Somali pirates said on Saturday that boats from other countries are plundering Somalia’s fish-rich waters.
Ahmed Gadaf, who described himself as a spokesman for the pirates, said Western fishing vessels “harass” local fishermen and destroy their nets.
Illegal fishing off the coast of Somalia stirs strong passions in the country. Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said in a speech on Wednesday that many countries are fishing illegally in Somali waters and have pushed formerly profitable fishermen into the pirate trade.
He also said during Wednesday’s appearance at the London-based Chatham House think tank that many pirates are former fishermen “responding to the loss and disappearance of their livelihoods.”
Helene Bours, an expert on fisheries in Africa who works as a consultant for non-governmental organizations in Africa and Europe, said she was skeptical that international overfishing in Somalia had a significant effect on the rise of piracy.
“The extent to which the piracy business has developed is way beyond a few fishermen turning [into] pirates,” Bours said.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
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Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
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