Abdiwahab Ahmed

Mali’s army said it was fighting off attacks by "terrorist groups" after coordinated assaults struck parts of the west African country, where more than a decade of jihadist violence has battered security and shaken daily life. Witnesses described clashes in the capital, Bamako, as well as in other major urban centres in the landlocked nation, where the military took power in successive coups in 2020 and 2021. In a statement, the army said: "Terrorist groups, not yet identified, early this morning targeted certain points and…

An oil tanker has been hijacked off Somalia’s coast and forced into the country’s territorial waters, according to the British maritime security agency UKMTO, in a fresh sign of mounting danger for vessels moving through the region. The incident underscores the growing hazards facing ships in the Red Sea corridor, an increasingly vital supply route as Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz — the gateway to the Gulf on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula — tightens pressure on maritime traffic. UKMTO said the tanker was…

A US military strike on an alleged drug-trafficking vessel killed two people, pushing the reported death toll from Washington’s campaign against what it calls “narco-terrorists” in Latin America to at least 182. In a post on X, US Southern Command, which oversees American forces in the region, said the military had "conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organisations." It said intelligence had determined the vessel was moving along established drug-smuggling routes in the Eastern…

A war-triggered chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has unleashed what the International Energy Agency describes as the most severe oil supply disruption the world has ever seen, after the US-Israeli attack on Iran sent shockwaves through global energy markets. And the turmoil is still unfolding. Analysts say the fallout from the energy shock could be felt for years - even decades, depending on how quickly the conflict ends - piling fresh pressure on economies and households already struggling to stay afloat. It’s only four…

Fresh Russian strikes across Ukraine have killed at least six people, officials said today, with the deadliest attack hitting a residential building in the eastern city of Dnipro. "The Russians' tactics remain unchanged: attack drones, cruise missiles and a significant amount of ballistic missiles," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. "Most of the targets are ordinary infrastructure in cities. Residential buildings, energy facilities and businesses have been damaged," he said. In Dnipro, four people were killed and…

Iran cast the United States as a power looking for a way out of a deepening conflict, as senior US envoys travelled to Pakistan for what Washington hopes will be a new push toward peace. "Our military power today is a dominant force, and the enemy is looking for a face-saving way to escape the war quagmire it has become trapped in," media outlet ISNA quoted a ministry spokesperson as saying. The remarks came as Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner headed for Islamabad, although Iranian state media said direct negotiations were…

Hunger tightened its grip on the world’s most vulnerable communities last year, with two-thirds of those facing food crises concentrated in just 10 countries and one-third of them in Sudan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN-backed annual report said today. Conflict again stood out as the leading cause of acute food insecurity, according to the Global Report on Food Crises, which draws on data from the United Nations, the European Union and humanitarian agencies. With wars continuing and climate extremes…

A fragile ceasefire and a fresh burst of diplomacy brought the Middle East conflict to another pivotal moment as Iran's foreign minister arrived in Pakistan and US envoys traveled to Islamabad in hopes of reviving stalled peace negotiations. The White House said emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would hold an "in-person conversation" with Iranian representatives, though Iranian state media insisted direct talks were not on the agenda. Even after US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the ceasefire in…

The US Justice Department is moving to widen both when the federal death penalty is pursued and how executions can be carried out, saying it wants to add the firing squad, electrocution and gas alongside lethal injection. "The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers," acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said. In a statement, Mr Blanche said…

A fresh diplomatic push is taking shape as US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner prepare to fly to Pakistan tomorrow morning for talks involving Iran, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News this evening. "I can confirm Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in talks ... with representatives from the Iranian delegation," Ms Leavitt said. Vice President JD Vance is not expected to…