Global

IMF and World Bank Consider Somalia Eligible for Assistance Under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative

Photo Credit Kristalina Georgieva The Executive Boards of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank met, on February 12 and 13, respectively, to consider Somalia’s eligibility for debt relief under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The Executive Boards commended the authorities’ sustained commitment to economic and institutional reforms under challenging circumstances

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Somalia’s terror problem and Turkey’s stance

Turkish medical staff in the Somalian capital Mogadishu gather victims of a brutal terrorist attack that claimed nearly 80 people and wounded many others to transport them to Turkey for treatment, Dec. 28, 2019. (AA Photo) I will start by condemning last month’s bloody Mogadishu attack that killed many Somalian and two Turkish citizens. I

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US unlikely to meet schedule for ‘degrading’ Al Shabaab

The US Army’s Africa Command (Africom) says in a new report that it aims to render al-Shabaab incapable of conducting effective operations by next year. But the military situation in Somalia, as appraised by the US Defence Department’s inspector general, makes it appear unlikely that this ambitious timetable will be met. In its “campaign plan”

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Trump says he does not mind if Philippines cuts military pact with U.S

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while meeting with Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 12, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday brushed aside the decision of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to end a decades-old military agreement with United States, saying he didn’t

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Haftar forces block U.N. flights in and out of Libya: U.N. mission

Photo/ Reuters Forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar have blocked flights carrying United Nations staff to and from Libya, hampering humanitarian and mediation efforts, the U.N. mission said on Wednesday. Haftar’s eastern-based Libya National Army has on several occasions in recent weeks refused to grant permission for the regular U.N. flights to land, the U.N. mission

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Somali troops still vulnerable to al-Shabaab outside Mogadishu, Pentagon says

By Jared Szuba New report calls into question AFRICOM’s ability to ‘degrade’ al-Shabaab by 2021 Troops loyal to Somalia’s Federal Government in Mogadishu are not yet ready to stand on their own against al-Shabaab militants in the country’s south, the U.S. Defense Department said in a new report. Despite some successes, the Somali National Army

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Japan begins testing air-launched variant of new anti-ship missile

Photo from social media By Dylan Malyasov The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has begun testing the improved version of the Type-12 surface-to-ship missile in an air-launched configuration designed for the P-1 maritime patrol aircraft. According to several media reports, a P-1 patrol aircraft equipped with four modernized air-based Type-12 missiles made its first test

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Saudi-Qatar talks to end lengthy Gulf dispute falter: sources

Photo Credit Reuters Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani Talks between Saudi Arabia and Qatar to resolve a bitter Gulf dispute broke down soon after starting, six sources said, leaving in place a political and trade embargo of Doha that hampers joint Gulf Arab efforts to counter Iran. The discussions that began in

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Libya’s Haftar sued in US for alleged war crimes

Lawsuit filed in federal court seeks $1 billion in damages for families Six Libyan families sued Libyan renegade commander Khalifa Haftar and the United Arab Emirates government in a federal U.S. court Monday for their alleged roles in committing war crimes in Libya. In a lawsuit filed in the Federal District Court of the District

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Top 10 Most Educated African Presidents 2020

Africa’s Presidents By Sebastiane Ebatamehi. The educational credentials of African presidents proves that education is not a criterion for good leadership The educational qualification of African leaders in juxtaposition to their performances is an irony. Africa has the most educated leaders in the world, and the continent continues to experience plodding progress. Many critics and

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