The Pentagon plans to curtail its military role in Somalia and lessen airstrikes against al-Shabaab militants in the region, NBC News reported Friday. Two senior U.S. officials told the outlet that the administration has assessed that al-Shabab does not pose a direct danger to the United States as American forces have killed many of the

Nation at strait linking Gulf of Aden to Red Sea connects global shipping routes, with most foreign bases in world In 1991 thousands of Ethiopians, military men and women included, made an arduous journey, crossing the border from the Horn of Africa nation of Eritrea into the tiny nation of Djibouti. They fled as Eritrean

The United Nations plans to replace an envoy who was expelled from Somalia after questioning the arrest of a political candidate with an extremist history, the world body said Friday. The announcement came after three days of diplomatic back-and-forth over Somalia’s expulsion of Nicholas Haysom, a longtime U.N. official who has also served as envoy

UN renews call for independent investigation with ‘international involvement’ The United Nations Human Rights Office spokeswoman said on Friday that a trial taking place in Saudi Arabia into Oct. 2 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was “not sufficient.”Speaking to press members in Geneva, Ravina Shamdasani reiterated the office’s call for an independent investigation, “with international

AP Photo/Susan Walsh History was on Ilhan Omar’s mind as she arrived in Washington DC this week. The 36-year-old Democrat from Minnesota’s 5th Congressional district became the first Somali-American, one of two Muslim women, among the unprecedented number of women lawmakers, and part of the largest congressional black caucus elected to the US House of

Somalia on Thursday told the UN Security Council not to interfere in its national affairs after expelling a UN envoy who questioned the government’s decision to arrest an al-Shabaab defector running for election. Somali Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman did not specifically mention his government’s decision to order Nicholas Haysom to leave but he argued that

Photo (AP) A U.N. envoy who was recently ordered to leave Somalia says political tensions could devolve into conflict, while Somalia’s U.N. ambassador says his country embraces international institutions but not individual “conduct that has a detrimental effect” on the nation. Both addressed the Security Council Thursday. The envoy, Nicholas Haysom, didn’t directly address this

Photo (AFP) As we kiss 2018 goodbye and, looking at East Africa and the Horn from Nairobi, it’s reasonable to say the most significant development for Kenya last year didn’t happen here. Kenya won an unexpected geopolitical jackpot when, in April, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) elected a 42-year-old hitherto unknown Abiy

Panel of cross-party MPs, lawyers writes open letter to Saudi ambassador following allegations of torture, sexual assault A cross-party panel of British parliament members and lawyers has written an open letter to the Saudi Arabian ambassador in London asking permission to visit female activists detained in the Kingdom. In the letter to Prince Mohammed bin

Photo (AP) Chinese President Xi Jinping, declaring that independence is not an option for Taiwan, urged both sides to reach an early consensus on unification and not leave the issue for future generations. No one or no party can stop the trend toward unification, the Chinese leader said Wednesday in a policy speech devoted to