Trump eyes embassy closures as US rejects UN plan to fund peacekeepers in Somalia — Mogadishu’s last lifeline in peril.

The US shocks the UN by rejecting funding for African Union forces in Somalia, just as Trump weighs closing the US Embassy in Mogadishu. With Al-Shabaab advancing and oil politics heating up, is Somalia doomed to implode?

The United States just signaled the collapse of Somalia’s last fragile security architecture — and it did so with chilling clarity. Washington has publicly rejected UN efforts to fund the African Union Stabilization Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), effectively gutting any hope for predictable peacekeeping operations in a country teetering on the edge of collapse.

This isn’t just a bureaucratic snub — it’s a geopolitical death sentence for Somalia. Al-Shabaab militants are already testing the vacuum, launching a multi-pronged assault on Adan Yabaal, a key military base in Middle Shabelle. If confirmed, the town’s fall would mark the largest strategic loss since Somalia launched its offensive against terror in 2022.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the Security Council: no funding, no peace. But the US—under Trump’s second-term posture—is slamming the door shut, labeling Somalia as unfit for a hybrid funding model under Resolution 2719. Diplomats are in a panic. Meanwhile, Trump is reportedly planning to close up to 30 diplomatic missions, with Mogadishu’s embassy topping the list.

Somalia’s response? Desperation disguised as diplomacy. The FGS is now peddling oil blocks in contested territories like Nugaal Valley. In a flashy announcement on X, Somalia’s ambassador to the US declared “Somalia is open for drilling,” targeting American firms with an offer it legally and militarily cannot secure.

Somalia’s Ambassador to the United States, Dahir Hassan Arab

The move comes after Somalia’s recognition of SSC-Khaatumo — a region still engulfed in the political wreckage of its war with Somaliland.

This isn’t about development. It’s about weaponizing recognition, resource manipulation, and fake sovereignty in a bid to win Trump’s favor and undermine Somaliland’s momentum.

But while Hargeisa builds forests and attracts foreign media praise, Mogadishu is drowning in debt, insurgency, and denial. The West is tuning out, and even the UN is losing patience. The US, once Somalia’s diplomatic oxygen, is now pulling the plug.

Somalia is not rising — it’s being unplugged.

Chinese state media blasts Trump’s tariff war, accuses U.S. of freeloading on globalization while Xi strengthens Asian alliances.

China lashes out at Trump’s economic nationalism, accusing the U.S. of hypocrisy as global trade realigns. Rare earths, aircraft, and semiconductors are next in this economic war.

Beijing just turned up the heat—and made it personal.

China Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, has delivered a scathing editorial aimed squarely at Donald Trump, telling him to “stop whining” and stop pretending the U.S. is a victim of global trade. “The U.S. is not getting ripped off by anybody,” it declared. “It has been taking a free ride on globalization for decades.”

The insult isn’t just rhetorical—it’s strategic. Trump’s aggressive tariff campaign, which now includes up to 145% duties on Chinese imports, has sparked the fiercest economic duel in decades. But China isn’t retreating. Instead, it’s choking U.S. exporters and fueling regional alliances that sideline Washington altogether.

Xi Jinping’s surprise regional tour, now overlapping with this tariff escalation, is no coincidence. Xi is quietly building what he calls a “strategic alliance of destiny” with Malaysia and ASEAN countries. Translation: Beijing is done playing by Trump’s rules. While the U.S. ratchets up tariffs and threatens new probes into semiconductors, pharma, and rare earths, China is reinforcing control of critical global supply chains.

The stakes? Massive. The Hong Kong postal service just banned packages to the U.S., Boeing deals are stalling, and Chinese firms are moving supply lines away from American manufacturers. Rare earth export bans are already shaking markets, and Beijing’s shadow diplomacy is redrawing global trade corridors.

Trump says, “The ball is in China’s court.” But Beijing just spiked it—with force.

Bottom line: This is not just a trade war. It’s a global economic realignment. And China’s message to the world? America’s time as the global economic sheriff is over—and it has only itself to blame.

Russian cult leader Konstantin Rudnev resurfaces in Argentina in bizarre case involving childbirth, possible sex trafficking, and guru-worship.
Arrested in Argentina, Russian cult figure Konstantin Rudnev is under investigation for coercion, drug crimes, and using childbirth for citizenship. Cult control or criminal empire?

Bariloche, Argentina — a place known for lakes and mountains — is now at the center of a spiraling international scandal.

In a twisted blend of cult fanaticism, immigration schemes, and alleged sexual slavery, Russian national Konstantin Rudnev, a self-proclaimed alien guru from Sirius and former convict, was arrested at the city’s airport following the suspicious birth of a child claimed to be his. That child may now be the key to exposing what authorities say could be a disturbing network of human trafficking cloaked in cult mysticism.

Hospital staff had already flagged the nervous, malnourished 22-year-old Russian woman and her handlers days before the birth. The moment her companions insisted the baby carry Rudnev’s surname — despite her visible fear and silence — alarms were triggered. Within days, Argentinian police swooped in. Rudnev was arrested along with over a dozen of his alleged disciples, all showing signs of cult control: malnourishment, secrecy, and submission.

