Tuesday May 27, 2025  {HMC} U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab over the weekend in Somalia.

The airstrike by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) targeted an area nearly 40 miles northwest of Kismayo, Somalia, where al-Shabab was reportedly located.

According to a press release from AFRICOM, al-Shabab “has proven both its will and capability to attack U.S. forces.”

“AFRICOM, alongside the Federal Government of Somalia and Somali Armed Forces, continues to take action to degrade al-Shabab’s ability to plan and conduct attacks that threaten the U.S. homeland, our forces, and our citizens abroad,” the press release read.

No further details about units and assets were released to ensure continued security of operations.

The East African country of Somalia has been wracked for decades by attacks and insurgency from Islamist terrorists, both from ISIS and al-Shabab.

U.S. Africa Command reported in April that it had carried out four airstrikes: three against ISIS terrorists and one against al-Shabab. At least one of these strikes, the command stated, was against multiple targets.

For years, the U.S. has helped Somali forces with airstrikes and other support against the al-Shabab extremist group.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, in March, drafted a letter to Trump offering the U.S. exclusive access to air bases and seaports, which reignited tensions between the government of Somalia and the breakaway region of Somaliland, the Associated Press reported.

n the letter, Somalia offered “exclusive operational control” over the Berbera and Baledogle air bases and the ports of Berbera and Bosaso to “bolster American engagement in the region.”

One of the ports, Berbera, is in a key city located in Somaliland, whose long assertion as an independent state has not received international recognition.

Somaliland, a former British protectorate, declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after the collapse of the central government. It maintains its own government, security forces and currency and has held elections.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Tilsley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Fox news

Tuesday May 27, 2025  {HMC} United States President Donald Trump says he has told Canada it will have to pay $61bn to be part of his proposed Gold Dome missile defence system “if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation”.

In a post on TruthSocial, Trump claimed Canada “very much wants to be part of our fabulous Golden Dome System” and would gain free access if it joins with the US.

Participating in the proposed defence system would cost Canada “ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State”, Trump said, adding, “They are considering the offer!”

Trump’s post came just hours after Canada’s parliament hosted the UK’s King Charles III for a rare royal speech in which the monarch emphasised Canada’s sovereignty in “dangerous and uncertain” times, and amid the US president’s exhortations for the country to become part of the US.

Following the king’s speech, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Canadian Public broadcaster CBC that he hopes Canada will join ReArm Europe by July 1, in an effort to reduce dependence on the US for weapons.

Canada did not immediately respond to Trump’s latest comment, but Carney has previously confirmed his country has held “high-level” talks on the defence system issue with the US.

Funding, timeline uncertain
In total, Trump has claimed the Golden Dome system will cost some $175bn and would be completed by the end of his current term in 2029, although defence industry experts have questioned the feasibility of this timeline and budget.

Trump is hoping to secure an initial $25bn funding for the system through the sweeping “Big, Beautiful Bill” which is next to go up for a vote in the Senate after narrowly passing the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives last week.

The bill boosts spending on the military and border enforcement while cutting funding for social programmes, including Medicaid and food assistance that helped tens of millions of low-income Americans.

The Golden Dome is modelled after Israel’s Iron Dome, which also receives significant funding from the US, including $500m per year for its upkeep.

It is unclear how Trump would scale up the Iron Dome to cover the entire US, since Israel is only about the size of New Jersey, one of the smaller states in the US.

The Iron Dome is also designed to target short-range missiles, with a range of 1,000km (about 620 miles), while the main threat to the US would likely come from long-range ballistic and hypersonic missiles.

Golden Dome will create ‘space arms race’

China, North Korea and Russia have all criticised Trump’s plan to put weapons in space, which the US president described in detail for the first time last week.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs swiftly responded, with spokeswoman Mao Ning saying the plan “heightens the risk of space becoming a battlefield, fuels an arms race, and undermines international security”.

“The United States puts its own interests first and is obsessed with seeking its own absolute security, which violates the principle that no country’s security should come at the expense of others,” Mao Ning said.

