Abdiwahab Ahmed

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered an unusually sharp rebuke of Washington this week, accusing America of entering the war with Iran without a clear plan for how to finish it. The US, he said bluntly, appeared to have no strategy for the conflict. "The problem with conflicts like this is always you don't just have to get in," he said during a meeting with German students, "you have to get out again". "We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years - we saw it in Iraq," he added. The remarks quickly set off a…

When Andrzej Poczobut crossed from Belarus into Poland last Tuesday, he barely resembled the broad-shouldered, sharply dressed journalist familiar to Polish readers just five years earlier. Images that swiftly spread from the border crossing in eastern Poland showed a hollowed, gaunt man with a shaved head. Five years in cold, concrete prison cells — including six months in solitary confinement last year — had left him looking far older than 53. His freedom, secured as part of a 10-person prisoner exchange, came after months…

Israeli airstrikes hit southern Lebanon with deadly force, killing 13 people, the country’s health ministry said, including residents of a town where the Israeli military had ordered an evacuation despite a ceasefire still being in place. According to the ministry, the heaviest toll came in Habboush, where eight people were killed, among them a child and two women, while 21 others were wounded - an increase from an earlier casualty count. In Zrariyeh, four people were killed in separate strikes, including two women, and…

President Donald Trump has intensified a brewing dispute with key European allies, declaring the planned withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany is only the start as tensions widen over the Middle East war. The Pentagon unveiled the 5,000-troop drawdown on Friday, but Mr Trump signalled on Saturday that the cut would go deeper. "We're going to cut way down, and we're cutting a lot further than 5,000," he told reporters, without offering further details. The latest move comes after a public clash between Mr Trump and…

MOGADISHU, Somalia 3 May 2026 – As Somalia observes World Press Freedom Day, journalists across the country and in North Western State of Somalia say they are working under growing threats and constraints, with reporters increasingly targeted as the nation navigates political uncertainty and electoral tensions. Operating already amid severe challenges, media workers in Somalia and North Western State of Somalia are reporting a rise in arbitrary arrests, threats and intimidation by state actors. That pressure has fostered a…

A suspected extortion plot involving baby food took a significant turn on Thursday, when Austrian police said they arrested a 39-year-old man linked to a case in which rat poison was placed in jars of baby food. Authorities previously said five "manipulated" jars of the same HiPP baby food product were recovered safely last month in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia before anyone could consume them. German ‌police said ⁠at the time that a sixth jar believed to have been in Austria has still not been located. "Today we…

A Peter Kay performance at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena was abruptly cut short and the crowd evacuated on Thursday night after what was reported as a potential suspicious bag, though British police later said their searches uncovered nothing опасious. West Midlands Police said a 19-year-old man arrested on suspicion of a bomb hoax offence remains in custody. The comedian’s set was stopped after the discovery of what was described as a "potential suspicious bag". In a statement issued this morning, police said: "Following…

An oil tanker was hijacked by unidentified assailants off Yemen’s coast in the Gulf of Aden and forced toward Somalia, according to Yemen’s coast guard. The agency said the tanker EUREKA was taken near Yemen’s Shabwa province by a group that “boarded, took control of it, then steered it ... in the direction of the Somali coast”. ]The coast guard, aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said it would investigate the assault. “The location of the tanker has been determined, and work is under way to monitor…

A US plan to pull 5,000 troops out of Germany is sharpening pressure on Europe to bolster its own military strength, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said, even as two senior Republicans warned the forces should stay on the continent. The ⁠Pentagon unveiled the reduction from Germany, the hub of America’s military presence in Europe, yesterday, deepening strains in the transatlantic relationship as disagreements over the Iran war and trade tariffs widen. Under the US move, Washington has also scrapped a Biden-era plan…

New UNICEF Child Alert warns violence, hunger, and displacement are once again defining childhood in one of Sudan's most conflict-affected regions PORT SUDAN/NEW YORK/GENEVA, 28 April 2026 - Two decades after Darfur first became a global humanitarian alarm, children in the region are once again engulfed by widespread violence, hunger and displacement — and international attention and aid remain far more limited, UNICEF warned in a new Child Alert released today. Titled "Darfur: 20 Years On,…