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☆ Hit by floods and drought, quarter of Somali people at risk of 'crisis-level' hunger - WFP
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

GENEVA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - A quarter of Somalia's population is forecast to face "crisis-level hunger or worse" this year due to drought and floods caused by climate change, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday. "Livelihoods and lives are at risk, 4.3 million people – a quarter of the population – are forecast to face crisis-level hunger or worse by the end of this year," said Petroc Wilton, WFP spokesperson for Somalia. "This bombardment of climate shocks, from drought to floods, will prolong the hunger crisis in Somalia. In Somalia's Dolow district, homes are abandoned and roads have turned into rivers. Farxhan Ali Abdulle, a shop owner in the town of Dolow on the border with Ethiopia, said no supplies were coming in.

Persons: Petroc Wilton, Farxhan Ali Abdulle, Feisal Omar, Timaade Hussein Abdi, Wilton, Muhidin Abdullahi, Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Bhargav, Nick Macfie, Alex Richardson Organizations: Food Programme, United Nations, REUTERS, Humanitarian Affairs, Reuters, Thomson Locations: GENEVA, Somalia, East Africa, Dolow, Ethiopia, Juba, Gedo, Jubaland State, Luuq

☆ Somalia bans TikTok, Telegram and 1XBet over 'horrific' content, misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Residents gather outside the Pearl Beach Restaurant following an attack by Al Shabaab militants at the Liido beach in Mogadishu, Somalia June 10, 2023. REUTERS/Feisal Omar/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOGADISHU, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Somalia has banned TikTok, messaging app Telegram and online-betting website 1XBet to limit the spread of indecent content and propaganda, its communications minister said. Members of insurgent group al Shabaab often post about their activities on TikTok and Telegram. The decision comes days after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said a military offensive against al Shabaab aims to eliminate the al Qaeda-linked group in the next five months. TikTok, Telegram and 1XBet did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Persons: Al Shabaab, Feisal Omar, Jama Hassan Khalif, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, 1XBet, TikTok, Abdi Sheikh, George Obulutsa, Devika Organizations: Pearl, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Mogadishu, Somalia, Rights MOGADISHU, Shabaab, TikTok, United States, Montana

☆ U.S. forecaster sees 95% chance of El Nino prevailing through winter
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Earlier in the day, Japan's weather bureau forecast the chances of an El Nino through the northern hemisphere winter at 90%. The World Meterological Organization had in May warned that the weather pattern could contribute to rising global temperatures. "In July, El Niño continued as indicated by above-average sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific Ocean," the CPC said. Given recent developments, forecasters are more confident in a "strong" El Nino event, with roughly two in three odds of temperatures rising by about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) or more in November-January, it added. It was also expected to bring drier weather across West Africa, South-East Asia and northern South America, and wetter conditions to southern South America in the second half of the year.

Persons: Feisal Omar, El Niño, El Nino, Brijesh Patel, Anjana Anil, Seher Dareen, Bernadette Baum, Mark Potter Organizations: El Nino, REUTERS, Meterological Organization, CPC, El, India, Thomson Locations: Marodijeex, Hargeysa, Somalia's, Somaliland, U.S, Pacific, El, El Nino, Asia, Africa, West Africa, South, East Asia, South America, Bengaluru

CNN —Six civilians and three security force members were killed in a late-night attack by militant fighters on a beachside hotel in the Somalian capital Mogadishu, state media report. Shattered window panes could be seen at the site of the attack, as well as blood stains and debris. Feisal Omar/ReutersAl-Shabaab is the largest and most active al-Qaeda network in the world, according to the US Africa Command. The group controlled a vast area of Somalia before being pushed back by government counteroffensives since last year, according to Reuters. US forces have conducted numerous strikes in Somalia that have resulted in dozens of Al-Shabaab casualties, including one that killed 30 Al-Shabaab fighters in January, and three others in February that killed a total of 24 soldiers.

Persons: ” SONNA, Omar, counteroffensives, Al Organizations: CNN —, Security, Pearl, Somali National News Agency, African Union, Reuters, US Africa Command Locations: Somalian, Mogadishu, Al, Shabaab, Lido Beach, Somalia

[1/5] A Somali police officer uses his cell phone inside the rubble of the Pearl Beach Restaurant following an attack by Al Shabaab militants at the Liido beach in Mogadishu, Somalia June 10, 2023. REUTERS/Feisal OmarMOGADISHU, June 9 (Reuters) - Nine people were killed in an attack claimed by al Shabaab Islamist militants at an upmarket restaurant in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday night, police said. Those killed at the popular Pearl restaurant were six civilians and three soldiers, police said in a statement. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab said it was behind the attack. Al Shabaab controlled a vast area of Somalia before being pushed back in government counteroffensives since last year.

