fire, organizers said.

Though relatively small compared to the others, the Sunset Fire burned just above Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame. It would need to cross the 101 Freeway to endanger the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory further up in the hills.

SMOULDERING RUINS

On the west side of Los Angeles, the Palisades Fire consumed 15,832 acres (6,406 hectares) and hundreds of structures in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday. It was already one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history.

Aerial video by KTLA television showed block after block of smoldering homes in Pacific Palisades, the smoky grid occasionally punctuated by the orange blaze of another home still on fire.

To the east, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Eaton Fire claimed another 10,600 acres (4,289 hectares), another 1,000 structures, and killed at least five people, officials said.

Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated initial damage and economic loss at more than $50 billion.

“We’re facing a historic natural disaster. And I think that can’t be stated strong enough,” Kevin McGowan, director of emergency management for Los Angeles County, told a press conference.

Even though forecasters said winds would subside briefly on Wednesday night, so-called red flag conditions were expected to remain until Friday.

Nearly 1 million homes and businesses lost power in Los Angeles County, according to PowerOutage.us. School was canceled throughout Los Angeles County at least through Thursday, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.

“The wind whipped up, the flames were up about 30 or 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) high, and you hear ‘pop, pop, pop’. It sounded like a warzone,” Kevin Williams, an Eaton Fire evacuee, told Reuters at an evacuation center in Pasadena, describing gas canisters at his neighbors’ homes that began exploding under the heat of the flames.

WATER WOES

The scale and spread of the blazes stretched already exhausted firefighting resources.

“There are not enough firefighters in L.A. County to address four separate fires of this magnitude,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.

Firefighters from six other states were being rushed to California, while an additional 250 engine companies with 1,000 personnel were being moved from Northern California to Southern California, Marrone said in a later press conference.

Water shortages caused some hydrants to run dry in upscale Pacific Palisades, officials said.

“We pushed the system to the extreme. We’re fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that is really challenging,” Janisse Quinones, chief executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told a press conference.

Pacific Palisades relies on three tanks that hold about a million gallons (3.78 million liters) each, and the demand for water to fight fires at lower elevations was making it difficult to refill water tanks at higher elevations, she said.

By Wednesday afternoon, all three of those tanks and all 114 reservoirs throughout the city were refilled, Quinones said in a later press conference.

The fires struck at an especially vulnerable time for Southern California, which has yet to see significant rainfall since the start of the water year in October.

Then came the powerful Santa Ana winds, bringing dry desert air from the east toward the coastal mountains, fanning wildfires while blowing over the hilltops and down through the canyons.

Scientists said the fires, erupting well outside of the traditional wildfire season, mark the latest in weather extremes that are likely to escalate further as global temperatures continue to climb in coming decades.

President Joe Biden, who stayed put in Los Angeles after Air Force One was grounded due to high winds on Tuesday, joined California Governor Gavin Newsom at a Santa Monica fire station to get a briefing firefighting efforts.

“The impacts of (the fires include) over one thousand structures already destroyed, a hundred-plus thousand people that have been evacuated, lives lost, traditions, lifestyles, places torn asunder,” said Newsom, who declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.

Biden declared a major disaster for California and pledged any help he could provide in his final days in office before handing off to President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20.

“We’re doing anything and everything and as long as it takes to contain these fires … to make sure you get back to normal,” Biden said. “It’s going to be a hell of a long way. It’s going to take time.”

By Reuters

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