Burundian nationals gather outside their embassy to apply for border passes as they prepare to travel back to their country following the Kenyan government’s directive on undocumented small-scale traders, in Nairobi on September 7, 2026. Photo by SIMON MAINA / AFP.

Kenya warned foreign workers they had 90 days to regularise their status as it sought to backtrack from a panic triggered by President William Ruto’s order to close immigrant-owned small businesses.

AFP reported that as the regional powerhouse, Kenya attracts migrants from across the East African Community (EAC), whose members enjoy freedom of movement within the regional bloc.

But last week Ruto said foreigners were not allowed to be hawkers or run small shops, and gave them until Monday to cease activity.

” We have made efforts to improve the economy, we have not improved investor confidence for hawkers to come to Kenya,” Ruto said in a speech.

It was widely seen as a bid to rally support among Kenyan hawkers ahead of elections next year but it sparked fear among many foreigners, particularly Burundians who make a living through street vending in Nairobi.

On Monday, hundreds of Burundians flocked to their embassy, seeking a return home, amid fears Kenya could see the sort of xenophobic violence experienced in South Africa in recent months.

The government has now backtracked, saying it only wanted to ensure no one was illegally operating a business.

Work permits are free for citizens of EAC countries but many have not gone through the registration process.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the president’s office said it “will conduct an orderly regularisation exercise” over the next 90 days to ensure migrants have the correct work permits and licences.

At the end of the 90-day period, immigration rules “will be enforced firmly and strictly in accordance with the law”, it warned.

Burundi, a country of about 15 million people and one of the world’s poorest, is part of the EAC alongside Kenya. There have been reports some Burundians were attacked following Ruto’s order.

Video footage from Miami shows an Amazon Air cargo plane overshoot the runway while attempting to land at the city’s international airport, killing five people and seriously injuring five more.

The Boeing 767-300 cargo aircraft crashed just before 14:00 local time (19:00 GMT) after departing from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The flight also hit several vehicles on the ground.

BBC

US President Donald Trump has dispatched special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv this weekend with a new proposal aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump announced the mission on Friday, describing Witkoff and Kushner as “two great negotiators” who are carrying “a proposal to end the war.” He said there “may be a good chance” of progress and added that the United States has “an idea for peace,” without confirming whether the plan involves territorial concessions.

According to reports, the envoys were expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday before travelling to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday. A senior Ukrainian official confirmed the Kyiv leg of the trip. Russian state media reported that Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday.

The visit marks the first time the two envoys will travel to war-torn Kyiv since Trump returned to office. Previous diplomatic efforts involving the pair had focused more heavily on contacts with Moscow.

Zelensky said Ukrainian forces would refrain from airstrikes on Russia while the envoys were in the country and called on Moscow to reciprocate by pausing attacks on Ukraine. The mission represents Washington’s latest attempt to break the long-running diplomatic stalemate in the conflict that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.