As the Somali team prepares for Rio, the memory of this 21-year-old – who died trying to find safety and coaching in Europe – looms large Samia Yusuf Omar competes in the women’s 200m heats in Beijing, 2008. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images Teresa Krug n 2008, a thin 17-year-old Somali athlete settled in to her...
November 14, 2026
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Somalia urged to pass law banning ‘horrendous’ FGM
BY EMMA BATHA LONDON, Somalia’s next government should ensure a law is passed banning all forms of female genital mutilation (FGM), a U.N. official said on Tuesday, describing the deeply entrenched practice as a “horrendous rights violation”. Somalia has the world’s highest rate of FGM with 98 percent of women between 15 and 49 having...
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In Debt to Turkey, Somalia Shuts Network Tied to Fethullah Gulen
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Barely 12 hours after a failed coup in Turkey, Somalia’s cabinet met to consider a request from Turkey to shut down two schools and a hospital linked to Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric whom the Turkish president blames for the attempted coup. The influence of Turkey in Somalia, where it has spearheaded...
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Black lives matter protests spread to Canada following death of Somali immigrant
Protests follow death of Somali in Canada CREDIT: PATRICK COYLE/REUTERS More than 500 people rallied in Canada’s capital on Saturday to protest the death of a mentally ill black man following an arrest, marching against what they see as race-based police brutality in a country that prides itself for being tolerant. Abdirahman Abdi, 37, died...
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Muslim female athletes find sport so essential they compete while covered
By Chuck Culpepper MISHREF, Kuwait — On a perfectly breathable Friday near sunset in the spring, you might have spotted what residents say you never would have spotted 10 years ago: women, here and there, on the pathways that twist near a sports park, walking briskly or jogging, in their abayas. Look more carefully, and...
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Turkey’s anti-Gulen crackdown ripples far and wide
MOGADISHU | BY ABDI SHEIKH U.S. based cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 29, 2016. REUTERS/CHARLES MOSTOLLER Barely 12 hours after a failed coup in Turkey, Somalia’s cabinet met in Mogadishu to consider a request from Ankara to shut down two schools and a hospital linked to Fethullah Gulen, the...
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Somaliland on the warpath once again
By Osman Hassan Once again, the one-clan secessionist renegade enclave, calling itself Somaliland, has crossed all red lines in its continuing aggressions against the rest of Somalia and above all those in the unionist regions in the north (former British Somaliland). Having already occupied much of the unionist regions of Sool, Cayn and southern Sanaag...
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Kenya: Disappearances, Deaths in Northeast
Nairobi – Kenyan security forces have forcibly disappeared at least 34 people in the past two years during abusive counterterrorism operations in Nairobi and in northeastern Kenya, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Kenyan authorities should end the abuses in counterterrorism operations and promptly investigate the enforced disappearances and deaths of detainees...
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Ethiopia’s relationship with Egypt, Sudan not confined to Nile water: ambassador
By Menna Alaa El-Din Ethiopian Ambassador to Egypt Mahmoud Dreier Ethiopia’s relationship with Egypt and Sudan is not confined to just to issues relating to Nile water rights, Ethiopian Ambassador to Egypt said in an Egyptian TV interview Monday. In an interview with the private TV station Al-Nahar, Ambassador Mahmoud Dreier said that the relationship...
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A letter to an 11-year-old Aids activist who shamed South Africa’s president
As Durban hosts the international Aids conference again, Anso Thom remembers Nkosi Johnson, whose speech in 2000 criticised Thabo Mbeki’s government in front of thousands Nkosi Johnson, the South African boy who became an icon in Africa’s struggle against HIV/Aids. Photograph: Juda Ngwenya/Reuters Anso Thom Dear Nkosi, It has been 15 years since you died....