Somalia prime minister given 10 more days to form government

Somalia prime minister given 10 more days to form government
Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre addressing the plenary upon his election on June 25, 2022 in Mogadishu. (AFP/File)
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Updated 25 July 2022

Somalia prime minister given 10 more days to form government

Somalia prime minister given 10 more days to form government
  • Barre vowed to establish a government within 10 days after parliament approved the extension

MOGADISHU: Somalia’s parliament agreed on Monday to give Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre more time to form a government, a month after his appointment in the Horn of Africa nation.

Barre was initially expected to name a Cabinet within 30 days of his appointment on June 25 but said the delays were due to the country’s protracted election process that culminated in May with the selection of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as president.

“In order to form a ... balanced government, it is necessary that I spend sufficient time in consultations with various politicians of the country and civil society,” Barre said in a statement released on Monday.

Observers have voiced hope that Mohamud’s presidency will draw the line under a political crisis that blighted the rule of his predecessor Mohamed Abdullahi Mohammed, better known as Farmajo, and threatened to plunge Somalia back into violent chaos.

Barre vowed to establish a government within 10 days after parliament approved the extension.

“The prime minister asked for an extension of 10 days, and this seemed credible because ... the prime minister is in consultation with other stakeholders,” said Mohammed Dhabancad, one of the legislators.

The new government will face a host of challenges, including a looming famine and a grinding Islamist insurgency.

A crippling drought across the Horn of Africa has left about 7.1 million Somalis — nearly half the population — battling hunger, with more than 200,000 on the brink of starvation, according to UN figures.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab also continues to flex its muscles by carrying out deadly attacks, underscoring the difficult task ahead for the country’s new leaders.

The militants were driven out of the capital Mogadishu in 2011 by an African Union force but still control swathes of countryside and frequently strike civilian and military targets.


Japan, US, Philippines to launch security talks

Japan, US, Philippines to launch security talks
Updated 9 sec ago

Japan, US, Philippines to launch security talks

Japan, US, Philippines to launch security talks
TOKYO: Japan, the United States and the Philippines are preparing to establish a formal framework for high-level ministerial talks on security matters, the Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.
The three countries are considering holding their first meeting as early as April, Kyodo said.
The move comes as Taiwan, which lies between Japan and the Philippines, has become a focal point of intensifying Chinese military activity that Tokyo and Washington worry could escalate into war.
Japan held joint military exercises with the United States and the Philippines as recently as October.

Belarus says it decided to host Russian nuclear weapons after NATO pressure

Belarus says it decided to host Russian nuclear weapons after NATO pressure
Updated 6 min 10 sec ago

Belarus says it decided to host Russian nuclear weapons after NATO pressure

Belarus says it decided to host Russian nuclear weapons after NATO pressure
  • The Belarusian foreign ministry justified its decision to cooperate with Russia in a statement on Tuesday

Belarus said on Tuesday it had decided to host Russian tactical nuclear weapons after years of pressure from the United States and its allies aimed at changing its political and geopolitical direction.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
said on Saturday
that Moscow would in future look to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a staunch ally, escalating a standoff with the West.
The Belarusian foreign ministry justified its decision to cooperate with Russia in a statement on Tuesday, saying Minsk was acting to protect itself from the West.
“Over the last two and a half years, the Republic of Belarus has been subjected to unprecedented political, economic and information pressure from the United States, the United Kingdom and its NATO allies, as well as the member states of the European Union,” the statement said.
“In view of these circumstances, and the legitimate concerns and risks in the sphere of national security arising from them, Belarus is forced to respond by strengthening its own security and defense capabilities.”
Minsk said the Russian nuclear plans would not contravene international non-proliferation agreements as Belarus itself would not have control over the weapons.


UN: Prominent Afghan girls’ education advocate arrested in Kabul

UN: Prominent Afghan girls’ education advocate arrested in Kabul
Updated 28 March 2023

UN: Prominent Afghan girls’ education advocate arrested in Kabul

UN: Prominent Afghan girls’ education advocate arrested in Kabul
  • Matiullah Wesa has for years advocated for girls’ education, particularly in conservative rural areas
  • The Taliban administration has barred most girls from high school and women from universities

KABUL: The United Nations said on Tuesday that a prominent Afghan girls’ education activist was arrested in Kabul this week and called on Taliban authorities to clarify the reason for his detention.
Spokespeople for the Taliban administration’s information ministry and intelligence agency did not immediately respond to request for comment or confirm the detention.
“Matiullah Wesa, head of (Pen Path) and advocate for girls’ education, was arrested in Kabul Monday,” the UN Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement. “UNAMA calls on the de facto authorities to clarify his whereabouts, the reasons for his arrest and to ensure his access to legal representation and contact with family.”
Wesa, who comes from the southern province of Kandahar, has for years advocated for girls’ education, particularly in conservative rural areas, including during the tenure of the previous Western-backed foreign government when he said many girls living in the countryside were not reached by education services. His organization, Pen Path, has held meetings with tribal elders, encouraged communities and authorities to open schools, and disbursed books and mobile libraries.
The Taliban administration has barred most girls from high school and women from universities saying there are perceived problems including around female Islamic dress. Officials have said they are undertaking work to reopen schools but have not given a time frame.
They say they respect women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan custom and that the improved security in the country since foreign forces left has made it safer for many young children to go to school.
Last year, Wesa said his work was free of political interference and impartial and his focus was on helping communities encourage girls’ education.


