Walk into any number of coffee shops in Cedar-Riverside, and you’ll find Somali men talking politics. But it’s not Democrats vs. Republicans, or the aftermath of the gubernatorial recount. It’s the complex politics that forced them to flee Somalia. If you could listen in on one of these coffee-shop conversations, you’d hear about the fight between the terrorist group Al-Shabaab and the transitional Somali government. You’d hear about the territorial dispute between Puntland and Somaliland. And you’d also hear insults and name-calling …Read the Rest
1st Somalia national sports tournament in 23 years opens in Puntland
The first national sports tournament held inside Somalia in 23 years opened in the northern stable state of Puntland on Wednesday, Radio Garowe reports. The football tournament is between teams representing 15 regions, including five regions within Puntland. The team …Read the Rest
Sending the boys home
African Union troops in the Somali capital have pushed back Islamist fighters MORTARS thunder and donkeys bray as Major Anthony Lukwago Mbusi, a forward commander with African Union troops in Mogadishu, climbs through holes his men have made in the …Read the Rest
Indonesians Begin Ramadan Observance
Work for most part unaffected in country with world’s largest Muslim population For hundreds of millions of Muslims, this week marks the start of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting and praying. In some Middle Eastern countries, government and business …Read the Rest
Vikings safety Husain Abdullah awaits Ramadan fast
Husain Abdullah is approaching his most challenging month of the football season. That’s when the Minnesota Vikings backup safety observes Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting and prayer. As a practicing Muslim, Abdullah will not eat or drink at all …Read the Rest
Women used God’s work as cover, FBI says
Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan of Rochester, indicted last week, weren’t collecting cash for poverty-stricken grandparents, but for the violent terrorist organization Al-Shabab, officials say. They were a regular sight among the dimly lit stalls of the Somali …Read the Rest
Dutch court agrees German trial for Somali suspects
THE HAGUE — A Dutch court on Friday approved the extradition of ten alleged Somali pirates for trial in Germany, a court official said. “Extradition is agreed for all the people sought by Germany,” a spokeswoman for the court in …Read the Rest
Somali pirates to face trial in Germany
An Amsterdam court has decided to extradite 10 suspected Somali pirates to Germany to face trial on the charge of hijacking a German ship miles off the Somali coast. Dutch marines arrested the pirates off the coast of Somalia two …Read the Rest
21 killed in Mogadishu battle
At least 21 Somali civilians were killed and 59 wounded in fierce Mogadishu clashes between government forces backed by African Union troops and Islamist insurgents, medics said. Somali soldiers on Thursday launched a major counter-offensive to recapture recently lost ground …Read the Rest
Somali Bantu student graduates today
Aden Mabruk remembers what it was like to sit, silent and mystified, in a South Carolina middle school classroom half a world away from the dusty African refugee camp that had been his home for most of his life. It …Read the Rest