Somalia vows to defend sovereignty after Ethiopia-Somaliland deal

Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud addresses the parliament regarding the Ethiopia-Somaliland port deal, in Mogadishu, Somalia January 2, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 03 January 2024
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Somalia vows to defend sovereignty after Ethiopia-Somaliland deal

  • Ethiopia was cut off from the coast after Eritrea seceded and declared independence in 1993 following a three-decade war

MOGADISHU: Somalia vowed on Tuesday to defend its territory by “any legal means” and recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia after Addis Ababa struck a controversial deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland.
Mogadishu branded Monday’s surprise pact that gives Ethiopia long-sought access to the Red Sea a “clear violation” of its sovereignty and appealed to the international community to stand by its side.
The Addis Ababa deal was announced only days after Somalia’s central government had agreed to resume dialogue with the separatist northern region after years of stalemate.
Somaliland has been seeking full statehood since claiming independence from Somalia in 1991, a move fiercely opposed by Mogadishu and not recognized internationally.
The “historic” memorandum of understanding signed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland leader Muse Bihi Abdi gives Ethiopia access to the Red Sea port of Berbera and a military base.

BACKGROUND

The Somali government said it was appealing to the United Nations, African Union, the Arab League and regional East African grouping IGAD among others ‘to stand with the right for Somalia to defend its sovereignty and force Ethiopia to adhere to international laws.’

“Somaliland is part of Somalia under the Somali constitution, so Somalia finds this step to be a clear violation against its sovereignty and unity,” the Somali Cabinet said in a statement.
It said the agreement was “null and void with no legal basis and Somalia will not accept it.”
“In response to this, the Somali government has recalled its ambassador in Ethiopia for consultation.”
The government also said it was appealing to the United Nations, African Union, the Arab League and regional East African grouping IGAD among others “to stand with the right for Somalia to defend its sovereignty and force Ethiopia to adhere to international laws.”
In an address to the nation, Prime Minister Barre called for the people of Somalia to stay calm.
“I want to assure you that we are committed to defending the country, we will not allow an inch of land, sea and skies to be violated,” he said.
“We will defend our land with any legal means possible ... We must unite and forget about our differences to defend our land, integrity and sovereignty.”
There was no immediate comment from the Ethiopian government to Somalia’s reaction.
The deal comes months after Abiy said his country, Africa’s second most populous, would assert its right to access the Red Sea, sparking concerns among its neighbors.
Ethiopia was cut off from the coast after Eritrea seceded and declared independence in 1993 following a three-decade war.
Addis Ababa had maintained access to a port in Eritrea until the two countries went to war in 1998-2000, and since then Ethiopia funnels most of its trade through Djibouti.
Ethiopia’s economy has been constrained by its lack of access to the Red Sea, a narrow strip of water between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
On the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, the port of Berbera offers an African base at the gateway to the Red Sea and further north to the Suez canal.
Abiy’s national security adviser Redwan Hussein said Ethiopia would have access to a leased military base on the Red Sea as part of the agreement.
It was not clear when the pact would take effect.
In 2018, Ethiopia acquired a 19-percent stake in the Berbera port, according to Dubai-based DP World, which manages the port’s operations.
The company itself holds a 51-percent stake, while Somaliland has the remaining 30 percent.
On Friday, Somalia and Somaliland agreed to resume dialogue after two days of talks mediated by Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, the first of their kind since 2020 when similar negotiations stalled.
The deal was welcomed by IGAD, which Somalia joined only in November, and the British Embassy which described it as a “vital step toward reconciliation.”
Somaliland, a former British protectorate with 4.5 million people, prints its own currency, issues its own passports and elects its own government.
Although Somaliland has often been seen as a beacon of stability in the chaotic Horn of Africa region, its quest for statehood has gone unrecognized internationally, leaving it poor and isolated.
Political tensions also surfaced there last year, spilling over into deadly violence.


Although Somaliland has often been seen as a beacon of stability in the chaotic Horn of Africa region, its quest for statehood has gone unrecognized internationally, leaving it poor and isolated.
Political tensions also surfaced there last year, spilling over into deadly violence.

 


Trump says would concede defeat ‘if it’s a fair election’

Updated 12 sec ago
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Trump says would concede defeat ‘if it’s a fair election’

  • Donald Trump: ‘If I lose an election, if it’s a fair election, I would be the first one to acknowledge it’
  • Trump: ‘Of course there’ll be no violence. My supporters are not violent people’
WEST PALM BEACH, United States: US Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said he would be prepared to concede defeat after Tuesday’s vote “if it’s a fair election,” while again raising concerns about the use of electronic voting machines.
“If I lose an election, if it’s a fair election, I would be the first one to acknowledge it... So far I think it’s been fair,” Trump, repeating a caveat that he has used many times on the campaign trail, told reporters after voting in Florida.
Wearing a red “Make America Great Again” cap, he reiterated his previous criticism of electronic voting machines, suggesting they were less secure than paper ballots and would delay the outcome being known.
“They spend all this money on machines... If they would use paper ballots, voter ID, proof of citizenship, and one-day voting, it would all be over by 10 o’clock in the evening. It’s crazy,” he told reporters in West Palm Beach.
He added: “Do you know that paper is more sophisticated now than computers? If it’s watermarked paper you cannot... It’s unbelievable what happens with it. There’s nothing you can do to cheat.”
Asked about fears of unrest after the election and whether he would call on supporters to avoid violence, he criticized the question.
“I don’t have to tell them that, that there’ll be no violence. Of course there’ll be no violence. My supporters are not violent people,” Trump said.

