NAIROBI: Kenyan police said Tuesday they had arrested 238 people during the previous day’s violent protests over the surging cost of living that also saw 31 police officers injured.
Protesters had joined demonstrations in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya on Monday in response to a call by veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga for a day of action against the government of President William Ruto.
Police fired tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators, some of whom were hurling rocks and burning tires, as well as Odinga’s motorcade.
It was the worst violence since Ruto took office six months ago after narrowly beating Odinga in an election his defeated rival claims was “stolen.”
The inspector general of police, Japhet Koome, said in a statement that 213 people were arrested in Nairobi and 24 officers injured.
In the province of Nyanza, an opposition stronghold in western Kenya, there were 25 arrests while seven officers were hurt, he said.
Police had also announced on Monday that a university student was killed in the western town of Maseno after officers fired live bullets during “skirmishes” with protesters who were “pelting stones.”
Kenya says 238 protesters arrested, 31 police hurt
https://arab.news/n27xb
Kenya says 238 protesters arrested, 31 police hurt
- Protesters had joined demonstrations in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya
- Police fired tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators, some of whom were hurling rocks and burning tires
Obama deplores lack of shame after Trump racist monkey clip
- The video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5 sparked censure across the US political spectrum
- White House initially rejected “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and taking it down
WASHINGTON: Former US president Barack Obama criticized a lack of shame and decorum in the country’s political discourse, responding Saturday for the first time to a post on Donald Trump’s social media account that depicted him and first lady Michelle as monkeys.
The video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5 sparked censure across the US political spectrum, with the White House initially rejecting “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and taking it down.
Near the end of a one-minute-long video promoting conspiracies about Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, the Obamas — the first Black president and first lady in US history — were shown with their faces on the bodies of monkeys for about one second.
Obama responded to the video for the first time in an interview with left-wing political podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen released Saturday.
“The discourse has devolved into a level of cruelty that we haven’t seen before...Just days ago, Donald Trump put a picture of you, your face on an ape’s body,” Cohen said in the interview.
“And so again, we’ve seen the devolution of the discourse. How do we come back from a place that we have fallen into?“
Without naming Trump, Obama responded by saying the majority of Americans “find this behavior deeply troubling.”
“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television, and what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That’s been lost.”
Obama predicted such messaging will hurt Trump’s Republicans in midterm elections, that “ultimately, the answer is going to come from the American people.”
Trump has told reporters he stood by the thrust of the video’s claims about election fraud, but that he had not seen the offensive clip at the end.
