plan

MOGADISHU — Former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has rejected the government’s plan to hold one-person, one-vote elections in Mogadishu this month, warning the process lacks legal consensus, adequate security and public confidence. The vote would be the capital’s first direct election in more than 50 years. In an interview with the BBC Somali Service, Sharif — a leading member of the Council for Somalia’s Future, a coalition that includes the Somali Salvation Forum as well as the Puntland State and Jubaland…

KYIV — Ukraine and its European partners will soon present the United States with “refined documents” for a potential peace plan to end Russia’s war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as diplomatic pressure builds for a deal and leaders claim the talks are inching closer to a breakthrough. Zelensky said new components of a proposal hammered out with British, French and German leaders in London are ready for U.S. review. Kyiv is also seeking robust, long-term security guarantees to deter any future Russian attack as part of…

A US-drafted, 28‑point peace proposal that would formalise large territorial gains for Moscow and sharply limit Ukraine’s military and diplomatic options surfaced Wednesday, setting off alarm in Brussels and Kyiv. Axios reported the Trump administration had been “secretly working in consultation with Russia” to draft the plan. Media accounts described provisions that would recognise Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk as effectively Russian, freeze parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia along the current contact line, cap Ukraine’s…

US President Donald Trump on Thursday pressed Ukraine to accept a US-brokered plan to end the war with Russia that would cede significant territory to Moscow, setting a firm deadline of Nov. 27 — the American Thanksgiving holiday — and saying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "will have to like it." "He'll have to like it, and if he doesn't like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, responding to questions about Zelensky's lukewarm and public rejection of the…

UN Security Council backs U.S.-led Gaza peace plan The United Nations Security Council voted 13-0, with Russia and China abstaining, to endorse a U.S.-authored Gaza peace plan that creates a transitional authority for the territory and calls for an international stabilisation presence. The resolution marks a rare Council alignment behind a U.S. blueprint after intensive diplomacy and textual changes that reference a "credible path" to Palestinian statehood. The vote authorises a Board of Peace and an International…

Morocco declares “Unity Day” after UN backs autonomy plan — but the Western Sahara question remains unresolved Morocco has named Oct. 31 a national holiday, calling it Unity Day, to mark the United Nations Security Council’s recent endorsement of an autonomy plan for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty. The announcement was billed in Rabat as a celebration of national unity and territorial integrity — a symbolic capstone to a long campaign to secure international backing for a solution many Moroccans consider a matter…

Zanu PF moves to extend Mnangagwa’s rule to 2030, sparking fierce opposition and constitutional questions In a decision that could reshape Zimbabwe’s immediate political trajectory, the ruling Zanu PF party has instructed the government to begin legal and constitutional changes to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s tenure by two years, to 2030. The resolution, adopted at Zanu PF’s 22nd Annual People’s Conference in Mutare, has drawn sharp condemnation from opposition figures who say the move threatens the country’s…

Indirect talks open in Sharm El-Sheikh under Trump plan as Gaza war grinds on Delegations representing Hamas and Israel have begun indirect negotiations in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm El‑Sheikh aimed at ending nearly two years of war in Gaza, diplomats and officials said Monday, in a U.S.‑backed effort that has raised hopes and doubts in equal measure. Under the outline promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump — who has waded into the role of broker with envoys including businessman Steve Witkoff and his…

Two years on, ceasefire talks shadowed by airstrikes and the weight of memory On the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks that plunged Israel and Gaza into an ever-expanding war, negotiators gathered in Sharm el‑Sheikh for what many describe as the most serious attempt yet to halt the fighting. Yet beneath the diplomatic fanfare, tanks rolled, jets and naval vessels struck and families on both sides marked the day with grief that a single negotiated text has so far failed to touch. The talks — cautious hope,…

Top brass of the Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF) recently converged at the International Peace Support Operations Training Centre (IPSO-TC) in Singo. Their mission? To unpack strategies and beef up the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) with fresh insights and tactical savvy. This powwow, taking place over four intense days, is dubbed the “Lessons Learned” workshop. Its goal is to amplify UPDF’s victories in bringing stability to Somalia, while also tackling the uphill battles still on the horizon.…