Somalia’s National Theater reopened in the war-ravaged capital Mogadishu for the first time in 20 years on Monday with the president voicing hope it would mark a watershed in the long quest for peace.
“Somalia has historic literary traditions that date back more 700 years ... and I feel that resuming such traditions will play a role in the peace process,” Somalian President Sharif Sheik Ahmed said in a speech at the open-air Chinese-built theater.
The fragile Western-backed government, which is waging an uphill battle against al-Shabaab militants in the Horn of Africa nation, claimed it was a sign that things were slowly improving in the pockmarked seaside capital.
Photo: AFP
“We are here and watching performances for the first time in many years today because of the stability we have in Mogadishu and this is because of the sacrifice made by the national armed forces,” Somalian Prime Minister Abduweli Mohamed Ali said at the opening ceremony.
The hardline Shabaab have resorted to guerrilla tactics after the majority of fighters abandoned fixed bases in Mogadishu in August in what the Islamists claimed was a tactical retreat, but the African Union peacekeeping mission said represented a military defeat.
Al-Shabaab last month also lost control of their strategic base of Baidoa to Ethiopian troops and pro-government Somali forces, the second major loss in six months.
The Shebab and other militia groups have tried to exploit the power vacuum in Somalia, which has had no effective central authority since plunging into war 21 years ago when former Somalian president Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled.
The highlight of the program was a drama about good parenting.
“The reopening of the theater after 20 years represents a major move toward the establishment of entertainment ... people need life and fun, not just violence forever,” said Abdirsak Ali, who attended the ceremony.
“The future looks bright now, Somali literary traditions were about the fade completely, but now that the theater was reopened, people will at least have somewhere to go for entertainment,” said Adan Mohamed, another theater-goer.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of