Disney’s biggest money-maker is not the film studio, the streaming wars or even ESPN. The real engine of the company is something far more tangible: the vacations, theme parks and travel experiences that turn brand loyalty into some of the group’s richest profits. When Disney’s performance comes up, attention usually lands on movie releases. Did the latest animated feature or blockbuster deliver at the box office, or did production costs outrun ticket sales? Others zero in on Disney Plus, watching subscriber numbers and…

By  JACK DENTON and OMAR FARUKSaturday May 16, 2026 Abdi Ahmed Farah has watched nearly all of his hundreds of goats die, a loss that would have seemed unimaginable in the Somali countryside where he has spent his life. For three straight years, rain has failed to arrive with any regularity in this corner of Somalia, and the 70-year-old says he has never known conditions this harsh. He is already in debt after buying water. The reservoir beside his tent is almost dry. His family now survives on one meal a day — rice mixed…

South Africa’s political temperature rose sharply after the Constitutional Court ordered Parliament to relaunch impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa, reigniting the Phala Phala scandal and placing him under fresh legal and political scrutiny. Ramaphosa has dismissed demands that he step down and says he will fight the process in court. He intends to seek a judicial review of the 2022 Section 89 panel report, which concluded there was preliminary evidence he may have breached the Constitution or engaged…

Millions of voters are heading to polling stations in a pivotal electoral test for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with Labour braced for what forecasters say could be a bruising night. Polling expert Robert Hayward has predicted Mr Starmer's Labour Party could lose around 1,850 council seats across England, underlining the scale of the challenge confronting the prime minister. Labour is also expected to suffer in Wales, where the party in government could lose the national vote for the first time in more than 100…

A stark warning from the International Monetary Fund says sweeping global aid cutbacks have pushed Malawi onto a financial knife-edge, exposing deep-seated frailties in the country’s economic management. For years, the nation has leaned heavily on donor support to finance vital development programs and routine government operations. The IMF’s latest report on Sub-Saharan Africa notes that assistance to the region fell by 16 to 28 percent in 2025. This funding gap lands as Malawi contends with a debt-to-GDP ratio above 90…

A bruising night awaits UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Labour, with the expected scale of Thursday’s losses already spawning its own grim shorthand: "Starmergeddon". The term captures both the depth of the setback forecast for Britain’s governing party and the pressure set to fall squarely on the prime minister. Voters are choosing members of the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales, as well as filling about 5,000 local authority seats across England, and Labour is widely expected to come away wounded. The…

Somalia braces for a decisive political test as May 10 approaches, with the country’s leadership, opposition and international partners all watching a meeting that could shape the next phase of its transition. MOGADISHU — As the four-year term of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud nears its end, the spotlight has shifted to May 10, a date many now view as critical to the country’s political future. Mohamud has officially invited members of a national consultative forum to a high-level meeting set for that day. The…

By: OMAR M ELMI, EconomistSaturday May 2, 2026 North Western State of Somalia sits on one of the world’s most sensitive maritime corridors, along Somalia’s Gulf of Aden coast where the Bab el-Mandeb strait opens into the Red Sea. | Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images As tensions mount across the Red Sea, North Western State of Somalia is nearing a turning point that could reshape not only its diplomatic ambitions but also its security outlook. For more than 30 years, the self-declared republic has pressed for international…

by STEPHEN ASTARIKOThursday April 30, 2026 Somali football does not need more slogans. It needs the basics: a dependable calendar, a league that actually works and a structure that gives the sport some rhythm. By every outward sign, the game ought to be on the rise. A promising crop of young talent is breaking through, Somali referees are beginning to appear on continental and international assignments, and more coaches are collecting formal licences. Even the country’s youth sides have shown flashes of real potential. Yet…

South Sudan is sliding deeper into a hunger emergency, with nearly two-thirds of the population — about 7.9 million people — facing acute food insecurity as fighting flares again between government and opposition forces. The heaviest violence has gripped Jonglei State, where troops loyal to President Salva Kiir have been fighting militias aligned with his longtime rival, Riek Machar, since December. The renewed clashes have uprooted hundreds of thousands of people in a nation already ranked among the poorest and most corrupt…