Somalia’s army and Al-Shabab clash over strategic town
Somalia’s army and Al-Shabab clash over strategic town/node/2607282/world
Somalia’s army and Al-Shabab clash over strategic town
Somali government soldiers walk near a car after two armed militants were killed by Somali forces, at the Benadir checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia August 5, 2018. (REUTERS file photo)
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Updated 07 July 2025
AFP
Somalia’s army and Al-Shabab clash over strategic town
The official Somali news agency Sonna said the attack had been prevented, and claimed “several militants were killed during the fighting.” There were no further details
Updated 07 July 2025
AFP
MOGADISHU:Fighting was ongoing between Somalia’s armed forces and the Al-Shabab group over a strategic town in the country’s central region, a local militia commander and elder said on Monday.
Growing attacks by the Al-Qaeda-linked group, including one on President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s convoy, are fueling concerns of an extremist resurgence in the Horn of Africa nation after the militants were forced back in recent years.
Al-Shabab militants attacked Moqokori, roughly 300 km north of the capital, Mogadishu, with “vehicles loaded with explosives and hundreds of fighters,” local militia commander Abdulahi Adan said.
The town’s militia had “tactically retreated,” he said, but added that “there is still ongoing sporadic fighting in the area, so that this is not a complete takeover.”
Yusuf Mohamed, an elder in the nearby town of Mahas, said “several wounded soldiers and community militia fighters were brought to Mahas for treatment.”
Moqokori is strategically located as a gateway to several other major towns in the central Hiraan region.
The town has long been contested, with Al-Shabab seizing it in 2016 and last holding it briefly in 2018.
The official Somali news agency Sonna said the attack had been prevented, and claimed “several militants were killed during the fighting.” There were no further details.
It comes only months after Al-Shabab took the town of Adan Yabaal, also in the Hiraan region, and which was used as a base by Somali military commanders.
More than 10,000 soldiers from the African Union Stabilization Mission in Somalia or AUSSOM, are present in the country, but this has not prevented Al-Shabab from continuing to carry out attacks.
At the end of June, at least seven Ugandan soldiers were killed during clashes with Al-Shabab in a town in the Lower Shabelle region.
Targets included government organizations in Europe, the Middle East and the US — among them the US nuclear weapons agency
Updated 15 sec ago
AFP
PARIS : Software giant Microsoft is at the center of cybersecurity storm after China-linked hackers exploited flaws in SharePoint servers to target hundreds of organizations.
While such cyberattacks are not new, the scale of the onslaught and the speed with which the hackers took advantage of freshly discovered vulnerabilities is fueling concern.
Dutch startup Eye Security warned Saturday of online attacks targeting SharePoint file-sharing servers, with Microsoft quick to confirm the report and release patches to protect systems.
The vulnerability allowed hackers to retrieve credentials and then access SharePoint servers kept at users’ facilities, according to Microsoft.
Cloud-based SharePoint software was safe from the problem, the company said.
Eye Security determined that more than 400 computer systems were compromised by hackers during waves of attacks.
Targets included government organizations in Europe, the Middle East and the United States — among them the US nuclear weapons agency, media reports indicated.
“On-premises SharePoint deployments — particularly within government, schools, health care and large enterprise companies — are at immediate risk,” cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks warned in a note.
Microsoft has not disclosed the number of victims in the attacks.
SharePoint had more than 200 million active users as of 2020, according to the most recent figures available from Microsoft.
Microsoft has attributed the cyberattacks to groups backed by China.
The culprits are believed to include Chinese state actors known as Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon along with a group called Storm-2603 which “is considered with moderate confidence to be a threat actor based in China.”
The Typhoon groups have been active for a decade or more, and are known for intellectual property theft as well as espionage, according to Microsoft.
Less was known about Storm-2603 and its motives.
“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are ongoing,” Microsoft said, urging users to patch SharePoint servers to avoid becoming hacking victims.
Cybersecurity specialist Damien Bancal noted in a recent blog post that he found “ready-to-use exploit code” for the vulnerability at a popular website.
