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Global News Wire

Fresh headlines and publisher-supplied excerpts from Kenya, Africa and the world—collected in one transparent, attributed briefing.

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Ghafla Kenya

Oga Obinna Expresses Devastation Over Death Of Rapper Stoopid Boy

Media personality Steve Maghana, popularly known as Oga Obinna, has shared his grief and shock following the death of Gotta City rapper Stoopid Boy on Thursday, August 27, 2026. The late Arbantone artist, whom Obinna personally assisted in securing substance abuse treatment in 2025, died under circumstances that remain undisclosed. In a video posted to […]

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Al Jazeera

Federal US judge faces complaint over staunch pro-Israel advocacy

A lawyer has accused Judge Roy Altman, who calls the keffiyeh a ‘terror scarf’, of anti-Palestinian bias in his remarks.A federal judge in the United States is facing a formal complaint over anti-Palestinian comments and alleged association with Islamophobic groups, in a case that highlights growing concern about possible pro-Israel bias in the judicial system.Florida lawyer Katherine Giannamore filed the judicial complaint against District Judge Roy Altman earlier this month, accusing him of eroding “public confidence in the integrity, impartiality, and independence of the federal judiciary”.The complaint, filed with the Eleventh Circuit Court, also says Altman used judicial resources to promote Israel, including by making media appearances from his chambers in Miami.“Since at least April 2026, Judge Altman has consistently engaged in this conduct during business hours, broadcasting himself live from chambers and has utilized law clerks during public talks during business hours,” the complaint reads.“These activities have been persistent, almost daily and spanned several months.”The complaint points to several examples of what it considers to be worrying behaviour.In April, for instance, Judge Altman appeared on a podcast with the Middle East Forum, a right-wing group whose stated mission is to combat “the infrastructure of lawful Islamism”. During the interview, he called the keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian identity, a “terrorism scarf”.In an interview with Al Jazeera, Giannamore pointed to such remarks as a reason for concern.“This kind of blatant use of the judicial office for your own political aspirations or your beliefs, it’s bad for the judiciary. It’s bad for public opinion as far as the legitimacy of the judiciary,” Giannamore said.She acknowledged that the complaint is unlikely to lead to a reprimand against Altman, but she said it was important to raise the issue.Federal judges are appointed for life. Judicial misconduct complaints go to the chief judge of a court of appeals, who can either dismiss them or appoint a special committee to investigate the claims.In rare cases, the complaints can lead to sanctions, including the decision to suspend case assignments to a given judge or a request for voluntary resignation.Giannamore believes complaints like hers can help spark a discussion about acceptable behaviour within the judicial system, particularly for lifelong office-holders.“It’s important to bring awareness to that, and maybe give them a moment to take a step back and say, ‘Is this worth it? Is this something that we accept? And would we accept it if it was other issues that a judge was using the office to speak on?'” Giannamore said.Altman, a staunch supporter of Israel who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019, is currently promoting a self-published book defending the US ally.During his remarks with the Middle East Forum in April, he explained that he had been touring college campuses and churches to dismiss accusations of rights abuses against Israel, which has been carrying out a genocidal war on Gaza.“I say on college campuses, ‘You think you’re counterculture? You think you’re cool and unique because you wear the terrorism scarf, the keffiyeh, and you chant against the Jews? Get in line, get a ticket. You’re the most mainstream, boring thing history has ever seen,'” Altman said.That was one of several incidents in which the judge demonised the symbol of Palestinian nationalism.“At Yale Law School, for example, in three years, I graduated in 2007, I never once saw a single person wearing a keffiyeh,” he said on a recent podcast.“And so that tells you that, at one of the most liberal law schools on the planet, not one student thought it was appropriate to wear a scarf that is a symbol of terrorism and the deaths — the violent deaths of thousands and thousands of innocent Jews.”Altman is also a prolific social media user, and most of his posts are about Israel. He has also made frequent appearances on podcasts and in YouTube clips.In one interview, he declared that “there is no distinction” between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.The judge’s pro-Israel advocacy at times drifts into comments that could be seen as hostile towards Arabs and Muslims.“The real geo-strategic conflict here isn’t seven million Jews against six million Palestinians,” he said in June.“It’s seven million Jews surrounded by two billion Muslims — hundreds of millions of whom have been raised to believe that divine providence requires them to devote their lives to the destruction of that teeny, tiny Jewish state.”The judge did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment by the time of publication.It is highly unusual for a judge to be so outspoken about a divisive political issue.Altman’s advocacy comes at a time when the federal judiciary is assessing several cases relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including Trump’s push to deport student activists who protested against the war on Gaza.

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The National

Money, spies and Hezbollah: How Yemen's Houthis built smuggling network across narrow waterway

What started as isolated smuggling operations by Yemen's Houthi rebels has turned into a network that stretches through Africa, senior Yemeni and regional security officials told The National as they revealed how the militants carefully built their routes.Over the past decade, the Iran-backed group has slowly transformed from a local armed faction into a wider force, threatening neighbouring countries and attacking shipping lanes while consolidating its control over the capital Sanaa and north-western Yemen.But it is the Houthis' close relationship with Iran's main regional proxy, Hezbollah, that has taught them how to extend their reach beyond Yemen to diversify sources and resources while advancing Tehran's goals in new regions.The most important of those regions is the Horn of Africa. Recent reports revealed that Houthi ties with Al Shabab in Somalia and the Sudanese Armed Forces have led to arms-smuggling networks in the troubled region just a stone's throw across the sea.“The Houthis' activity in the Horn of Africa is not only for obtaining supplies but also for expanding their arms distribution and sales in the region, as well as spreading Iranian agendas,” a senior Yemeni security official told The National.“Therefore, the Houthi presence and activity in Africa constitute one of the most important pillars of the Houthi movement's current supply chain,” he added.The Houth...

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Citizen Digital

Gaza civil defence says Israeli strikes kill three

It is the latest bloodshed to occur in the war-shattered territory despite a US-backed ceasefire which took effect in October 2025, with Israel continuing to target Palestinians it says are militants. Israeli strikes in Gaza killed three people on Thursday, the territory's civil defence agency said, while the military said it had targeted Hamas militants.It is the latest bloodshed to occur in the war-shattered territory despite a US-backed ceasefire which took effect in October 2025, with Israel continuing to target Palestinians it says are militants.One man died after succumbing to his injuries following an Israeli drone strike on a house in Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, according to the civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas.Another man was killed in an Israeli strike on his tent in the Al-Mawasi area east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, the civil defence agency said.A third person was killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike near an intersection in western Gaza City.When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military confirmed it had carried out strikes against "Hamas terrorists" in those areas, without giving further details.Israel's army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir on Tuesday vowed to push on with demilitarising Gaza and disarming Hamas "using all necessary means", despite recent efforts by the United States to advance...

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France 24

OpenAI, Anthropic join global call to strengthen cyber defences

More than 100 organisations, including OpenAI and Anthropic, called Thursday for governments and technology companies to strengthen cyber defences against increasingly sophisticated AI-powered attacks. The open letter warned that these could become far more widespread in the coming months as artificial intelligence models grow more capable.

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