ONTIMENEWSKENYA

Britain’s Prince Charles, the eldest son and heir to Queen Elizabeth II, is showing mild symptoms of the new coronavirus but “otherwise remains in good health”, his office said on Wednesday. The 71-year-old and his wife Camilla — who does not have COVID-19 — are currently self-isolating in Scotland, Clarence House said. “The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus,” it said in a statement, using his official title. “He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual. “The Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) has also been tested but does not have the virus. “In accordance with government and medical advice, the prince and the duchess are now self-isolating at home in Scotland.” The couple were tested by the state-run National Health Service (NHS) in Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland, it said. “It is not possible to ascertain from whom the prince caught the virus owing to...

China has begun buying U.S. liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) again after a hiatus of nearly 20 months as Beijing waived punitive tariffs to boost imports of U.S. goods as part of the Sino-U.S. Phase 1 trade deal, industry sources said. Importers have rushed to apply for waivers for the 25% tariff to buy the fuel, a by-product from U.S. shale gas production, after Beijing started granting exemptions this month for nearly 700 U.S. goods. About a dozen firms - including China Gas Holdings ( 0384.HK ), a piped gas distributor and LPG trader, and Oriental Energy ( 002221.SZ ), a manufacturer using LPG to make petrochemicals - have been granted the tariff waivers, according to two veteran LPG traders, an investment officer and analysts at IHS Markit. With the exemptions, U.S. LPG is subject only to a 1% import duty, same as rival supplies from the Middle East. “U.S. LPG provides us a diversified source of supply to keep our overall import cost low,” said Tan Yuwei, an investor relati...

An Eldoret-based Kenyan athlete has been put in isolation at the Kenya Industrial Training Institute (KITI) in Nakuru, after he was seized by security officers while aboard an Eldoret-bound matatu following a trip from abroad. Samson Rutto, 31, was intercepted by police at Kibunjia area along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on Tuesday evening and taken to the institution, where he spent the night. He arrived in the country on Sunday. According to documents seen by  Nation Sport , the athlete travelled to Kenya from France through India and Ethiopia, before arriving in the country on March 22. In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Rutto complained that he had been forced into a very dirty and poorly ventilated room by the Nakuru County health officials and police. "I was forced to spend my night in a filthy room, that is poorly ventilated. I wonder why I am being treated like a dog in my homeland. I wish l stayed in France, this could not have happened to me,"...

A hairdresser who has continued working during the  coronavirus  pandemic has gone viral for wearing an umbrella to separate herself from clients. The Dutch stylist who works at Bella Rosa salon in Oss, north of Eindhoven, Holland, created a makeshift shield from an umbrella in a bizarre attempt to help stop the spread of COVID-19. She cut two holes for her arms to go through and cut a client's hair using disposable gloves. The hairdresser completed her homemade protective wear by adding holes to the umbrella to see out of.  Countries across Europe have shot down hair and beauty salons, and there is no evidence that the    The clip has gone viral across social media, racking up over 82,000 shares on Facebook alone. In one clip, she included the caption: 'This is not going well' Laughing can be heard in the background. She then had to cut a third hole to thread another customer's eyebrows. The woman carried out the treatment b...

A British pensioner has died from coronavirus after only leaving her house once a week for food. Son Jeff Howes has been left "heartbroken" after losing his mum, 87, to the global pandemic. In a viral post on  Facebook , which has been shared over 50,000 times, Mr Howes said his mum had contracted the deadly virus after only leaving her home for an hour a week "to go shopping". He's now warning the nation to follow strict Government advice and stay at home. He wrote: "Feeling heartbroken, please share this far and wide, we have just lost our lovely mum to the corona virus. "She was 87, the reason I want to post this is because my mum left her house once a week for about an hour, to go shopping. "So for those people who think they can ignore the governments advice, and go swanning around thinking it won’t happen to them, it will. Jeff has urged people to stay at home   (Image: Facebook) "If my mum can contr...

