by admin | Mar 27, 2025 | immigrants, immigration, migrants, news, poland
Poland
has temporarily prohibited immigrants from seeking asylum as part of an effort to ‘regain control’ over its boundaries.
Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, declared that the right to seek asylum would be temporarily halted for 60 days due to a surge in arrivals.
Belarus
border.
Exceptions will be granted for unaccompanied children, expectant mothers, senior citizens, individuals who are not feeling well, and those facing a genuine threat of significant injury.
The two-month restriction will be implemented immediately, Tusk stated last night.
Polish authorities have asserted that the Russian government has
coerced its neighbor Belarus into channeling migrants toward their shared frontier
to undermine the EU stability.
Warsaw has put up a five-meter tall barbed wire fence along a significant portion of the border after a steady flow of immigrants tried to cross over.
Video surfaced over the weekend showing 280 migrants.
trying to enter Poland from Belarus
.
The team successfully cut an opening in the fence using a cutting torch and then proceeded to go through one at a time.
Nevertheless, they are swiftly caught by soldiers arriving in armored vehicles, who stop them from proceeding and then focus on repairing the fence.
The Polish President, Andrzej Duda, allegedly showed reluctance towards approving the suspension due to concerns that it might impact refugees coming from Belarus.
Nevertheless, authorities have ensured that individuals who genuinely face risks will retain the ability to seek asylum.
Duda stated yesterday: “Today, I made the decision for what is called the asylum act to be implemented. I signed it as I feel it is essential to enhance the safety of our borders.”
‘The crucial aspect is to protect the Polish frontier and the Polish entities responsible for safeguarding it.’
Since taking office at the end of 2023, Tusk has aimed to strengthen control over Poland’s boundaries.
He stated that the contentious bill will be a step towards reclaiming ‘Poland’s border control’.
When announcing the proposals, he stated: “Should anyone wish to visit Poland, they are expected to adhere to Polish standards, embrace Polish traditions, and strive for integration.”
‘The native culture can feel endangered when there are an excessive number of individuals from different backgrounds.’
Since 2021, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Finland have
witnessed a significant increase in individuals unlawfully entering their country from Belarus and Russia.
The nations have blamed both Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko for
arming migration as a tactic to undermine the European Union stability
.
More than 15,000 individuals sought asylum in Poland during 2024, marking a 72 percent increase from the previous year and representing the highest yearly total since 2016.
Following Ukrainians, the highest number of applications last year came from Belarusians, totaling 3,663 asylum seekers, followed by 823 Russians.
Next comes Ethiopia with 515, Eritrea with 505, and Somalia with 486.
The passage across this area has been perilous for numerous migrants, as nearly 100 documented fatalities are believed to be below the actual number.
Poland’s actions have faced considerable scrutiny, with Human Rights Watch stating that they contradict Poland’s international and EU commitments. They also warn that these measures might ‘completely close off the Poland-Belarus border,’ where Polish officials allegedly carry out illegal and abusive expulsions.
They have similarly called for the EU to initiate legal proceedings against Poland after the implementation of the law.
But Tusk dismissed this in October, saying: ‘Nobody is talking about violating human rights, the right to asylum, we are talking about not granting applications to people who illegally cross the border in groups organised by Lukashenko.’
In February, the Polish authorities announced their decision not to participate in the European Union’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, an initiative designed to handle the influx of refugees into member states.
As per the accord, states had the option to relocate a specific quota of migrants, make a monetary contribution, or offer operational assistance to facilitate resettlement.
Nevertheless, both Poland and Hungary have objected to this measure, intended to hold legal force over every single EU nation.
Tusk stated, “Poland will not enforce the Migration Pact if it means accepting more immigrant quotas within the country.”
We are prepared to work together with all parties to safeguard Europe against unlawful immigration. Nevertheless, Poland will not assume any further responsibilities. We have already shouldered more than anybody would have anticipated only a short time ago.
The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, acknowledged that Poland has taken in more than its fair share of Ukrainian refugees following the Russian invasion of 2022.
Other countries within the EU are similarly
implementing measures to restrict the privileges of those seeking asylum.
Finland has barred all migrants from entering through its Russian border since 2023, whereas newly appointed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
pledged to halt all unauthorized migration across Germany’s terrestrial boundaries upon taking office
.
Read more
by admin | Mar 27, 2025 | judiciaries, news, politics, politics and government, politics and law
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Raphael Tuju, who previously served as the secretary general of the Jubilee Party, now criticizes the Judiciary for attempting to silence him in a major property dispute involving billions of shillings.
