Voice of Djibouti

The New York Times 25 June 2017 By HELENE COOPER President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti welcoming Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at the Presidential Palace in Ambouli, Djibouti, in April. Credit Pool photo by Jonathan Ernst MUA MISSION, Malawi — If ever there was an example of American and African military bonhomie, it was at a recent summit meeting here over glasses of South African Pinotage...

Mail and Guardian 23 June 2017 When Saudi Arabia and its allies severed diplomatic relations with Qatar earlier this month, the fate of Ras Doumeira is unlikely to have figured high in their complex geostrategic calculations. Yet, on this barren, contested strip of land in the Horn of Africa, the ongoing Gulf Crisis threatens to dismantle nearly a decade of peace — and has put two African countries...

Asia Times 22 June 2017 By Richard A. Bitzinger Could China finally be getting its long-anticipated “string of pearls”? For years, people have been predicting that China will acquire a network of access – bases, ports, and even airfields – stretching from the South China Sea, through the Singapore-Malacca Straits, across the Indian Ocean and to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. If not directly...

The East African 20 June 2017 While regional leaders were reluctant to return to the “old formula” of insisting on a potentially explosive face-to-face between Kiir and Machar, there was recognition that Machar’s camp needed to be represented. PHOTO FILE | NATION   South Sudan’s civil war has mutated from a two-way fight between the president Salva Kiir and his ousted former...

Al Jazeera 19 June 2017 Maintaining the 500-strong presence of Qatari armed troops in a remote area was a costly and largely thankless endeavour By Sultan Barakat Sultan Barakat is the director of Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute. The renewed Djibouti-Eritrea border dispute is the first ripple effect of the Gulf crisis in Africa. The media has been quick to associate...

The East African 23 June 2017 A map showing Juba, the capital of South Sudan. GOOGLE MAPS GOOGLE MAPS In Summary Brigadier Daniel Justin, the police spokesperson, said some suspects had been arrested in connection with the killing of Bishop Joel Mwendwa. Advertisement By JOSEPH ODUHA A Kenyan cleric was murdered on Friday morning at a church in Munuki, a suburb in South Sudan’s...

The East African 20 June 2017 Journalists at work. Mr Simon Mkina, editor-in-chief of the suspended Mawio Weekly, told AFP he has received threatening, anonymous phone calls in the days since the suspension. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP Nairobi The editor-in-chief of a Tanzanian newspaper suspended last week after linking two former presidents to controversial mining contracts said he has since...

The East African 14 June 2017 Tanzania’s President John Magufuli. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP By THE CITIZEN Tanzanian President John Magufuli has directed the confiscation of all undeveloped farms in the country and ordered that they be reallocated to other citizens. The President made the directive during a meeting with regional commissioners (RCs), at State House in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. President...

Hindustan Times 12 June 2017 a Shin Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 9 (PTI) In May 2017, China hosted the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRFIC) in Beijing. Beginning with this forum, the Chinese government appears to be preparing for upcoming high-profile events, including...

The Diplomat 12 June 2017 By Franz-Stefan Gady Image Credit: United States Naval Institute/Wikimedia Commons The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has dispatched three surface warships on a four-day goodwill and training visit to the Pakistani port of Karachi, Chinese state-owned media reported on June 11. The ships arrived in the port city on June 10 and were welcomed by Chief of Naval Staff...