- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.784 | $ | |
NGG | -1.23% | 65.69 | $ | |
SCS | -0.49% | 12.907 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
RIO | -0.17% | 69.58 | $ | |
GSK | 0.08% | 38.85 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.17% | 24.657 | $ | |
VOD | 0.41% | 9.7 | $ | |
RELX | -0.59% | 46.02 | $ | |
BCC | 0.76% | 139.97 | $ | |
JRI | -0.23% | 13.25 | $ | |
BCE | -0.58% | 33.515 | $ | |
BP | 0.86% | 33.165 | $ | |
AZN | -0.41% | 77.15 | $ | |
BTI | -0.18% | 35.225 | $ |
Somalia extends election deadline to next month
Somalia on Friday extended its deadline to finish voting for the lower house of parliament, the latest in a series of election delays that risk starving the country of budget funds.
The fragile Horn of Africa nation has struggled to hold elections, with polls delayed by more than a year, bedevilled by political squabbling and a simmering Islamist insurgency.
The lower house elections were due to be completed on Friday and pave the way for lawmakers to pick a president.
But Deputy Information Minister Abdirahman Yusuf said the deadline had now been revised to March 15.
"The National Consultative Council... expressed their disappointment with the fact that they could not meet the deadline," the minister said in a televised address.
The announcement came days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that it might have to stop its programme in Somalia if the polls were postponed again.
The IMF programme is due for a review in mid-May but election delays mean that a new administration may not be ready to endorse planned reforms in time, forcing it to an automatic halt, Laura Jaramillo Mayor, the fund's Somalia mission chief told AFP.
Elections were originally scheduled for a year ago but were delayed when President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, tried to extend his term.
Farmajo's four-year mandate expired in February last year, but was controversially extended by parliament in April, triggering deadly gun battles on the streets of Mogadishu.
Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble then brokered a new election timetable, but in the months that followed, a bitter rivalry between him and Farmajo derailed the process again.
The international community has voiced fears that election delays, as well as the feud between Farmajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, could set off new troubles for a country that has lacked stable governance for three decades.
The United States last month threatened to impose sanctions if the country missed Friday's deadline.
Somalia's elections follow a complex indirect model.
Nearly 30,000 clan delegates are assigned to choose 275 MPs for the lower house while state legislatures elect senators for the upper house, a process that has now been completed.
Once the lower house election is concluded, both assemblies vote for the next president.
So far about 175 members of the lower house have been elected.
Th.Berger--AMWN