The U.N. refugee agency said forced displacement of people due to conflict or persecution fell in 2025 for the first time in a decade. But the agency warned in its annual report Thursday that 118 million people who had to flee their homes or nations is still alarmingly high. A look at the agency’s Global...
MOGADISHU, (Reuters) – Somali soccer referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan returned home to a hero’s welcome on Wednesday after being barred from entering the United States for the World Cup, describing the decision as a matter of “fate” and urging his fellow Somalis not to lose heart over it. Artan, Africa’s referee of the year in...
(ERGO)– More than 2,800 students in Qallaafe zone in Ethiopia’s Somali Region have been out of school since April after flooding from the Shabelle River forced families from their homes and destroyed schools, farms, businesses, and water sources. The floods closed 18 free primary and secondary schools in Qallaafe and surrounding villages in Shabelle zone, leaving...
By Osman Ali Hassan To chat of Omar Abdulkadir Artan is to write of a man who has spent his entire adult life running. Not from the chaos that birthed him, but toward a standard of truth so rigorous that it exists only in the white lines of a football pitch. Omar was born in...
Omar Abdulkadir Artan, the first Somali referee ever selected for a FIFA World Cup, has been left out from the 2026 tournament after being denied entry into the United States. He arrived in Miami, was pulled aside for additional inspection and was ultimately deemed inadmissible due to what U.S. Artan told the New York Times...
Mogadishu (WDN)– The imprisonment of a disabled father of seven has sparked widespread public outrage and fierce condemnation, with many describing the move as a shocking abuse of power and a grave violation of human dignity. Targeting a vulnerable man struggling to support a large family reflects an alarming pattern of repression and disregard for...
Qardho (WDN)- Since his re-election as President of Puntland, President Said Abdullahi Deni has faced escalating public discontent amid worsening economic conditions, soaring unemployment, rampant corruption and an increasingly unbearable cost of living. At the same time, his administration has been tightening its grip on civic space through the intimidation of journalists, restrictions on independent...
Mogadishu (WDN) — A growing political controversy is raising uncomfortable questions about the use of foreign-supplied military assistance in Somalia, after Somali demonstrators protested outside the Turkish Consulate in Canada, accusing the Federal Government of deploying Turkish-provided military assets against political opponents rather than against Al-Shabaab militants. Carrying banners and placards, protesters urged Turkish authorities...
(Reuters) – The United States denied entry over the weekend to soccer referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who had been expected to be the first Somali to officiate at a World Cup match. A FIFA spokesperson said on Monday that Artan will not be able to train and officiate at the World Cup — which kicks...
GENEVA- The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) launched a joint Ebola response plan on Friday, requiring $518 million to contain a rapidly expanding outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and prevent further regional spread. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking after returning from...