Uganda on Wednesday recorded five new coronavirus cases bringing the total number to 14, The Ministry of Health on confirmed.  Dr Joyce Moriku Kaducu, Minister of State for Primary Health Care said that two of the five cases are Chinese nationals while the others are Ugandans. "Dear Ugandans, this is a very critical moment for everyone as the number of positive cases keeps scaling up. Five more people have been confirmed positive, including two of the six Chinese that were got in Zombo. They cannot be presented in court for fear of further spread," tweeted Dr Kaducu.  One of the victims is an 8-month-old baby whose father travelled from Kenya recently.  All the first nine confirmed cases are Ugandans who are said to have been infected from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  The patients have been admitted to Entebbe Hospital and are being monitored.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday appointed a military man to a key government position. The President appointed Major-General Mohamed Abdalla Badi the Director-General of the newly-created Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS). The NMS will take over governance and administrative duties of Nairobi County after Governor Mike Sonko surrendered City Hall to the State last month. Mr Kenyatta’s move further cemented the perception that the Head of State has a penchant for appointing military and intelligence officials to critical institutions facing crises. Before his appointment to NMS, Maj-Gen Badi was the senior directing officer in charge of Kenya Air Force staff training at the National Defence College (NDC). Prior to his posting at the NDC, Badi served as the base commander in charge of Moi Air Base after he was promoted to the rank of brigadier in 2014. Badi is expected to crush cartels at City Hall that have continuously held the capital to ransom. ...

The constable, Jeminsta Mutua, was attached to Nyakianga Police Station in Murang’a County but had been suspended due to disciplinary issues. At the time of the occurrences, Mutua was staying in Makutano Sub-Location in Mwala, Machakos County, where his body and that of his girlfriend, Joyce Kaswii Muange, were found. Machakos Level 5 Hospital FACEBOOK According to  K24 Digital , officers found a panga that had bloodstains, a rope, two empty bottles of pesticides and a suicide note. In a police report filed at Masii Police Station, Joyce is suspected to have been strangled by the officer before he killed himself. Makutano Location Chief Simon Kiminza stated that the two had lastly been seen in public on Sunday, March 15. The following day, Monday, March 16, the officer was seen in public alone and Kiminza stated that he looked disturbed. "It is most likely he had killed the woman he was cohabiting with on Sunday. No one suspect...

Chinese officials say they have “seen the dawn” of an end to the  coronavirus  epidemic, after the country reported zero new cases of local infection for the first time since the outbreak began. Figures for Wednesday showed there were no new cases at all in Wuhan or the wider Hubei province, where the virus now known as  Covid-19  is believed to have first transmitted among humans. Authorities warned the risk was still not over, though, as 34 cases - all imported from abroad - were reported in other provinces. They included 21 in  Beijing  and nine in the southern manufacturing hub of Guangdong. There were also eight new deaths on Wednesday, according to the National Health Commission. bringing the country to a total of 80,928 cases and 3,245 deaths. Nonetheless, the lack of new local transmissions in Hubei was hailed as a major landmark in the global fight to contain the disease. “Today we have seen the dawn after so many days o...

Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt has directed the  National Park Service  to the waive entrance fees at all national parks that remain open during the coronavirus pandemic in an effort to aid public social distancing. "This small step makes it a little easier for the American public to enjoy the outdoors in our incredible National Parks," Bernhardt said in a news release Wednesday. "Our vast public lands that are overseen by the Department offer special outdoor experiences to recreate, embrace nature and implement some social distancing." The step comes as more than 7,500 people have been infected by the virus in the US, and at least  125 have died.  In response, states are ordering new shutdowns and restrictions every day and public health officials are encouraging the public to stay home and practice social distancing to contain the spread of the virus. Still, while the National Park Service has temporarily closed some parks, the vast major...

Denis Itumbi’s reign at State House has officially come to an end. A bit late, some observers would think. On Wednesday, the government released a statement informing Kenyans that it had scrapped his position of senior digital director and those of four others. But for someone so close to the presidency and a reported personal friend of President Uhuru Kenyatta, what just went wrong? 1. Dalliance with DP William Ruto  – During the 2017 general elections, Itumbi, for some reason, aligned himself with Deputy President William Ruto. At the time, he was spotted accompanying the DP to most international media interviews. This bromance grew and Itumbi ‘replaced’ coverage of President Kenyatta’s activities on his popular social media pages with that of Dr Ruto. It was a decision that has proved costly considering the political fallout between the two leaders. The DP has himself complained of some elements within the government out to stop him. 2. Attacking government official...