Somalia

Heavy fighting broke out Friday close to Somalia's border with Kenya as extremist al Shabaab fighters launched an early attack on the town of Dhobley before being forced to withdraw, according to reports.

Today is Peace Day, a day "for wide-scale community action and a day for UN agencies and aid organisations to safely carry out life-saving work" and is a project brought to life by the Peace One Day organisation, supported by stars such as Jude law or Angelina Jolie and created by Jeremy Gilley.

Following the attack of British couple who were holidaying in Lamu, Kenya in the luxury resort called Kiwayu Safari Village were attacked over the week-end, the piracy problem has come back on the international agenda.

As violent clashes between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria continue to make more casualties, religious tensions continue to threaten the stability of the country.

A theory that climate change could be a cause in triggering conflict, has been given a new boost after a new scientific study found an unmistakeable link between climate fluctuations and violence.

After months of conflict, the rebels control most of Tripoli, but there is still no news of Moammar Gaddafi and his followers are still setting up resistance.

Since it decided to intervene in March, NATO has been fighting in Libya on the rebels side but after months of stagnation, in the last few weeks, the conflict appears to have turned in their favour.

Charities and organisations such as the UN are launching campaigns to raise funds for drought affected East Africa as 10 million people risk losing their life because of famine.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday announced the U.S. government will provide additional 17 million dollars in humanitarian aid to the Horn of Africa region, of which 12 million dollars go to Somalia.

Pope Benedict XVI has called for an "international mobilization" to help the victims of a severe drought in Eastern Africa, which has been hit by drought and is now threatened by a famine that could endanger the life of more than 11.8 million people.Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are the countries the most hit by the drought and aid agencies worry a lack of funds could hamper international effort to bring the situation under control.

African Union peacekeepers in Somalia have captured three "strategic" locations from al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda- linked rebels in the capital, Mogadishu, who last week denied it had accepted to lift a ban allowing aid workers to provide assistance to people in the famine-struck country, it was reported on Thursday.

Just over 38 years ago, on 17 July 1973, King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan was overthrown in a coup d'état whilst undergoing medical treatment in Italy, by his Prime Minister and cousin, Mohammed Daoud Khan. Anyone can be forgiven for missing the 38th anniversary of the First Republic celebrations in Kabul as there don't appear to have been any.

Thousands of Africans are taking to Twitter to vent grief and anger over another famine in Somalia, raising money and comforting each other showing that once again social network are increasingly used to highlight international issues.

According to BBC news, Somalia's al-Shabab Islamists have denied lifting their ban on Western aid agencies and say UN reports of famine are "sheer propaganda".The UN on Wednesday said that parts of Somalia were suffering a famine after the worst drought in 60 years, and millions of people are desperately trying to survive.

As the Muslim world prepares to enter Ramadan, it seems that Libya's rebels asked France for extra arms to help them overrun Tripoli within "days", indicating they are preparing for a pre-Ramadan offensive against Muammar Gaddafi' s forces.

The Somali president issued an urgent appeal for international aid as his drought-stricken country faces a famine that has left half of the population in dire need."The situation is very severe. The conditions are very harsh," President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed told CNN Wednesday during an exclusive interview at his residence in Mogadishu.

The United Nations declared today that famine exists in two regions of southern Somalia: southern Bakool, and Lower Shabelle," a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Somalia said.

The UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, says aid is being provided to camps controlled by the Islamist group al-Shabab.

The African Union called Tuesday on the international community to come to the aid of Somalia, where one in three people are suffering from the combined effect of unrest and drought.

Somalia is close to famine, causing over a 1,000 people a day to travel over the border into Kenya and Ethiopia, according to the United Nations.

With the UN warning that both East and the Horn of Africa have been hit by the worst drought in 60 years, international aid agencies have warned of an alarming gap in the food pipeline to reach those most in need.More than 10 million people are thought to be affected across the East African region and the UN has warned that large swathes of northern Kenya and Somalia are now in the "emergency" category, one phase before what is officially classified as famine.

After allegations first emerged in the French newspaper Le Figaro, France has today confirmed it dropped arms to Berber tribal fighters in the mountains south-west of the capital, Tripoli. "During the operation, the situation for the civilians on the ground worsened. We dropped arms and means of self-defence, mainly ammunition," he told ...

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday pressed all African states to demand the Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi step down and take tougher action against his regime.

The imposition of a no-fly zone in Libya has succeeded in one thing at least: it has enforced a stalemate onto what was seemingly the opening moves of the Libyan civil war.