Australian soldier charged over Afghan killing freed on bail

Australian soldier charged over Afghan killing freed on bail
Updated 28 March 2023

Australian soldier charged over Afghan killing freed on bail

Australian soldier charged over Afghan killing freed on bail
  • Oliver Schulz had been in custody since his arrest last week on the war crime of murder
  • Helmet camera footage allegedly shows Schulz shoot man from Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province three times

SYDNEY: A former elite soldier charged with murder for allegedly killing an unarmed man in Afghanistan was released on bail Tuesday by a magistrate who concluded he would face danger from Muslim extremists in prison.
Oliver Schulz, 41, had been in custody since his arrest in rural New South Wales state last week on the war crime of murder.
His lawyer Phillip Boulten applied for bail in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court on Monday, arguing the former Special Air Service Regiment trooper faced serious risks to his personal safety from Muslim extremists in the prison system and had to be segregated from other inmates.
“Wherever this man is going to be held in prison, he is likely to have to mix with people in prison who sympathize with the Taliban or with other Islamic extremist groups,” Boulten said.
Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson granted the request, agreeing the risks posed to him while behind bars were too great.
“It’s possible to infer that there may be some people being held there who may take an adverse position in relation to what was said to be the accused’s behavior both as a member of the (Australian Defense Force) and also on the day the incident allegedly occurred,” Atkinson told the court.
Schulz had been held at a maximum-security prison in Goulburn, 200 kilometers southwest of Sydney. Most of New South Wales’ worst convicted terrorists are held at Goulburn.
Helmet camera footage aired by Australian Broadcasting Corp. in 2020 that was shot in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province in 2012 will form part of the prosecution case.
The footage allegedly shows Schulz shoot local man Dad Mohammad three times as he lay on his back in a wheat field with his hands and knees raised. His father later made a complaint to the Australian Defense Force alleging his son had been shot in the head.
Atkinson said that because of the murder allegation, Schulz would be in a “very difficult if not dangerous environment” in custody and correctional staff could not be available 24 hours a day to supervise him.
“I am of the view that the position the accused finds himself in could be worse than other persons who are on remand given the particular security risks to his person,” she said.
Schulz would also have difficulties giving advice to his lawyers and accessing confidential material under strict conditions due to national security concerns surrounding the case if he were forced to do so behind bars, Atkinson said.
The court has suppressed the names of the town and region where Schulz lives to protect his family from threats.
After footage of the Afghanistan shooting was broadcast nationally, the then-Defense Minister Linda Reynolds referred the allegation to the Australian Federal Police.
Schulz was suspended from duty in 2020 and later discharged from the Australia Defense Force on medical grounds.
Schulz, who was awarded the Commendation for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan, is the first former or serving Australian Defense Force member to face a war crime charge of murder under domestic law.
He faces a potential life sentence in prison if convicted.
He is among 19 current and former Australian special forces soldiers who a war crimes investigation found could face charges for illegal conduct in Afghanistan.
A military report released in 2020 after a four-year investigation found evidence that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians.
More than 39,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan during the 20 years until the 2021 withdrawal, and 41 were killed there.


Former student shoots dead 3 children, 3 adults at Tennessee Christian school

Former student shoots dead 3 children, 3 adults at Tennessee Christian school
Updated 28 March 2023

Former student shoots dead 3 children, 3 adults at Tennessee Christian school

Former student shoots dead 3 children, 3 adults at Tennessee Christian school
  • The motive was not immediately known, but the suspect had drawn detailed maps of the school
  • Drake identified the suspect as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a resident of the Nashville area

NASHVILLE, Tennessee: A heavily armed 28-year-old fatally shot three children and three adult staffers on Monday at a private Christian school the suspect once attended in Tennessee’s capital city before police killed the assailant, authorities said.
The motive was not immediately known, but the suspect had drawn detailed maps of the school, including entry points for the building, and left behind a “manifesto” and other writings that investigators were examining, Police Chief John Drake told reporters.
The latest in an epidemic of deadly mass gun violence that has come to routinely terrorize even the most cherished of US institutions unfolded on a warm spring morning at The Covenant School, whose students consist mostly of elementary school-age children.
Drake identified the suspect as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, a resident of the Nashville area, and referred to the assailant by female pronouns. The chief said the suspect identified as transgender but provided no further clarity.
The Tennessean newspaper cited a police spokesperson as saying Hale used he/him pronouns. Hale used male pronouns on a LinkedIn page that listed recent jobs in graphic design and grocery delivery.
Police later released a school video showing the assailant blasting through glass doors with gunfire and roaming the halls, pointing a semi-automatic rifle. Hale wore a black vest over a white T-shirt, camouflage pants and a backwards red baseball cap in a video that showed only the shooter in the frame.
Addressing an early evening news conference, Drake said police were working on a theory about what may have precipitated the shooting and would “put that out as soon as we can.” He said the suspect had no known prior criminal history.
In a subsequent NBC News television interview, Drake said investigators believed the shooting stemmed from “some resentment” the suspect harbored “for having to go to that school” as a younger person.
The police chief did not specify the nature of such presumed resentment, or whether it had anything to do with the suspect’s gender identity or the Christian orientation of the school. Drake said the school was singled out for attack but the individual victims were targeted at random.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department began receiving calls at 10:13 a.m. of a shooter at the school, and arriving officers reported hearing gunfire coming from the building’s second floor, police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters.
Two officers from a five-member team shot the assailant in a lobby area, and the suspect was pronounced dead by 10:27 a.m.
“The police department response was swift,” Aaron said.
Police said the suspect was armed with two assault-type guns and a 9 mm pistol.
The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, along with staffers Mike Hill, 61, a school custodian, Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher, and Katherine Koonce, 60, listed on the Covenant website as “head of school.”
The Covenant School, founded in 2001, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville with about 200 students, according to the school’s website. It serves preschool through sixth graders and held an active shooter training program in 2022, WTVF-TV reported.