Secretary

Lori Chavez-DeRemer is set to step down as US secretary of labour, the White House said, ending a turbulent tenure overshadowed by scandal and complaints about how young female staff members were treated. Her departure follows weeks of mounting questions over her future and comes on the heels of the exits of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Taken together, the departures have underscored the rapid turnover among women in Mr Trump's cabinet in recent weeks. "Labor Secretary…

Wednesday March 25, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — A senior Somali federal lawmaker has broken ranks with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s political camp, stepping down from a top party post in a move that underscores intensifying disputes over governance, constitutional changes and the path to elections. Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein Odawaa announced on March 25, 2026 that he is resigning as Secretary General of the Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP) and ending his membership in the party, which is led by President Mohamud. In a…

Wednesday March 25, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — A senior Somali lawmaker has broken publicly with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s ruling political camp, resigning from a top party post and warning that disputes over governance, constitutional changes and elections are pushing the country into deeper political strain. Somali federal MP Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein Odawaa stepped down as Secretary General of the Justice and Solidarity Party (JSP) and relinquished his membership, according to a statement he published on his official…

Trump replaces Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem with Sen. Markwayne Mullin amid fallout over immigration crackdown President Donald Trump said he will replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a major staffing shift that roils the administration’s hardline immigration agenda after a year of public backlash and political blowback. In a post on Truth Social, Trump called Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, “Highly Respected” and said he will become secretary of the Department of Homeland…

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday denied having a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein as calls for his resignation intensified and newly released Justice Department files appeared to undercut his earlier account of severing contact more than two decades ago. “Over a 14 year period, I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person,” Lutnick told a Senate committee, adding that while in New York he met Epstein and later had lunch with him during a family vacation around 2012.…

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called an Irish journalist a “left-wing hack” during a heated exchange at a press briefing, escalating tensions between the administration and the press over immigration enforcement. The clash unfolded after Niall Stanage, a Dublin-born journalist with U.S. political newspaper The Hill, asked about the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. Seeking an assessment from the White House, Stanage framed the incident…

In an unexpected move, Donald Trump has nominated Sean Duffy, a former congressman from Wisconsin, to take on the role of transportation secretary. This key position entails overseeing a vast federal budget dedicated to infrastructure projects and transit rules. As the newly minted Republican administration gears up to implement sweeping cuts to federal spending, Trump took a moment to commend Duffy for his track record in Congress, emphasizing his commitment to "fiscal responsibility." Yet, there's more at play here; under…

In a striking move, President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental advocate known for spreading dubious claims about vaccines, to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the preeminent health agency in the United States. Kennedy, who once pursued the presidency as an independent candidate earlier this year, withdrew from the race in August. He subsequently threw his support behind Trump, looking to secure a position within the Republican administration as part of the…

Controversy Surrounds Appointment of Somalia's U.S. Ambassador MOGADISHU, Somalia – The mid-2024 designation of Dahir Hassan Arab as Somalia's envoy to America has stirred the pot, with whispers of favoritism and questionable conduct in the mix. Arab, who previously led SIMAD University, landed this gig courtesy of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, despite lacking credentials in diplomacy or foreign management. He's got a Master’s in Education Management from the Islamic University in Uganda. Alongside him, Mohamed Muse,…

Mogadishu (AX) – Mohamed Abdi Ware, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), declared that Somalia has zero interest in picking sides between Ethiopia and Egypt in their heated clash over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).During a recent IGAD delegation's visit to Mogadishu, Ware underscored that the rift between Ethiopia and Egypt spells looming danger for the Horn of Africa’s stability and threatens the very survival of the Somali government."Ethiopia and Egypt aren't…