March 13, 2013 | Morning Headlines.
Strong currency hurting Somalia’s economy
12 Mar – Source: Standard Media – 112 words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud has expressed concern over the rise of the Somali currency against the dollar.
The Somali shilling has been appreciating against major foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar. On Saturday, the Somali shilling hit the highest rate of 13,000 against the dollar, from 16,000 just a week ago. The appreciation is having knock-on effects on the already weak economy of the Horn of Africa nation. The president said the Somali government was doing all it could to minimise the effects of the strong shilling in a largely dollar-based economy.
Key Headlines
- PM Shirdon meets authorities in Mudug(Radio Bar-kulan)
- Security improves along the main road between Lego and Burhakaba(Shabelle)
- Interior minister travels to Riyadh to attend interior ministers’ meeting(Radio Bar-kulan)
- Banadir Administration Completes Key Public Service Projects in Mogadishu(Radio Bar-kulan)
- Somalia – MS F closes its clinic in Xadaar after security incident(Mareeg Online)
- Somalia: Two bodies found killed in Mogadishu(Garowe Online)
- Somali journalists beaten by police while covering court case says union(The Guardian)
SOMALI MEDIA
PM Shirdon meets authorities in Mudug
12Mar – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 85 words
Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon on Tuesday held talks with authorities in both northern and southern Galkayo town, Mudug region. According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s office, the meeting between Puntland officials on the north focused on improving security, development and rebuilding the nation at large. The meeting was also attended by local elders, traders and professionals.
Security improves along the main road between Lego and Burhakaba
12 Mar – Source: Shabelle – 70 words
The security situation along the highway linking Lego town and Burhakaba has improved significantly, according to the district commissioner of Lego. Colonel Abukar Abdalla Isaaq, the district commissioner of Lego town who has given exclusive interview to Shabelle, said that the high way which has reopened after government forces backed by forces from the African Union mission liberated it from al Shabaab, is now secure and safe to travel for civilians.
Interior minister travels to Riyadh to attend interior ministers’ meeting
12 Mar – Source:Radio Bar-kulan/Hiiraan Online – 64 words
Interior and National Security Minister Abdikarin Hussein Gulled on Tuesday travelled to Saudi Arabia to take part in an upcoming conference for Arab interior ministers. Police commissioner Gen. Shaikhuna Maye, Director of the National Intelligence Agency Ahmed Moalim Fiqi and a number of senior officers accompanied the minister. The Council of Arab Interior Ministers will hold its 30th session in Riyadh on March 13-14.
Banadir Administration Completes Key Public Service Projects in Mogadishu
12 Mar – Source:Radio Bar-kulan – 76 words
The Banadir Municipal Administration, through its Dan Guud Team, has completed a number of development projects at the beginning of the year 2013 in the capital Mogadishu. The projects are aimed at improving the Regional Administration’s (BRA) capacity to improve and expand social service delivery in Mogadishu. In a statement on Tuesday, the administration said 53 commercial market stands were completed and officially handed for public utilization in Waberi District at the beginning of the year.
MSF closes its clinic in Xadaar after security incident
12 Mar – Source: Mareeg Online – 111 words
Medical activities have been halted at a clinic run by Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Xadaar, a neighbourhood of the Somali capital Mogadishu, the international humanitarian organisation said today. On 28 January, two of the clinic’s security guards exchanged gunfire, apparently as the result of a personal dispute. Both security guards were wounded in the incident. Fortunately the shooting took place outside clinic opening hours and no one else was injured.
Two bodies found killed in Mogadishu
12 Mar – Source: Garowe Online/Shabelle – 82 words
Mogadishu residents woke to two bodies that were found dead in Yaqshid district on Tuesday. The bodies of a middle aged man and a young man were dumped in two different locations in Yaqshid district. Residents of Arafat neighborhood told Somali media that men aboard a 4 by 4 vehicle late Monday night got out and executed the middle aged man. The residents said that they did not know who the men were nor could they identify the body.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Strong currency hurting Somalia’s economy
12 Mar – Source: Standard Media – 112 words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud has expressed concern over the rise of the Somali currency against the dollar.
The Somali shilling has been appreciating against major foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar. On Saturday, the Somali shilling hit the highest rate of 13,000 against the dollar, from 16,000 just a week ago. The appreciation is having knock-on effects on the already weak economy of the Horn of Africa nation. The president said the Somali government was doing all it could to minimise the effects of the strong shilling in a largely dollar-based economy.
Syria crisis as volatile as Somalia, warns U.N. peace envoy Brahimi
12 Mar – Source: Al Arabiya – 119 words
U.N. and Arab League peace envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi warned on Monday that the situation in Syria resembles that of Somalia, pointing at a lingering Syrian crisis which is “worrying the world.”
“The situation in Syria resembles Somalia (and is even worse) than what the latter witnessed in the past years,” Brahimi said following his meeting with EU foreign ministers at Brussels. “They agree with us that (Syria’s crisis) is one of the most dangerous crises (worrying) the entire world today. I came here to call on them to use their capabilities to help reach a peaceful solution,” he told reporters. He added that Syria’s crisis can only be resolved through “a political, peaceful and consensual solution.”
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali journalists beaten by police while covering court case, says union
12 Mar – Source: The Guardian – 164 words
Journalists in Somalia claim they were threatened at gunpoint and beaten by police as they tried to cover a court case in Mogadishu, in the latest evidence of an official crackdown on press freedom. At least five reporters were assaulted, some seriously, on Saturday,according to the National Union of Somali Journalists. The union leader said he believes the attack is related to recent media coverage of a woman who alleged that she was raped by uniformed men and then pressured by police to drop her case. http://www.guardian.co.uk/
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The pirate attacks on commercial vessels in waters off Somalia, in the Indian Ocean, and off the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, have been growing steadily rarer. But the problem is not solved.”
Complacency will hamper piracy war
12 Mar – Source: The National – 384 Words
As The National reported on Sunday, the UAE-owned tanker MV Royal Grace, with its crew of about 20 men, was released last week after a full year as a hostage. The release followed payment of a ransom, amount not disclosed. The incident stands out because such cases have become much rarer of late. Nato’s Shipping Centre reported just two pirate attacks on commercial ships in regional waters in January this year, neither successful. There were four attacks in January 2012, and 30 in January 2011.