North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also responded, saying the US is “hell-bent on the moves to militarise outer space”.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that the Golden Dome project undermines the foundations of “strategic stability” as it involves the creation of a global missile defence system.

According to Russia’s state news agency TASS, Zakharova said developing the Golden Dome would also lead to development of the “means of pre-launch missile destruction and infrastructure that ensures their use”.

“This is already a literal manifestation of the US’s highly dangerous doctrinal course toward delivering so-called preventive, but essentially first strikes,” she said, warning it would turn space into a “weaponised environment” and an “arena of armed confrontation”.

Source: Al Jazeera

Tuesday May 27, 2025  {HMC} Somalia is at risk of forfeiting millions in unspent reform funds unless it accelerates a lagging governance overhaul backed by the African Development Bank.

Eighteen months into the $13 million Institutional Support for Economic Governance Project (ISEGP), the country has used just 15.2 percent of the funds, leaving federal finance officials racing to triple their monthly disbursement rate before the project’s deadline in December 2026.

The AfDB’s May 2025 report paints a mixed picture: tax revenues rose to 2.8% of GDP in 2023, and Somalia’s public-sector accountability score on the Ibrahim Index climbed to 20.1%, passing its 2026 benchmark. But analysts caution those gains stem from temporary boosts—like tariff adjustments and GDP rebasing—not structural reforms.

However, most project outputs are still in the early stages. Only one of 16 outputs—a Medium-Term Revenue Strategy launched in 2024—is complete. The report confirms that the strategy informed Somalia’s 2025 revenue forecasts and was developed through consultations with the federal government and key stakeholders.
Puntland standoff slows implementation

A key infrastructure component of the ISEGP—modernizing inland revenue offices across Somalia’s Federal Member States—has encountered political roadblocks. According to the AfDB’s May 2025 report, preliminary designs for these tax offices have been approved by all Federal Member States (FMSs) except Puntland, which has withheld endorsement of the central blueprint.

The delay is attributed to what the report calls “political misunderstandings” between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Puntland. The federal finance ministry is currently engaging with Puntland officials to address the economic implications of the delays and propose a way forward, with a resolution deadline set for December 31, 2025.

If unresolved, it could jeopardize broader program goals, especially those tied to equitable infrastructure distribution and national revenue unification.

The standoff is particularly consequential: the port city of Bosaso, under Puntland’s jurisdiction, accounts for a substantial amount of federal customs revenue. Without Puntland’s participation, key project assumptions related to domestic revenue mobilization could fall apart, particularly those embedded in the 2025 revenue forecasts guided by the new Medium-Term Revenue Strategy.

Until the designs are approved, detailed blueprints and bills of quantities (BOQs) for the Puntland office cannot move forward. The consulting firm hired for this component, Ecotech Ltd., began work in August 2024 and completed preliminary consultations with the other FMSs; however, progress in Puntland remains frozen.

Inflation and systemic risks

The project faces a secondary risk from rising global construction-material prices, largely due to trade friction between the United States and China. “Much of the construction materials used in Somalia are sourced from China,” the report warns, urging the federal implementation unit to fast-track procurement before prices climb further.

The report confirms that Somalia has fully operationalized the Commonwealth Meridian debt management platform, including ICT upgrades and staff training. However, debt statistics bulletins—16 promised by project end—are flagged as “not on track,” and integration with Somalia’s national Financial Management Information System (FMIS) system remains incomplete.

On gender, the project sets a target of 20% female participation across all training modules, including debt, procurement, and public investment. Yet the most recent monitoring update confirms that women’s participation remains at or near zero across all training indicators.

The AfDB still classifies ISEGP as a “non-potentially problematic project,” citing ongoing procurement progress and expected acceleration in 2025. Yet with over UA 8.48 million (approx. $11 million) still undisbursed, donors must decide whether to extend timelines or risk a final-year spending surge that could compromise oversight and delivery.

The ISEGP forms part of a push under Somalia’s NDP-9 and Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative to rebuild fiscal institutions and secure full debt relief. With political consensus, public trust, and external financing all on the line, the coming year may determine whether the country’s most ambitious reform project can meet its goals—or end up as another footnote in Somalia’s long aid history.

Source Hiiraan online