The investigation, led by prosecutor Fernando Arrigo, is looking into whether Rudnev sought to exploit Argentina’s citizenship-by-birth policy. His alleged aim? Obtain legal status and protection by fathering a child in the country — possibly against the mother’s will.

But this is no ordinary immigration scam. Authorities recovered disturbing evidence from multiple rented properties: drug-laced pills, satellite communications, fasting punishments, and cells lined with floor mattresses and blacked-out windows — all hallmarks of coercive cult behavior.

Rudnev’s resume reads like dystopian fiction: convicted in 2013 for rape, drug crimes, and running a cult that stripped people of their autonomy, he told followers he was sent by aliens to save humanity. His book The Way of the Fool mocked jobs, families, and logic — encouraging complete submission.

Now, Rudnev is in custody, but the shadow of his cult still lingers. Were the followers victims or willing disciples? Was the newborn a passport, a symbol, or something darker?

If Argentina’s probe reveals that Rudnev resurrected his Russian cult to traffic women and abuse citizenship laws, this will be more than a bizarre spiritual scam — it will be one of the most chilling cross-border cult cases in recent memory.

From mass firings to trade wars and geopolitical whiplash, Trump 2.0 is chaos on steroids—and the global fallout has just begun.
Trump’s second term is moving faster than Washington, Wall Street, or Main Street can absorb. Tariffs, purges, and reversals are fueling confusion, economic anxiety, and global instability. 

“Move fast and break things” isn’t just Trump’s method—it’s now U.S. policy.

In his second term, President Donald Trump has stormed out of the gate like a man racing against time—and reality. From slapping 145% tariffs on China to firing thousands of federal workers by weekend email, Trump is governing with the urgency of a president who knows the clock is ticking. With GOP control of Congress and midterms looming, he’s pressing executive power to its constitutional limits—and maybe beyond.

The results? Chaos, confusion, and contradiction.

Trump’s team has reversed itself multiple times on major issues: trade with China, tech tariffs, deportations, and economic messaging. Even his own allies are scrambling to understand what policy applies on any given day. Canada, burned by steel and aluminum tariffs, says it has “no idea what’s actually been lifted.” Inside the U.S., small business owners like Mark Overbay are trying to plan pricing around a policy that changes with Trump’s tweets.

The “panic index” is spiking. Consumer confidence is collapsing. Supply chains are disoriented. Retirement funds are bleeding again. Even Social Security callers are getting busy signals at record rates as agencies buckle under hasty mass firings.

Meanwhile, Trump’s ambitions have no ceiling. In just 100 days, he’s tried to end the Russia-Ukraine war, restart Iran nuclear talks, annex Greenland, punish Canada, rebuild U.S. factories, and turn Gaza into a luxury resort.

This is not governance—it’s global whiplash.

“There’s no method. No strategy. Just raw speed and spectacle,” says one Canadian diplomat. Judge James Bredar slammed the firings: “Move fast? Fine. Break things? Not the law.”

But Trump’s allies say that’s exactly the point. He doesn’t want to govern slower. He wants revenge, legacy, and transformation—at warp speed.

Whether the system—and the world—can withstand that pressure? That’s the real test of Trump 2.0.

Trump’s “premature optimism” in nuclear talks could help Iran supercharge its arsenal and destabilize the Middle East, Israeli security expert says.  

Dr. Benny Sabti of INSS warns that Trump’s direct talks with Iran may embolden the regime, accelerate its nuclear ambitions, and weaken Israel’s security edge. 

Is Trump walking into a trap with Tehran? That’s the warning from Dr. Benny Sabti, a top Iran analyst at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), who is sounding the alarm over Washington’s newest nuclear diplomacy push with the Islamic Republic.

In an exclusive with Maariv, Sabti torched President Trump’s “premature optimism,” calling it not only a diplomatic blunder but a strategic risk to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the broader Middle East. “You don’t call talks successful after two hours,” Sabti fumed. “You’re signaling weakness—and Iran knows how to exploit that.”

The core concern: Trump may be laying the groundwork for a return to the very nuclear deal he pulled out of in 2018, without full dismantlement, without iron-clad inspections, and with potential sanctions relief that could flood Iran’s economy with foreign currency. That, Sabti warns, would revive the regime—and bankroll its terror proxies.

While Iran plays hardball, the U.S. still hasn’t eased sanctions, but the regime senses a win. “They’re calculating,” Sabti said. “Partial relief is enough to reactivate Iran’s global trade machine. Once that happens, there’s no turning back. You’re not weakening Iran—you’re rescuing it.”

Even more dangerous is the false theater unfolding in Iran’s parliament, which Sabti dismisses as staged political drama. “There’s no real disagreement in Tehran,” he warned. “It’s all for show. The regime isn’t compromising—it’s stalling.”

Sabti also took aim at Trump’s reliance on Oman as mediator, noting the sultanate’s long history of cozy ties with Tehran. “You can’t win a war of pressure if your middleman is working both sides,” he said.

