Global

What Ethiopia’s crisis means for Somalia

By Vanda Felbab-Brown With many around the world focused on the dangerous military confrontation in Ethiopia, Somalia too is facing a triple security crisis that can jeopardize the country’s halting progress. Ethiopia’s instability and ethnic strife are producing security repercussions in Somalia. Somalia’s upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections are the second component of the emerging

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Merkel: EU leaders to discuss Turkey at December summit

German Chancellor says EU will wait and see developments in Mediterranean before discussing any sanctions European leaders will discuss the future of EU-Turkey relations at their summit in December, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday. Speaking at a press conference following a video conference of EU leaders, Merkel said the meeting was largely focused on

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Jailed Saudi women activists ‘tortured’, forced to carry out ‘sex acts’, claims new report

Photo: Credit Reuters Jailed Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul There is mounting pressure on world leaders to boycott the upcoming G20 Summit, which is to be held later this month in Saudi Arabia, over the kingdom’s detention and alleged “torture” of women activists. The fate of female detainees has become a major source of

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How Ethiopia’s Civil War Emboldens Jihadis in Somalia

By Jack Erickson Ethiopian troops help fight Al-Shabaab in Somalia. What happens when they’re called back home? Observers could be forgiven for thinking these days that East Africa is on the verge of unraveling. An ongoing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray province is affecting the entire region, with its consequences being felt most keenly in Somalia.

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Exclusive: Ethiopia says disarms Tigrayan peacekeepers in Somalia over security

Photo: Credit Amisom. Ethiopia said on Wednesday peacekeepers from its Tigray region serving in Somalia had been disarmed over a security issue, raising concerns over the forces’ ability to fight al Qaeda-linked militants. Diplomatic and security sources said earlier that between 200 and 300 Tigrayans had had their weapons removed. Ethiopian troops began fighting forces

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People go hungry in Ethiopia’s Tigray as conflict marches on

Ethiopia’s prime minister Abiy Ahmed said in a social media post on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020 that “the final and crucial” military operation will launch in the coming days against the government of the country’s rebellious northern Tigray region. (Ethiopian News Agency via AP) People are going hungry in Ethiopia’s rebellious northern Tigray region as

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Trump may withdraw troops from Somalia as part of global pullback

US President Donald Trump speaks during a Make America Great Again campaign rally at the Erie International Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020 in Erie, PA [Noah Riffe/Anadolu Agency] President Donald Trump may withdraw nearly all U.S. troops from Somalia as part of a global pullback that includes reductions of forces in Afghanistan and Iraq,

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Ethiopia pushes for Tigray capital, denies ‘ethnic bias’

Capital city of Tigray Region in Ethiopia. Mekele Ethiopian forces pushed towards the capital of the rebel Tigray region on Wednesday, ignoring international appeals for talks to end the conflict and denying it was targeting any ethnic group. Federal troops are locked in a two-week conflict against Tigray’s forces, which has killed hundreds on both

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Trump fires Homeland Security cyber chief

Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has been terminated effective immediately, president tweets US President Donald Trump fired the country’s top cybersecurity official on Tuesday over a statement he made about the Nov. 3 presidential election. In a tweet, Trump said that Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and

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Peace was swift in Ethiopia under Abiy. War was, too.

In this Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, file photo, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, center, arrives for the opening session of the 33rd African Union (AU) Summit at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ahmed left Ethiopians breathless when he became the prime minister in 2018, introducing a wave of political reforms in the long-repressive

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