officials

Somalia’s Southwest State has accused senior federal officials of maintaining links with Al-Shabaab and arming local militias, sharpening its standoff with Mogadishu. Authorities in Baidoa alleged that federal ministers and lawmakers have organized and supplied armed groups operating in Buurhakaba district in the Bay region. Southwest State Security Minister Hassan Abdulkadir told reporters the fighters are outside Somalia’s official security structure and behave like extremist insurgents. These groups are not government…

The Southwest State officials accused unnamed federal government figures of maintaining links with al-Shabab and arming militias in Buur Hakaba and that deepening tensions with Mogadishu. Authorities in Baidoa said in statements and public remarks that some federal ministers and lawmakers were involved in organizing and supplying armed groups actively in Buur Hakaba district of Bay region. Southwest Security Minister Hassan Abdulkadir asserted that the fighters operating there are not part of recognized state forces…

President Peter Mutharika has been asked to dismiss Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamveka and Attorney General Frank Mbeta and to suspend George Partridge, governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, over their alleged links to the controversial Amaryllis Hotel deal, according to a statement released Friday. The purchase of the luxury Amaryllis Hotel by the Public Service Pension Trust Fund (PSPTF) has triggered a high-stakes public finance controversy. Lawmakers on the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament have opened an…

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian couple and their two young children in the town of Tammun in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said Saturday, as violence flared across the territory and in Gaza. The Palestinian health ministry said four members of one family — a 37-year-old man, a 35-year-old woman and two boys ages 5 and 7 — arrived at the Turkish Public Hospital in Tubas with gunshot wounds after troops opened fire on their vehicle. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams recovered the…

UNITED NATIONS — Somalia’s hunger crisis is accelerating, with 6.5 million people — about a third of the country — projected to face crisis levels of food insecurity through March, United Nations officials warned Thursday, citing a new assessment that shows sharp deterioration since January. Speaking to reporters via video link from UN headquarters, World Food Programme Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response Ross Smith said the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report for Somalia, released…

Mogadishu — Somalia’s Immigration and Citizenship Agency said Wednesday it foiled an attempt to smuggle a Somali minor out of the country to Libya after officers flagged irregular travel plans and uncovered a bid to fraudulently obtain travel documents. The agency said the girl, taken from Las Anod, was intercepted at an early stage of the journey after a verification process identified adults traveling with her as suspected members of a human smuggling network. Authorities said the effort to secure false documentation was…

Rescuers in California have recovered the ninth and final victim of the Castle Peak avalanche in the Sierra Nevada, bringing closure to a dayslong search after one of the deadliest avalanches in modern U.S. history. The slide struck Tuesday near Lake Tahoe, engulfing a guided backcountry group and leaving nine dead and six survivors, authorities said. “Nine individuals who lost their lives in the Castle Peak avalanche on 17 February have been safely recovered from the mountain,” the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a…

Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, health officials said, the latest violence to strain a four-month-old, U.S.-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Two people riding an electric bike were killed in an airstrike in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, medics said. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in the same area and troops shot dead a man in Khan Younis in the south, according to the medics. Another man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jabaliya in northern Gaza. The…

Dubai detainee extradited to Moscow over shooting of top GRU general; Kyiv denies role A Ukrainian-born Russian citizen has been extradited to Moscow from Dubai on suspicion of shooting Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev, the deputy head of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, Russian security officials and investigators said. Alexeyev, 64, was shot three times on Friday with a Makarov pistol fitted with a silencer inside an apartment block on the Volokolamsk Highway in northern Moscow, about 12 kilometers from the Kremlin,…

Somali federal, Puntland State officials share stage in Galdogob as new clan chief is inaugurated Sunday, February 8, 2026 GALDOGOB, Somalia — Senior officials from Somalia’s federal government and the Puntland State administration appeared together in public for the first time in years on Sunday during the inauguration of a traditional clan leader in Galdogob district, signaling a tentative easing of tensions while underscoring the political weight of customary authority. Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni sat…