Kasmaal  Independent Somali news and analysis website .

The Security Council announced today its adoption of a resolution reauthorizing the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) until 31 December and maintaining its overall 19,626 uniformed personnel level ahead of the phased handover of responsibilities to Somali security forces, planned for later in 2021. Resolution 2568 (2021) — a comprehensive text adopted unanimously under Chapter VII of the […]

Police officers inspect the site after a car bomb blast in Herat province, Afghanistan, March 13, 2021. (Reuters Photo)  At least eight people died and 47 others were injured after a powerful car bomb went off in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, officials said Saturday. The death toll in the explosion late Friday that also destroyed […]

Schools, restaurants, shops and museums were ordered Friday to close across most of Italy from next week, after Prime Minister Mario Draghi warned of a “new wave” of coronavirus infections. Most of Italy is to effectively be placed under lockdown – in either the ‘red’ or ‘orange’ zone – from Monday, as the health ministry […]

 Rabat -Mar 12, 2021 – Morocco’s Health Ministry has ordered one million doses of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. Morocco’s Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb confirmed the news in a statement to the Spanish news agency EFE. COVID-19: Morocco Orders 1 Million Doses of Sputnik V Vaccine The Spanish news outlet reported on Thursday that Ait Taleb […]

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a prime-time address to the nation from the East Room of the White House March 11, 2021 in Washington, DC. © Alex Wong, Getty Images via AFP One year after the nation was brought to a near-standstill by the coronavirus, President Joe Biden used his first prime-time address Thursday night to […]

Many years ago I conducted an interview with a leader of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). At the time, Ethiopia’s Somali regional state was often referred to as ‘region 5’ or kilil amist. Pastoralist women and children displaced by drought collect water from a distribution point near the Farburo site for internally-displaced people in Gode, in […]

Thailand abruptly called off its Oxford vaccine rollout (Picture: EPA) Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday to investigate possible side effects. It came after a 49-year-old Austrian woman died of ‘severe blood coagulation problems’ after taking the jab. The press conference launching Thailand’s vaccine rollout was abruptly cancelled (Picture: […]

Sao Paulo [Brazil], March 11 (ANI): Amid an aggressive spread of the new COVID-19 strain from the Amazon in Brazil, a recent preliminary study has provided evidence that China’s CoronaVac, the country’s principal vaccine, might prove ineffective against the coronavirus variant. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the small-scale study comes as doctors have […]

Denmark has suspended the use of the Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine while it investigates possible serious side effects. A 49-year-old Austrian woman died of ‘severe blood coagulation problems’ after taking the jab, and three more cases of blood clotting issues have been reported in the country. The country is investigating whether the vaccine is linked with […]

Taiwan launching its office in Somaliland in August of 2020 (Facebook, MOFA photo)  TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Somaliland signed an agreement with Taiwan on March 3 to upgrade the digitalization of the East African country’s government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced Thursday (March 11). Taiwan’s opening of a representative office in the Somaliland capital […]