Nimi PrincewillSaturday May 16, 2026 An armed Somali pirate stands on the shoreline as a Greek cargo ship lies anchored off Hobyo in northeastern Somalia, in this January 2010 image after the vessel was seized by pirates. Mohamad Dahir/AFP/Getty Images Somali pirates are once again cashing in on turmoil far beyond their waters. As war in Iran forces commercial shipping to take longer routes around Africa, vessels are drifting straight into the pirates’ traditional hunting grounds. The escalating conflict in the Middle East…

Saturday May 16, 2026 UNICEF/UN0591078/Taxta On 3 February 2022 in Somalia, a child feeds on a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) packet while his mother holds him waiting to receive assistance at Community Empowerment and Development Action Health Centre in Dolow. Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s most vulnerable children are being pushed to the front of a deepening global hunger emergency, with aid agency CARE warning that conflict in the Middle East and the disruption of major shipping lanes are driving up the price of…

Saturday May 16, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia is edging back toward famine as drought, soaring food and fuel costs and severe cuts to humanitarian funding leave more than 6 million people facing acute hunger, Oxfam has warned. Fresh data from the U.N.-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification shows that nearly one in three Somalis is now living with crisis-level hunger or worse, or IPC Phase 3 and above. Within that group, nearly 1.9 million people are already in emergency food insecurity, just one step short of…

Friday May 15, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia on Friday received 25 tons of food aid from Russia, a timely delivery as conflict, drought and deepening food insecurity continue to drive humanitarian needs across the country. The handover took place in Mogadishu during a ceremony attended by Information Minister Abdifatah Qasim Mohamud, Somali Disaster Management Agency Chairman Mohamud Moalin Abdulle and Russia’s ambassador to Somalia and Djibouti. Mohamud said the support arrived at a crucial moment for families and…

By Morgan PhillipsThursday May 14, 2026 When President Donald Trump heads to China this week with hundreds of aides, security personnel and officials in tow, many of them will intentionally leave one of the most familiar tools of public life at home: their everyday cellphones. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters) As Trump and his delegation prepare for the trip, U.S. officials are once again relying on tightly controlled communications practices meant to reduce the chances of surveillance, hacking or unwanted data collection in a…

Wednesday May 13, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — The United States has pushed back against reports that it is serving as a direct mediator in talks between Somalia’s federal government and opposition leaders, even as political friction grows over elections and the country’s transition process. Acting U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Justin Davis said this week that Washington is not hosting or leading any mediation between Somali political parties. Davis said U.S. officials have held discussions with both sides to better assess the…

Tuesday May 12, 2026 File Photo When Malyun Jama Nur was locked up in Galkayo in January over an unpaid $9,000 debt, her life did not just collapse — it took her four young children with it. Since then, the children have left school and slipped deeper into poverty and neglect. From prison, Malyun told Radio Ergo the burden of being separated from her family has been unbearable, especially knowing what her children are enduring outside. “My family has fallen apart. The children I left behind are not safe and could be harmed…

Tuesday May 12, 2026 Hargeisa (AX) — North Western State of Somalia has named Greek national Dimitrios Tourikis as its special representative to Greece, a move that signals a fresh push to expand its diplomatic footprint in Europe. Tourikis said Monday in a post on X that he had accepted the appointment and was honored by the role, adding that he would work to strengthen ties between North Western State of Somalia and the Hellenic Republic. North Western State of Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not released…

Mohamed Gabobe in MogadishuMonday May 11, 2026 So worn they are now being turned away by buses, Somalia’s banknotes have become a symbol of a cash crisis deepened by a dollarised economy and the growing reach of mobile payments, which are driving up the price of basic goods Muse Omar Jama, 49, sits in his Mogadishu office beside piles of banknotes. He says a government order requiring the Somali shilling to be accepted is being ignored. Photograph: Mohamed Gabobe When US troops pulled out of Somalia in the spring of 1994, a…

by STEPHEN ASTARIKOMonday May 11, 2026 IDPs from floodwaters from Bula Punda in Garissa are camping at the Police Training Centre./STEPHEN ASTARIKO Families across Garissa County are facing a fresh wave of suffering after torrential rains and swelling waters along River Tana swept through villages, flattening homes, ruining farms and wiping out livelihoods in their path. The Garissa County Steering Group says at least 10,000 households in Garissa Township have already been displaced, while more than 60,000 others countywide…