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U.S. forces “apprehended” an oil tanker off Venezuela early Wednesday, the latest move in a stepped-up pressure campaign against Caracas that has increasingly played out at sea. It was the second tanker interdicted in two weeks and follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a blockade targeting “sanctioned oil vessels” heading to and leaving Venezuela. “In a pre-dawn action early this morning on Dec 20, the US Coast Guard with the support of the Department of War apprehended an oil tanker that was last docked in…

KISMAYO, Somalia — A coalition of Somali opposition leaders on Saturday gave President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud one month to convene an inclusive national dialogue on elections, warning they will move to organize an alternative process if he fails to act by Jan. 20, 2026. In a communiqué issued after a three-day meeting in Kismayo from Dec. 18–20, the Somali Future Council (SFC) said an urgent, consensus-based agreement is needed to avert a “constitutional vacuum, security crisis and the threat of terrorism.” The newly formed…

Somalia’s Kismaayo conference sets Jan. 20 deadline, rejects term extensions, warns of parallel political process KISMAAYO, Somalia — A three-day consultative conference in Kismaayo has issued a sweeping communiqué that sets Jan. 20, 2026, as a deadline for President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to convene an inclusive national conference, rejects any extension of federal mandates and warns that Somalia risks slipping into parallel political processes if consensus is not restored. The meeting, held Dec. 18–20, brought together…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military launched large-scale air and ground strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets across central Syria on Friday, a retaliation U.S. officials said was tied to a deadly Dec. 13 attack on American personnel in the country. The operation, which U.S. Central Command said hit more than 70 targets, was supported by Jordanian fighter jets and drew on a mix of U.S. F-15 and A-10 aircraft, Apache helicopters and HIMARS rocket systems. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes were aimed at…

SYDNEY — Australian surf lifeguards lined the shoreline of Bondi Beach on Thursday and fell silent to honor the 15 people killed when gunmen opened fire at a seaside Hanukkah celebration last week, one of the deadliest mass shootings in Australia’s history. Hundreds of rescuers in red-and-yellow uniforms formed a human ribbon along the surf, facing the Pacific as they observed three minutes of silence. Similar tributes were held by surf lifesaving clubs nationwide in solidarity before morning patrols began, turning beaches…

Somalia’s 2026 choice: avoid a legitimacy crisis by fixing the election model, not the scoreboard Somalia is entering another high-stakes transition with too little time, too much polarization, and a volatile security map. The federal government’s drive to centralize authority while invoking universal suffrage risks breaking the very political settlement that has held the country together — imperfectly but functionally — for a quarter century. A safer way through 2026 is available: an improved, time-bound indirect election…

Liverpool drill rappers filmed with armed troops in Somalia could face UK police questioning Two drill rappers from Liverpool who appeared carrying guns and posing with troops amid a clan conflict in Somalia could be questioned by police when they return to Britain, according to UK authorities and footage obtained by the BBC. British citizens Abdifatah Gulaid, 31, and Noah Ihiekwe, 30 — known musically as Still Brickin’ and Rayzer — traveled to Somalia’s northeast earlier this year and were seen in the Sanaag region’s town…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Saturday that Somalia’s federal government is open to dialogue and compromise with opposition leaders, as the opposition-led Somali Future Council conference in Kismayo entered its third day. Speaking in Mogadishu, Mohamud urged participants at the Kismayo gathering to produce constructive, negotiable proposals that the public and the government can engage with, signaling a willingness to defuse political tensions through talks. “I say to the brothers in…

U.S. forces struck more than 70 Islamic State group targets across central Syria in what President Donald Trump called “very serious retaliation” for a Dec. 13 attack in Palmyra that killed three Americans, U.S. Central Command said. The return strikes hit multiple sites with fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery, CENTCOM said, employing more than 100 precision munitions against known Islamic State infrastructure and weapons depots. U.S. officials said a lone gunman affiliated with the militant group carried out the…

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday in Addis Ababa for a one-day working visit, with both leaders discussing ways to deepen bilateral relations and regional cooperation centered on trade, security and regional stability in the Horn of Africa. Abiy described the talks on his official Facebook page as “productive discussions, continuing the bilateral engagements we have been working on over the past year,” signaling continuity in the two neighbors’…