‘Lost faith’: Michigan Muslims shun Harris over Mideast turmoil

Updated 2 min 24 sec ago
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‘Lost faith’: Michigan Muslims shun Harris over Mideast turmoil

  • Dearborn, a Detroit suburb famous as the birthplace of Henry Ford and the home of Ford Motor Company's headquarters, has a population of around 110,000, with 55 percent of residents claiming Middle Eastern or North African heritage

DEARBORN, United States: Haunted by the daily violence ravaging the Middle East, Soujoud Hamade, a registered Democrat, felt compelled to back Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the US presidential election.
"It is very emotional," the 32-year-old real estate lawyer told AFP after casting her ballot Tuesday at a school in Dearborn, the nation's largest Arab-majority city, where voters could prove decisive in the key battleground of Michigan.
"Every time I watch the news or get on social media, I see my people being decimated, I see my home country being destroyed," added the Lebanese-American, disillusioned by the Biden-Harris administration's unwavering support for Israel.
Hamade says she's clear-eyed about the two-way nature of the race between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.
Still, she insists her vote is far more than just a protest.
She's banking on helping Stein crack five percent of the national popular vote, a threshold that would unlock future federal funding for the Green Party and "move the needle forward" toward breaking the two-party hold on US politics.
Dearborn, a Detroit suburb famous as the birthplace of Henry Ford and the home of Ford Motor Company's headquarters, has a population of around 110,000, with 55 percent of residents claiming Middle Eastern or North African heritage.
The city overwhelmingly backed President Joe Biden in 2020, helping him narrowly flip Michigan blue.
But recent polling shows a shift away from the Democratic Party among Muslim and Arab-Americans.
That trend was evident in conversations with voters around the city on Election Day.

Stein, a Jewish physician and the Green Party's perennial left-wing candidate is predicted to do well among Muslims, as well as progressives and youth voters nationwide -- potentially acting as a spoiler for Harris.
"She's the only one who's anti-genocide," said Muhammad Hijazi, a 28-year-old engineer who described himself as a "single-issue voter" who had previously voted Democrat but had now "lost faith."
The Democrats, he argued, don't have a plan to bring peace to the Middle East, and he doesn't trust Trump to do any better.
Yet signs suggest Trump, too, may fare better than in past cycles. Unlike Harris, he visited Dearborn, addressing a modest-sized audience last week.
His outreach to Michigan's Muslim community secured endorsements from the Muslim mayors of Hamtramck and Dearborn Heights, while his newfound connection to the community -- through Lebanese-American son-in-law Michael Boulos, husband of Tiffany Trump -- has further endeared him.
Harris' decision to campaign with former Republican Liz Cheney, a staunch supporter of the Iraq War, was the final straw for Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi, he told Trump supporters at the former president's final Michigan rally.
Charles Fawaz, a 29-year-old first-grade teacher of Lebanese descent who voted for Trump, told AFP he was impressed that the former president "showed up."
"When Trump was president, everything was fine with our foreign policy because other leaders respected our country," Fawaz said.
Even if Trump doesn't deliver on Middle Eastern peace, he hopes Republicans will manage the economy better.
Former Democrats here say they know some liberals will blame them if Harris loses, but they reject the accusation.
"To put the onus on Arab Americans to vote for someone who's directly contributing to the genocide of other people is outrageous," Hamade said.
 

 


Spain unveils $11 billion aid plan after catastrophic floods

Updated 18 min 15 sec ago
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Spain unveils $11 billion aid plan after catastrophic floods

  • Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a series of measures including aid to small and midsize businesses, self-employed workers and households
  • Tax relief and a three-month postponement to repaying mortgages and loans were also among the announcements

