At least 10 killed in Kenya when vehicle runs over explosive

Police suspect the explosive device was placed by Al-Shabab extremists operating in the area after crossing from nearby Somalia. (File/Shutterstock)
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Updated 31 January 2022
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At least 10 killed in Kenya when vehicle runs over explosive

  • The extremists are often blamed for such attacks in the border region
  • A police report on the blast said the attackers fled toward the border

NAIROBI: A local official in northeastern Kenya says at least 10 people are dead after their vehicle ran over an explosive device on a highway Monday morning.
North Eastern regional commander George Seda said the blast occurred outside Mandera town. It was not clear how many people were in the vehicle. Witnesses said the toll could rise because others had serious injuries.
Police suspect the explosive device was placed by Al-Shabab extremists operating in the area after crossing from nearby Somalia. The extremists are often blamed for such attacks in the border region, targeting both security forces and civilians.
A police report on Monday’s blast said the attackers fled toward the border.


‘Doomsday Clock’ moves closer to midnight over threats from nukes, climate change, AI

Updated 28 January 2026
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‘Doomsday Clock’ moves closer to midnight over threats from nukes, climate change, AI

  • At the end of the Cold War, the clock was as close as 17 minutes to midnight. In the past few years, to address rapid global changes, the group has changed from counting down the minutes until midnight to counting down the seconds

WASHINGTON: Earth is closer than it’s ever been to destruction as Russia, China, the US and other countries become “increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic,” a science-oriented advocacy group said Tuesday as it advanced its “Doomsday Clock” to 85 seconds till midnight.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist members had an initial demonstration on Friday and then announced their results on Tuesday.

The scientists cited risks of nuclear war, climate change, potential misuse of biotechnology and the increasing use of artificial intelligence without adequate controls as it made the annual announcement, which rates how close humanity is from ending.

Last year the clock advanced to 89 seconds to midnight.

Since then, “hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation” needed to reduce existential risks, the group said.

They worry about the threat of escalating conflicts involving nuclear-armed countries, citing the Russia-Ukraine war, May’s conflict between India and Pakistan and whether Iran is capable of developing nuclear weapons after strikes last summer by the US and Israel.

International trust and cooperation is essential because, “if the world splinters into an us-versus-them, zero-sum approach, it increases the likelihood that we all lose,” said Daniel Holz, chair of the group’s science and security board.

The group also highlighted droughts, heat waves and floods linked to global warming, as well as the failure of nations to adopt meaningful agreements to fight global warming — singling out US President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost fossil fuels and hobble renewable energy production.

Starting in 1947, the advocacy group used a clock to symbolize the potential and even likelihood of people doing something to end humanity. 

At the end of the Cold War, it was as close as 17 minutes to midnight. In the past few years, to address rapid global changes, the group has changed from counting down the minutes until midnight to counting down the seconds.

The group said the clock could be turned back if leaders and nations worked together to address existential risks.