Kathryn Blaze Baum Windows locked shut, the cell was stifling and smelled of urine and feces. There were about 20 women crammed into a space half the size of a standard hotel room; one of them was pregnant, another held her infant son. It was there, detained at a police station in Somaliland, that Canadian...
November 14, 2026
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Reports: Somalia arrests UAE spy network
Somali authorities are reported to have arrested a spy network working for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Only Twitter users report the news, quoting a local intelligence source. Earlier this year, Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Issa Awad said that his country’s relations with the UAE are not at the level they should. In an interview...
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Translator for the FBI accused of lying about hearing his own voice on a wiretap
By Rachel Weine Rachel Weiner Local reporter covering federal court in Alexandria, Va. and local court in Arlington and Alexandria. Email Bio Follow Abdirizak Jaji Raghe Wehelie worked as a contractor for the FBI, translating wiretapped conversations. Then, according to prosecutors in federal court in Alexandria, Va., he heard his own voice on the other...
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BBC Somali Service; journalists struggling with their own language
By Abdi Yusuf “Great journalism will always attract readers. The words, pictures and graphics that are the stuff of journalism have to be brilliantly packaged; they must feed the mind and move the heart”. Rupert Murdoch I have been a diehard fan of the BBC Somali Service for a long time, but I am about...
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Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway brings people closer
By Zhang Xiaohe Africa’s first standard-gauge electrified railroad began operating in January 2018. The Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway Line stretches 752 kilometers, from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to the Red Sea port of Djibouti. The trains travel at speeds about 120 kilometers per hour, reducing the journey time from three days by road to about 12...
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Sports Illustrated features first burkini girl
By Rozina Sini A Somali-American supermodel has become the first Muslim model to appear in Sports Illustrated wearing a burkini. Halima Aden is featured in its annual swimsuit issue in the swimwear which covers the entire body except the face, hands and feet. “Young girls who wear a hijab should have women they look up...
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‘Better to kill us’: Ethiopian residents fear evictions from satellite towns
Tom Gardner SULULTA, Ethiopia, Last month, local officials strolled through a neighborhood on the fringes of Sululta, several kilometers north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Flanked by policemen, they daubed red crosses on homes and pinned notices on doors. The notices – a copy of which was obtained by the Thomson Reuters Foundation –...
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Two Canadian women detained in Somaliland and sentenced to 40 lashes have been freed
Steven Chase & Geoffrey York Two Canadian women detained in Somaliland since January have now been freed, according to sources. Maymona Abdi, 28, and Karima Watts, 23, were arrested by police more than three months ago in Hargeisa, the most populous city in Somaliland. They had faced the prospect of 40 lashes each as part...
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Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein probe ‘labor abuses’ in Ethiopian factories
Amy Woodyatt LONDON, Fashion giant PVH, which owns Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, said it will investigate reports that Ethiopian workers who make clothes for their high-street stores routinely face verbal abuse and discrimination and earn as little as 12 cents per hour. Workers in PVH supplier factories in Ethiopia are also forced to do...
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Female Uber drivers in Saudi Arabia can now choose their passengers’ gender
Emma Day In a bid to get more women behind the wheel, Uber has introduced an exclusive new feature for its female drivers in Saudi Arabia. Female motorists for the ride-hailing app now have the option to connect with female-only passengers, as part of the just-launched Women Preferred View option. It’s the first feature of...