The assault on SharePoint servers is the latest in a series of sophisticated attacks carried out by state-sponsored groups against “the Microsoft ecosystem,” according to Bancal.
In 2021, attacks by a Chinese hacker group known as Silk Typhoon compromised tens of thousands of email servers using Microsft Exchange software.
Microsoft’s success at making its software commonplace in offices and homes also makes it a prime target for hackers out to steal money or information.
Microsoft software can hold sensitive and valuable information.
“It’s not Microsoft that is being targeted, it’s its customers,” said Shane Barney, head of information security at US-based Keeper.
Targeting Microsoft programs is a means to an end, and tomorrow it could be software from another company, said Rodrigue Le Bayon, head of Orange Cyberdefense computer emergency response team.
China is not the only nation backing hacker operations as countries around the world hone cyber capabilities, according to Le Bayon.
Nevertheless, China is repeatedly singled out by companies and goverments hit by hacks.
Western countries have accused hacker groups allegedly supported by China of conducting a global cyber espionage campaign against figures critical of Beijing, democratic institutions, and companies in various sensitive sectors.
US says it rejects Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state
Updated 25 July 2025
Reuters
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Washington rejected French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state, with the top American diplomat calling it a “reckless decision.”
Macron said on Thursday that France intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly, adding that he hoped it would help bring peace to the Middle East.
“This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace,” Rubio said in a post on X.
Washington’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said in June he did not think an independent Palestinian state remained a US foreign policy goal.
Canada condemns Israeli government over ‘humanitarian disaster’ in Gaza
Updated 25 July 2025
Reuters
OTTAWA: Canada on Thursday condemned the Israeli government for failing to prevent what Prime Minister Mark Carney called a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
Carney also accused Israel of violating international law over the blocking of Canadian-funded aid delivery to civilians in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
“Canada calls on all sides to negotiate an immediate ceasefire in good faith. We reiterate our calls for Hamas to immediately release all the hostages, and for the Israeli government to respect the territorial integrity of the West Bank and Gaza,” Carney said on X.
Trump presses US central Bank chief to cut rates during tense visit
US president wants borrowing costs lowered
White House accuses Fed of mismanaging $2.5 billion building project
Updated 25 July 2025
Reuters
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump locked horns with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a rare presidential visit to the US central bank on Thursday, criticizing the cost of renovating two historical buildings at its headquarters and pressing the case for lower interest rates.
Trump, who called Powell a “numbskull” earlier this week for failing to heed the White House’s demand for a large reduction in borrowing costs, wrapped up his visit to the Fed’s $2.5 billion building project in Washington by saying he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he would.
“To do so is a big move and I just don’t think it’s necessary,” Trump told reporters after the visit.
In a post on his Truth Social media site, Trump later said of the renovation, “it is what it is and, hopefully, it will be finished ASAP. The cost overruns are substantial but, on the positive side, our Country is doing very well and can afford just about anything.”
The visibly tense interaction at the Fed’s massive construction site marked an escalation of White House pressure on the central bank and Trump’s efforts to get Powell to “do the right thing” on rates.
It happened less than a week before the central bank’s 19 policymakers are due to gather for a two-day rate-setting meeting, where they are widely expected to leave their benchmark interest rate in the 4.25 percent-4.50 percent range.
The president has repeatedly demanded Powell slash rates by 3 percentage points or more.
“I’d love him to lower interest rates,” Trump said as he wrapped up the tour, as Powell stood by, his face expressionless.
Powell typically spends the Thursday afternoon before a rate-setting meeting doing back-to-back calls with Fed bank presidents as part of his preparations for the session.
The encounter between the two men became heated as Trump told reporters the project was now estimated to cost $3.1 billion.
