Nobel peace laureate Abiy says militants, global powers threaten Horn of Africa

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali receives medal and diploma from Chair of the Nobel Committee Berit Reiss-Andersen during Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony in Oslo City Hall, Norway December 10, 2019. NTB Scanpix/Terje Bendiksby via REUTERS Militant groups and global military powers both pose a threat to peace and stability in the Horn of

Read More

Qatari PM attends Gulf summit but no mention of 2-1/2 year row

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud meets Qatar’s Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani during the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) 40th Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 10, 2019. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS Qatar’s prime minister attended a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Saudi

Read More

Inter-clan clashes kill at least 20 in Somalia

At least 20 people have been killed and about 25 others injured on Monday in fierce fighting in the outskirt of Somalia’s central region of Mudug, an official said. Abdirahman Ali Diriye, Governor of Mudug region told reporters that inter-clan fighting erupted at the Towfiq village in the northwest of the Mudug region between two

Read More

Debt forgiveness for Somalia would reward corruption, empower al-Shabaab

Photo/Somali Times When Somali Finance Minister Abdirahman Duale Beileh visited Washington for the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund earlier this fall, he was all smiles. “Things are looking up. Everybody was positive,” he said, claiming progress in Somalia’s goal to win nearly $5 billion in debt relief. That debt includes

Read More

President Farmajo has asked parliamentarians to extend in office

Photo/Somali Times /Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Mogadishu, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has embarked on a campaign of parliamentarians, trying to prevent the passage of the country’s electoral law in front of parliament. Several lawmakers who spoke to Somali Times said the president wants the bill approved by the cabinet in May, which would

Read More

UN urges Somalia to step up fight against graft

Credit: UN James Swan, special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia The UN senior envoy in Somalia on Monday called on the government to enhance the fight against corruption which is an obstacle to development and erodes public trust. James Swan, special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia welcomed the country’s progress in

Read More

The various layers to the Somaliland-Puntland discord

The Sool-Sanaag dispute involves local, regional and national dynamics. Tensions between Somaliland and Puntland have increased over the past two years, with risks of further instability and militarisation if not adequately addressed. The discord centres on competing claims to the Sool and Sanaag (and Cayn) regions by the self-declared independent entity of Somaliland and the

Read More

Secret Sh437m spend in lobby for Amina top job

Credit:Daily Nation Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed. She lost her bid to be the continent’s top diplomat to her Chad counterpart, Moussa Faki Mahamat. Kenya spent Sh437.7million in its failed bid to capture the African Union Commission chairmanship in a campaign fronted by Deputy President William Ruto. Data submitted to Parliament shows that Sh437,776, 982 was

Read More

Kenyan police seal off court as Nairobi governor set to face graft charges

Nairobi’s Governor Mike Sonko speaks to a lawyer during a hearing after he was arrested on corruption-related charges, at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya. December 9, 2019. REUTERS/Njeri Mwangi Police in the Kenyan capital sealed off a court building where the governor of Nairobi County was due to be charged with corruption and

Read More

Saudi Arabia ends gender-segregated entrances for restaurants

Women sit among men in a newly opened cafe in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, August 2, 2019. REUTERS/ Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo Restaurants in Saudi Arabia will no longer need to maintain entrances segregated by sex, the authorities said on Sunday, further eroding some of the world’s strictest social rules as sweeping reforms take hold. Previously,

Read More