Monday 27,October 2025 {HMC}  Yemeni Minister of Transport, Dr. Abdisalam Hamid, met with the Somali Ambassador to Yemen, Abdulhakim Mohamed, in Aden on Sunday to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the areas of maritime and air transport.

Minister Hamid emphasized that the historical, social, and political relations between Yemen and Somalia are deep-rooted and long-standing, highlighting the two nations’ shared interests based on social, economic, and security cooperation.

Dr. Hamid stated that the Yemeni Ministry of Transport is ready to promote trade and economic exchanges between the two countries and expressed willingness to support the launch of direct flights by Somali airlines. He added that the ministry is prepared to grant operating licenses that would benefit both peoples.

“Yemeni government plans to purchase two small aircraft for domestic flights, which could also be used for regional routes between Yemen, Somalia, and neighbouring countries,” the Minister added.

Additionally, Minister Hamid underscored the importance of accelerating trade between the ports of both nations and enhancing cooperation to combat the smuggling of weapons and illegal goods from parts of the Horn of Africa into Yemen.

For his part, Somali Ambassador Abdulhakim Mohamed thanked the Yemeni government and the Ministry of Transport for their efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation, reaffirming Somalia’s commitment to deepening the brotherly relations between the two countries.

In recent months, Yemen and Somalia have intensified cooperation on security and trade, following reports by the U.S. government indicating growing links between the al-Shabaab militant group and Yemen’s Houthi movement.

Source Hiiraan Online

Monday 27,October 2025 {HMC} Somali Police Force, particularly officers operating from the Hodan Police Station in Mogadishu, arrested a suspect on Sunday who was allegedly involved in the illegal trade of the drug known as hashish.

The suspect, a young man, was apprehended while attempting to sell the narcotic, with authorities seizing a total of 11 kilograms of hashish.

“The Police Force warns the community against drug trafficking and use, and anyone found involved will be subject to legal action,” the Banadir Regional Police Command stated.

The Banadir Regional Police Force has recently intensified operations targeting psychotropic substances and criminal gangs responsible for robberies across Mogadishu’s districts.

Source Hiiraan Online

Monday 27,October 2025 {HMC}  Somali Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation announced on Sunday that Somali Airlines will resume operations by the end of this year.

Minister Mohamed Farah Nuuh said the aircraft and related equipment for Somali Airlines are ready and that the national carrier will officially be re-launched within the remaining months of the year.

“I want to tell the Somali people that I am happy to announce we will re-launch Somali Airlines before the end of this year,” said Minister Mohamed Farah Nuuh.

The minister also discussed plans for the development of Aden Adde International Airport and other airports across the country, noting that 72 airports are in need of repair and modernization.

“We need to show the world that our airports can be trusted and make them at least comparable to those of our neighboring countries, if not developed nations. Currently, 15 airports across the country are undergoing renovations, some of which are nearing completion. The Somali people and politicians must respect the rule of law and avoid disrupting airport operations,” Minister Nuuh added.

In July 2025, the Somali government announced the purchase of two Airbus A320 aircraft — a major step toward reviving Somali Airlines, more than three decades after the national carrier ceased operations following the collapse of central authority in 1991.

Founded in 1964, Somali Airlines once connected Mogadishu to major cities across East Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. It suspended operations amid the civil war that led to the disintegration of national institutions.

Since then, a mix of international and regional airlines — including Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines, flydubai, and Qatar Airways — have operated regular flights to Mogadishu and other key cities. Regional carriers such as Daallo Airlines, Freedom Airline Express, Jubba Airways, and African Express Airways have maintained vital domestic and cross-border routes. However, Somalia has remained without a national flag carrier since 1991.

Source Hiiraan Online

Monday 27,October 2025 {HMC} Djibouti’s parliament has removed the constitutional age ceiling for presidential candidates, opening the door for Ismail Omar Guelleh to seek a sixth term despite being 77 years old.

All 65 lawmakers present voted on Sunday to eliminate the age restriction of 75 years, a move that would allow the veteran leader to contest elections scheduled for April 2026. The decision requires either presidential approval followed by a second parliamentary vote on November 2, or a national referendum.

Guelleh, known widely as IOG, has governed the Horn of Africa nation since 1999, when he succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the country’s founding president.

