Somalia

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Somalia’s factions can find peace, political Islam need not be violent and democracy can grow. Here’s his exclusive interview with the Observer: The drive from Mogadishu airport to the presidential home at…

Nujuum Hashi, who has overcome traditional prejudice to become a respected artist in Somalia, decided on her career as she drew pictures in the sand as a seven-year-old in the capital, Mogadishu. Her family had no fixed abode as this…

Thunderous chants of "Ali, Ali, Ali" from a boisterous crowd reverberated around the O2 Arena when Ramla Ali continued her unbeaten professional boxing career last month. It was a sight, and sound, to behold. "The amazing thing about…

Sir Mo Farah was brought to the UK illegally as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant, he has revealed. The Olympic star has told the BBC he was given the name Mohamed Farah by those who flew him over from Djibouti. His real…

Hussein Mohamud Hussein came to the UK in 1999, aged nine. His parents had sent him to live with his uncle, to escape the conflict in Somalia. But away from his parents, Hussein struggled to adjust to life in Lambeth, south London.…

Somalia's new President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, is not new to the job. He served as Somalia's eighth President from 2012 to 2017 and lost the election in 2017 to the outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo". He made history on…

The Somali militant group al-Shabab recruits thousands of foot soldiers, but also needs people to provide public services in the area it controls. Any caught trying to leave are put to death. At the same time, the government tries to…

Rome's city council voted earlier this month to name a future metro station in the Italian capital in honour of Giorgio Marincola, an Italian-Somali who was a member of the Italian resistance. He was killed at the age of 21 by…

Former BBC reporter Mohamed Moalimu survived Sunday's siege on a beachfront hotel in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu - the fourth time he has been caught up in an attack by Islamist al-Shabab militants over the last seven years. Moalimu,…

As unrest broke out in 2006 in countries neighbouring Somalia, and threatened by the prospect of an arranged marriage, Ifrah Ahmed, who was aged 17 at the time, fled to Ethiopia and secured a ticket to fly out of the country. She found…