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• Kenyan President William Ruto has announced that he will not sign a finance bill proposing new taxes following deadly protests across the nation.
• The bill aimed to raise funds for debt repayment but faced widespread opposition from Kenyans already grappling with economic hardship.
• Tuesday’s protests prompted military deployment, with Ruto labeling the actions as “treasonous.”

Kenyan President William Ruto said Wednesday he won’t sign into law a finance bill proposing new taxes, a day after protesters stormed parliament and several people were shot dead. It was the biggest assault on Kenya’s government in decades.

The government wanted to raise funds to pay off debt, but Kenyans said the bill caused more economic pain as millions struggle to get by. The chaos on Tuesday led the government to deploy the military, and Ruto called protesters’ actions “treasonous.”

The president now says the bill caused “widespread dissatisfaction” and he has listened and “conceded.” It’s a major setback for Ruto, who came to power vowing to help Kenyans cope with rising costs but has seen much of the country, led by youth, unite in opposition to his latest attempt at reforms.

KENYAN PROTESTERS VOW TO CONTINUE DEMONSTRATIONS AFTER VIOLENT CLASHES LEAVE 23 DEAD

“It is necessary for us to have a conversation as a nation on how to do we manage the affairs of the country together,” he said.

Kenyans faced the lingering smell of tear gas and military in the streets a day after the latest protests saw thousands storm parliament, an act of defiance that Ruto had called an “existential” threat. At least 22 people were killed, a human rights group said, and police were accused of some shooting deaths.

Ruto acknowledged the deaths, calling it an “unfortunate situation,” and offered condolences. He said about 200 people had been wounded.

Nairobi has seen protests in the past, but activists and others warned the stakes were more dangerous. Ruto on Tuesday vowed to quash unrest “at whatever cost,” even as more protests were called at State House on Thursday.

“We are dealing with a new phenomenon and a group of people that is not predictable. If it would have been the normal demonstrations, I’d say it will fizzle out with time, but we don’t know whether these people will fear the army,” said Herman Manyora, an analyst and professor at the University of Nairobi.

5 CONFIRMED DEAD AFTER POLICE OPEN FIRE ON PROTESTERS ATTEMPTING TO STORM KENYA’S PARLIAMENT

He said the president missed an opportunity in his national address Tuesday night to adopt a more conciliatory approach.

Kenya’s High Court on Wednesday ordered the military deployment suspended after a challenge by the Kenya Law Society.

Kenyans united beyond tribal and other divisions in the effort to keep the finance bill from becoming law. It would have raised taxes and fees on a range of daily items and services, from egg imports to bank transfers.

There were no reports of violence Wednesday, but there was fear. Civil society groups have reported abductions of people involved in recent protests and expect more to come. The High Court ordered police to release all people arrested in the protests. Ruto said those allegedly abducted had been released or processed in court.

Many young people who helped vote Ruto into power in 2022 with cheers for his promises of economic relief now object to the pain of reforms. Part of the parliament building burned Tuesday, and clashes occurred in several communities beyond the capital.

Kenyan President William Ruto gives an address at the State House in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi)

At least 22 people were killed, the Kenya National Human Rights Commission said. Commission chairperson Roseline Odede said 300 others were injured, and 50 people were arrested.

The mother of a teenager killed, Edith Wanjiku, told journalists at a morgue that the police who shot her son should be charged with murder because her 19-year-old son had been unarmed.

“He had just completed school and was peacefully protesting,” she said.

Parliament, city hall and the supreme court were cordoned off with tape reading “Crime Scene Do Not Enter.” Authorities said police fired over 700 blanks to disperse protesters in the Nairobi suburb of Githurai overnight.

“My plea to the president is to listen to us and understand that this financial bill they want to pass is not as important as people’s lives,” said one Nairobi businessman, Gideon Hamisi. “Many young people lost their lives yesterday. I am a young man, and I feel deeply pained by what transpired.”

Opposition leader Raila Odinga called for dialogue, asserting that Kenya’s constitution had been suspended. “Kenya cannot afford to kill its children just because the children are asking for food, jobs and a listening ear,” he said in a statement.

