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NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan authorities have arrested a Chinese national at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on suspicion of attempting to smuggle more than 2,000 queen garden ants out of the country, in a case underscoring the growing global trade in exotic insects. Airport security intercepted the traveler, identified in court as Zhang Kequn, during screening as he prepared to fly to China. Prosecutors said Zhang is linked to an ant-trafficking network that was disrupted in Kenya last year; he has not responded…

TEHRAN, Iran — Israel launched fresh air strikes across Iran on Thursday, the fifth day of a U.S.-Israeli offensive that has killed more than 1,000 people, damaged security installations and residential buildings, and forced the postponement of funeral rites for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israeli strikes hit targets in Tehran, the holy city of Qom, western Iran and multiple sites in central Isfahan province, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported. Israel said it targeted buildings used by the Basij, a volunteer…

Kenya’s spy agency says a trafficking pipeline aided by rogue officials has funneled up to 1,000 Kenyans into Russia’s war in Ukraine, with at least one death and dozens injured or missing, according to a report presented to parliament. The National Intelligence Service report, tabled Wednesday by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, details alleged collusion by airport staff, immigration officers, investigators and labor officials to recruit and move Kenyans into Russia under false pretenses. It says 89…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia plans to recruit 12,000 government-employed teachers by the end of 2026, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said Saturday, framing the effort as the centerpiece of a drive to rebuild a long-fragile education system and place it on a domestically financed footing. Barre said his administration has already recruited and deployed 6,000 trained teachers in less than two years, a dramatic shift from the roughly 900 teachers on the federal payroll when the government took office. “In just two years, we…

Somalia to recruit 10,000 teachers, shift salaries to domestic revenue in education overhaul MOGADISHU — Somalia will hire 10,000 teachers over the next 45 months and pay their salaries entirely from domestic revenue, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre announced Friday, framing the move as a cornerstone of state-building and economic independence. “For the first time in Somalia’s history, teachers’ salaries will be paid entirely from domestic revenue rather than external support,” Barre wrote on X. “This is not just politics,…

Iran acknowledges about 2,000 deaths in protests as U.S. imposes sweeping tariffs and weighs next steps DUBAI, Jan. 13 — An Iranian official said about 2,000 people, including security personnel, have been killed in two weeks of nationwide protests, the first time authorities have acknowledged a death toll from the crackdown that followed unrest over Iran’s collapsing currency and deepening economic pain. The official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, blamed “terrorists” for the deaths on both sides but did not…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali security agencies say nearly 10,000 police officers have been mobilized to secure Mogadishu’s local council elections on Dec. 25, a vote billed as the capital’s first direct, one-person, one-vote poll in more than 50 years. Speaking to reporters Sunday, Internal Security Minister Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail (Farataag) said the Somali Police Force has finalized a citywide security plan to safeguard voters, polling stations, election workers and critical infrastructure throughout the Banadir region.…

Mogadishu races to deliver voter cards as Dec. 25 Banadir local elections near MOGADISHU — Nearly 200,000 registered voters in Banadir have received official voting cards ahead of the Dec. 25 local council elections, Somalia’s National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC) said Saturday, easing fears that delays could keep many Mogadishu residents from the polls. The vote will be the first time Mogadishu residents directly elect their local council and mayor — a milestone the commission has called historic.…

Thursday, December 11, 2025 MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has launched an emergency diphtheria vaccination drive in the Banadir region as an expanding outbreak kills at least 50 people in recent weeks and infects more than 1,000 children, officials said. The five-day campaign begins Monday, Dec. 15, and will deploy teams to neighborhoods, health centers and schools in Mogadishu and surrounding districts. The ministry urged parents to ensure children are vaccinated, calling diphtheria “a…

The European Union has announced €250,000 (about Sh40 million) in humanitarian aid to help Kenyan communities facing a worsening convergence of drought, floods, food insecurity and disease outbreaks. The funding will be routed through the Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to support operations by the Kenya Red Cross Society. In a statement issued Tuesday, the EU said the allocation responds to Kenya’s “rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation,…