VALENCIA: Spain on Tuesday announced an aid package worth 10.6 billion euros ($11.5 billion) to rebuild regions devastated by its worst floods in a generation that have killed 219 people.
The exceptional Mediterranean storm that lashed eastern Spain a week ago triggered surging torrents of muddy water that have left a trail of destruction and an unknown number of missing.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a series of measures including aid to small and midsize businesses, self-employed workers and households that have suffered deaths, incapacity and damage to homes and belongings.
Tax relief and a three-month postponement to repaying mortgages and loans were also among the announcements, which Sanchez likened to the state’s intervention during the Covid-19 pandemic to protect the economy and livelihoods.
The government would take on all emergency spending by local councils linked to clearing mud, debris and ruined property and restoring drinking water, Sanchez told a news conference.
Spain has also requested aid from the EU solidarity fund, he added.
Security forces and emergency services personnel are working around the clock to repair damaged infrastructure, distribute aid and search for bodies in Spain’s largest peacetime deployment of its armed forces.
Sanchez said almost 15,000 troops, police officers and civil guards were in the eastern Valencia region that has suffered most of the deaths and destruction, up from 7,300 on Saturday.
Firefighters combed through piles of damaged vehicles and pumped water from inundated garages and car parks where more victims may be discovered, AFP journalists saw.
Maribel Albalat, mayor of the ground-zero town of Paiporta, told public broadcaster TVE they were doing “better, but not well” with many streets still inaccessible and residents struggling to get a phone signal.
Rescuers in the southeastern town of Letur have found one of the missing bodies they were looking for, announced the central government’s representative in the Castilla-La Mancha region, Pedro Antonio Ruiz.
Two Chinese citizens, two Romanians and an Ecuadorian are among the dead, authorities in those countries have said. The floods also claimed three British victims, UK media have reported.
Many survivors are furious with the authorities for failing to warn the population on time last Tuesday and provide urgent rescue and relief work.
That anger reached a breaking point in Paiporta on Sunday when crowds heckled and hurled mud at King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Sanchez.
The outrage was also palpable in Valencia — Spain’s third-largest city that was unharmed despite being a stone’s throw from the hardest-hit zones — when AFP visited on Tuesday.
Local humorist Jose Antonio Lopez-Guitian, 61, had just returned from the town of Massanassa with his boots covered in mud and said residents were left to fend for themselves.
The situation was “a national disgrace” and “a dereliction of duty by all the institutions,” he said.
The floods affected more than 4,100 hectares (10,100 acres), the civil protection service said on X, using a map provided by the European Union’s Copernicus satellite.
Storms coming off the Mediterranean are common during this season. But scientists have warned that human-induced climate change is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of extreme weather events.
“Climate change kills... we have to adapt to this reality,” Sanchez said at his news conference, lashing out at the “irresponsible discourse of deniers.”


Two UK mpox cases first local transmission in Europe: WHO

Updated 05 November 2024
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Two UK mpox cases first local transmission in Europe: WHO

  • The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed late Monday that the two new cases were household contacts of Britain’s first case identified last week
  • The WHO warned that European states should be prepared for “rapid action” to contain the latest mpox variant

LONDON: Two new cases of the mpox variant clade 1b detected in the UK are the first locally transmitted cases in Europe and the first outside Africa, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed late Monday that the two new cases were household contacts of Britain’s first case identified last week, bringing the country’s total confirmed cases to three.
The WHO warned that European states should be prepared for “rapid action” to contain the latest mpox variant, which spreads through close physical contact including sexual relations and sharing closed spaces.
The two cases are also the first to be locally transmitted outside Africa since August 2024, when the WHO declared the outbreak of the new variant an international public health emergency — its highest level of alarm.
Those affected are under specialist care and the risk to the UK population “remains low,” UKHSA said.
The original case was detected after the person traveled to several African countries on holiday and returned to the UK on October 21.
The patient developed flu-like symptoms more than 24 hours later and, on October 24, started to develop a rash that worsened in the following days.
Mpox, a viral disease related to smallpox, has two types, clade 1 and clade 2. Symptoms include fever, a skin rash or pus-filled blisters, swollen lymph nodes and body aches.
The WHO first declared an international public health emergency in 2022 over the spread of clade 2. That outbreak mostly affected gay and bisexual men in Europe and the United States.
Vaccination and awareness drives in many countries helped stem the number of worldwide cases and the WHO lifted the emergency in May 2023 after reporting 140 deaths out of around 87,400 cases.
In 2024, a two-pronged epidemic of clade 1 and clade 1b, a new strain that affects children, has spread widely in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The new strain has also been recorded in neighboring Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, with imported cases in Sweden, India, Thailand, Germany and the UK.


Trump snaps at reporter when asked about abortion: ‘Stop talking about it’

Updated 05 November 2024
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Trump snaps at reporter when asked about abortion: ‘Stop talking about it’

  • The former president was asked twice after casting his ballot in Palm Beach
  • Pressed a second time, Trump snapped at a reporter, saying “you should stop talking about it”

FLORIDA: Donald Trump is refusing to say how he voted on Florida’s abortion measure — and getting testy about it.
The former president was asked twice after casting his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday about a question that the state’s voters are considering. If approved, it would prevent state lawmakers from passing any law that penalizes, prohibits, delays or restricts abortion until fetal viability — which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks.
If it’s rejected, the state’s restrictive six-week abortion law would stand.
The first time he was asked, Trump avoided answering. He said instead of the issue that he did “a great job bringing it back to the states.” That was a reference to the former president having appointed three conservative justices to the US Supreme Court who helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.
Pressed a second time, Trump snapped at a reporter, saying “you should stop talking about it.”
Trump had previously indicated that he would back the measure — but then changed his mind and said he would vote against it.
In August, Trump said he thought Florida’s ban was a mistake, saying on Fox News Channel, “I think six weeks, you need more time.” But then he said, “at the same time, the Democrats are radical” while repeating false claims he has frequently made about late-term abortions.
In addition to Florida, voters in eight other states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races.
Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.