Missile scare near Saudi port of Yanbu as Houthis claim strike on Israeli-owned tanker
An Israeli-owned tanker sailing under the Liberian flag reported a near miss off Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast as Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed responsibility for a missile launch in the area, the latest flashpoint in a strategic waterway that carries a slice of the world’s trade.
What happened off Yanbu
Maritime risk firm Ambrey said the vessel, identified by regional monitoring services as the Scarlet Ray, reported an explosion…
Somali Salvation Forum alleges government neglects counterterrorism, sells public land
Somalia’s Opposition Sounds the Alarm on Election Timelines and Constitutional Changes
Mogadishu’s political center of gravity shifts—again
In a city where politics is often as kinetic as the traffic circling KM4, Somalia’s opposition has thrown a sharp new challenge at the government. The Somali Salvation Forum, a coalition led by former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, wrapped up a two-day meeting in Mogadishu by accusing federal authorities of losing focus on the war against al-Shabaab and instead prioritizing the sale of…
Somalia: Northeastern State rejects SODMA claims, says federal agency shipped expired relief supplies
Analysis: Aid Spat Between Northeastern State and Mogadishu Exposes Fragile Federal Ties
In Somalia’s rugged northeast, where the wind-carved ridges of the Cal Miskaad range fall to the sea, a familiar political quarrel is spilling into the humanitarian lane. Northeastern State officials and Somalia’s national disaster agency are trading accusations over who blocked lifesaving support to freshly secured areas — and why. It’s a dispute with real consequences for wounded soldiers, displaced families and the credibility of a…
Somalia’s attorney general issues warning over defamation, misinformation on social media
Somalia moves against online defamation. The bigger story is who decides what’s dangerous speech—and when
In Mogadishu’s humming tea stalls and on the diaspora’s WhatsApp groups from Minneapolis to Mombasa, politics is now a permanent scroll. Somalia’s Office of the Attorney General stepped squarely into that stream this week, announcing a legal push against what it called online insults, defamation, social incitement, offensive images, immoral content, false information, and posts that “promote societal division.” Some…
Somalia Airstrikes Hit Multiple Al-Shabaab Strongholds Across Central Region
US-Backed Airstrikes Hit Suspected al‑Shabaab Sites in Central Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A series of powerful airstrikes struck suspected al‑Shabaab hideouts at the edge of Somalia’s Galgaduud and Middle Shabelle regions over the weekend, according to local security sources and residents, in a fresh show of force that underscores the relentless cat‑and‑mouse campaign against the al‑Qaida‑linked insurgency.
Details from the remote frontline remain sketchy. But multiple sources described precision strikes on Hareer…
RSF chief Hemedti takes oath as leader of rival Sudanese government
Breaking: Sudan’s RSF chief Hemedti sworn in to lead parallel government as drones hit Nyala
What happened
Sudan slid deeper into a dangerous split this weekend as Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — better known as Hemedti — was sworn in as head of a rival government backed by his Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The oath-taking was announced from Nyala, a major city in Darfur that has served as the RSF’s hub during the war. The ceremony could not be independently verified, and Hemedti has rarely been seen inside Sudan since fighting…
Is Kenya hosting military training for Somalia’s Jubaland state forces?
Mandera’s uneasy morning: Allegations of Jubaland training on Kenyan soil test a fragile border
On a normal school day, the dusty yard of Border Point 1 Primary in Mandera Town would fill with children in blue uniforms and plastic sandals, their chalkboards listing multiplication tables and Swahili proverbs. Instead, the gates are shut. And this week, the school became the unexpected center of a regional security storm when Mandera County officials alleged that Jubaland regional forces from Somalia are training there—inside…
Northeastern State Spurns Federal Assistance, Deepening Somalia’s Political Divide
Somalia’s Aid Lifeline Tangled in Political Fight as Northeastern State Blocks Federal Relief to Area Cleared of ISIS
Mogadishu — A political feud inside Somalia burst into public view this weekend, as the federal disaster authority accused the state of Northeastern State of blocking medical evacuations and emergency supplies to civilians and soldiers in a rugged northeastern district freshly pried from ISIS control.
Mahmoud Moallim, Director-General of the Somali Disaster Management Agency (SODMA), said Northeastern State…
Kenya ramps up khat exports as Ethiopia challenges Somalia market
Kenya Bets Big on Khat as Its Somalia Lifeline Frays
In the cool highlands of Meru, where khat bushes cling to the slopes like stubborn green lace, the leaf locals call miraa is not just a crop. It is a clock. By late morning, pickers hurry to fill baskets; by noon, bundles are racing toward airstrips; by afternoon, flights fan out over the Indian Ocean to quench a daily chew in Mogadishu and beyond. If the chain is disrupted by an argument in a boardroom or a checkpoint on a highway, thousands feel it—farmers in Meru,…
Somali ambassador joins Türkiye’s Victory Day ceremonies in Ankara
On Türkiye’s Victory Day, Somalia’s envoy stands beside Ankara — and a century of lessons
ANKARA — Under a late-summer sky, the red-and-white flag that is never far from Turkish life seemed to stretch just a bit wider this weekend. Victory Day, marked every August 30, is an annual rite here — a day when schoolchildren learn again the name Dumlupinar and adults take an extra glance toward the statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. This year, amid the ceremonies and speeches, a guest from the Horn of Africa stepped forward to…