The Field

Field reporting from the people who were there. Rights, governance, conflict, security. Open to reporters worldwide. Pitch: [email protected]

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

We started The Field with Africa. Now a reporter in Lima or Lisbon or Lahore can pitch us too. Six regions, same rules for each: a yes or no in 48 hours, and a reason if it's no. Unpaid, your copyright stays yours. https://t.co/sF1Fmya7u3

Editor: @Ismailabukar_

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

Hirshabelle's president won re-election 81 to 13 on 24 October. Its own vice president, a Hawadle, says the vote does not apply in Hiiraan. Where the result leaves a dispute no one has settled. https://t.co/0IDQVJYi9Z

Editor: @Ismailabukar_

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

Al-Shabaab already held Mahaas before 3 October. What a Hawadle pact could buy it is something it could not take by force: the stand-down of the militia that helped push it out of Hiiraan in 2022. Part 2 of 2. https://t.co/wf1QukjF5S

Editor: @Ismailabukar_

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

On 3 October Al-Shabaab announced a peace deal with the Hawadle clan. On 8 October, in Tardo, its fighters and villagers shot at each other for hours. No Hawadle signatory has been named. Part 1 of 2. https://t.co/yLRoLfyBcd

Editor: @Ismailabukar_

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

Gracious Nkomo, 28, was found dead beside the R21 highway on 10 September. On 21 October South Africa set aside R5.1bn against gender violence. Under 4% is for forensics and investigators. By Nhlanhla Nkosi, part 1 of 3. https://t.co/aVZupkdI1O

Editor: @Ismailabukar_

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

A week after he called the 2027 election timetable one-sided, former Prime Minister Roble congratulated Galmudug's new president. Is Somalia's opposition one camp, or several? By our editor @Ismailabukar_ https://t.co/G3lJy18xZk

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

Now a reporter in Lima or Lisbon or Lahore can pitch us too. https://t.co/sF1Fmya7u3

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

We started The Field with Africa. Now a reporter in Lima or Lisbon or Lahore can pitch us too. Six regions, same rules for each: a yes or no in 48 hours, and a reason if it's no. Unpaid, your copyright stays yours. https://t.co/sF1Fmya7u3

Editor: @Ismailabukar_

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

“The test is not what Ethiopia can take, but what it can keep.”

By @DrAZHabtewold, who led Addis Ababa University's student union in 1998.

Ethiopia's grievance over Assab is real, he argues. A war would not fix it.

Edited by @Ismailabukar_

https://t.co/BMXoFKoOaD

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

“The test is not what Ethiopia can take, but what it can keep.”

By @DrAZHabtewold, who led Addis Ababa University’s student union when the 1998 war began.

Ethiopia’s grievance over Assab is real, he argues. A war would not fix it.

Edited by @Ismailabukar_

[Dr. Assegid (AZ) Habtewold @DrAZHabtewold]

Ethiopia has a legitimate grievance over Assab. But would another war solve it?

Drawing on my experience during the 1998 war, I examine the stakes, competing interests, and path to peace.

Pleased to share my analysis published by @TheFieldHQ

https://t.co/VVfIq2uTV6

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

In Ibadan, women told him they would not vote because “the people who beat us are the ones sharing money for votes.” The Electoral Act 2026 says nothing on gender-based violence. INEC's priority voting is “a promise of policy, not a duty written into the law.” @inecnigeria

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

“They want our votes, but they don't want us to come and vote.”

By Honourable Oluwabamise Abraham Fayemi

A woman with a disability who trades at a market in Ado-Ekiti said that to him. Nigeria votes Jan 16.
Edited by @Ismailabukar_

https://t.co/xkGg4rqGkC

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

The Field is open for pitches from US writers, reporters and researchers. Africa, governance, human rights, conflict. We can't pay, but you keep your copyright, get a byline, and hear back within 48 hours.

Pitch: https://t.co/pKL1uJpryB

Edited by @Ismailabukar_

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

For two weeks in September, Facebook and TikTok went dark in Equatorial Guinea after a young woman's video accused the president's eldest son, the vice-president, of corruption. Our editor @Ismailabukar_ asks who checks him.
https://t.co/J8OiZjOTTL

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

@IranWireEnglish

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

Iran’s women won 14 medals at the Asian Games. The state is claiming every one.

In 2022, before climber Elnaz Rekabi could travel, she reportedly had to hand over a $35,000 cheque and the right to sell her family’s property.

https://t.co/E1P42dMM1i
Edited by @Ismailabukar_

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

Kenya, Mozambique and Madagascar show where this road can lead: force fast, accountability slow.
@amnesty @hrw @_AfricanUnion #PoliceAccountability

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

Mauritius charged the sergeant who shot a woman in a van within days. Then came a curfew, 94 arrests (16 minors) and a plan to prosecute children from 12, not 14. Analysis by @Ismailabukar_ for The Field.

https://t.co/53AagwMYsh

#Mauritius #HumanRights

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

He buried his father and went to that day’s hearing. He did not step aside. Report by Abdulkadir Isse, edited by our editor @Ismailabukar_

#Somalia #AlShabaab #Mogadishu #Zoobe

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

His father was shot at home in Mogadishu in 2018. The judge says the killers wanted to stop the Zoobe bombing trial.

Nine years after the bomb, he told a national conference what happened. The motive rests on his word alone, and our report says so.

https://t.co/cXkdxnNQhn

[The Field @TheFieldHQ]

A missile killed at least 12 at Riyadh's main airport, including an American. Trump says the US "may" join the war on the Houthis. Oil tops $100. A $4 million interceptor against far cheaper drones is a losing sum, and bombing Yemen is the wrong first move. Better steps:

[Ismail Abukar @Ismailabukar_]

A missile killed at least 12 people at Riyadh's main airport on Saturday, including an American, and wounded more than 300. The airport is shut. Oil is above $100 a barrel. President Trump says the US "may" join the war on the Houthis.

Here is the number that stayed with me. A Patriot interceptor costs about $4 million. The drones it gets used against cost at most tens of thousands of euros, @Bruegel_org 's analysts write. Saudi Arabia is paying millions to stop weapons that cost thousands, and on October 10 one got through.

My policy analysis argues that bombing Yemen is the wrong first move. I propose four things instead: cheaper air defence (interceptor drones that cost $800 to $3,000, per @orfonline ), a UN-checked truce on civilian airports, narrow Congress-approved force if it comes to that, and a plan for Yanbu, the Red Sea port Saudi oil now leans on.

The full analysis, with sources: https://t.co/p8MX2TQYLS

Published by @TheFieldHQ