Houston is counting down to the FIFA World Cup, with seven matches on the schedule and a landmark fixture between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Portugal set to draw global attention to Texas. DR Congo booked its place at the tournament by surviving a play-off against Jamaica in Mexico in March. Yet as the city prepares to welcome the team, the buildup has been overshadowed by the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring a "public health emergency of international concern" after an Ebola outbreak in the central…

A Federal High Court has mandated the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to compensate two officials from the Department of State Services (DSS) with $72,000 in damages. Additionally, the court has instructed SERAP to publish public apologies and cover the associated litigation costs. This decision arises from SERAP's accusations in 2024 that DSS personnel conducted an unlawful raid on its office in Abuja. These allegations followed SERAP's critique of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company's fuel…

Friday May 15, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s National Independent Human Rights Commission has raised alarm over the prolonged detention of Sadio Moallim Ali, saying she has spent more than a month in Mogadishu Central Prison without being tried. In a May 13 statement, the commission said it had visited the facility on April 29 to examine Ali’s detention conditions and review her legal and humanitarian circumstances. The commission said its delegation met with Correctional Service officials, prison administrators, Ali and…

Mounting political strain in Mogadishu is spilling into the newsroom, with Somali journalists facing arrests, intimidation and abuse in a series of incidents that the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) says point to a dangerous clampdown on independent reporting. The cases, all involving officers of the Somali Police Force, have affected journalists from six media outlets: Kalsan TV, Goobjoog Media Group, Shabelle Media Network, Somali Stream, Somali Cable TV and Kaab TV. NUSOJ says the pattern is especially…

By Pranav Baskar and Matthew Mpoke BiggMonday May 4, 2026 A brazen seizure off Yemen has renewed fears that Somali pirates are regaining their footing — and raised fresh suspicions that they may be operating alongside Iran-backed Houthi rebels amid upheaval across the Middle East. Maritime police forces from the Puntland State region of Somalia patrolling the Gulf of Aden last year.Credit...Feisal Omar/Reuters Somali pirates hijacked an oil tanker off Yemen’s coast on Saturday and steered it into Somali waters, authorities…

In a decisive move to bolster national security, Burkina Faso's Council of Ministers approved a draft law on April 24 aiming to establish a military reserve comprising 100,000 personnel by 2026. Defense Minister Célestin Simporé emphasized the initiative as a means to engage citizens actively in safeguarding the nation, stating it would "embed Patriotic Defense within a logic of citizen participation." The government has long relied on a significant number of civilian volunteers known as the Volunteers for the Defense of…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somali Member of Parliament Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame has sounded the alarm over Somalia’s oil exploration agreement with Turkey, warning that the deal could leave the country with little control over its own resources as the drilling vessel Çağrı Bey moves into Somali waters. Warsame said the arrangement is "deeply imbalanced" and argued that its structure appears to tilt overwhelmingly in favor of one party. According to his assessment, more than 90 percent of the benefits would go to a single…

The war’s opening blows decapitated much of Iran’s ruling establishment, killing supreme leader Ali Khamenei and sweeping away a senior layer of the Islamic republic’s political and military command in US-Israeli strikes. US President Donald Trump said yesterday the conflict had delivered "regime change" and that "we're dealing with different people than anybody's dealt with before". Yet several prominent officials remain alive, and the Islamic republic has moved quickly to fill vacant posts while continuing its fight…

A war in Iran that is beginning to cloud President Donald Trump’s legacy is also raising the political stakes for two of the most closely watched figures in his orbit: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Both men, often cast as possible heirs to Donald Trump, have been drawn into the still-evolving push to bring thewar to an end just as Republicans are starting to think more seriously about what the party looks like after him. JD Vance has moved carefully, mirroring his long-running scepticism of…

European Commission presses U.S. to honor EU-U.S. trade deal after Trump lifts global tariffs to 15% The European Commission urged Washington to honor last year’s EU-U.S. trade deal after President Donald Trump temporarily raised the global duty on imports to 15%, a move announced a day after the Supreme Court curtailed much of his tariffs campaign. “A deal is a deal. As the United States’ largest trading partner, the EU expects the US to honour its commitments set out in the Joint Statement — just as the EU stands by its…