Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
World | ANALYSIS Sep 30, 2013
Kenyan attack aids president's stature, leeway
by Jean Marc Mojon
Until the Nairobi mall carnage, Uhuru Kenyatta was a beleaguered and divisive president. But his own bereavement and new clothes as commander in chief have earned him fresh support — and, some say, a “get out of jail free card” for the International Criminal ...
World Sep 30, 2013
Mother identifies Nairobi morgue's last victim from mall
Karen Wambui walked slowly through the Nairobi city morgue’s turquoise and yellow iron gates, still trying to process what she had seen inside. She had just confirmed that the last body still there from the Westgate Mall attack nearly a week earlier was that ...
World Sep 26, 2013
Warlord behind Kenya attack has global ambitions
by Sudarsan Raghavan
The alleged Somali mastermind of the assault on a posh mall that killed scores and jolted Kenya is a man of contradictions. Ahmed Godane is bookish, eloquent in both Arabic and Somali, recites poetry and is known to quote from obscure academic journals, analysts ...
World | ANALYSIS Sep 24, 2013
Al-Shabab nimbler under new leader
by Franz Wild and Sarah Mcgregor
The attack that killed 69 people in a Kenyan shopping mall over the weekend was the first regional operation undertaken by the new leadership of Somalia’s al-Shabab militants following a bloody power struggle. After months of pressure from African troops against the al-Qaida-linked group ...
World | ANALYSIS Sep 23, 2013
Trouble at home led al-Shabab to attack abroad
The massacre at a Kenyan shopping mall by Somalia’s al-Shabab insurgents has shown the still-potent threat of the al-Qaida-linked group even as its fighters struggle at home, analysts say. The attack, which follows bloody strikes by al-Shabab suicide commandos earlier this year, including against ...
World Sep 23, 2013
Attack may hurt vital tourism sector
Nairobi’s Westgate Mall, site of Saturday’s mass shootings, might as well have been a mall in the U.S. or Europe. Kenyan consumers could buy shoes from brands such as Nike, Adidas or Converse, or visit Samsung’s store and buy a new smartphone. When hungry, ...
World Sep 23, 2013
Kenyan troops launch fresh assault on mall
Four large blasts rocked Kenya's Westgate Mall on Monday, sending large plumes of smoke over the upscale Nairobi suburb as Kenyan military forces moved in to rescue hostages held by al-Qaida-linked militants.
World Sep 22, 2013
Militants kill 59, take hostages in Kenya mall
Gunmen stormed a popular, upscale shopping mall in Nairobi on Saturday afternoon, lobbing grenades and firing weapons in an attack that left at least 59 people dead and 175 injured.
Social Issues Sep 9, 2013
British Somalis brace for khat ban
by Judith Evans
When Britain bans the herbal stimulant khat, Mohamod Ahmed Mohamed will lose his livelihood. But he fears most for his small Somali community without the leaf that fuels its social life. “I can switch to another business, but what about the youth, where are ...
National Aug 26, 2013
Japan may again send MSDF patrol aircraft for anti-piracy mission off Somalia
Japan will consider deploying Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C patrol aircraft again to the multinational anti-piracy operations off Somalia, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, according to Japanese officials. In a Sunday meeting with Vice Adm. John Miller, commander of the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet, in ...
World Jul 14, 2013
Somali-American is caught up in U.S. counterpropaganda campaign
by Craig Whitlock
Two days after he became a U.S. citizen, Abdiwali Warsame embraced the First Amendment by creating a raucous website about his native Somalia. Packed with news and controversial opinions, it rapidly became a magnet for Somalis dispersed around the world, including tens of thousands ...
National Jul 9, 2013
MSDF to up participation off Somalia
The administration said Tuesday another year will be added to the Maritime Self-Defense Force mission to protect vessels from piracy off Somalia, and for the first time the MSDF will be allowed to operate jointly with multinational forces. Under the new framework, approved by ...