EU Seeks Benchmarks In Extension Of Somali Government

Nairobi, Kenya, March 26, 2011 – As the Somali government attempts to oust Islamist insurgents from southern and central Somalia, the European Union is shifting its support and demanding results from the transitional leaders.
European Union officials are in East Africa to assess the situation on Somalia and evaluate the EU's support of the troubled transitional federal government. The trip comes in the midst of an offensive - recently launched by the government - to wrest control of southern and central Somalia from al-Qaida-linked rebels, al-Shabaab.

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Nairobi, Kenya, March 26, 2011 -- Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague has announced six million Sterling Pounds (9.7 million U.S. dollars) funding to improve maritime surveillance of pirates in the Indian Ocean and to increase prison capacity in Somalia and across the Indian Ocean region.
A statement posted on the British High Commission in Kenya’s website said the money will help to ensure that suspects are prosecuted and those found guilty of piracy are imprisoned.
"The funding includes 5.3 million Pounds to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) counter piracy programme to build regional capacity for piracy prosecutions and detentions in Somalia, Kenya and Seychelles," the statement said.

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Nairobi, Kenya, March 25, 2011 - President Mwai Kibaki has underscored the importance of an all-inclusive process in finding a long-term solution to the deteriorating situation in Somalia.
President Kibaki said all stakeholders should also be involved in ending piracy off the Gulf of Aden.
The President was speaking at His Harambee House office during a meeting with former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings who paid him a courtesy call.

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U.S. Department of State
The United States will join partners from 60 countries and international organizations at the United Nations in New York March 21, for a plenary meeting of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, a growing diplomatic effort to confront criminal activity that threatening commerce and humanitarian aid deliveries along one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors.

The plenary, hosted by Turkey, will be the eighth gathering of this outstanding international partnership, which was established following the adoption of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1851 to coordinate an effective international response to piracy in the Somali Basin and surrounding waters. Since its initial meeting in January 2009, the Contact Group has nearly doubled in size − a testament to the global consensus that piracy poses a shared security challenge to maritime safety and that the current situation requires further concerted and coordinated international action. Among its accomplishments, the Contact Group has:

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Nairobi, Kenya, March 26, 2011 Kenyan forces have crossed into Somali territory to fight al-Shabaab militants, an official source has told the BBC.

However, the reports were denied by a police spokesman.

Twelve militants were killed in the raid near the border town of Liboi, Kenya's Standard newspaper reports.

Kenya supports the Somali government and has helped trained its forces but if confirmed, this would be the first time Kenyan officers have crossed the border.

The raid was carried out by the police General Service Unit in the wake of recent militant attacks on the Kenyan side of the border, the Standard says.

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RICHMOND, Va., March 26, 2011 – The government's bid to have piracy charges restored against five Somali men accused of attacking a Navy ship has stalled in a federal appeals court.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals told attorneys Friday to submit briefs on why the matter belongs before the court.
The judges did not take up the government's appeal of a Norfolk judge's dismissal of piracy charges against the men, who are accused in the April 10, 2010, attack on the USS Ashland.
Instead, the judges questioned whether the appeals court should consider the judge's ruling before the facts of that case are heard.

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The British Red Cross has released £110,000 from its Disaster Fund to help people affected by the severe drought in Somalia.

Dry weather in Somalia since October 2010 has resulted in drought conditions which are significantly affecting agricultural production, water resources and pasture.  

This is devastating to a population already weakened by almost two decades of armed conflict. Thirty-two percent of Somalia’s population, around 2.4 million people, need humanitarian assistance.

Food crisis

Not enough rain means harvests have failed – and this has caused cereal prices to rise significantly. Livestock have also been affected by the critical shortage of water and pasture. Soaring prices will inevitably make it harder for many Somalis to get hold of food. The result will be a further increase in the number of people facing acute food crisis. 

Somalia’s resilience is already weakened by limited income opportunities and reduced access to basic services such as health and nutrition. If the rain expected in April does not come, the situation in the country will become catastrophic.

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By Gary Goldstein 

Desert Flower is a weighty biopic that by all rights should have bloomed more fully than it does in the hands of writer-director Sherry Hormann. 

That said, a lovely performance by Ethiopian supermodel-actress Liya Kebede as supermodel-activist Waris Dirie works wonders to elevate this uneven, occasionally awkward, but often absorbing film.

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