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Tech billionaire, Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates have announced divorce after 27 years of marriage, having tied the knots on January 1, 1994, in Hawaii.

In a joint statement Monday, the couple announced they’ve decided to end their marriage, saying, “Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.”They continue, “We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives.”

TMZ reports that Bill and Melinda began dating in 1987 after meeting at a New York trade show, and she’d go on to work in marketing for Microsoft and be appointed as General Manager of Information Products in the early ’90s.

On January 1, 1994, the couple wedded in Hawaii and Melinda left the company in 1996 to focus on starting their family.

Bill and Melinda have three adult children, Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe, and reside in their huge, earth-sheltered family mansion, dubbed Xanadu 2.0, overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, WA.

Along with being mega-rich, the duo is widely known for their philanthropic efforts ever since launching the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. It was estimated in 2014 that they had donated $28 billion to the foundation, a number that’s only skyrocketed in recent years.

For instance, the Gates Foundation made a contribution of $250 million in late 2020 to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gates’ net worth is estimated at more than $130 billion

Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed announced he will not attempt to extend his term by two years, bowing to domestic and international pressure after clashes in the capital Mogadishu split security forces along clan lines.

News Agency reports that hours earlier, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble denounced the proposed term extension and called for preparations for a new presidential election.

The president’s term expired in February, but the country failed to hold elections as planned. Earlier this month, the lower house of parliament voted to extend Mohamed’s four-year term by another two years.

The Senate rejected the move, provoking a political crisis.Commanders in the police and the military defected to the opposition, and rival factions of the security forces fortified positions in central Mogadishu, raising fears of heavy fighting in the heart of the capital, and a security vacuum in the surrounding areas that could be exploited by al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab fighters.

In a televised statement early on Wednesday, the president said he commended the efforts of the prime minister and other political leaders and welcomed the statements they issued calling for elections to be held without further delay. He also called for urgent discussions with the signatories to an agreement signed last September on the conduct of the vote.

The opposition, which demanded the president to resign, did not immediately respond. The president did not discuss the opposition in his speech, but denounced unnamed “individuals and foreign entities who have no aim other than to destabilise the country”.

The heads of two regional states who had been staunch allies of the president also rejected on Tuesday the proposed two-year extension of Mohamed’s term. Those leaders said in statements immediately after the president’s speech they welcomed his announcement.

Prime Minister Roble backed that joint statement and called on security forces to return to their barracks. He also urged opposition leaders to stop any actions that could harm Somalia’s stability.

Mohamed’s attempt to extend his term also angered foreign donors who backed his government.

This week, opposition forces abandoned positions in the countryside as they headed for a showdown in the capital, allowing al-Shabab to take over at least one town.

Forces loyal to the opposition hold important parts of Mogadishu and clashed with government forces over the weekend, raising worries the country could return to an all-out war.

Alarmed by the extraordinary developments, the United Nations, African Union, United States, and others on Tuesday warned against the “emerging fragmentation” of the Somali National Army along clan lines.

Some residents fled, worried that Somalia was again collapsing into conflict after years of trying to rebuild from its devastating civil war.

The president said he urged “all security agencies to maintain the stability of the capital and the safety of innocent civilians, avoiding any actions that may lead to insecurity”.Somalia’s election was delayed amid disputes between the federal government and the states of Puntland and Jubbaland along with the opposition.The president, a former US citizen who gave up that status while in office, tried to defend his actions on the election standoff in a recent interview with his former local newspaper, The Buffalo News, asserting Somalia “cannot afford a power vacuum”, and the extra time would allow officials to organise the first one-person-one-vote direct election in decades.

He added, “Who can lead if we leave?”

The latest unrest is the second bout of violence in Mogadishu over the proposed extension to Mohamed’s term.

Continued clashes could further splinter Somali security forces along ethnic lines, said the International Crisis Group, a think-tank.

“Somalia is teetering on the brink of a major breakdown once again,” it said in a briefing published on Tuesday.

Somalia’s fledgeling armed forces are drawn from clan militias that have often battled each other for power and resources.

Mohamed is Darod, one of Somalia’s main clans. The majority of the Somali military in the capital is Hawiye, another large clan. Most of the opposition leaders are Hawiye.

When asked if he would peacefully hand over power if someone else is elected, the president in his interview with The Buffalo News replied, “Absolutely, without any hesitation.”