Somaliland, North Korea, Uganda
Today's three stories you should know
Somaliland
Somalia has condemned a visit to Somaliland by Israel’s foreign minister 10 days after Israel became the first country in the world to formally recognize the breakaway region as an independent state, calling it a “serious violation” of its sovereignty. Gideon Saar met with the self-declared Republic of Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi in the capital Hargeisa. Somaliland has denied reports that the recognition came with an agreement to allow Israel to establish military bases on the strategically important Gulf of Aden coast, or a deal to accept the settlement of Palestinians ethnically cleansed from Gaza. The territory has been functioning independently of Somalia since 1991.
More from Reuters here.
Proximities Picks
In a previous life I executive produced a talk show called The Stream. Ahmed Shihab-Eldin regularly did stints hosting and I got to see at close quarters what an incisive and knowledgeable journalist and commentator he was, as well as being a thoroughly nice guy. These days, Ahmed runs an excellent Substack newsletter and podcast: Out Loud with Ahmed Eldin. If you enjoy Proximities, I think you might appreciate Ahmed’s insights. Subscribe to the newsletter here, his YouTube channel here, and follow his Insta here.
North Korea
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae visited the construction site for a memorial to North Korean soldiers killed while fighting overseas, according to state media. Under a mutual defense pact with Russia, Pyongyang sent about 14,000 troops to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, where more than 6,000 of them were killed, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western sources cited by Reuters. Kim, who planted trees alongside Ju Ae, described the dead soldiers as "heroes ... who sacrificed themselves without hesitation.”
More from Reuters here.
Uganda
Uganda’s government has denied that it plans to shut down the internet during elections scheduled for next week, dismissing the reports as “rumors.” Satellite internet provider Starlink on Friday restricted its services there, following a directive from the national communications regulator, fueling concerns raised by opposition candidate Bobi Wine. The internet was shut down for four days during the country’s last presidential race in 2021, which was marred by protests and accusations of widespread fraud. The election pits popular rapper-turned-politician Wine against Uganda’s longtime leader Yoweri Museveni.
More from Africa News here.
NB: Proximities recently published a deep dive on the Uganda election for paid subscribers. Consider going paid for weekly Q&As that put our world in context.
The detail about Kim planting trees at the memorial site is chilling propaganda theater. 6,000+ casualties among deployed troops means roughly 43% didn't come back, which is catastrophic by any military standard. The fact that Ju Ae is being positioned at these events tells us succession planning in Pyongyang is very far along, even as the regime sends thousands to die in somone else's war. The mutual defense pact angle deserves way more scrutiny.
The Stream is great! Cool to see you were involved in that. I love that show (although admittedly haven't watched in eons)