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The judiciary charged Tuju with violating the sub judice rule by pursuing the case through the press.
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Nevertheless, Tuju in his strongly worded letter sent also to Chief Justice Martha Koome, stated that the Judiciary’s statement was intended to keep the issue hidden from the public.
Former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju has addressed a statement released by the Judiciary and the Eastern Africa Development Bank, following their accusation that he made statements to the public regarding issues currently before the courts.
In a brief statement, Tuju redirected the criticism towards the Supreme Court judges, alleging that they established a precedent by addressing issues currently pending in court.
“If I am to be held accountable for violating the rule of sub judice, I would be happy to share the dock with the Supreme Court judges who, in fact, violated the sub judice rules in the first place. As for myself, I have remained silent since filing the case against the SCOK judges at the JSC last April. It was only after these judges publicly commented on the matter that I exercised my right to respond,” he stated.
He criticized the judicial system for not addressing the conduct of two Supreme Court justices who allegedly first brought these issues into the spotlight through their courtroom activities and public talks in Meru and various other places, events that received extensive media coverage.
Tuju similarly placed both the Judiciary and the bank under scrutiny for purportedly attempting to prevent the media from covering the matter.
I don’t believe you’ll manage to silence the press on issues that have already reached the courts. Don’t even consider trying to scare me. Since 2019, EADB has received positive coverage from the media. The organization hired an expensive public relations firm based in Nairobi, spending considerable amounts of taxpayers’ money to promote their viewpoint consistently, frequently securing prominent placement for these stories.
What has changed now is that they have started complaining. Being a law-abiding citizen of Kenya, I must follow the law,” he stated.
Tuju is anticipated to appear at the Milimani Law Courts on Friday morning, March 28, for the hearing of a case related to petitions contesting the dismissal of Supreme Court judges.
Today, the Judiciary, via Paul Ndemo, released a statement condemning Tuju for reportedly discussing the details of a case he is involved in concerning a legal disagreement about his KSh 5 billion property in Karen following a failed loan transaction.
“The Judiciary has acknowledged recent media interviews and public comments from Hon. Raphael Tuju concerning the legal disputes involving Dari Limited. The case between Dari Limited and the East African Development Bank (EADB) has faced litigation across various courts and regions,” as stated by the Judiciary release.
Earlier, Tuju claimed that high-ranking judicial authorities worked together with an EADB official to falsely implicate him in the case.
He revealed that he had lodged complaints with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) against five Supreme Court judges who had backed Okwara’s affidavits, subsequently exposed as fake. The JSC is scheduled to examine these accusations made against the judges.
In July 2020, Tuju spent KSh 50 million to protect his prized Karen property from being sold off at an auction by EADB.
The lender took legal action in a London courtroom and secured rulings to seize the assets after Tuju and his firm, Dari Limited, were deemed to be in default of a loan agreement.
Despite this, the previous CS challenged the decision in a Kenyan courtroom and managed to secure an injunction stopping the lender and designated receivers from seizing the asset.
by admin | Mar 27, 2025 | electric power, local news, news, outages, power outages
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The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has announced that certain regions within three counties will face electrical outages on March 28th.
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The utility firm announced that the disruptions in the specified regions will result from planned upkeep activities.
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The regions impacted will encompass Kakamega, Kisumu, and Nandi, where service disruptions lasting approximately eight hours are expected.
Faith Chandianya, a journalist with SANGGRALOKA.co.ke, comes with more than three years of expertise in reporting on politics and current events within Kenya.
The Kenya Power and Lighting Company has pinpointed regions within three counties that will experience electricity disruptions starting from Friday, March 28.
The firm indicated that the disruptions are planned for maintenance purposes with the intention of enhancing service provision.
“Good evening, kindly receive the scheduled power maintenance for tomorrow, Friday, 28.03.2025,” the Kenya Power statement read in part.
In which counties will there be disruptions in electricity supply?
Nandi county
Location: Kabirer Center, Kabirer Coffee Shop (9 AM – 5 PM)
Kabirer Center, Kabirer Elementary, Kabirer Café, Uson, and surrounding clientele.
Kisumu county
AEA: Muhoroni Market (9 AM-5 PM)
Chemelil Factory, Kopere Market, Holo Kopere, along with surrounding clients.
