Somalia

Floods have been tearing a path of destruction across the globe, hammering Kenya, submerging Dubai, and forcing hundreds of thousands of people from Russia to China, Brazil and Somalia from their homes.

Turkey hopes to conduct a deep-sea oil drilling operation off the Somali coast in 2025, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Friday in an interview on broadcaster NTV.

Turkey and Somalia signed an offshore oil and natural gas cooperation deal last month, further strengthening ties after agreeing a defence deal this year. [Reuters]

In response to the increasing number of irregular migrants utilizing transit routes through Türkiye, a new electronic airport transit visa requirement has been introduced for citizens of 10 countries transiting to select Latin American destinations.

The Turkish corvette TCG Kınalıada embarks on an expedition to the Far East on April 8, retracing the route of the ill-fated frigate Ertuğrul, which sank en route from Japan in 1890.

The voyage also marks the centennial milestone of diplomatic ties between Türkiye and Japan.

Five Bulgarian sailors who were part of the crew aboard the hijacked ship "Ruen" have safely returned to Varna. The vessel, owned by Bulgaria and flying the Maltese flag, fell victim to piracy off the coast of Somalia last December. The Bulgarian Navy confirmed the sailors' safe arrival, marking a significant moment of relief for their families and the maritime community.

India has announced plans to arrest and charge the 35 Somali pirates apprehended by its navy during the hijacking of the Malta-flagged vessel "Ruen" off the coast of Somalia. This decision marks a departure from previous practices, where disarmed pirates were typically left at sea after ship rescues.

Türkiye and Somalia have reached an oil and gas cooperation agreement for the Horn of Africa, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has stated, in the latest step in strengthening ties between the two countries.

Heads of state and government, dozens of foreign ministers, academics and think tanks from across the world will be in Antalya to attend the annual diplomacy forum, which will focus on the role of diplomacy in the age of conflicts.

The top ten countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution are North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran & Afghanistan

Seventy-two of the 99 journalists killed in 2023 were killed in the Israel-Hamas war, making the last 12 months the deadliest for the media in almost a decade, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said.