West Africa

Tabaarak ICT provides Eid clothing, gifts to 100 girls in Mogadishu as part of Ramadan drive MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali technology company Tabaarak ICT organized a community support event in Mogadishu on Sunday, distributing Eid clothing, gifts and essential items to 100 girls from orphaned and low-income families as part of its annual Ramadan charity program. The initiative, held under the banner of the company’s “Farxadda Afurka” program, is designed to promote social solidarity during the holy month and help vulnerable…

Somalia’s latest constitutional amendments are being hailed by some lawmakers as proof that the country has become a “fully fledged state.” The symbolism is powerful. Yet the celebration risks outrunning the substance. The reforms mark real progress, but they do not, on their own, settle the foundational questions of federalism, inclusion and authority that have defined Somalia’s decade-long constitutional journey. Since 2012, Somalia has operated under a provisional constitution designed to accommodate fragile…

China donates $2 million in cash and food to Somalia’s drought response as hunger crisis deepens MOGADISHU — China on Sunday donated $2 million in cash and food assistance to drought-affected communities in Somalia, an infusion of humanitarian aid arriving as the country confronts worsening hunger projections and prolonged dry conditions. At a handover ceremony in Mogadishu, Chinese Ambassador Wang Yu presented the package to Mahmoud Moalim Abdulle, commissioner of the Somali National Disaster Management Authority (SoDMA).…

Somalia’s federalism debate is back in the spotlight after recent constitutional changes, but the fiercest political struggle is not about legal design. It is about who controls the state’s levers of influence. The contest runs through clan coalitions and elite networks that use government institutions as their arena. Until that deeper reality is confronted, arguments about centralization versus autonomy—whether power tilts toward Mogadishu or is diffused among member states—will misread how authority actually works. The…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The International Press Institute on Sunday condemned the killing of Somali journalist Abshir Khalif Shidane in Kismayo and the separate detention of a television reporter in Mogadishu, calling the incidents the latest evidence of mounting pressure on the country’s media and urging swift accountability. Shidane, 25, was shot and killed the evening of March 2 in Kismayo, the capital of Jubaland State, after a police officer opened fire following a brief argument at a checkpoint, according to reports from…

Opinion: Ethiopia’s impunity test — why Abdi Iley’s return to public life imperils reconciliation In Ethiopia’s Somali Region and far beyond it, reconciliation is not a slogan but a test measured in the dignity afforded to victims. The reemergence of Abdi Mohamed Omar — widely known as Abdi Iley, the former Somali Region president — after a March 2024 pardon has turned that test into a crisis. Rights groups have long documented grave abuses by the region’s Liyu Police during his tenure, including torture, extrajudicial…

Analysis: Pakistan’s Saudi defense pact faces its first major test as Iran-Israel war engulfs the Gulf ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes on February 28 and Tehran’s retaliation with missiles and drones — not only at Israel but at six Gulf countries — have thrust Pakistan into the most precarious regional crisis it has faced in years. Bound to Saudi Arabia by a new mutual defense pact, tied to Iran by geography and a tense but necessary relationship,…

Saudi surgeons separate Somali conjoined twins in 14-hour operation in Riyadh RIYADH — A Saudi medical team has successfully separated 13-month-old Somali conjoined twins in a complex 14-hour operation at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh, officials said Thursday, marking a milestone for the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program and new hope for the family. The twins, Rahma and Ramla, were joined at the lower abdomen and pelvis and shared critical organs, making the case among the more complex conjoined twin…

Opinion/Analysis: Somalia’s constitutional crossroads — process, not power, will decide the future Somalia’s Constitution is again at the center of national politics. A round of changes presented as a constitutional amendment has triggered sharp objections from federal member states and opposition figures, raising questions about legality, legitimacy and the balance of power in the federation. At stake is not only the letter of the 2012 Provisional Federal Constitution but public confidence in the institutions charged with…

Saturday March 7, 2026 Arusha — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived in Arusha on Saturday to attend the 25th Annual Summit of the East African Community, a high-level gathering focused on advancing economic integration, security cooperation and political coordination across the region. The visit signals Somalia’s deepening engagement with the regional bloc as it seeks to consolidate post-conflict gains and broaden economic and diplomatic ties. The summit brings together heads of state and senior officials from EAC…