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Damola Durosomo
Jan. 16, 2019 11:22AM EST

Violent Attack at Kenyan Hotel Ends With 14 Dead

The remaining hostages were freed after a 17-hour standoff between militants and Kenyan security forces on Wednesday.

The final hostages in the violent terrorist attack which took place at the DusitD2 Hotel in Naoribi's affluent Westlands district yesterday have been freed after a 17 hour standoff between Kenyan security forces and Al Shabab militants.

In a speech this morning, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the rescue mission over, stating that there were 700 people rescued and a total of 14 casualties. He also stated that all of the attackers had been killed in the operation, according to Quartz Africa. "Every person that was involved in the funding, planning and execution of this heinous act will be relentlessly pursued," added Kenyatta.

Many recalled the events of the deadly 2013 Westgate Mall Siege in which 71 people were killed. The attack was also at the hands of Al Shabab.

Kenyans took to social media on Tuesday and Wednesday to rally, with several using social media to gain information on loved ones who were missing and share resources for those affected by the attack.

Many Kenyans are expressing sadness at the loss of well-known sports journalist and football fan Kenyan James Oduor, also known as Cobra who died inside the hotel on the eve of his birthday, notes The Daily Nation. He was tweeting during the attack, asking those on the outside for information on what was taking place at the hotel.



Thousands of people online including celebrities and members of the international community are sharing messages in remembrance of the victims, using the hashtags #Pray4Kenya, #14Riverside and #riversideattack.







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Photo by Daniel Beloumou Olomo / AFP

AFCON 2021: Ranking the Best Jerseys at the Tournament

Despite skepticism on the fate of Africa’s biggest football competition, the African Cup of Nations returned with great fanfare on Sunday, January 9. All eyes are on host country Cameroon, who started their campaign to win the tournament for the sixth time by beating Burkina Faso.

Elsewhere, Nigeria’s Super Eagles triumphed over Egypt with a solitary goal from Kelechi Iheanacho. A total of 24 countries are competing in Cameroon, incentivized by a prize money that’s been bumped up $500,000 since the last edition in 2019.

But AFCON isn’t just about cash payouts, dribbles and goals. Once again, it’s time to look at which African country is parading the best kits. Football and fashion are two worlds that have always collided. Over the years kits have been updated or revised to look modern. What makes a good kit? This is a complex question, and interwoven in the answer are simplicity, clever design, style, or just elements of nostalgia. As superficial as this exercise is, its implication is sweetly in the bragging rights.

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Music
Photo: Janto Djassi.

The Acoustic Cabo Verdean Sounds of The Ano Nobo Quartet

The Strings of São Domingos offers a a global story with Cabo Verde at its center—a creole melting pot in the middle of the Atlantic attracting the best from four continents.

Vik Sohonie, founder of Ostinato Records, gives us some background on his upcoming release 'The Strings of São Domingos' by The Ano Nobo Quartet.

In 1989, as the Berlin Wall collapsed in front of the world’s eyes, a burly soldier from Cabo Verde stood on the East German side. Nicknamed “El Bruto” or “The Brute” because of his “brutally” good prowess on the guitar, Pascoal watched the end of an era in full uniform, the ever dutiful soldier. As a member of the FARP, the armed wing of Cabo Verde’s independence struggle, which was backed by the Soviet Union, Pascoal was dispatched the world over—from Cuba to Crimea to East Berlin.

Being stationed in Cuba gave him access to a world of guitar music. His stints in the Caribbean and the Crimean Peninsula were alongside soldiers from elsewhere in Lusophone Africa and the former colonized world. Not required on the battlefield, these military postings became cultural gatherings and, quite simply, jam sessions, where sounds and techniques were exchanged.

Today, along with fellow guitar maestros, Fany, Nono, and Afrikanu, Pascoal leads The Ano Nobo Quartet, named after Cabo Verde’s most legendary composer, Ano Nobo, Pascoal’s mentor and father to the rest of the group. Until today, Ano Nobo’s face graces murals across the archipelago.

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Arts + Culture
Photo: Elizabeth Okwach

The Art Clubs Helping to Uplift Nairobi's Informal Settlements

Over the past few years, a number of art centers have sprung up in Mukuru, Nairobi, to help budding artists hone their skills and earn a living from their creations too.

Living in an informal settlement is reality for more than 1.5 million people in Nairobi, according to a recent census, and that figure is set to rise, owing to the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to ravage Kenya. Despite the poverty, pollution and insecurity, creativity continues to thrive, as people defy struggles and bust stereotypes of being poor and powerless. And it’s in the urban slums nestled deep in the heart of Nairobi’s industrial area where Kenya’s renowned artists and art centers, including Mukuru Art Club, Wajukuu Art Center and Art Boyz, among others, can be found.

Adam Masava, a prolific and self-taught artist, born and raised in the heart of Mukuru Fuata Nyayo, has built a career around improving the living conditions of his fellow slum-dwellers with a state-of-the-art center, popularly known as Mukuru Art Club. It was established in 2008 as a way of giving back to the community, a place where kids as young as eight are enrolled to learn art, and older ones are mentored.

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It's Official: British Vogue Has Made 2022 The Year of the African Model

The major fashion magazine's February 2022 issue features 9 gloriously Black and African models - and we can't get enough.