Essential

Friday, February 14, 2025 (FILE) A solitary figure today is seated amidst the charred remains of military vehicles. Once tools of warfare, these twisted hunks of metal stand testament to the brutal passage of suspected Islamic State militants through Somalia's rugged Northeastern State territory on January 25, 2025. In the tapestry of global terrorism, the Middle East and Central Asia have long been the focal points of concern. However, recent developments challenge this narrative—Africa, most notably the Sub-Saharan…

With a characteristic vigor, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Thursday reaffirmed Egypt's unwavering support for Somalia, envisaging a future ripe with collaborative triumphs. He emphasized, often with a flourish, that Somalia's security isn't just a distant concern but a vital piece of Egypt's own national security puzzle. In moments like these, can anyone really overstate the power of friendship between nations? During a lively joint press conference with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Sisi eloquently…

FILE PHOTO: A worker cradles freshly baked bread at a bustling Nairobi supermarket, May 8, 2017. Picture taken May 8, 2017. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights There's a new wind blowing through Kenya’s financial corridors, touched by whispers of "Did you hear about the inflation twist?" The statistics office is sharpening its pencils and rolling out core inflation data for the first time. It's a tale as rivetting as any economic thriller (if such a thing exists). The move is akin to giving a GPS to…