Time running out on Somalia’s troubled vote as citizens sigh

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — As Somalia marks three decades since a dictator fell and chaos engulfed the country, the government is set to hold a troubled national election. Or is it? Two regional states refuse to take part in the vote to elect Somalia’s president and parliament members, and time is running out before the Feb. 8 date on which mandates expire. The United Nations warns that going beyond that date without a solution doing so brings Somalia into “an unpredictable political situation in a country where we certainly don’t need any more of that.”