Kasmaal  Independent Somali news and analysis website .

Mekelle, Ethiopia, in January. On Thursday, doctors there offered a rare glimpse of the increasingly dire conditions in the city.Credit…Eduardo Soteras/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — After Ethiopian military forces captured the capital of the rebellious Tigray region last weekend, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed boasted that his forces had scored the victory without […]

People perform Friday prayers in the courtyard of Kocatepe Mosque, in the capital Ankara, Turkey, June 26, 2020. (Photo by Ali Ekeyılmaz)  The Presidency of Religious Affairs (DIB) issued a warning for the faithful on Friday to abstain from collective Friday prayers amid the coronavirus pandemic if they are at high risk of contracting the […]

Boris Johnson speaks during a news conference on the ongoing situation with the coronavirus pandemic, at Downing Street in London, Wednesday Dec. 2, 2020.   –   Copyright  John Sibley/Pool via AP British prime minister Boris Johnson hailed the arrival of the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday after the UK became the first country to approve it but […]

Russians in high-risk groups may get their first shot of Sputnik V vaccine as early as Dec. 4.Zuma / TASS Russia is pushing ahead with its domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine as the global race for a safe and effective vaccine that can put an end to the coronavirus pandemic heats up. Hours after Pfizer-BioNTech […]

US President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday offered the clearest signal of his approach toward the multi-year trade war and overall economic and trade relations with China. In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Biden said that he would not immediately remove tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese products against […]

KDF troops under Amisom in Somalia Somali information minister Osman Abukar Dubbe has accused Kenya of planning to destabilise Somalia as it prepares for legislative and presidential elections, the state-owned Somali National TV has reported. “We respect Kenya, appreciate our neighbourliness and mutual interest. On our side, we always uphold these principles. However, Kenya seems […]

In Ethiopia, a wave of resentment against Tigray is being unleashed on social media, likely galvanized by the government’s anti-TPLF rhetoric. Has Prime Minister Abiy overstepped the mark? About a month after the start of the conflict in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, the propaganda machine is in full gear on both sides. Daily reports of […]

Afghan government and Taliban representatives said they have reached a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks, their first written agreement in 19 years of war. The agreement on Wednesday lays out the way forward for further discussion but is considered a breakthrough because it will allow negotiators to move on to more substantive […]

A woman reads a prefectural decree installed on the entrance gates of the Grand Mosque of Pantin, near Paris, France, Oct. 20, 2020. (Reuters Photo)  France will inspect 76 mosques in the coming days in a “massive and unprecedented” operation against so-called separatism, the country’s interior minister said Wednesday. Gerald Darmanin said state services will […]

In this Jan. 11, 2010 photo Former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing arrives for the funeral of Philippe Seguin, the President of the Court of Accounts, in Paris.   –   Copyright  AP Photo/Eric Feferberg Valery Giscard d’Estaing, the president of France from 1974 to 1981 who became a champion of European integration, died on Wednesday. He was 94. Giscard […]