Somalia lawmakers select new speaker

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s parliament Tuesday elected former labor minister Mohamed Osman Jawari as the new speaker, a key step toward the election of a president and the country’s transition from a failed state to a nation with an effective government.

The process to select Somalia’s next government has been criticized for corruption and threats of violence, international observers say. Nonetheless, some praise it as a watershed moment in the Horn of Africa nation’s road to peace and stability.