Rep. Deqa Dhalac, D-South Portland, had made history in 2021 as the first Somali American mayor in the country.
Somalia
Posted inBoys Soccer, Lewiston-Auburn, Local Sports, Sports
Lewiston’s Bilal Hersi earns starting spot on Somali under-20 national soccer team
Hersi, who graduated from Lewiston High School earlier this year, represented his parents’ home country in an African Cup of Nations qualifying tournament.
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Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
UN will maintain presence in Somalia
Since April, 1992, an international peacekeeping or monitoring force of some type has attempted to reduce the mayhem in war-wracked Somalia. Subtract 1992 from 2018: you get 26 years. Prepare to add more. This week the UN Security Council voted to maintain the UN and African Union Somali peacekeeping operation (African Union Mission in Somalia, […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Feds: Man who settled in Lewiston in 2004 concealed identity to apply for legal documents
A Somali man who settled in Maine 14 years ago after claiming refugee status under someone else’s name is suspected of falsifying passport and citizenship applications. Hussien Noor Hussien, 55, most recently of Burlington, Vermont, was arrested there last week by U.S. Marshals and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Portland on June […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Up to the UN to help avert the return of chaos in Somalia
After the victory by the Somali people against the Ethiopian occupation in 2006-2009, the United Nations’ mission was to support the moderate groups of the Islamic rebels in joining the warlords to create a transitional government of national unity. It also was to disarm most of the feuding factions’ militias, create a Somali army, provide […]
Posted inLocal & State
Navy SEAL from Maine killed in Somalia operation
Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken, 38, of Falmouth, Maine, was killed during an operation against al-Shabaab on May 5. FALMOUTH, Maine (AP) — The Pentagon identified a Maine man on Saturday as the Navy SEAL killed in a military operation in Somalia, the first American to die in combat in the African country […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
About the U.S. ambassador to Somalia
Stephen M. Schwartz was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2016, the first ambassador to Somalia in 25 years. At the time, his appointment was seen as a landmark in U.S.-Somali relations. The U.S. Embassy in Somalia was closed in 1991 because of violent political upheaval. Even today, it operates out of Nairobi, Kenya. Since the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
U.S. Ambassador to Somalia visits Lewiston
U.S. Ambassador to Somalia, Stephen Schwartz, center, meets with Lisbon Street store owner Mahamud Muktar, left, Thursday morning during a walking tour of Lewiston. To the right is Jama Mohamed. Schwartz then spoke and answer questions from the Somali community at the Lewiston Public Library. A story is being developed.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Author shares work on tracking Somalis’ journey to Lewiston
LEWISTON — Muhidin Libah still marvels sometimes at how easy it is to make soup in this country. Back in Somalia, he said, he would have had to travel half a mile just to get water and then spend considerable time and effort heating it. A dozen years after he came to Lewiston as a refugee, it’s […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
From Somalia to North Yarmouth, radio star settles into new American life
NORTH YARMOUTH — Abdi Nor Iftin’s journey to Maine started in a tiny shack in Mogadishu, Somalia, watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator.” It was there, packed in a room with about 30 other people, that he learned his first three English words: “I’ll be back.” At an event at SPACE gallery in Portland on […]