Persons: Al Shabaab, Omar MOGADISHU, al, Abdikadir Abdirahman, Hussein Mohamed, Shabaab, Abdi Sheikh, Feisal Omar, Jose Joseph, George Obulutsa, William Mallard, Frances Kerry Organizations: Pearl, REUTERS, Security, Somali National News Agency, Twitter, Mujahideen, Thomson Locations: Somali, Mogadishu, Somalia, al Shabaab, Shabaab, Lido Beach, Al Qaeda

☆ Somalia says it will revert to direct vote for officials starting next year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOGADISHU, May 28 (Reuters) - Somalia will start electing its president and other officials by direct vote next year, the government announced on Sunday, ending a system of indirect voting in the Horn of Africa country that has endured three decades of conflict and clan battles. "Starting next year, there will be a one person, one vote election held every five years," said a statement tweeted by Somalia's state media SONNA. "The Premier post will be abolished and replaced with a presidential system where the president and vice president are elected directly by the people on a single ticket." The decision was reached after a four-day meeting in the capital Mogadishu, chaired by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Reporting by Feisal Omar and Abdiqani Hassani Writing by Elias Biryabarema Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ At least five injured after blast at mayor's office in Mogadishu
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Somali policemen prepare to take their positions near the mayor's office following a blast in Mogadishu, Somalia January 22, 2023. REUTERS/Feisal OmarMOGADISHU, Jan 22 (Reuters) - At least five people were injured in a blast on Sunday at the gates of the mayor's office in Somalia's capital Mogadishu and gunfire continued to sound, a member of the ambulance service and a witness said. Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance Services, told Reuters that ambulance staff had so far evacuated five injured people from the scene of the blast. "We were in the office and we were deafened by a blast, we ran out, gunfire followed," Farah Abdullahi, who works in the mayor's office, told Reuters. The mayor's office is located in the local government headquarters building in a well guarded area of Mogadishu.

☆ From Ukraine to Yemen, UN seeks record $51.5 bln for 'shockingly high' aid needs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The appeal represents a 25% increase on 2022 and is more than five times the amount sought a decade ago. "Humanitarian needs are shockingly high, as this year's extreme events are spilling into 2023," said U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, citing the war in Ukraine and drought in the Horn of Africa. But donor funding is already under strain with the multiple crises, forcing aid workers to make tough decisions on priorities. Unlike in other parts of the U.N. where fees depend on countries' economic size, humanitarian funding is voluntary and relies overwhelmingly on Western donations.

☆ Militants attack hotel used by officials in Somalia's capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOGADISHU, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Islamist militants attacked a hotel used by government officials in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Sunday evening, police and witnesses said. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, which controls large swathes of the country, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement that it was targeting the nearby presidential palace. Security forces were responding to an attack by al Shabaab on a hotel in the capital's Bondhere district, state broadcaster SNTV said on Twitter. The assailants stormed the Villa Rose hotel, which is close to the presidential palace, two police officers told Reuters. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected earlier this year, has been carrying out a military offensive against al Shabaab.

☆ Somalia president: at least 100 people killed in car bombs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A general view shows the scene of an explosion near the education ministry building along K5 street in Mogadishu, Somalia October 29, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal OmarMOGADISHU, Oct 30 (Reuters) - At least 100 people were killed and 300 injured in two car bombs that exploded outside the education ministry in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Saturday, the country's president said in a statement early on Sunday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, although the president blamed the Islamist group al Shabaab. The first of the explosions hit the education ministry near a busy junction in Mogadishu. The attack took place at the same place as Somalia's largest bombing, which killed more than 500, in the same month in 2017.

☆ Somalia blast hits Kismayu hotel, gunfire heard - police
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The state-run Somali National Television said on Twitter security forces were dealing with a "terrorist incident" at the hotel, which al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab has taken responsibility for. "There is a blast at Tawakal hotel and there is gunfire being heard," Mohamed Nur, a police captain, told Reuters from Kismayu. "The security forces have besieged the scene," Farah Ali, a shopkeeper in Kismayu, told Reuters. Kismayu is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by al Shabaab. Al Shabaab was driven out of Kismayu in 2012.

☆ One child a minute being admitted for malnutrition treatment in Somalia: UNICEF
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Hajira Ali, a Somali woman displaced by the worsening drought due to failed rain seasons, holds her malnourished child Farhia Hassan, 2, at the paediatric ward in the Banadir Hospital of Mogadishu, Somalia September 24, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal OmarLONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - One child is being admitted for medical treatment for malnutrition every minute in Somalia as severe drought threatens to cause the deaths of children on a scale not seen in half a century, a spokesperson for UNICEF said on Tuesday. The situation in Somalia already looks worse now than in 2011, the spokesperson told a briefing in Geneva, when famine killed more than 250,000 people in the Horn of Africa country. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Matthias Williams Editing by Madeline ChambersOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The United Nations warned at the beginning of September that two districts were projected to face famine between October and December, with more than half a million children in Somalia at risk of dying from malnutrition. A previous screening in June and July found 28.6% of children in the camps were suffering from acute malnutrition, including 10.2% with severe cases. The last four rainy seasons in the Horn of Africa region have failed, making this the worst drought in 40 years. An IPC Famine Review Committee of four to six independent experts is responsible for approving any famine declaration. In Somalia's last famine in 2011, half of the more than 250,000 victims were later determined to have died before the famine was officially declared.

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