2 Killed in Shooting at Kenya University

Two people were killed and several wounded in a shooting at a university in Kenya. (AFP)
Two people were killed and several wounded in a shooting at a university in Kenya. (AFP)
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2 Killed in Shooting at Kenya University

Two people were killed and several wounded in a shooting at a university in Kenya. (AFP)
Two people were killed and several wounded in a shooting at a university in Kenya. (AFP)

Two people were killed on Tuesday when gunmen opened fire at a university in the Kenyan coastal Kwale county, police and a witness said.

The victims were identified as two female staff members of the Technical University of Mombasa.

Several students, a driver and two policemen were also injured in the shooting.

A witness who did not want to be named told Reuters she and several other students had fled their vehicle when gunmen opened fire on them and had seen blood-covered students being carried from the building as police descended on the campus.

The identity of the gunmen was unclear.

"A bus carrying students of TUM (the Technical University of Mombasa) was ferrying them from their hostels to the campus in Ukunda for classes and was being escorted by a van that had some staff of the college and two escort police officers," a policeman said.

"Armed men numbering about 10 emerged from the bushes and started firing at the van in front. As a result two ladies who are staff of TUM were killed in the van. The driver of the van and two police officers were injured," he said.

Somali terrorist group al Shabaab frequently carries out attacks along the Kenya-Somali border and along the Kenyan coast and in 2015 attacked a university in Kenya's Garissa town, killing 148 students.

On Monday, three people were seriously wounded during opposition demonstrations for changes to Kenya's electoral commission before fresh presidential elections later this month, a witness said Monday.

An Associated Press reporter said he saw one man get shot and by a man in a car who then hit and injured two other protesters before driving away. Riot police watched as the incident unfolded, the witness said. Police are investigating the shooting and hit and run incident, said Nairobi Central chief Harrison Thuku.

The three were wounded as the government's human rights group said at least 37 people were killed by police in three days of protests following the announcement of President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election in the August vote.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has called for countrywide protests to urge reforms to the electoral commission ahead of the October 26 rerun of the elections.

The Supreme Court nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta's August re-election citing illegalities in the August 8 vote and the electoral commission's refusal to allow scrutiny of its computer system.

Justices said that by failing to allow the investigation of the computers the commission failed to disprove Odinga's claim that hackers infiltrated the servers and altered the vote in favor of Kenyatta.

Human rights groups have accused Kenyatta of using security agents to suppress opposition demonstrations.



Biden Signs Bill That Averts Govt Shutdown Ending Days of Washington Upheaval

United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
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Biden Signs Bill That Averts Govt Shutdown Ending Days of Washington Upheaval

United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)

President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Saturday that averts a government shutdown, bringing a final close to days of upheaval after Congress approved a temporary funding plan just past the deadline and refused President-elect Donald Trump’s core debt demands in the package.

The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government's borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”

Johnson's revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.

“There will be no government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was "a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”

The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.

The House is scheduled to elect the next speaker on Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an exceedingly narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little margin for error as he tries to win the speaker's gavel.

One House Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, criticized Republicans for the deficit spending in the bill and said he was now “undecided” about the GOP leadership. Others are signaling unhappiness with Johnson as well.

Yet Trump's last-minute debt limit demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the slim Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republican deficit hawks prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.

Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.

The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was June 2023. Rather than raise the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025.

There is no need to raise that limit right now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure that America does not default on its debts. Some estimate these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline to the summer of 2025. But that’s what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.

GOP leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.

It was essentially the same deal that flopped Thursday night — minus Trump’s debt demand. But it's far smaller than the original deal Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.