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Gaza City assault exposes the limits of force and the widening diplomatic rupture Israeli tanks and bulldozers have pushed deeper into Gaza City in recent days, flattening apartment blocks and killing dozens of civilians in strikes that have left families digging through rubble for shreds of their lives. Gazan health authorities say at least 31 people were killed when residential buildings were blasted; among them, medics reported, were a pregnant woman and two children. One man, his leg later amputated after he was rushed…

Reflections on Guinea's Constitutional Reform: A Prelude to Power? As the sun rose over Guinea on a recent morning, streets that typically buzz with vibrant life grappled with a quiet tension. The nation prepared to vote on a constitutional referendum that, if passed, could dramatically reshape its political landscape. The stakes, however, seem weighted against the spirit of democracy. A Shift in Governance Proposed changes to Guinea’s constitution would extend presidential terms from five to seven years and open the door…

Somali forces press offensive in central region, claim dozens of al-Shabaab fighters killed MOGADISHU — Somali National Army units, backed by international partners, said they killed a number of al-Shabaab militants over the weekend in a pitched battle in central Somalia’s Galgaduud region as government forces step up efforts to wrest control of towns and villages from the insurgents. Fighting in Nooleye In a statement, the Somali defence ministry said the operation in and around Nooleye village lasted several hours and…

A turning point in foreign policy or a symbolic gesture? Western recognition of a Palestinian state shifts the map of diplomacy When Portugal’s foreign minister stood in New York this week and announced Lisbon would recognise a Palestinian state, he framed the decision as the logical conclusion of a long-held policy. “Recognising the State of Palestine is therefore the fulfilment of a fundamental, consistent, and widely agreed policy,” Paulo Rangel told reporters on the eve of the UN General Assembly. But this is not just…

Kenya’s Somali Vote Emerges as 2027 Kingmaker — and a Test of the Country’s Coalitions On a blustery afternoon in Mandera, near the triple border where Kenya meets Ethiopia and Somalia, the political message was as direct as the dusty road to the venue: the Somali community will count, perhaps more than ever, in the 2027 election. Suna East MP Junet Mohamed, a seasoned operative known for his sharp tongue and long-time loyalty to opposition leader Raila Odinga, stood alongside President William Ruto and said the quiet part…

When a president talks about yanking broadcasters' licences, what happens to free speech? When a U.S. president publicly urges regulators to punish television networks for negative coverage, it lands like a geological tremor for newsrooms accustomed to partisan heat but not regulatory menace. This week, President Donald Trump doubled down on his long-running assault on American journalism, calling the nation's TV networks "97% bad" and saying, bluntly, that their behaviour was "illegal" — comments that came as the Federal…

Somalia’s president heads to UN with security gains and a moral case on Gaza Mogadishu’s message to New York MOGADISHU — As world leaders converge on the United Nations General Assembly this week, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud departs for New York carrying two intertwined narratives: a plea for continued international backing for Somalia’s fragile state-building and a sharp moral rebuke over the war in Gaza that echoes across the Global South. For Mogadishu, the UNGA trip is part diplomacy, part scoreboard.…

Analysis: Egypt’s Troop Move to Somalia — A New Chapter in African Security and Influence The announcement that Egypt will send troops to Somalia under the African Union’s stabilization mission marks a notable juncture in an evolving map of regional power. At first glance it is a pragmatic step — extra boots to help a fragile state push back al-Shabab — but read more closely it is also a diplomatic and strategic signal from Cairo about where it wants to sit in the Horn of Africa and beyond. On the ground: what we know…

Somalia’s defence minister breaks silence to defend Ilhan Omar — and signals a new kind of transnational politics When Somalia’s Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi took to Facebook this weekend to defend U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, it read less like a routine diplomatic note and more like an embrace. “If our daughter is being targeted for her identity, I will stand firmly with her,” Fiqi wrote, adding that as defence minister “I am making it clear that I stand with Ilhan.” The statement came after former U.S. President…

The UN at 80: an institution under pressure in a multipolar age New York’s diplomats will soon reconvene in a familiar ritual of speeches, side meetings and cocktail receptions. But this year the atmosphere at the UN feels different — thinned by budget lines, sharpened by geopolitics and shadowed by hunger. As Secretary‑General António Guterres put it plainly this month: “We are gathering in turbulent, even unchartered waters.” That phrase captures why the United Nations’ 80th General Assembly resembles less of a…