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…

By Aaron RossFriday May 15, 2026 A security officer keeps watch as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, not pictured, visits a camp for internally displaced Somali people in Baidoa, Somalia, on April 29, 2026. In drought-stricken parts of the country, clinics treating severely malnourished children have been forced to turn away patients and ration supplies after shipping disruptions linked to the Iran war cut off vital therapeutic foods. REUTERS/Feisal…

Friday May 15, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Immigration and Citizenship Agency has announced a major shift in passport rules, saying applicants will soon need a national identity card or proof of registration before they can apply. Starting July 1, 2026, Somali citizens who do not hold a National Identification and Registration Authority card, known as a NIRA ID, or a certificate confirming registration will no longer be eligible to submit a passport application, the agency said Thursday. “Anyone who does not have a…

By Ariba ShahidThursday May 14, 2026 Families of the Pakistani hostage crew members of the Oil Products Tanker the HONOUR 25 that was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, hold placards during a protest, calling the government to take immediate action for the safe return of their loved ones, in Karachi, Pakistan May 13, 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro Purchase Licensing Rights In Karachi on Wednesday, Ambreen Fatima stood with her children and pleaded for the release of her husband, one of 10 Pakistani crew members…

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…

By JEREMIAH WAKAYAThursday May 14, 2026 Ruto said Kenya had made significant progress toward reopening the frontier before clashes erupted between Somalia’s Federal Government and regional state forces near the Kenyan border/PCS/FILE President William Ruto has said the long-promised reopening of the Kenya-Somalia border collapsed because renewed violence and political turmoil in Somalia upended the plan. In an interview with France 24 on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Ruto said Kenya had been moving…

Tuesday May 12, 2026 Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni at the swearing-in ceremony in Kampala. / others Uganda’s long-serving leader Yoweri Museveni was inaugurated for another term on Tuesday in the capital, Kampala, at a ceremony drawing regional heads of state, diplomats and senior officials from around Africa. Museveni won a seventh term after the January 15 presidential election, taking 71 percent of the vote. His main challenger, Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, finished with 24 percent. Speaking to…

Monday May 11, 2026 Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kenya on Sunday, launching a visit that sets the stage for the Africa Forward Summit and for France’s latest attempt to redefine its role on the continent. In Nairobi, the French president will press a message of partnership over influence, even as Paris continues to reckon with the fallout from its military retreat across West Africa and a broader reassessment of its post-colonial ties. The French president’s trip to Kenya began on Sunday, ahead of the Africa Forward Summit,…

By  DARLENE SUPERVILLESaturday May 9, 2026 President Donald Trump said Friday that Russia and Ukraine had accepted his call for a three-day ceasefire and a prisoner swap, casting the limited pause as a possible first step toward ending a war that has dragged on for years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, both said the arrangement had been agreed to. “I asked and, President Putin agreed. President Zelenskyy agreed -- both readily,” Trump…

Saturday May 9, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud landed in Djibouti City on Friday at the head of a Somali delegation, joining regional leaders for the inauguration of Djibouti’s re-elected President, Ismail Omar Guelleh. At the airport, the Somali president and his delegation were welcomed by Djibouti Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed and other senior officials, a reception that highlighted the long-standing ties and cooperation between the two neighboring countries. President Hassan…