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Mohamed Gabobe in Mogadishu and Rachel SavageThursday April 30, 2026 The motor vessel Sward was hijacked on Sunday. Photograph: EU naval force Operation ATALANTA A fresh wave of hijackings off Somalia has jolted one of the world’s most sensitive shipping corridors, with three vessels seized in a week and memories of the country’s pirate era suddenly back in focus. The merchant vessel Sward was captured on 26 April, just one day after a dhow was taken. Those incidents came after the 21 April hijacking of Honour 25, a motor…

Tuesday April 28, 2026 Nairobi (AX) — A Kenyan court has authorized investigators to hold a Somali female political aspirant from Garissa County for 10 days as they pursue allegations of hate speech and incitement to violence, authorities said Monday. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations said Bare Sahara Ahmed is being detained at Kilimani Police Station after the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Kahawa Law Courts in Nairobi approved the request. Investigators said the extra time is needed to examine digital material,…

Sundus AbdiSaturday April 25, 2026 Ifrah F Ahmed turned to Somali community members around the world to research her book, Soomaaliya: Food, Memory and Migration. Photograph: Khadija Farah On a video call from Brooklyn, with a book tour stretching between cities, Ifrah F Ahmed sips ginger-root tea. The aroma pulls her back to a childhood kitchen where her mother would often bake fragrant cardamom cake. “That’s a core childhood memory for me,” she said. For Ahmed, food has never been only about eating. It carries memory,…

Sunday April 19, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) - Yemen’s Houthi movement has sharply criticized what it described as Israeli meddling in North Western State of Somalia, calling the issue a “red line” and warning that any Israeli foothold in the region could inflame already tense dynamics across the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea. In a statement released Saturday, the Houthis’ foreign ministry accused Israel of trying to set up a base in North Western State of Somalia, the self-declared breakaway region in northern Somalia. The group…

By: Abdiwali Sayid Tuesday April 14, 2026 Türkiye’s move to drill for offshore oil in Somalia could mark a turning point with consequences far beyond the energy sector. If the project succeeds, it may help redefine Somalia’s fiscal outlook, sharpen its strategic importance, and alter the way regional and international powers engage with Mogadishu. In the best case, it could move Somalia from chronic fragility toward greater leverage in a fast-changing geopolitical arena. But that outcome is far from assured. Whether the…

By: Prof. Abdinasir Ali OsmanTuesday April 14, 2026 A Condensed Investigative and Forward-Looking Policy Analysis of Curad-1 and Somalia’s Offshore Future Somalia’s offshore oil frontier has quickly become one of the Horn of Africa’s most closely watched energy stories. In a region where maritime security, foreign investment, and state-building often collide, the Curad-1 drilling program has pushed Somalia from theory into action. This condensed investigative analysis draws on international reporting, institutional…

Analysis by Nic Robertson Sunday April 12, 2026 As the sun dipped below the horizon in Islamabad and rose again over the city, the talks stretched on through the night and into another day. Their collapse without an agreement deals a serious blow to the fragile hopes that a diplomatic escape route might still be found in this crisis. The stakes could hardly have been higher. These were the most senior US-Iranian negotiations since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979, and the complexity of the discussions was…

Friday April 10, 2026 Ethiopian police say Yetbarek Dawit, who is yet to comment on the allegations, was wanted in various countries Mogadishu (AX) — Ethiopian authorities say they have arrested a man accused of running a trafficking ring that moved thousands of migrants, including Somalis, into Libya over a number of years, where many were allegedly tortured, abused and held for ransom. Federal police named the suspect as Yetbarek Dawit, saying he directed a cross-border operation that smuggled more than 3,000 people from…

Anthony ZurcherWednesday April 8, 2026 For now, at least, the crisis stepped back from the brink. At 18:32 Washington time, President Donald Trump announced on his social media platform that the US and Iran were "very far along" toward a "definitive" peace agreement and that he had accepted a two-week ceasefire to keep talks moving. It was not quite the final bell, but it came close: Trump’s deadline of 20:00 EDT (00:00 GMT on Wednesday) had been looming, with the warning that if no deal emerged, the US would unleash major…

By  SEUNG MIN KIM, MATTHEW LEE and SAMY MAGDYMonday April 6, 2026 A high-risk American rescue operation unfolded deep inside Iranian territory after a U.S. fighter jet was shot down, with one aviator pulled to safety first and a second service member recovered only after hiding for hours in rugged mountains as Tehran urged civilians to help capture him. Behind the scenes, the CIA moved to muddy the waters before the second crew member was located, pushing out false information inside the Islamic Republic that the United…