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Showing posts from November, 2020

More than 7 youths killed in Mogadishu blast

Saturday, November 28, 2020. A powerful explosion took place in Mogadishu last night, especially on the road between the airport and the KM4 junction. The blast reportedly took place in the Gelato Divino area, a restaurant opposite the Sahal Terminal. Various reports have emerged of the blast, with a man wearing a suicide vest blew himself up at the restaurant. The scene of the blast is a crowded area, as well as near the first airport security checkpoint. Seven people, all teenagers, have been confirmed dead. The dead included journalists and prominent youths in the city, and a number of others were injured in the blast. There were also numerous injuries and extensive damage at the scene of the blast . A man wearing a suicide vest blew himself up outside a restaurant where many young people were sitting. Witnesses said the bomber was on foot and detonated himself outside the restaurant. The government has not yet commented on the blast, and there has been an increase in

Farmajo's group is embroiled in political turmoil

  Thursday, November 26, 2020. Somalia politics has entered a difficult period in which the parties have been unable to resolve disputes over electoral commissions. The opposition has strongly rejected Farmajo's ambitions, and it appears that Farmajo's group is now in a political trap that is difficult to get out of. The Council of Candidates was formed to include former ministers, senior politicians, parliamentarians and the Speaker of the Upper House. The whole council has suppressed the political greed of the current president Mr. Farmajo and his violation of the law by the electoral commissions. All Somalis and stakeholders are keeping an eye on the issues and the overall outcome that is expected to change the unpredictable direction of the country, instead eliminating other political movements and monitoring activities. All politicians, political pundits and other heavyweights have become attendees to the Jazeera hotel and others are following the news minute by minut

Turkish government nears collapse as senior officials quit the ruling party

  Certain decision taken by the ruling party of Turkey and the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not only received criticism from all around the world but also from its senior most party members. According to media reports, Senior Turkish officials have criticized many decisions taken by the ruling AKP party as the differences between the two breakaway parties grow. These parties, which hold the deciding factor in the system, are DEVA and Future. Future party is one of the key participants in the matter despite it being a new player in the game. The party was formed in 2019 by former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. The cracks in the Turkish government are out in the open as this week itself, the former deputy prime minister and Presidential High Advisory Board member, Bulent Arinc resigned from the position due a dispute with Erdogan. Erdogan has been time and again blamed for his authoritarian approach even within the senior officials which results in the leaders sourin

Iran’s supreme leader asks Iran people to not trust America even with Biden

  As the power shift in the United States is in process, countries are figuring out their relationships with America after democrat leader Joe Biden takes over the White House. Iran too is not far. During the Trump administration, the two countries did not see eye to eye and that led to a lot of complications and the relations became a lot more complex. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenie has warned against any hopes of 'opening’ against the west after the President of the country Hassan Rouhani gave a slight hint of his willingness to cooperate with Biden in power. On this the supreme leader passed comments through a television broadcast saying, “We can't trust foreigners and hope for an opening on their part. We tried to lift sanctions once and negotiated for several years, but to no avail," he said, directly painting fingers at the 2015 failed nuclear deal between Iran and America. While campaigning during the election, the president-elect Biden had p

Opposition Leaders Forum meeting in Mogadishu.

  Sunday, November 22, 2020. Opposition candidates have been meeting in Mogadishu for two days to discuss the upcoming elections. Former Somali information minister and current presidential candidate Dahir Mohamud Guelleh has given details about the 2021 Somali presidential candidates' consultative meeting that opened in Mogadishu yesterday. The conference will be to three days, and will be current Somalia election  process to continue demanding their candidates. The meeting comes at a time when the government and opposition leaders are at loggerheads over the government's appointment of a new election commission. Opposition groups accused the government included members of the army, intelligence and civil servant and the opposition leaders rejected all these members to be in the in the election commission any more. Speaking at the end of the first phase of the conference this afternoon, Dahir Guelleh said that the candidates for the presidency of Somalia who gathered

After invading privacy of women, Qatar finally finds abandoned child’s mother

  Qatar authorities have released a statement saying that they have identified the parents of the baby found near a garbage tin in an Airport in Qatar. The matter received a lot of attention worldwide because the Qatari authorities were accused of sexually assaulting women belonging from different nationalities and especially triggered people in Australia. More than a dozens of women were invasively searched in the airport where the Qatari authorities found an abandoned baby and targeted women from around 10 flights and examined them without their consent to identify if they were the ones to leave the baby behind.   On Monday, a statement released by the Qatari prosecutor read that an unspecified number of Qatar airport staff and authorities were detained for carrying out these examinations. These authorities can be charged with sentences up to three years in prison. As for the identity of the mother, the prosecutor revealed that she has been charged with attempt to murder for le

Congresswomen condemns Trump’s Middle East approach says Biden must reverse all of it

