United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Brussels on Wednesday for talks with European and NATO allies about Afghanistan, Ukraine and other matters. (Johanna Geron, Pool via AP) By MATTHEW LEE BRUSSELS

A construction site in Nairobi. By CONSTANT MUNDA Default on mortgages and loans advanced to the transport sector has crossed the Sh100 billion mark in the wake of layoffs, business closures and travel restrictions triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The transport and real estate sectors topped loan defaults over the nine months to December last

Air-to-air in-sight missile Bozdogan, developed in Goktug project, hit target with first shot, says Erdogan Turkey has managed to be one of the few countries with air-to-air missile technology, said Turkish president on Wednesday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Twitter that Turkey has become one of the few countries with air-to-air missile technology.

File – In this Saturday, May 25, 2019, file photo, Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed arrives for the swearing-in ceremony of Cyril Ramaphosa at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Somalia’s parliament on Monday, April 12, 2021 voted to effectively extend the mandate of the president and federal government by two years in an

Photo/Somali Times The outgoing president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has this evening signed the extension law approved by the outgoing corrupt Somali members of parliament yesterday. Somalia’s Information Minister Osman Abukar Dubbe posted a statement on his Facebook page saying that, Farmajo had signed the law approved by corrupt members of parliament. “The former President of

File Photo/Somali Times/Somali Parliament. Yesterday, the Lower House of the Somali Parliament voted to a de-facto extension of the mandate of the President and the Federal government by two years following the impasse on the electoral process which should have been finalised by 8 February 2021. This action undermines the longstanding effort, supported by the

File Photo/Somali Times/Dictator Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo. According to Voice of America report. Two members of the US House of Representatives have called on the United States to review its relationship with the Somali federal government and consider imposing sanctions on those who challenge democracy, according to a statement. Press release today. Congressmen Gregory W. Meeks

A section of Lamu Island. By BRIAN NGUGI Kenya has launched a fresh search for oil and gas in its Indian Ocean territory by tapping an American firm to conduct seismic surveys to detail petroleum prospects within Lamu County. Houston-based ION Geophysical Corp will carry out two seismic surveys in the offshore Lamu basin under

File – In this Thursday, April 8, 2021 file photo, the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine sits on a table at a pop up vaccinations site the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, in the Staten Island borough of New York. The U.S. is recommending a “pause” in administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

Photo/Somali Times The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Somalia, James Swan, congratulates all Somalis on the start of the Holy Month of Ramadan. The UN envoy said the Somali people would benefit from unity, tolerance, forgiveness and reconciliation this month, and said he hoped Somali leaders would be guided by unity. The