Semi-autonomous state of Puntland refuses to recognise changes to the fragile country’s constitution and has withdrawn from the federal system An overhaul of Somalia’s constitution, scrapping its power-sharing system and handing the president increased control, is threatening to destabilise the fragile country, as its wealthiest and most stable state refuses to recognise the changes. The amendments risk worsening violence, the information minister from the semi-autonomous state of Puntland has warned. Mohamud Aidid Dirir told the Guardian that “almost a totally new constitution” had been intro ..read more

With the disease raging in 23 countries and no vaccine stocks, Zambia and the WHO propose a way to stop the deaths In the 1840s, a prominent health notion of the time – the “miasma theory” – suggested that bad smells and bad air led to people contracting diseases such as cholera and the Black Death. By the end of the decade, more than 50,000 deaths had been recorded in England and Wales. In 1849 John Snow – a young physician considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology – had become sceptical of the prevailing theory and suggested that contaminated water may instead be the main form of ..read more

Bulgarian-owned MV Ruen was hijacked in December 2023 in rare recent case of Somali piracy India’s navy said it recaptured a ship from Somali pirates off the Indian coast on Saturday, rescuing the crew and ending a three-month takeover of the bulk carrier MV Ruen. The hijacking in December 2023 was the first time since 2017 any cargo vessel had been successfully boarded by Somali pirates ..read more

Paris Club of creditor nations agree cancellation as Mogadishu moves towards financial normalisation amid ongoing conflict The Paris Club, a collection of some of the world’s wealthiest creditor nations, has announced the cancellation of 99% of Somalia’s debt, in a major boost as the country continues its fragile economic recovery from an ongoing three-decade conflict. In a statement released by the Paris Club, which is run by senior officials from the French Treasury, Somalia’s creditors, including the US, UK, Russia, Norway, and Japan, announced the cancellation of $2bn owed to club members ..read more

Human development report finds the pandemic, conflict, globalisation and populism have combined to disproportionately affect lower-income countries The gulf between rich and poor countries continues to grow, according to the UN, furthering the reversal of a 20-year trend where the gap steadily shrank until 2020. The latest human development report found that although each of the 38 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries has recovered from the Covid pandemic, only half of the least-developed countries have done so ..read more

Polish film-maker Vita Maria Drygas’s new documentary, Danger Zone, follows ‘dark tourists’ such as Andrew Drury into conflict areas. They talk about adrenaline, desperation – and interviewing Shamima Begum In 2014, Vita Maria Drygas was filming in a war zone. She had travelled to the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to pick up footage for a documentary when she spotted a handwritten advert offering “cheap” tours of the frontline. “It was a mindfuck,” says the 39-year-old Polish director over a video call from Warsaw, with quiet intensity. She found the idea of people buying tickets to the fro ..read more

Police name husbands as suspects in separate deaths of women, two of whom were pregnant The deaths of three women in one week, all allegedly murdered by their husbands, has caused outrage in Somalia and sparked days of protests over the country’s femicide rates. Police have named the suspects in all three killings, which took place in the first week of February, as the dead women’s husbands. Two of the victims were pregnant. Even in a country where – after more than three decades of conflict – death and violence are part of everyday life, there have been demonstrations in the capital, Mogadish ..read more

Activists will cross the continent visiting areas where the practice is prevalent to revive progress in protecting women and girls African female genital mutilation survivors will lead thousands of campaigners in a two-year “caravan campaign” across the continent, calling for an end to the practice. Organised by #FrontlineEndingFGM, a group of grassroots activists and organisations in Africa will cover about 7,400 miles (12,000km) across 20 countries, including Nigeria, Sudan and Cameroon ..read more

Republicans, rightwing figures and foreign politicians have seized upon the video despite proof the lawmaker was misquoted A week after a mistranslated clip of Ilhan Omar sparked outrage online, some far-right House Republicans are still following through with calls for the progressive lawmaker to be censured. And the repercussions of the misinformation extend beyond the country. The Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, has gone furthest in her response to the clip, calling Omar a “foreign agent in our government”. Greene, a leading supporter of Donald Trump, who also attempted to ..read more

New show will follow Question Time format answering audience questions on taboo subjects from periods to women in politics Somalia’s only all-female media team, Bilan, is launching the country’s first TV current affairs show to be hosted by a woman. The debate show, which plans to address some taboo subjects, will also be the first programme on Somali television to have a panel of at least 50% women, and the first to broach contentious topics, such as a critical shortage of female teachers and the challenges faced by women trying to get into politics, as well as environmental issues ..read more