BY AMATULLAH Allah has given a special status to certain days, months, places, and people. The Prophets of God are the most honored among mankind; Makkah is the holiest of all cities; Ramadan is the best month; and the Night of Power (Laylatul Qadr) is the greatest night of the year. Allah says in the Qur’an: إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِندَ اللّهِ اثْنَا...
May 31, 2026
Sudan says Ethiopian forces crossed border, raising tensions
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Ethiopian forces crossed into Sudanese territory in an act of “aggression”, Sudan’s foreign ministry said on Sunday, marking the latest flare-up in a long-standing border dispute. “Ethiopia’s trespass into Sudanese land is an unfortunate and unacceptable escalation, which could have dangerous repercussions on security and stability in the region,” the Sudanese foreign ministry said in a statement....
OGOW means ‘to know’: Canadian man helping Somalis understand COVID-19
By Fakiha Baig EDMONTON – Before Canadian Khalid Hashi and his team began their work in Somalia, the country of about 15 million people who mostly speak Somali and Arabic only had information about COVID-19 in one language. “It was all in English,” says the Somali-Canadian, who was born in Ontario and raised in Edmonton. The 30-year-old says he travelled to...
Ethiopian Politicians in Hunger Strike Urge End to Impasse
Samuel Gebre and Simon Marks Time is “running out” to resolve an impasse with imprisoned Ethiopian opposition leaders who’ve spent almost three weeks without food, according to a lawyer for one of the key figures behind the protest. Media mogul Jawar Mohammed’s representative said the hunger strike was endangering the inmates’ lives and urged the government to seek a quick...
Somalia’s old problems confound President Farmaajo
By Aggrey Mutambo Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo may have promised many things when he became Somalia president on February 8, 2017. However, the one giving him sleepless nights is failure to deliver universal suffrage. His constitutional four-year term ended on Monday but the country had not held elections for lawmakers or tested his bid for a second term. Farmaajo remains in office...
Ethiopia’s secret war in Tigray region: Ethnic killings, rapes, near-starvation reported
If the fighting doesn’t end soon, an American woman with family in the region said, “we’ll be left without families” By Brie Stimson Many women have “conclusively and without a doubt” been raped in the Tigray region, home to Ethiopia’s secretive conflict – which may have left tens of thousands of civilians dead – the country’s minister for women said Thursday in a rare government admission of its...
Gunmen kill 3 women in Somali capital
Mohammed Dhaysane and Magdalene Mukami MOGADISHU, Somalia, Unidentified gunmen shot dead three women, two of whom were pregnant, in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Sunday, police said. In a statement, the law enforcers said the incident took place in the volatile Daynile district, and that further investigations are underway. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but police suspect al-Qaeda...
The President’s last decision
By AbdiQani Badar The recent Dhuusamareb meeting between the president, the prime minister and six regional leaders has provided enough evidence that President M. C. M. Farmaajo, his Prime Minister M. X. Rooble and four other regional leaders – A. C. K. Qoorqoor, C. H. M. Laftagareen, C. M. M. Filish and C. C. X. Guudlaawe – are willing to...
Raadraac: Soddon Sano Ka Dib Maxaa Lagu Xasuusan Doonaa Dawladdii Kacaanka?
Barnaamijka Raadraac waxaan ku soo qaadan doonaa iyadoo hadda laga joogo 30 sanno xilligii ay burburtay xukuumaddii Kacaanka, guud ahaanba xaaladdii waddanku ku sugnaa muddadii ay xilka hayasay iyo sababihii burburka keenay. Waxaa arrimaas ku falanqayn doona barnaamijka Qoraaga Siciid Jaamac Xuseen, waxaana iskudubbariday idinlana socodsiin doona Khaliil Cabdiraxmaan Xasan ee dhgeysi wacan.
Ethiopian Journalist Attacked in Her Home, Questioned on Tigray Connections
By Salem Solomon Freelance journalist Lucy Kassa was working on a story at her home in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Monday morning when she heard a knock at the door. “I opened and there were three men. They knocked me down and they entered the home,” Lucy told VOA. “They didn’t introduce themselves, they didn’t show me any kind of...