Bottom line? Sabti doesn’t believe diplomacy will stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “You have to go all in—sanctions, sabotage, even military options. This ‘a little here, a little there’ approach? It’s suicide.”

And for Israel? “If the Iranians believe they’ve outplayed the Americans, they will sprint toward the bomb. And we’ll all pay for it.”

Elon Musk’s satellite internet service gains access to Somalia, raising questions over digital sovereignty, censorship—and who controls Africa’s skies.
Starlink officially enters Somalia with government blessing. But behind the tech deal lies a wider digital arms race, from Mogadishu to Hargeisa, with Elon Musk in the spotlight.

Today, the Somali National Communications Authority granted Starlink a license to operate across the country. The ceremony, attended by senior Starlink executives Ryan Goodnight and Micaela Pawlak, marks a major shift in Somalia’s digital infrastructure—bringing Musk’s low-orbit satellite network into one of the world’s most fragmented telecom environments.

But behind the smiles and satellite promises, bigger questions loom.

Starlink’s arrival isn’t just about faster YouTube in Galkayo—it’s a strategic win for the Somali federal government, allowing it to expand digital reach even into regions like Las Anod and the Somaliland frontier, where current infrastructure is weak or controlled by regional authorities. Could Starlink be used as a digital tool in Somalia’s internal conflicts?

Somaliland, which has fiercely defended its telecommunications independence, may now find itself at a crossroads. Will Hargeisa push back or seek its own Starlink deal to avoid being digitally boxed out?

And then there’s Musk. The billionaire’s earlier jab at South Africa—claiming Starlink was blocked there because he’s “not Black”—has reignited controversy about race, regulation, and ownership in Africa’s telecom future.

Somalia, meanwhile, is already wired with fiber-optic undersea cables. But Starlink gives Mogadishu something fiber can’t: sky control—in hard-to-reach regions, remote districts, and frontline zones.

This isn’t just internet access. It’s information dominance.

With this license, Somalia gains digital reach. But Musk? He gains a foothold in yet another volatile but high-stakes market—where bandwidth may soon become a new form of battlefield leverage.

As US air cover and drone support gear up, the largest offensive of Yemen’s war targets Houthis’ stronghold in Hodeidah.

Hodeidah may soon become the graveyard of the Houthi movement. A massive 80,000-strong government force—backed by US air support and drone surveillance—is reportedly preparing to storm Yemen’s key Red Sea port in what could mark the most decisive offensive in the entire civil war.

According to Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Gulf Research Center, the scale of this operation dwarfs anything seen before in the conflict. “We might be at the stage of counting down the end of the Houthis,” he declared in a Friday interview with Emirati state media.

The port of Hodeidah, long viewed as a strategic artery for food imports and arms smuggling, has been a Houthi fortress since 2014. Previous attempts to retake it—most notably in 2018—triggered UN panic and international pressure, halting offensives in the name of humanitarian protection. But the Houthis violated the 2018 Stockholm Agreement, retaking full control by 2021.

Now, a renewed alliance of Yemeni loyalists, Gulf support, and CENTCOM coordination is preparing to change the game. Airstrikes have already begun softening Houthi defenses, reportedly eliminating several high-ranking militants in recent days.

What makes this operation different? Washington is back in the arena. General Michael Kurilla’s high-level meeting in Saudi Arabia, coupled with CENTCOM’s expanded regional presence, suggests the US is investing real firepower into ending Houthi control—perhaps as a broader message to Iran.

But the cost could be immense. Aid cuts from the US and UK, combined with a fragile civilian population inside Hodeidah, risk tipping the operation into a humanitarian nightmare. UN voices are already preparing to intervene.

Still, experts insist the Houthis have had their chance. “They chose power over peace,” says Dr. Sager. “Now they must face the consequences.”

After collapsing live on-air, veteran journalist Rageh Omaar returns to the frontlines with powerful dispatch from West Africa.

A familiar voice has returned—and this time, it carries the weight of survival. Rageh Omaar, ITV’s respected international affairs editor, made a striking comeback on News at Ten with a pre-recorded foreign report from West Africa—his first since collapsing during a live broadcast last year.

The April 2024 incident left viewers stunned as Omaar, mid-broadcast, appeared visibly distressed and struggled to speak. ITV swiftly pulled the rerun, and he was rushed to hospital for undisclosed treatment. The silence that followed was deafening—but now, he’s speaking again.

And not just from a studio. Omaar’s return was marked by a high-stakes interview with Ivorian political heavyweight Tidjane Thiam, leader of Côte d’Ivoire’s main opposition. A bold move. A statement. A reminder that the journalist who gave the world frontline reporting from Baghdad in 2003 still knows how to command the screen.

For Omaar, this comeback wasn’t just professional—it was personal. “I was determined to finish presenting the programme,” he said after the collapse, a quiet warrior’s resolve beneath his composed tone.

Having slowly rebuilt his presence on ITVX and digital platforms, this new dispatch signals a full return to global reporting. It’s not just a journalist’s return—it’s the resurgence of a trusted voice in a fractured world.

As the news landscape grows noisier, Rageh Omaar’s calm fire feels needed now more than ever.