Kakamega county
The town of Kakamega operates from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Customers from Musoli, Shinyalu, Shimanyiro, Lubao, and surrounding areas.
Were there electrical outages during Gachagna’s church event?
Scheduled maintenance leading to power outages in Nyeri County during a church gathering featuring ex-Deputy President Rigathi Gachagna on Sunday, March 23, ignited significant public response across Kenya.
The disruption occurred during the installation of the Reverend Canon Gerald Mwangi Muriithi as the third Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Mount Kenya at the ACK Cathedral in Nyeri County.
The disruption fueled speculations regarding potential political interference. Several Kenyans pondered whether the electricity firm might have intentionally triggered it or if it was simply due to planned maintenance schedules.
The utility responded to these claims on their official social media platforms, stating that the disruption during the church service where Gachgua was present was not intentional. Instead, it was due to scheduled maintenance that impacted several regions within Nyeri County.
Kenya Power notified customers in specific parts of Nyeri one day prior to Gachagna’s event regarding the scheduled maintenance.
The regions highlighted encompassed Mukurweini, State Lodge, Ragati, Karatina, Nyeri, Mweiga, Tetu, and Narumoru, where outages were anticipated to last approximately eight hours, spanning from 8 AM to 5 PM.
Additional Kenya Power articles of interest
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The Kenya Power and Lighting Company has invited enrolled university and college students to apply for their 2022 internship program, scheduled to take place between May and July. Applicants must submit their forms by Friday, March 28.
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The utility firm has implemented a more user-friendly method for clients to notify them of power disruptions via the USSD code *977# or through the MyPower application. Additionally, the CEO attributed many outages to problems with vegetation, noting that certain homeowners hinder Kenya Power’s efforts to trim trees or obstruct access to electricity lines on their land.
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Kenya Power has indicated that their technical team utilizes planned maintenance times to fix defective transformers or substitute them with functional new units. As the firm embraces advanced technology such as automation, the requirement for regular upkeep has diminished.
by admin | Mar 27, 2025 | donald trump, government, news, politics, politics and government
WASHINGTON, D.C. — US President Donald Trump mentioned on Wednesday that he might propose lowering tariffs on China with the aim of getting Beijing’s consent for the sale of the widely used social media app TikTok.
“Perhaps I offer them some slight tariff reductions or something similar to make it happen,” he said to journalists at the White House.
Earlier this month, Trump mentioned that the United States was negotiating with four different entities keen on purchasing TikTok, leaving the app’s prospects in the country unclear.
A U.S. law has mandated that TikTok must sell off its stake owned by ByteDance or face being outlawed within the country. This decision was made due to worries that China might use this video-sharing app to gather intelligence on American citizens or subtly manipulate public sentiment in the United States.
The legislation came into force on January 19, one day prior to Trump’s inauguration. However, he swiftly declared a postponement of the law, enabling it to keep operating.
The said delay will end on April 5th.
“We will be entering into some sort of agreement,” Trump stated, mentioning that should the timing not work out, he would prolong the deadline.
I believe China will need to participate in that process, potentially through some form of endorsement, and I expect them to do so.
In his initial time at the helm of the White House, Trump also tried to prohibit TikTok within the United States due to worries about national security.
In January, TikTok was briefly suspended in the United States and vanished from app stores as the deadline for the legislation loomed, much to the disappointment of millions of users.
After starting his second term on January 20, Trump paused its execution for two-and-a-half months in an attempt to find a resolution with Beijing.
Later, TikTok resumed operations in the United States and was reinstated in both the Apple and Google app stores in February.
The AI startup Perplexity has recently shown interest in acquiring TikTok.
In a blog post, Perplexity outlined a plan to integrate its AI-driven web search features with the widely-used video-clipping application.
“The San Francisco-based company argued that merging Perplexity’s question-answering tool with TikTok’s vast video collection could result in the creation of the premier search experience globally,” they explained.
Even though TikTok doesn’t seem particularly eager about selling the app, possible purchasers encompass an effort known as “The People’s Bid for TikTok.” This campaign was initiated by Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty venture, which has interests in both real estate and sports.
Other contenders include Microsoft, Oracle, and a consortium featuring internet celebrity MrBeast, known as Jimmy Donaldson.
“As per Perplexity’s statement, a group of investors acquiring TikTok could potentially allow ByteDance to retain control over the algorithm. However, an acquisition by another major player might lead to a dominant position for them within the realm of short-form videos and informational content,” he argued in the blog post.
