Garissa, Kenya — Twenty-one-year-old Khadija Omar stands by the trough at a giraffe sanctuary in Garissa County, northern Kenya, wearing a silk sash that reads Miss Somalia and a fashionable ...

“It fosters unity and empowerment,” she said. Ms Gas believes it is time for Somalia to join the rest of the world when it comes to beauty contests. “I want to celebrate the aspirations of ...

I was relaxing in a comfy chair when a woman came at me with a long, sharp knife. That first time, I was terrified. Now I am accustomed to ladies approaching me with blades. It is all in the name ...

As the ambulances drove by the hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, where the beauty contest was being held, and the terrible news spread among the competitors, organizer Hani Abdi Gas had to ...

It’s also enriched with antioxidants and vitamin C, making a wonder beauty product of sorts. For centuries, my mum tells me, Somali women have applied this powder in a bid to achieve clearer ...

The BBC's Mary Harper writes about her experiences at Somali beauty parlours. I was relaxing in a comfy chair when a woman came at me with a long, sharp knife. That first time, I was terrified.