“I am not aware of that,” Powell said, shaking his head. Trump handed him a piece of paper, which Powell examined. “You just added in a third building,” the Fed chief said, noting that the Martin Building had been completed five years ago. White House budget director Russell Vought and Trump’s deputy chief of staff, James Blair, who have spearheaded criticism of the renovation as overly costly and ostentatious, later told reporters they still have questions about the project. The two men, who joined Trump during the visit, have suggested poor oversight and potential fraud in connection with it. Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, a Republican who sent Powell a letter on Wednesday demanding answers to his own questions about the renovation, also took part in the visit.
Elevated by Trump to the top Fed job in 2018 and then reappointed by former President Joe Biden four years later, Powell last met with the current president in March when Trump summoned him to the White House to press him to lower rates. The visit on Thursday took place as Trump battles to deflect attention from a political crisis over his administration’s refusal to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, reversing a campaign promise. Epstein died in 2019. The Fed, in letters to Vought and lawmakers backed up by documents posted on its website, said the project — the first full rehab of the two buildings since they were built nearly a century ago — ran into unexpected challenges including toxic materials abatement and higher-than-estimated costs for materials and labor.
Speaking outside of the construction site, Trump said there was “no tension” at his meeting with Powell and that they had a productive conversation about rates.
Fed independence
Ahead of Trump’s visit, Fed staff escorted a small group of reporters around the two construction sites. They wove around cement mixers and construction machines, and spoke over the sound of drills, banging, and saws. Fed staff pointed out security features, including blast-resistant windows, that they said were a significant driver of costs in addition to tariffs and escalations in material and labor costs.
The project started in mid-2022 and is on track to be completed by 2027, with the move-in planned for March of 2028.
US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after touring the construction at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2025. (AFP)
A visit to the roof of the Eccles Building, a point of particular scrutiny by critics like Scott, who has complained about “rooftop garden terraces,” revealed an impressive view of the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall, according to the pool report.
Staff explained that rooftop seating, although inexpensive, had been removed because of the appearance of it being an amenity and was one of only two deviations from the original plan. The other was the scrapping of a couple of planned fountains. Market reaction to Trump’s visit was subdued. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds ticked higher after data showed new jobless claims dropped in the most recent week, signaling a stable labor market not in need of support from a Fed rate cut. The S&P 500 equities index closed largely flat on the day.
Trump’s criticism of Powell and flirtation with firing him have previously upset financial markets and threatened a key underpinning of the global financial system — that central banks are independent and free from political meddling.
His trip contrasts with a handful of other documented presidential visits to the Fed. Then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited the central bank in 1937 to dedicate the newly-built headquarters, one of the two buildings now being renovated. Most recently, former President George W. Bush went there in 2006 to attend the swearing-in of Ben Bernanke as Fed chief.
Thailand launches airstrikes on Cambodia as border clashes leave at least 14 dead
Fighting took place after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides “to exercise maximum restraint”
Updated 25 July 2025
AFP
SURIN, Thailand: Thai and Cambodian soldiers have clashed along the border between their countries in a major escalation that left at least 14 people dead, mostly civilians. The two sides fired small arms, artillery and rockets, and Thailand also launched airstrikes.
Fighting took place in at least six areas on Thursday, according to Thai Defense Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri, a day after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers and led Bangkok to withdraw its ambassador from Cambodia and expel Cambodia’s envoy to Thailand.
On Friday, Cambodia’s chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, Gen. Khov Ly, said clashes resumed early in the morning near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple. Associated Press reporters near the border could hear sounds of artillery from early morning hours.
The official also said that at least four civilians were wounded in Thursday’s fighting there and that more than 4,000 people have been displaced from their villages along the border to evacuation centers. It was the first account of any casualties from the Cambodian side.
The escalation represents a rare instance of military conflict between member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation, though Thailand has tangled with Cambodia before over the border and has had sporadic skirmishes with western neighbor Myanmar.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides “to exercise maximum restraint and address any issues through dialogue,” according to UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
Evacuees take shelter in a hall on the grounds of Surindra Rajabhat University, in the Thai border province of Surin on July 24, 2025, amid fighting between Thail and Cambodian forces on July 24, 2025 over a disputed border zone. (AFP)
Each side blames the other
Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for the clashes, alleging that civilians were being targeted.