The constitutional barrier was introduced by Guelleh himself in 2010 alongside reforms that scrapped presidential term limits, but reduced each term from six to five years.

National Assembly Speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita defended the change as essential for maintaining stability in a turbulent region. He said public support exceeded 80 percent for the measure, though Al Jazeera is not able to verify this claim.

Earlier this year, in an interview with the Jeune Afrique magazine, Guelleh gave an important indication that he had no plans to relinquish power. “All I can tell you is that I love my country too much to embark on an irresponsible adventure and be the cause of divisions,” he said.

Rights advocates condemned the move as a step toward permanent rule. “This revision prepares a presidency for life,” said Omar Ali Ewado, who heads the Djiboutian League for Human Rights, calling instead for a peaceful democratic transition.

Daher Ahmed Farah, a leader in the Movement for Democratic Renewal and Development, told Al Jazeera that international partners should reconsider their priorities. “The country is in a strategic position and hosts many bases, but these interests lie with the Djiboutian people, not with a single man,” he said.

Guelleh won his fifth term in 2021 with more than 98 percent of votes after opposition groups boycotted the election. At the time, the United States welcomed the result but encouraged the government “to further strengthen its democratic institutions and processes in line with recommendations from the observer missions”.

Guelleh is East Africa’s third-longest-serving leader behind Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, in power for nearly four decades, and Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki, with a tenure reaching 27 years.

Despite its small population of one million, Djibouti wields outsized geopolitical influence. The country hosts the only permanent US military base in Africa, alongside installations operated by France, China, Japan and Italy. Its position overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait makes it vital for global shipping between Asia and Europe.

That strategic value has kept Djibouti stable while neighbouring states face mounting crises, including Sudan’s civil war and Somalia’s fragmentation.

Monday 27,October 2025 {HMC} Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The United States and China have hailed the outcome of trade talks in Malaysia, raising expectations that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will seal a deal to de-escalate their trade war at their first meeting since 2019.

US and Chinese officials on Sunday said the sides had made significant progress towards a deal as they wrapped a weekend of negotiations on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.

US President Trump and Chinese leader Xi are set to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, marking their first face-to-face talks since the US president returned to the White House and embarked on a radical shake-up of global trade.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the sides had come up with a “framework” for Trump and Xi to discuss in South Korea.

Bessent said in a subsequent interview with NBC News that he expected the sides to reach a deal that would defer China’s threatened export controls on rare earths and avoid a 100 percent tariff that Trump has threatened to impose on Chinese goods.

Bessent also said in an interview with ABC News that Beijing had agreed to make “substantial” purchases of US agricultural products, which the treasury secretary said would make US soya bean farmers “feel very good”.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing’s top trade negotiator, said the sides had reached “a basic consensus” on “arrangements to address each side’s concerns”.

He said they agreed to “finalise specific details” and “proceed with domestic approval processes”, according to a readout from China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Asian stock markets surged on Monday on hopes of easing US-China tensions.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI both hit record highs, with the benchmark indexes up about 2.1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, shortly after midday, local time.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also saw strong gains, rising about 0.85 percent.

After attending the ASEAN summit, Trump on Monday departed for Japan, where he will meet newly sworn-in Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

The US president is scheduled to then travel on to South Korea on Wednesday.

While Trump has imposed significant tariffs on almost all US trade partners, he has threatened to hit China with higher levies than anywhere else.

Countries have been anxiously anticipating a breakthrough in the tensions, hoping Washington and Beijing can avoid a full-blown trade war that could do catastrophic damage to the global economy.

In a major escalation in US-China tensions earlier this month, Beijing announced that it would require companies everywhere to acquire a licence to export rare-earth magnets and some semiconductor materials that contain even trace amounts of minerals sourced from China or are produced using Chinese technology.

The proposed rules, which are set to take effect on December 1, have raised fears of substantial disruption to global supply chains.

Rare earths, a group of 17 minerals including holmium, cerium and dysprosium, are critical to the manufacture of countless high-tech products, including smartphones, electric cars and fighter jets.

Trump responded to Beijing’s move by threatening to impose a 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods from November 1.

Analysts have cast the tit-for-tat moves as efforts by the Chinese and US sides to gain leverage in their negotiations ahead of the Trump-Xi summit.

Source Al-Jaziira