Headline
At Least 30 Killed In Kenya Anti-government Protests – HRW
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1 year agoon
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At least 30 people died in protests in Kenya this week sparked by a government drive to substantially raise taxes in the East African country, Human Rights Watch said Saturday.
“Kenyan security forces shot directly into crowds of protesters on (Tuesday) June 25, 2024, including protesters who were fleeing,” the NGO said in a statement.
“Although there is no confirmation on the exact number of people killed in Nairobi and other towns, Human Rights Watch found that at least 30 people had been killed on that day based on witness accounts, publicly available information, hospital and mortuary records in Nairobi as well as witness accounts,” the statement said.
“Shooting directly into crowds without justification, including as protesters try to flee, is completely unacceptable under Kenyan and international law,” said Otsieno Namwaya, associate Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
READ ALSO: After Much Protests, Deaths, Kenya President, Ruto Withdraws Controversial Tax Bill
“The Kenyan authorities need to make clear to their forces that they should be protecting peaceful protesters and that impunity for police violence can no longer be tolerated,” Namwaya added.
The largely peaceful rallies turned violent on Tuesday when lawmakers passed the deeply unpopular tax increases following pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
After the announcement of the vote, crowds stormed the parliament complex and a fire broke out in clashes unprecedented in the history of the country since its independence from Britain in 1963.
READ ALSO::Kenya Anti-tax Protests Death Toll Hits 13
President William Ruto’s administration ultimately withdrew the bill.
– IMF pressure –
The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said it had recorded 22 deaths and 300 injured victims, adding it would open an investigation.
“Eight military officers came out and just opened fire on people. They killed several people, including those who were not part of the protests,” HRW quoted a rights activist in Nairobi as saying.
“Kenya’s international partners should continue to actively monitor the situation… and further urge Kenyan authorities to speedily but credibly and transparently investigate abuses by the security forces,” the rights watchdog said.
Ruto had already rolled back some tax measures after the protests began, prompting the treasury to warn of a gaping budget shortfall of 200 billion shillings ($1.6 billion).
READ ALSO: Five Killed During Kenya Anti-tax Protests
The cash-strapped government had said previously that the increases were necessary to service Kenya’s massive debt of some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), equal to roughly 70 percent of GDP.
The Washington-based IMF has urged the country to implement fiscal reforms in order to access crucial funding from the international lender.
“The bill was expected to raise an additional $2.3 billion in the next fiscal year, in part to meet IMF requirements to increase revenues,” HRW said.
“Widespread outrage should be a wake-up call to the Kenyan government and the IMF that they cannot sacrifice rights in the name of economic recovery,” Namwaya said.
“Economic sustainability can only be achieved by building a new social contract that raises revenues fairly, manages them responsibly, and funds services and programs that protect everyone’s rights.”
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Headline
Trump Considering Deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia To Uganda
Published
5 hours agoon
August 24, 2025By
Editor
The Trump administration is weighing the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda in the coming days, according to a notice from the Department of Homeland Security sent to his lawyers on Friday.
The notice, disclosed in a court filing in Abrego Garcia’s human smuggling case in Tennessee, came shortly after his release from criminal custody pending trial on federal charges. His lawyers accused the government of attempting to use the deportation threat as a tactic to “coerce” him into a plea deal.
“Let this email serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends),” the notice stated.
Officials had previously suggested that Abrego Garcia, who was unlawfully deported to El Salvador earlier this year before being returned to the US in June, could face deportation to a third country.
READ ALSO:Trump, Putin Make No Breakthrough On Ukraine Deal, End Summit
However, it was unclear until Friday whether the administration would allow his trial to conclude before initiating removal proceedings.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, described the move as “retaliation” by the government.
“The government’s decision to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda makes it painfully clear that they are using the immigration system to punish him for exercising his constitutional rights,” he told CNN.
Under an order issued last month by US District Judge Paula Xinis, officials must provide Abrego Garcia and his legal team with at least 72 business hours’ notice before any deportation to a third country, giving him time to raise potential claims of torture or persecution.
READ ALSO:Russia, Ukraine War: Trump Rules Out Immediate Ceasefire, Pushes For Peace Deal
Court filings submitted on Saturday revealed that earlier in the week, the government had proposed a deal under which Abrego Garcia would plead guilty to two federal charges and be deported to Costa Rica after serving his sentence.
Costa Rica had confirmed willingness to receive him as a refugee or grant him legal status, according to a letter from its government to the US embassy.
His attorneys said the offer was renewed Friday evening, giving him until Monday morning to accept or lose the option permanently.
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His defence team argued that the deportation threats and plea offers highlight a pattern of “vindictive and selective prosecution” against Abrego Garcia, who previously challenged his deportation to El Salvador. They urged Judge Waverly Crenshaw to dismiss the case.
“There can be only one interpretation of these events: the DOJ, DHS, and ICE are using their collective powers to force Mr. Abrego to choose between a guilty plea followed by relative safety, or rendition to Uganda, where his safety and liberty would be under threat,” his lawyers wrote.
