into

Thursday May 7, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Office of the Attorney General said it has opened an inquiry into allegations surrounding Sadia Moallim Ali Hassan, a Bajaj driver in Mogadishu whose arrest has prompted backlash from opposition figures and international human rights groups. Sadia, who was taken into custody on April 12, is facing accusations of defamation and incitement to public disorder, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office. The Attorney General’s Office said the probe falls within its…

by Timothy CerulloFriday April 24, 2026 A routine flight on the Mandera-Nairobi route ended in a frightening runway incident on Friday morning after a plane lost control and ploughed into a nearby thicket at the Mandera Airstrip, jolting passengers and crew. Preliminary reports indicate that everyone on board was safely evacuated after the crash. Emergency response teams stationed at the airstrip moved swiftly to extract passengers who had been trapped in the wreckage before the area was secured. Additional reports said the…

Monday March 16, 2026 ARUSHA, Tanzania — Nine Somali representatives were sworn in Monday to the East African Community Legislative Assembly (EALA), marking Somalia’s first formal participation in the regional parliament since joining the East African Community in 2023. The ceremony at EALA headquarters in Arusha followed the resolution of legal challenges that had temporarily delayed Somalia’s entry into the assembly. The East African Court of Justice cleared the way for the lawmakers to take their seats, ending months of…

ANKARA, Türkiye — Türkiye vowed Wednesday to stand firmly with Somalia and denounced Israel’s recognition of breakaway North Western State of Somalia, with Ankara’s communications chief warning that regional aggression would not be allowed to spill into the Horn of Africa. “Any attempt targeting Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and actions to legitimize them are unacceptable. Türkiye stands with Somalia as it did in the past,” said Burhanettin Duran, head of the Presidency’s Directorate of…

Dancan Chege left Kimende, a small town in Kenya’s Kiambu County, expecting to drive trucks in Russia. Within days, he says, he was wearing a Russian uniform in occupied Ukraine, his civilian clothes burned, and a trainer warning him and other recruits: “This is the Russian military, and once you are in, you either fight or die.” Chege’s account mirrors a growing pattern across Kenya and parts of Africa: fraudulent recruitment funneling young men into the Russia-Ukraine war. Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS)…

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026 MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s federal government has opened an urgent investigation into allegations that its airspace and airports were used without authorization to move Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the UAE-backed leader of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council, amid rising regional tensions involving Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Immigration and Citizenship Agency said Thursday it is examining claims that al-Zubaidi transited through Somali territory after skipping planned peace talks in…

Somalia’s furious reaction to Israel’s stated recognition of North Western State of Somalia is understandable. It is also exactly the point. The gambit is not about law, where a single foreign announcement does not conjure a state into being. It is about misdirection—forcing Mogadishu into weeks of outrage and rebuttal while more consequential contests move to quieter arenas: Washington, European capitals, investor committees and newsrooms that define the frame others use. In geopolitics, the oldest trick isn’t surprise.…

Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned oil tankers’ bound for Venezuela, escalating standoff with Maduro WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered what he called a “total and complete blockade” of all “sanctioned oil tankers” going into and out of Venezuela, a sweeping move that intensifies U.S. pressure on Nicolás Maduro and raises fresh legal and military questions about enforcement in the Caribbean. The announcement, delivered in a late-night social media post, came days after U.S. forces seized an oil tanker…

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump repeatedly called Somali immigrants in the United States “garbage” during a televised Cabinet meeting, sharpening years of incendiary rhetoric on immigration and drawing swift condemnation at home and abroad. In the meeting’s two-minute finale Tuesday, Trump said four times in seven seconds that “Somali immigrants are garbage,” then added five times, “We don’t want ’em in our country.” He continued: “Let ’em go back to where they came from and fix it.” Cabinet members applauded. Vice…