Songstress Amina Hersi sings her last in Somaliland

Somali songstress Amina Abdullahi Hersi, renowned for her songs about love and patriotism, passed away on Saturday in Borama, Somaliland’s Awdal region, according to her family. Amina was born in the Kala-baydh, located between the towns of Borama and Wajale. She spent her early years growing up in Djibouti. She became a wife and had […]

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The Somali funk spirit that has overcome anarchy and exile

By Ismail Einashe Growing up in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, in the early 1990s I loved nothing more than sitting with my aunt in our bombed-out house lip-syncing to songs that sum up the Somali spirit of resistance. Listening on our battered old cassette player, one of our favourite stars was […]

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‘Give us the stage and trust us’: how a British-Somali play became a sell-out smash hit

The lack of roles for Somali and Muslim women led writer and actor Sabrina Ali to create her own. Her latest play Dugsi Dayz, set in an Islamic study group, has struck a chord with audiences Writer and actor Sabrina Ali, 25, is in her sunny London flat, remembering a time when she flouted authority […]

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A Culture in Focus: A People in Search of Recognition

By Bashe Omar This week, a relatively unknown yet remarkable event will be taking place just a stone’s throw from the bustling and vertiginous Square Mile in the City of London, at Oxford House in Bethnal Green. The Somali Week Festival will run from October to the 22-30. . A cultural event packed with film […]

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Hadraawi: The Somali poet whose readings were like rock concerts

By Mary Harper – Africa editor, BBC World Service News The Somali people are known as “a nation of poets” and there is no greater poet of modern times than Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame, who has died in Hargeisa, the capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, at the age of 79. Tens of thousands attended […]

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Halima Aden, first hijab-wearing woman to take part in the Miss Minnesota pageant savours moment with Meghan and Harry

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry posed for a selfie with history-making Muslim model Halima Aden when attending the One Young World Summit in Manchester on Tuesday evening. The Duke, 37, and Duchess of Sussex, 41, who gave a keynote speech at the event at Bridgewater Hall, were pictured taking the snap with the 24-year-old following […]

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Somaliland independence celebration planned at St. John’s Cultural Centre on Saturday

Somalilanders in Edmonton will celebrate the 31st anniversary of their country’s independence on Saturday in the Canadian city. A party will be taking place at St. John’s Cultural Centre, located at 10611 110 Ave., from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Special guests for the night include Loula Isman, representative of Somaliland to Canada, and Ahmed Hersi, […]

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