Nairobi county workers stand in front of the governor’s office, which was burned during yesterday’s protest over proposed tax hikes in a finance bill in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, on June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

In Nairobi, a regional hub for expatriates and home to a United Nations complex, inequality among Kenyans has sharpened along with long-held frustrations over state corruption. The booming young population is also frustrated by the lavish lifestyles of politicians, including the president. Some who had passionately supported Ruto, who won power by portraying himself as a “hustler” of humble background, feel betrayed.

The youth, commonly referred to as Gen Zs, mobilized the protests and sought to keep lawmakers from approving the finance bill Tuesday. Ruto had two weeks to sign the bill into law.

The president’s concession was “self preservation” by a leader worried about his reputation, opposition Sen. Edwin Sifuna wrote on X.

The events are a sharp turn for Ruto, who has been embraced by the United States as a welcome partner in Africa while frustration grows elsewhere on the continent with the U.S. and some other Western powers.

In May, Ruto went to Washington on the first state visit by an African leader in 16 years. On Tuesday, as the protests exploded, the U.S. designated Kenya as its first major non-NATO ally in sub-Saharan Africa, a largely symbolic act but one highlighting their security partnership. Also, on Tuesday, hundreds of Kenyan police deployed to lead a multinational force against gangs in Haiti, an initiative that brought thanks from U.S. President Joe Biden.

Now Kenya’s government, along with protesters, face pleas for calm from partners including the U.S., which joined a dozen other nations in a statement Tuesday expressing “deep concern” over the violence and abductions.

“How did we get here?” Kenya’s vice president, Rigathi Gachagua, asked Wednesday in nationally broadcast comments after the president’s turnabout, openly wondering how the government had become so unpopular in just two years. “We were the darling of the Kenyan people.”

More and more satellites are being sent to space. Most of them move in what is known as low Earth orbit, about 1,000 kilometres from Earth.

One of the reasons for this increase is the growth in the uses of satellites, the more traditional ones such as meteorological or military, can now also be used to provide internet to remote places.

“The space race is growing and growing,” Gisela Süss of the European Space Agency (ESA) told Euronews.

According to ESA data, there are some 12,500 satellites in Earth orbit. “Now, for example, we have constellations being launched into space from the United States, and it is increasingly becoming a business as well,” she said at the European Space Forum, held on 24-25 June in Brussels.

This has made it increasingly ‘interesting’ for private companies to send satellites into space, says Süss. She refers, for example, to projects such as SpaceX’s Starlink or Amazon’s Kuiper. Starlink currently has around 6,000 devices in orbit in various constellations, while Kuiper expects to add around 2,300 when the project is deployed.

More and more junk in orbit

The problem comes when the machines stop working, break down or collide with an object. In the past, satellites were unprotected against this type of incident, partly because it was difficult to modify their route, but now companies are seeking to minimise risks.

“All our satellites will have active propulsion systems, which means we will be able to manoeuvre them to avoid any collisions,” explains Jordi Casanova, from Amazon’s Kuiper Project.

In addition, the satellites will have “a specific type of shield so that, in the event of a small collision, the satellite elements will be protected”.

This is one of the measures to alleviate a problem that the European Space Agency believes threatens our future in space. Right now, there are some 2,700 devices in orbit that no longer work.

Added to this is space debris, made up of parts of old satellites or other materials created by humans and launched into space. ESA monitors some 35,000 pieces of debris, although it is estimated that there are millions of fragments measuring less than ten centimetres. These pieces orbit at high speed and can collide with and damage other devices.

To prevent their proliferation, the agency has launched its Zero Waste Charter. “The aim of this charter is to move towards zero by 2030,” says Süss, although the plan is “non-binding”. ESA also has measures in place to de-orbit satellites that no longer work, such as a robot that captures them.

Towards a new European Space Law

Several MEPs and experts have so far defined space as “the Wild West”. But years ago, the European Commission set out to regulate what happens beyond the Earth.

The need was born to create space legislation in what the European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton called a “true single market”.

Several EU countries, such as Germany and France, already have space laws, but Brussels will present the first European Space Law in the coming months.

The proposed law was scheduled to be presented this spring, but its presentation has been delayed.

According to the European Commission, the proposal will take into account three pillars, including the security of satellite navigation, the protection of EU infrastructures against cyber-attacks and the development of the European space sector as a “major enabler of services”.