Global

How to make Eritrea, Africa’s North Korea, less horrible

Something happening in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa. Eritrea and Ethiopia are making peace. It is as if North and South Korea made friends, not just with platitudes at a summit but with actions on the ground. In recent weeks Ethiopia’s new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, and Eritrea’s dictator, Isaias Afwerki, have signed a peace

Read More

Ex-Ethiopian Dictator Mengistu Meets Former Leader in Harare

The former Ethiopian dictator Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam has met with Ethiopia’s former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare on Wednesday. The surprise meeting between Hailemariam, who was Ethiopia’s Prime Minister until he resigned in April 2018, and Mengistu has stunned many in Ethiopia who had a rare glimpse of Mengistu since he fled

Read More

Djibouti slam Somali president call to lift sanctions on Eritrea

Djibouti has formally responded to a recent call by Somalia that United Nations Security Council sanctions on Eritrea be lifted. According to Djibouti, it was ‘deeply shocked’ by that position. Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on a three-day official visit to Asmara said the sanctions imposed since 2009 had to be lifted given the current

Read More

Zanu-PF wins the election in Zimbabwe

Zanu-PF ruling party won the parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe. The party has 109 seats available, indicating that they have a majority in the referendum, according to the country’s electoral commission. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has won 41 seats, while the 58-seater has not been announced, according to the election commission. Zimbabwe’s presidential election

Read More

How the Gulf crisis is destabilising Somalia

The impact of the anti-Qatar embargo continues to have strange consequences beyond the Gulf. Somalia is increasingly compromised by its schizophrenic approach to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE on the one hand, and Qatar on the other, exacerbated by a fragile federal system in which constitutional responsibilities for foreign affairs are stated vaguely. Somali

Read More

Could Zimbabwe’s economic crisis unite black and white?

As whites forge post-Mugabe roles, the crisis might just unite ordinary people regardless of race Rusty Markham gazes over the corrugated tin and wood structures that make up the Harare suburb of Hatcliffe, and recounts everything that it lacks: metalled roads, running water, a fit-for-purpose sewerage system, and political leaders who care. “In 38 years,

Read More

Juggling the politics of the Horn

Due to its strategic positioning in connecting the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa, the Horn of Africa region has been a focal point for many foreign actors throughout history. Ethiopia’s location in this strategically significant route led many countries to establish a cordial relationship with the country. At times, Ethiopia’s diplomatic relations, due to

Read More

Trump threatens U.S. government shutdown over border wall

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would allow the federal government to shut down if Democrats do not fund his border wall and back immigration law changes, betting that maintaining a hard line will work in Republicans’ favour in November congressional elections. However, a disruption in federal government operations could backfire on Trump

Read More

Imran Khan claims victory in Pakistan elections

Pakistan cricket legend turned opposition stalwart Imran Khan claimed victory Thursday in the country’s tense elections, following accusations of poll rigging by rival parties. In a televised address to the nation on Thursday, Khan, who aspires to be the country’s next prime minister, said, “We were successful and we were given a mandate.”He added: “If

Read More

Fellow legislator accuses Ilhan Omar of using campaign funds for divorce lawyer

A state lawmaker filed a complaint against fellow Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, accusing her of using campaign money to pay her divorce lawyer’s legal fees in violation of state law. Republican Rep. Steve Drazkowski recently filed the complaint about Omar, a Minneapolis Democrat who is running for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison’s open congressional seat. Drazkowski

Read More