“It is difficult to imagine a path the government could have taken that would have better emphasized its vindictiveness,” they added. “This case should be dismissed.”
Headline
UK To Bar Criminals From Football Matches, Pubs, Travel Under New Policy
Published
5 hours agoon
August 24, 2025By
Editor
The United Kingdom (UK) has unveiled new sentencing powers that will ban criminals from pubs, concerts, and sports matches as part of its Plan for Change.
According to a statement available on the UK government website on Sunday, Judges will be able to curtail offenders’ freedoms with driving limits, travel bans, and restriction zones confining them to specific areas.
The release, which quoted Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said: “Widening the range of punishments available to judges is part of our Plan for Change to cut crime and make streets safer.
“When criminals break society’s rules, they must be punished. Those serving their sentences in the community must have their freedom restricted there too.
READ ALSO:
“These new punishments should remind all offenders that, under this Government, crime does not pay.
“Rightly, the public expect the government to do everything in its power to keep Britain safe, and that’s what we’re doing.’
The UK government further explained that the changes will toughen up community punishments to deter reoffending and force offenders back onto the straight-and-narrow.
“As part of the Government’s work to do everything in its power to keep Britain safe, offenders coming out of prison and supervised by the Probation Service will also face similar restrictions and an expanded mandatory drug testing regime,” the statement added.
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The government also explained that criminals without known drug habits will, in the future, face this scrutiny, not just those with a history of substance misuse.
Offenders who break the rules face being brought back to court or hauled back to prison as punishment, depending on the sentence they are serving.
Limited bans for Crimes amid prison congestion
Before this new policy shift, judges in the UK are able to give out limited bans for specific crimes, for example, football bans for crimes committed inside a stadium on match day, to prevent further antisocial behaviour.
However, the Government will change the law shortly so that such bans can be handed down as a form of punishment for any offence in any circumstance.
READ ALSO:
“It will form part of wider reforms to sentencing to ensure punishments cut crime and prisons never again run out of places for dangerous offenders.
“Over 2,400 prison places have opened since July 2024 with the Government investing £7 billion to create a total of 14,000 as the prison population increases.
“Investment in the Probation Service will also receive a huge boost with an increase of up to £700 million by 2028/29, up from the annual budget of around £1.6 billion today.”
This week, it was revealed that the number of Probation Officers has increased by seven per cent in the last 12 months, with trainee probation officer numbers also seeing a surge of 15 per cent. This follows the Government’s commitment to recruit a further 1,300 this year, in addition to the 1,000 trainee probation officers recruited last year.
New technology, including artificial intelligence, will lighten the administrative burden and free up time for probation staff to increase supervision of the most dangerous offenders and keep the public safe.
Headline
Leader Of UK Christian Group Convicted Of Sexually Abusing Women
Published
19 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
Chris Brain, 68, the leader of a UK Christian group once backed by the Church of England, has been convicted of sexually abusing nine women in his congregation.
A jury delivered the final verdicts on Thursday.
Brain led the Nine O’Clock Service, an evangelical movement in Sheffield during the 1980s and 1990s. The group was known for its nightclub-style worship, held at 9 p.m. on Sundays, which included live music and drew large crowds of young people.
Prosecutors said Brain used his authority to control members of the congregation, isolating them from family and friends, and used his position to commit sexual assaults. He also maintained a group of young women known as the “lycra nuns” who assisted him, his wife, and his daughter at home, prosecutor Tim Clark told the court.
READ ALSO:UK Bans Sanex Advert For Calling Black Skin ‘Problematic’, White Skin ‘Superior’
The leader of the UK Christian group was charged with 36 counts of indecent assault and one count of rape involving 13 women between 1981 and 1995. He denied the charges, claiming any sexual contact was consensual.
Following a trial at Inner London Crown Court, he was convicted of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women. He was acquitted of 15 other charges, while the jury could not reach a verdict on four additional indecent assault charges and the rape allegation. The Crown Prosecution Service said it would “carefully consider” whether to seek a retrial.
The Nine O’Clock Service had received approval from the Church of England. In 1990, the Archbishop of Canterbury-elect George Carey met with Brain to discuss his methods, and his ordination was expedited. Prosecutors said the group even spent heavily to purchase the costume worn by Robert De Niro in the 1986 film The Mission for his ceremony.
READ ALSO:Russia Returns Bodies Of 1,000 Ukrainian Soldiers
Brain resigned shortly before a BBC documentary aired in 1995, accusing him of inappropriate sexual behaviour. Carey later said he was “crushed and let down” when the allegations became public.
In court, Brain admitted to receiving massages from congregation members that sometimes became sexual but denied manipulating or controlling them.
Bishop of Sheffield Pete Wilcox said in a statement: “What happened was an appalling abuse of power and leadership that should never have occurred. Where concerns were raised in the past and were not acted upon properly, that was a failing of the Church. For those institutional failures, I offer an unreserved apology.”
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