Foreign Office is ‘complicit in British man’s Somalia torture’

David Taylor’s son has begged foreign secretary Dominic Raab, above, to intervene in his father’s case. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma/Rex/Shutterstock By Mark Townsend ‘David Taylor’ claims hooding, sensory deprivation and waterboarding was to persuade him to cooperate with the CIA A British citizen has claimed he was tortured in Somalia and questioned by US intelligence officers,

Read More

Naomi Osaka is back playing, still winning in Tokyo Olympics

Naomi Osaka, of Japan, plays against Saisai Zheng, of China, during the first round of the tennis competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) By ANDREW DAMPF TOKYO (AP) — Naomi Osaka is back playing, still winning, and also talking to the media again. The Japanese

Read More

America may be creating a power vacuum from Somalia to Afghanistan

President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event for Virginia democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at Lubber Run Park, Friday, July 23, 2021, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) By SETH J. FRANTZMAN The US has broken its “long silence” with new airstrikes “against those who exploit the vacuum left by its withdrawal.” Reports from

Read More

China’s Yang takes first gold at uneasy Tokyo Olympics

Yang Qian, of China, reacts after winning the gold medal in the women’s 10-meter air rifle at the Asaka Shooting Range in the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) TOKYO (AP) — Hardly half a day passed before politics, the pandemic and blistering heat impacted events across the

Read More

Naohisa Takato claims Japan’s 1st Tokyo gold with judo win

Naohisa Takato, of Japan, celebrates after defeating Yang Yung-wei, of Taiwan, in a men’s 60-kg judo gold medal match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) TOKYO (AP) — Naohisa Takato won Japan’s first gold medal at its home Olympics, beating Taiwan’s Yang Yung-wei in the men’s

Read More

Rights groups call on Biden to condemn Egypt’s abuses, halt military aid

Members of Congress have criticised Biden for continuing arms sales to Egypt as it continues to target Egyptian activists (AFP) By Middle East Eye Advocates are urging US administration not to issue a waiver that would send $300m in military aid to Cairo More than a dozen rights groups have urged the Biden administration to

Read More

Nigeria receives first six light attack planes from United States

Credit: CGTN/ Nigeria receives first six light attack planes from the United States Source: Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Broadcast Media, Buhari Sale. By Reuters Nigeria received its first six A-29 Super Tucano planes, the air force said on Thursday, four years after the United States agreed to sell the West African country

Read More

Rep. Ilhan Omar Questions Biden’s First Airstrike on Somalia

Credit: Associated Press Photo/Morry Gash, Rep. Ilhan Omar. By Ryan Grim, Sara Sirota In a letter to the White House, the Somali-born Democrat demands answers about the legality and purpose of the attack. REP. ILHAN OMAR is challenging the Biden administration’s justification for its Tuesday airstrike in Somalia, which the Pentagon claimed was targeted against

Read More

Somali Prime Minister fires two spy officials for violating order

File Photo/Somali Times Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has fired the Director of Staff Abdullahi Kulane and the Head of Security at Aden Adde International Airport Abdiwahab Sheikh Ali. The dismissal of the two officials was in response to today’s decision to deny the departure of Somali nationals, including former Gedo Governor Osman Nur

Read More

As Tokyo Games open, can Olympic flame burn away the funk?

Fireworks illuminate over the National Stadium during the opening ceremony of 2020 Tokyo Olympics views from Shibuya Sky observation deck Friday, July 23, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) By FOSTER KLUG TOKYO (AP) — Disputed, locked down and running a year late, the Tokyo Games began at last Friday night, a multinational showcase

Read More