Foreign News
Kenya’s nationwide power blackout sparks KPLC sabotage suspicions
A power blackout that plunged Kenya into darkness on Sunday was a possible act of sabotage, a minister has said.
It hit at about 20:00 local time (17:00 GMT) – Kenya’s third countrywide blackout in the past four months.
The outage disrupted several services, including at the main airport in the capital, Nairobi, where two terminals were without power for several hours.
Several Kenyans have demanded answers, as anger and frustration mounts over recurring power disruptions.
Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen – who has been criticised for the time it took to restore power at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Sunday – has asked police to investigate the possibility that the recurrent power outages are a sabotage plot. “Considering the frequency of the power disruption, and taking into account the fact that JKIA is a facility of strategic national importance, we are making a formal request to the National Police Service to investigate possible acts of sabotage and coverup,” he posted on X.
Mr Murkomen had pledged in August that a power outage at the airport would “not happen again”, after Kenya suffered its longest countrywide power outage in recent years.
Sunday’s blackout affected two of the busiest JKIA terminals, with the airports authority explaining that the back-up generators serving those terminals “failed to immediately activate”.
Some Kenyans have suggested that the power cuts could be part of a plot to justify privatising the state-run electricity provider, Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC).
Other Kenyans have disagreed, instead citing KPLC’s incompetence as the cause of the blackouts.
Power had been restored to most of the country by noon on Monday, except for some parts of Nairobi and the Coast region.
In its most recent update, Kenya Power said it was “working round the clock to restore normalcy to the remaining areas as soon as possible”.
Kenya has suffered several national power outages in recent months, including on 11 November, 25 August, 4 March and in November and December last year.
(BBC)
A head teacher’s quick decision to evacuate his school saved 900 pupils from deadly flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border
Rajendra Dawadi tells the BBC he was tipped off about incoming flood waters and moved students to higher ground with just minutes to spare. One pupil says she and her friends survived by just 10 seconds and watched as a nearby bazaar was swept away
Wednesday’s disaster has killed at least 794 people and more than 2,500 people are missing in Nepal, local officials say
In Tibet, the official death toll is 16, with 546 reported to be missing, according to Chinese state media –
[BBC]
A ferry carrying around 260 people has capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus with a search underway for survivors, according to local media.
The catamaran-style boat was travelling from the port of Kyrenia, also known as Girne, and started sinking a few kilometres off the coast of the island state on Sunday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
[Aljazeera]
A former White House teleprompter operator has been ordered to pay more than $172,000 (£127,000) for using inside information to bet on US President Donald Trump’s speeches.
Gabriel Perez was found to have made trades on what the president would say during addresses between December 2025 and February 2026 on Kalshi – a prediction markets platform where users can bet on real-world events.
Its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said Perez would have to surrender profits of $107,539.02 (£79,452) and pay a civil penalty of $65,000 (£48,000).
The White House has not yet commented. In July then press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Perez was on unpaid leave and would not return to his post.
Announcing the settlement on Friday, the CFTC said Perez had “misappropriated” his prior knowledge of Trump’s speeches to place bets “in breach of his duty of trust and confidence”.
It said his civil penalty had been reduced due to his “exemplary co-operation” with the investigation.
Perez has also been banned from trading for three years.
Writing on X, Kalshi’s lead lawyer Bobby DeNault welcomed the decision: “It doesn’t matter who you are: violate our rules or federal law and you will face the consequences.”
(BBC)
Showers will occur in the Western, North-western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts.
Sun directly overhead Neriyakulam, Punewa, Kebithigollewa, Pankulam and Sinhapura at about 12.10 noon today (31)
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