East Africa

The city of Palma in northeastern Mozambique is being evacuated following the terrorist attack that began on Wednesday, March 24. The jihadists from the Al-Shabab group, affiliated with the Islamic State group, had taken control of this city with 75,000 inhabitants in the province of Cabo Delgado. Mozambican security forces are now there, facing "terrorist pockets", according to a national television bulletin. According to the Mozambican government, dozens of people have been killed since Wednesday in Palma. Dozens of…

Salaam Somali Bank has provided free microfinance to small businesses in the country's central city of Abudwak in the Galgadud region as part of the second phase Qardu Hassan, which aims to boost the economy. On Sunday, the bank's branch in the city offered free microfinance to small Somali traders, including women, with the aim of helping to expand their business amid the devastating Covid-19 pandemic. On the occasion, the recipients of Salaam Somali Bank's free microfinance said they were grateful to the bank for the…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Mohamed Mursal, speaking for the lower house, on Saturday suspended 15 MPs who were mainly allied with the opposition for five sessions, something that has activated a political storm in the country, which is also trying to resolve a crisis before the election. Mursal said MPs were behind riots in the assembly during the stormy session on Saturday, triggered by suspicions that lawmakers allied with outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo were eager to illegally extend the government's term.…

In a video broadcast this Saturday night, March 27, the leader of Somali radical Islamists called on the Shebabs to strike "American and French interests" in Djibouti. The appeal was lodged within two weeks the presidential election in Djibouti. In a video released on Saturday night, Somali Sheba's chief Abu Obaida Ahmad Omar attacks President Ismaël Omar Guelleh, in power since 1999, seeking a fifth term, which he is likely to win, in the April 9 vote. Ismaël Omar Guelleh "transformed Djibouti into a military base…

KDF delivers COVID-19 vaccines to troops in Somalia NAIROBI, Kenya - Major General George Ng'ang'a, Director of Medical Services of the Kenya Defense Forces launched the Covid-19 vaccination exercise for troops deployed during the African Union mission in Somalia in Sector II headquarters in Dhobley. This is part of the ongoing Phase 1 of the national immunization program in the fight against…

No involvement but "heavy and overwhelming responsibility" in the genocide of the Tutsis. This is the conclusion of the Duclert report on France's role in Rwanda between 1990 and 1994. A document delivered on Friday 26 March to Emmanuel Macron. This report, written by a commission of historians led by Vincent Duclert, points to Paris' "blindness" to the genocide of the "racist, corrupt and violent" regime of Hutu President Juvénal…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The current political crisis in Somalia could have a lasting solution after a meeting that brought together leaders of all five regional states, which is very important in the ongoing talks aimed at stabilizing the country. Somalia is struggling with an artificial political crisis, constructed by the current administration, whose term of office expired in February, and which is unwilling to facilitate a smooth transfer of power into the country. But on Saturday, a successful meeting was held with…

The former Madagascar's head of state, Didier Ratsiraka, died on Sunday morning, March 28, at the age of 84. The announcement was made on his Facebook page. He had been president of Madagascar twice, from 1975 to 1993, then from 1997 to 2002. The naval officer, nicknamed "the Red Admiral" for his socialist policies, had been in hospital earlier this week for a routine check-up. .…

A real Desert Locust epidemic is destroying East Africa for the second year in a row. The flying insect reproduces exponentially and tens of millions of locusts devour fields that are grown for food. You could hear the rain falling. It is, in fact, a cloud of locusts that fell on a cultural field and devoured everything in its path. A desert-jumped swarm amounts to several million and last year, during the crisis in East Africa, a swarm as large as Luxembourg was seen. The first signs of this air and cyclical terror in…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - House Speaker Mohamed Mursal on Saturday was forced to postpone the parliamentary session after chaotic scenes in which MPs came from both sides of the political divide in Somalia. The current parliament had its mandate expired in December 2020, but the country is yet to go to the polls, leading to a political quagmire that has threatened to throw the country into chaos, even after years of political war. Mursal, a close ally of outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, had convened the session…