  Most of the diplomats and experts will applaud the current United States President Donald Trump in his development strategies and relationship building process with the Middle East but congresswomen IIhan Omar thinks otherwise. Though might have received a lot of backlash in his term as a president, this is not an area where people targeted him. Omar believes that the deals and agreements that the Trump administration did in the Middle East is not actually under peace deal but is straightaway human rights violation. "[Trump] recently inked so-called 'peace deals' between the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Israel," Omar tweeted. She further tweeted, "The only problem? They weren’t peace deals. They’re arms sales to human rights abusers, designed to empower the Gulf States and increase the risk of war with Iran." She made a huge accusation on the current US government and the motives of the other Middle Eastern countries that were invo

Mike Pompeo assures strict approach to Iran says ‘still have options to counter Iran’

  As the secretary of state Mike Pompeo became the first top US official to ever visit Israeli settlements in West Banks and Golan Heights, there were major announcements from his end representing the Trump administration that he made while on the trip.   The time to make exit from the White House nears for Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump and just a few weeks before it, the US administration is taking a few major calls on issues related to Israel and Iran. After wrapping up his tour of Israel Pompeo spoke to the Jerusalem Post where he talked about steps the US will take on matters related to Iran.   The top US diplomat assured that they still have a lot of measures to counter Iran anti-terrorism activities in the middle east region. He confidently asserted in the interview to the news organization saying that the present administration has been very clear on its stand and that there is no reason that it will change in coming years.   He further talked about the achi

Situation in Horn of Africa destabilizes as Ethiopia confirms its troops moving towards Tiagrayan capital

  Ethiopia might see some serious complications in coming days as the officials make their stand clear against the rebel forces and confirm that they will be sending troops to look over the Tigrayan capital on Tuesday. The conflict that shook the horn of Africa lasted for a whole of two weeks now and it has not only impacted the African continent but also the world. The Prime Minister of the country Abiy Ahmed said, “The final critical act of law enforcement will be done in the coming days.” Yesterday, Ethiopia included a special task force to control the situation which arose earlier this month. The task forces have accused the rebel groups of doing a lot of infrastructure damages especially targeting bridges connecting the regional capital Mekelle with the rest of the country to restrict the movement of the federal forces and stop any attempt of controlling their activities. As per a statement reported by the Reuters, the army personnel’s said, “Anxious about (our) advance, t

DENI ‘rejects Ethiopia’s plan to support Farmaajo.

  Monday, 09 November, 2020. Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni has reportedly rejected a plan presented by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during a recent visit to the Ethiopian capital. Abbiy Ahmed called on the President of Puntland to support and be a major part of the campaign for the re-election of President Farmajo. Deni, one of Farmajo's main rivals in the regional states presidents, opposed the plan, and rejected the offer. The President last week traveled to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia on Tuesday with Abiy Ahmed, who spoke about the election and the agreement reached last month, as well as rebuffed the offer.   Rashid Abdi, a Kenyan resident and commentator on the Horn of Africa politics, in a statement posted on his twitter to express the disapproval of Deni, saying "President Deni had rejected Abiye Ahmed's proposal to support Farmajo". Rashid also said in a statement that the UAE government, which was surprised by Abiy's burden, had se

Turkey keeps the diplomatic game string with agreeing to support whoever wins elections

  The United States is yet to announce its President ahead of the official number being released, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has extended support to whichever candidate wins the elections. Two of the Turkish officials on Friday confirmed that despite Erdogan’s friendship with the current president Donald Trump, they will extend their cooperation in working with whoever is elected. “Regardless of which candidate takes office in the US, we will pursue a sincere approach to improve our relations,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.   There have been a few changes in the relationship between the NATO allies--Turkey and the US. There have been some disagreements between the two while discussing policies and actions in Syria. Last few years have also seen closer ties between Russia and Turkey especially when it comes to supporting rebel groups in war torn countries of Syria and Libya. Turkey officials said that they have experience in working with both democrats and r

German Green Party, Cem Ozdemir, accused Erdogan of Promoting Islamic Terrorism in Europe.

  Sunday, November 01, 2020. Germany's opposition Green Party foreign affairs expert Cem Ozdemir has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of promoting Islamic terrorism in Europe. This expert said in a statement on Friday that "action will be taken against all those who continue to incite Islamists." He accused the Turkish president of inciting violence in Europe. Ozdemir argued that Islamist groups in his country will be treated differently than before and monitoring their activities. He also said that Islamist organizations would be formed in accordance with the German constitution and made independent from foreign governments. Turkey and European governments are in a state of crisis after a heated exchange of words in the media. This week there were terrorist attacks in France on teachers, pastors and civilians that further fueled the deteriorating relations between Turkey and France. Meanwhile, several governments have expressed support for France, accus