In Bangkok, the Public Health Ministry said a Thai soldier and 13 civilians, including children, were killed while 14 soldiers and 32 other civilians were injured. Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin condemned what he said were the attacks on civilians and a hospital as violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.
“We urge the Cambodian government to immediately halt these war criminal actions, and return to respecting the principles of peaceful coexistence,” he said.
Thailand’s Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the fighting affected four provinces. The Interior Ministry was ordered to evacuate people at least 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border.
In Cambodia, several hundred villagers moved from their homes near the border to about 30 kilometers (18 miles) deeper inside Oddar Meanchey province. Many made the journey with entire families and most of their possessions on home-made tractors, before settling down with hammocks and makeshift shelters.
From the encampment near the town of Samrong, a 45-year-old mother of four, Tep Savouen, said it all started about 8 a.m.
“Suddenly I heard a loud noise,” she told the AP. “My son told me it might be thunder and I thought ‘Is it thunder or is it loud, more like a gun?′ At that time I was very scared.”
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said the government was “prepared to intensify our self-defense measures if Cambodia persists in its armed aggression and violations upon Thailand’s sovereignty.”
In the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, Defense Ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said his country deployed armed force because “it has no choice but to defend its territory against Thai threats.” The spokesperson insisted the Cambodian “attacks are focused on the military places, not on any other place.”
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote to the UN Security Council asking for an urgent meeting “to stop Thailand’s aggression.” The council scheduled an emergency closed meeting at 3 p.m. in New York on Friday.
Thailand also sealed all land border crossings while urging its citizens to leave Cambodia. Officials said all seven Thai airlines expressed willingness to help bring back any Thai nationals seeking to return home from Cambodia. A long-standing border problem
The two Southeast Asian neighbors have long had border disputes, which periodically flare along their 800-kilometer (500-mile) frontier and usually result in brief confrontations, only rarely involving the use of weapons. The last major combat over the issue was in 2011, leaving 20 dead.
However, relations sharply deteriorated since a May confrontation killed a Cambodian soldier. Thursday’s clashes were unusually big in intensity.
The first clash on Thursday morning happened near the Ta Muen Thom temple along the border of Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey, prompting villagers to scurry to shelter in concrete bunkers.
The Thai army and Cambodia’s Defense Ministry each said the other side deployed drones before advancing on the other’s positions and opening fire. The two sides later used heavier weaponry such as artillery, causing greater damage and casualties, and Thailand said it responded with airstrikes to truck-mounted rockets launched by Cambodia.
Thailand’s air force said it deployed F-16 fighter jets in two attacks on Cambodia. Nikorndej, the Thai spokesperson, called it “an act of self-defense” in response to Cambodian rockets.
Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said the Thai jets dropped bombs on a road near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, which has been a site of past conflicts between the two countries.
Cambodian authorities distributed photos they claimed showed damage caused there, and the country’s Culture Ministry said it would pursue justice under international law, since the temple was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO, the UN’s cultural organization, and is a “historical legacy of the Cambodian people.” A diplomatic uproar
Relations frayed badly even before the clashes began. On Wednesday, Thailand withdrew its ambassador to Cambodia and expelled the Cambodian ambassador to protest the mine blast that wounded its soldiers.
Thai authorities alleged the mines were newly laid along paths that both sides had agreed were supposed to be safe. They said the mines were Russian-made and not of a type employed by Thailand’s military.
Cambodia rejected Thailand’s account as “baseless accusations,” pointing out that many unexploded mines and other ordnance are a legacy of 20th century wars and unrest.
Cambodia also downgraded diplomatic relations, recalling all Cambodian staff on Thursday from its embassy in Bangkok.
The border dispute has also roiled Thailand’s domestic politics. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra came under fire earlier this month over a phone call with Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen, still a power broker in his country, when she tried to defuse the situation. She then was suspended from office on July 1 pending an investigation into possible ethics violations over the matter.