Society as a whole thrives when content feeds are freed from the control of foreign governments and global conglomerates.
by admin | Mar 27, 2025 | business, news, news media, scams and frauds, scandals
MANILA, Philippines – Business tycoons Ramon Ang and Enrique Razon Jr. have warned the public about deepfake scams and counterfeit advertisements on social media platforms that misuse their identities for deceptive investment opportunities.
Yesterday, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) Chairman and CEO Ramon Ang once again cautioned the public regarding the proliferation of counterfeit videos and internet advertisements that misuse his name and likeness to endorse unlawful financial schemes.
The video content, appearing as sponsored posts on Facebook, Instagram, and various social media channels, employs sophisticated techniques such as deepfakes to mimic genuine news reports, thereby deceiving viewers.
“These deceptive advertisements are causing significant harm to many individuals. We must take action against them. I urge government organizations, social media platforms, and citizens to collaborate in order to halt those responsible for these frauds and protect others from falling prey,” Ang stated.
Ang reaffirmed that he is not promoting any investment plans and is neither backing nor participating in any type of online financial opportunity.
He mentioned that SMC is considering taking legal action and is prepared to assist with investigations as well as potential prosecutions of those involved in the scams.
In order to safeguard the community, SMC has been working alongside officials to locate those accountable.
Ang also called on Meta and other platform proprietors to enhance their verification procedures for sponsored advertisements – particularly those that utilize the names and images of public figures without consent.
“These technology platforms possess the means to halt this situation. We’re requesting they take additional steps to safeguard their users,” he stated.
The International Container Terminal Services Inc. has alerted the public about online frauds that involve doctored videos and voice recordings purportedly featuring Razon, the company’s chairman, as well as other high-ranking officials.
As stated by the firm, the fake content surfacing on social media wrongly depicts Razon endorsing investment chances.
The company stated, ‘These allegations are completely false. Neither Mr. Razon nor ICTSI have supported any such ventures.’
ICTSI stated that the fraudulent content appears credible and might encompass proposals that look genuine.
“ICTSI stresses that these are unauthorized and meant to deceive viewers,” the statement read.
ICTSI is advising everyone to take precautions when interacting with online material related to ICTSI or the Razon Group, as this can aid in preventing online scams.
Similarly, the public is advised to refrain from disclosing their personal or financial data to unknown entities and to inform the relevant platforms about any dubious content or impersonation efforts they encounter.
Fraudsters are leveraging technology as a tool and utilizing well-known business figures and organizations to carry out their unlawful investment scams.
In addition to Ang and Razon, other magnates like Manuel Villar Jr. have similarly fallen victim to involvement in scam operations.
by admin | Mar 27, 2025 | news, political parties, politics, politics and government, politics and law
MANILA, Philippines — According to the most recent survey carried out by Social Weather Stations (SWS), nine party-list groups are at the forefront.
The poll conducted from March 15 to 20 for the Stratbase group revealed that the 4Ps party-list remains the top choice out of the 156 groups competing in this year’s elections.
It garnered the backing of 10.44 percent of the participants, closely trailed by Duterte Youth with 8.42 percent and ACT-CIS with 5.29 percent.
Behind them came FPJ Panday Bayanihan with 4.17 percent, followed by Ako Bicol at 2.51 percent, then Asenso Pinoy at 2.45 percent, Senior Citizens at 2.28 percent, TGP at 2.05 percent, and finally Agimat at 2.0 percent.
According to election guidelines, party-list groups that obtain a minimum of two percent of the overall votes are assured of securing at least one position in Congress.
The remaining seats were distributed according to the calculations provided by the Supreme Court in a previous decision.
Based on recent surveys, at least one percent of participants have backed 16 additional party-list organizations.
This list includes Tingog, Coop-Natco, Bicol Saro, EduAksyon, SSS-GSIS Pensionados, Anakalusugan, Malasakit@Bayanihan, 1-Rider, Kabataan, Agap, Manila Teachers, Magsasaka, PBBM, Trabaho, United Senior Citizens, and Murang Kuryente.
The head of StratBase, Dindo Manhit, stated that the steady performance of the top party-list organizations indicates a trend fueled by significant brand recognition and voter connection to their key issues.
Manhit encouraged voters to look past just recalling names and instead evaluate the platforms and track records of the party-list organizations.
“Although popularity and recognition significantly influence voter preferences, it’s crucial for Filipinos to consider more than just name recall when they cast their ballots,” he stated.
