Abdirashid Duale is CEO of Dahabshiil and a proud Somalilander. Dahabshiil is one of the biggest international money transfer companies in the Horn of Africa and I caught up with him between trips (his, not mine) between London, Hargeisa (the capital of Somaliland) and Dubai – where Dahabshiil has its second main office. Duale himself [...]

Two Western journalists, including veteran American reporter Marie Colvin, were killed in intense shelling by President Bashar Assad’s regime in the central town of Homs on Wednesday, according to Syrian activists and the French government.
Activists said both were killed in the shelling of a makeshift media center in the hard-hit neighborhood of Baba Amr early [...]

January 19’s Soup with the Supe event began with a song and dance performed by students from Whittier elementary school. The kids sang in Somali before a crowd of mostly Somali parents and community members, who were gathered to share a meal and participate in a question and answer session with Minneapolis Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson.
The [...]

MOGADISHU — Ethiopian troops in battle tanks thrust into rebel-held Somalia regions Tuesday, sparking heavy fighting as they advanced towards the major Shebab stronghold of Baidoa, witnesses said.
The latest unrest erupted just two days before world powers meet at a London conference on the Horn of Africa nation, which is beset by a litany of [...]

TORONTO— The armed Islamist group Al-Shabab is increasingly recruiting Somali children, some as young as 10, forcing them to become fighters and wives, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Tuesday.
Its ranks dwindling following a spike in fighting, the al-Qaeda-affiliated group has turned to children to bolster its numbers, said the study, based on [...]

Returning to Somalia in 2011 after 19 years, and hearing the UN declare famine was heart-wrenching. We could see the evidence all around us in Dollow, which had become a transition post for Somalis en route to Ethiopia.
The women we spoke to referred repeatedly to gaajo (hunger). The local district commissioner urged us to increase [...]

TABDA, Somalia — An 80-year-old Somali woman fondly recalled her younger days. There was peace in Somalia then, and people in this town of Tabda in the arid scrublands of the country’s south did not rely on the mercy of others for food.
Khadra Muhamud Aden says food supplies to the area are running low because [...]

The World’s biggest refugee camp, Dadaab, in northeastern Kenya marks its 20th anniversary this year. The camp, which was set up to host 90,000 people, now shelters nearly one-half million refugees.
This United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) video presents a collage of photos and archive footage of Dadaab over the past 20 years. Early images of [...]

Maritime security officials have confirmed that MV Leila, built in 1973, was hijacked by Somali pirates last week. The International Maritime Bureau reports that the vessel was captured off Oman. The roll on/roll off cargo ship is owned and operated by UAE shipping company, New Port Cargo & Shipping. The captured ship is believed to [...]