by STEPHEN ASTARIKOSunday May 3, 2026 Residents of Mwingi barricade the Busy Nairobi-Garissa road in Mwingi town./STEPHEN ASTARIKO Leaders from Garissa are urging restraint as insecurity continues to stir fear and deepen friction between communities in Garissa and Kitui counties. The unrest has already begun to choke trade, disrupt travel and strain livelihoods across the region. On Monday, bus operators suspended services on the Garissa–Mwingi–Nairobi route after a string of attacks and rising tension between pastoralists…

Writer Charles KingSaturday May 2, 2026 Charles King, the UK ambassador to the Federal Republic of Somalia, takes readers inside the routines and risks that define one of the world’s most challenging diplomatic assignments. In most capitals, the day begins with an alarm clock. In Mogadishu, my mornings lately have often started instead with the thunder of an F-16 fighter jet overhead. From there, it is a two-minute walk from my armoured pod to the chancery — a brief crossing under Somalia’s fierce sun that is a world away…

Four decades after Reactor 4 exploded at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster is once again shadowed by danger. At 01:23am on 26 April 1986, an explosion tore through the reactor during a failed safety test, blasting apart the roof and sending a vast cloud of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Radiation spread west and north across Europe for days, while neighbouring Belarus absorbed the heaviest share of the fallout. Soviet authorities waited 36 hours…

Fresh uncertainty gripped the Gulf as the Strait of Hormuz remained shut in the escalating standoff between Iran and the United States, with Iran's powerful parliament speaker making clear that, despite signs of progress, any final peace agreement was still a long way off. With mediation efforts continuing after high-level talks in Pakistan ended without a breakthrough, Tehran said the vital maritime chokepoint would stay closed unless Washington lifts its blockade of Iranian ports. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the…

Saturday April 18, 2026 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open” to commercial shipping and will stay that way for the duration of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, as United States President Donald Trump declared that a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran was “very close”. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas…

In a powerful gesture ahead of Independence Day, South Africa will return Zimbabwe’s last remaining soapstone bird and ancestral human remains, closing a chapter that began with the artefact’s theft more than a century ago during the colonial period. The items will be handed over in a symbolic ceremony. Carved from soapstone and originating from Great Zimbabwe, the bird stands as a defining national emblem of identity and pride. Minister Gayton McKenzie said the move follows a directive from President Cyril Ramaphosa,…

Hours before a deadline set by US President Donald Trump, Iran and Israel exchanged fresh attacks this morning, with Tehran refusing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or sign on to a ceasefire agreement. Iran turned down a US proposal, brokered by Pakistan, calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to its effective blockade of the strait, followed by negotiations on a wider peace settlement within 15 to 20 days, according to a source familiar with the plan. Tehran’s reply included ten clauses, among them a demand for an end…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Major General Mohamed Sheikh Hassan on Sunday officially took charge of the Somali Custodial Corps, stepping into leadership of the country’s prison service at a handover ceremony held in Mogadishu. The changeover unfolded without the outgoing commander, General Mahad Abdirahman, who remains under house arrest in the capital. Even so, the ceremony went ahead, with senior correctional officials and government representatives present for the transfer of command. General Mohamed Sheikh Hassan now inherits a…

MOGADISHU — Somalia’s federal administration appears to be tightening its grip on the South West State, moving toward a possible showdown after relations with its regional president, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed—known as Laftagareen—collapsed. The dispute began as a political rupture late in Ramadan, but it has since hardened into a two-track strategy: federal pressure to force Laftagareen back into alignment with Villa Somalia, alongside fresh military movement. Officials close to the talks say attempts to restore cooperation…

OP-ED: A Federation at a Crossroads: Somalia’s Leap from Standoff to Settlement Somalia is staring down a constitutional and political rupture that exceeds the usual turbulence of fragile states. A high-stakes confrontation between the Federal Government in Mogadishu, headed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and the South West State administration led by President Abdiaziz Laftagareen has emerged as one of the most serious tests of Somalia’s federalism since the system took shape. Beneath the surface lies an…