Kasmaal  Independent Somali news and analysis website .

The powerful explosion struck a busy street filled with civilians, witnesses said [Feisal Omar/Reuters] Explosion outside popular hotel in Mogadishu kills at least 14 people and wounds 10, interior ministry spokesman says. At least 14 people have been killed in a car bomb blast outside a popular hotel in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, according to a […]

China warned US President Donald Trump on Thursday that Beijing will not “sit back” and let its interests to be harmed, ahead of an announcement from Washington on a new round of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports. Sources familiar with Chinese government discussions said Beijing had been preparing a contingency plan to deal with escalating […]

Italy’s chamber of deputies in session in 2015. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AF Italy may not have a government yet, but it does have nearly 1,000 new legislators. Two weeks after Italians voted, Italy’s 315 newly elected senators have been registering at the houses of parliament in Rome since Monday and the 630 new deputies began registering […]

Photo: AFP French President Emmanuel Macron will address a joint session of Congress during his state visit to the United States next month, the speaker of the House of Representatives said Wednesday. “France is not only our oldest ally, but one of our strongest,” said Speaker Paul Ryan. “I look forward to welcoming President Macron […]

MPrime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his entrance before addressing a conference in Toronto on Wednesday.  (CHRIS YOUNG / THE CANADIAN PRESS) U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday told lawmakers “I think we’re in a pretty good place” on auto negotiations — the most positive statement he’s made on the issue. WASHINGTON—Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are moving […]

U.S. President Donald Trump / Reuters Would U.S. President Donald Trump go to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang for the summit with Kim Jong-un in May? Would Kim risk of leaving his comfort zone to travel to Scandinavia or even Beijing to meet Trump? Unless one of the two makes a concession, differences over […]

New employees of Seven & i Holdings Co, a Japanese retail giant, participate in a stretching exercise before a welcome ceremony at a Tokyo hotel on Thursday. Photo: KYODO TOKYO Retail giant Seven & i Holdings Co welcomed new recruits at a ceremony in Tokyo on Thursday, soon to be followed by many other Japanese companies at the […]

Foto: TT Zuckerberg says ‘mistakes were made’ but stops short of explaining why it took three years to respond to 2015 complaint. The head of Facebook has apologised for the “major breach of trust” the social media platform committed, when it allowed personal information of 50 million users from being collected by a data mining company linked to […]

The “wise men” (and women) of the council of economic experts. Photo: DPA US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium risk escalating into a threat to the international trading system, a highly-regarded group of German economists said Wednesday. “An escalation of the trade conflict would damage international value chains and in the medium […]

An Israeli air force F-15 fighter jet flies during an exhibition as part of the graduation ceremony of air force pilots at Hatzerim air base in southern Israel. (photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)  Former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi weighed-up the possibility that the country would wake up to yet another war after the strike […]