Kasmaal  Independent Somali news and analysis website .

Kim Jong-un was pictured welcoming delegates to the dinner North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said he wants to “vigorously advance” closer ties with South Korea, according to state media. The report follows a rare visit to Pyongyang by senior South Korean officials, who had dinner with the normally reclusive leader. They are the first […]

Election posters in Rome. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP Italy’s general election has resulted in a hung parliament in which no single party or coalition commands an overall majority, leaving few options for any new government. The prospect of a grand coalition between Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy) party and the ruling centre-left Democratic Party, envisaged before […]

Donald Trump. Photo: DPA The German government warned Monday that a transatlantic trade war would harm both Europe and the US, urging Washington not to take a “wrong path” after a weekend of aggressive trade rhetoric. “I don’t want to judge how close to or far from a trade war we are. Such a trade […]

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) convoy seen crossing into eastern Ghoutanear Wafideen camp in Damascus [Omar Sanadiki/Reuters] A 46-truck aid convoy enters the rebel enclave, home to nearly 400,000 people, for the first time in three weeks.  humanitarian aid has begun entering Eastern Ghouta through the government-controlled Wafideen checkpoint for the first time […]

In 2017, the United States conducted twice as many airstrikes against al-Shabaab as it did in 2016 — 31 strikes compared to 15. Last week, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) launched an airstrike that killed two al-Shabaab members near Jilib, a longstanding stronghold of the Somali jihadist organization allied with al-Qaeda. Since the Trump administration  increased the military’s authorities to go […]

Trump’s long-awaited Mideast peace plan has yet to arrive, even as Palestinians and other critics insist it will be dead on arrival. (File photo: Reuters) President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reasons to celebrate but also ample cause for trepidation as they meet Monday at the White House. Trump’s long-awaited Mideast […]

FILE PHOTO SANA / REUTERS The Syrian leader vowed to continue the operation in eastern Ghouta, underlining its importance in the fight against terrorism. He said that it would be conducted in parallel with work on allowing civilians to leave the area “We will continue to fight terrorism… And the Ghouta operation is a continuation […]

© Ludovic Marin, AFP | French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian leavesthe presidential palaceafter a cabinet meeting on January 24 in Paris. Ahead of a visit to Tehran on Monday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Iran needed to address international concerns over its ballistic missile programme or it risked new sanctions. “There are […]

The United States Embassy in Ankara will be closed to the public on March 5 due to a security threat and only emergency services will be provided, a U.S. mission statement said late Sunday. The embassy advised U.S. citizens in Turkey to avoid large crowds and the embassy building and to be aware of their […]

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales speaks to the AIPAC Policy Conferencein Washington DC, March 4, 2018. (Courtesy) President Morales promises 18,000 pro-Israel advocates he’ll relocate his embassy to holy city two days after the US does, for Israel’s 70th WASHINGTON — Guatemala’s president told the AIPAC Policy Conference on Sunday night that he will move his […]