Mandera County Governor Ali Roba has said the town of Mandera in Kenya is on the verge falling into the hands of Al-Shabaab. In an interview with The Standard in Nairobi, the governor said al-Shabaab had taken control of 50% of north-eastern Kenya and had taken control of strategic areas in the region. He called

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Opposition figures in Uganda are criticizing widespread violence by security forces ahead of Thursday’s presidential election, while main challenger Bobi Wine said soldiers who raided his home Tuesday morning arrested a security guard and beat two gardeners badly. “The terror, frankly, is unprecedented,” said Kizza Besigye, a veteran

FILE – In this Friday, March 27, 2020 file photo, Ugandan musician, lawmaker and presidential aspirant Bobi Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, speaks to The Associated Press in Kampala, Uganda. Police in Uganda have confronted opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine during an online press conference, and he says they fired tear gas and

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has confirmed that his country will normalise its relations with Israel if it commits to the Arab Peace Initiative, RT reported on Thursday. The minister stressed, according to RT Arabic, that Qatar’s stance regarding the normalisation of ties with Israel is clear. “We will normalise our relations

This Friday, Jan. 8, 2021 image shows the suspended Twitter account of President Donald Trump. On Friday, the social media company permanently suspended Trump from its platform, citing “risk of further incitement of violence.” (AP Photo/Tali Arbel) By TALI ARBEL Twitter banned President Donald Trump’s account Friday, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence”

Militant leaders killed in Jan. 7 airstrike were active in Saaxa Weyne region The US military on Friday said that its forces working with the Somali National Army killed five top al-Shabaab leaders in a joint airstrike in the vicinity of the Saaxa Weyne region. In a statement, the US military said one of the

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement following his meeting with US Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin, in Jerusalem, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. (Emil Salman/Pool via AP) Israel has postponed the next hearing in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial because of a tightened coronavirus lockdown that began Friday. The Jerusalem District Court said

Photo: Credit Reuters Major General Hossein Salami visits an underground missile site of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards at an undisclosed location in the Gulf Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards unveiled an underground missile base at an undisclosed Gulf location on Friday, Iranian state media reported, at a time of heightened tension between Tehran and the United States.

Qatar’s foreign minister said Doha could be willing to invest in Saudi Arabia in future (AFP) Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said Qatar would maintain its independent foreign policy, Financial Times reports Qatar’s relations with Iran and Turkey will not be affected by Doha’s recent reconciliation agreement with blockading states Saudi Arabia, the

By Aurore Bonny Observers question objectives of ‘Operation Barkhane’ in Mali Rather than protecting the population, the French military is involved in the killing of civilians in Mali in particular and in the Sahel region in general to the dismay of people and observers who are voicing concerns. Since 2014, French military forces have been