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Kenya and Uganda order rapid fix to border logjams, vow to align trade with EAC rules Kenya and Uganda moved to ease persistent friction along their busy frontier on Friday, ordering a rapid clean-up of congested crossings and pledging to strip away barriers to commerce that have frustrated truckers and traders for months. After a meeting in Mbale, eastern Uganda, Kenya’s Trade Minister Lee Kinyanjui and Uganda’s Minister Wilson Mbasu said they would bring operations at key crossings—Malaba, Busia, Suam and Lwakhakha—into…

At Least 250 Dead After 6.0-Magnitude Quake Rattles Eastern Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan — A powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 250 people and injuring more than 530, according to the state-run Bakhtar News Agency. The tremor hit mountainous districts in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces near the border with Pakistan, flattening homes and triggering landslides that cut off winding roads just when they were needed most. Local officials warned the death toll could climb…

Somalia’s New “Northeastern” State Emerges From the Fault Lines In a sun-baked Las Anod still bearing the scars of last year’s street battles, the Somali federal government says it has finished a job many thought impossible: bringing the disputed regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn into the federal fold as a new “Northeastern” state. It is an administrative milestone—and a political gambit—that reshapes Somalia’s internal map and tests the limits of its federal project. What Changed Today Mogadishu’s Interior Ministry…

Egypt sends senior military team to Somalia ahead of AU mission deployment CAIRO/MOGADISHU — Egypt has dispatched a high-level military delegation to Mogadishu ahead of the planned deployment of Egyptian troops to the African Union’s new mission in Somalia, signaling fresh momentum in regional security cooperation as Somalia confronts a resilient al-Shabaab insurgency. The 16-member Egyptian team, led by Maj. Gen. Islam Radwan, arrived in the Somali capital on Sunday and was received by officers from the African Union…

Analysis: Northeastern State’s warning shot tests Somalia’s fragile federal bargain Somalia’s most politically assertive region, Northeastern State, has accused President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of trampling the country’s basic rules — and it’s not just a routine war of words. In a sharply worded statement from Garowe, Northeastern State’s leadership warned that what it calls constitutional overreach from the federal center risks tipping the country into crisis unless Somalis agree on a shared path to the next elections. They…

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…

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…

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 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…

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…