August 28, 2014 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Kenya urges regional collaboration in war against terrorism

27 Aug – Source: Africa Review/Daily Nation – 156 words

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said Africa lacked the potential to deal with insecurity or the emerging security issues such as terrorism, hi-tech and cyber-crimes without countries cooperating with one another. Addressing chiefs of police from 13 Eastern Africa countries in the coastal city of Mombasa, Kenyatta said terrorism was incompatible with the values and aspirations of Africa. “The threat, as we have so painfully learned in recent years, is not confined to any one country or region,” he told the participants, saying terrorists would certainly harm anybody who did not share their dark view of the world. “We have a common interest in working together to defeat the terrorists so that our people would enjoy security and prosperity in whatever they do for their livelihood,” he said. The President told the security chiefs that the people under them demanded nothing less than an end of terrorism and other spectacular crimes that hinder the continent’s advance.

Key Headlines

Somali President leaves for Turkey to attend newly elected President Erdogan’s inauguration (Hiiraan Online)
AMISOM trains 230 Somali soldiers on the outskirts of Beledweyne (Bar-kulan)
Kenya urges regional collaboration in war against terrorism (Africa Review/Daily Nation)
IDPs in the outskirts of Mogadishu appeal for immediate humanitarian support (Radio Goobjoog)
Police pursuing gunmen who shot and critically injured Mombasa CID boss (Star News)
Ministry of Finance officials arrive in Jowhar Middle Shabelle region (Bar-kulan)
AFM soldiers back from Somalia mission (Times of Malta)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali President leaves for Turkey to attend newly elected President Erdogan’s inauguration

27 Aug – Source: Hiiraan Online – 119 words

A delegation led by the Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud left Mogadishu airport Wednesday to attend the inauguration of the newly elected Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara Thursday. President elect Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) managed to secure almost 52 percent of the votes cast in the first round of Turkey’s first ever presidential election. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was accompanied on his trip to Turkey by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Investment Dr. Abdirahman Beileh and senior members of the civil service. The president and his key Ministers have always stipulated the importance of the strengthening diplomatic bonds between the two nations and their hopes for a closer cooperation on development in Somalia.

AMISOM trains 230 Somali soldiers on the outskirts of Beledweyne

27 Aug – Source: Bar-kulan – 126 words

Senior officers from the African Union Mission in Somalia have today completed a training course for 230 Somali soldiers on the outskirts of Beledweyne, the capital of Hiran region. The closing ceremony of the training course which lasted over three months was attended by senior officials from African Union Mission in Somalia, Somali National Army, Somali MPs and officials from Hiran regional administration. MP Dahir Amin Jesow who attended the closing ceremony urged the newly graduated soldiers to defend the interests of their country and to use their skills for the betterment of their communities. He called on the people of Hiran region to assist the newly graduated soldiers as they do not have military uniforms or other military equipments to accomplish their services and duties.

IDPs in the outskirts of Mogadishu appeal for immediate humanitarian support

27 Aug – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 115 words

Over 1000 Internally displaced person in the outskirts of Mogadishu are in desperate humanitarian crisis. These families run from the areas the hit by droughts and conflicts in Southern Somalia, they are living in a makeshifts in X- Afgoye control (Warshada Daawada). They are faced with acute shortage of water with no essential services like food, shelter and medicine. One of the IDPs Hussein Ali told Radio Goobjoog that since they came to the IDP before three months, they have not received any humanitarian support adding that the aid agencies in the region have neglected them. He called the humanitarian aid agencies to deliver emergency support and save the lives of the the displace people.

Ministry of Finance officials arrive in Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region

27 Aug – Source: Bar-kulan – 111 words

A delegation from the ministry of finance arrived in Jowhar town, the provincial capital of Middle region to assess the state of social services in the region. The delegation met with senior officials from Middle Shabelle regional administration including Ali Gulwade Hussein, the governor of Middle Shabelle region. Ministry of Finance’s head of projects Ali Haji Hussein who spoke at the meeting said that the ministry of finance has set aside $750 thousand to improve the social services in the region. The governor of Middle Shabelle region has welcomed the allocation of funds for the improvement of social services in the region and stressed the need to renovate Jowhar-Mogadishu highway.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Kenya urges regional collaboration in war against terrorism

27 Aug – Source: Africa Review/Daily Nation – 156 words

Police pursuing gunmen who shot and critically injured Mombasa CID boss

27 Aug – Source: Star News – 145 words

Police are pursuing gunmen who shot and seriously wounded Mombasa Urban CID boss Ndumba Thangarani in Tudor area in Mombasa on Tuesday night. The officer was accompanied by Mombasa police boss Geoffrey Mayek when they were ambushed as they trailed the assailants in a private car. Mayek escaped unhurt along with two undercover detectives during the 8pm incident. Mombasa County Deputy Police Commander, Sevelino Kubai, said Thangarani is in stable condition after he was rescued and rushed to Mombasa hospital. Kubai said the CID boss is still admitted at the hospital’s intensive care unit after he was shot in the stomach. Speaking at the hospital on Wednesday, Kubai said the two senior officers were acting on highly placed intelligence report of impending attack by the four assailants. The officers were using unmarked vehicle to trail the four from a house in Kingo’rani area within Majengo.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

AFM soldiers back from Somalia mission

27 Aug – Source: Times of Malta – 109 words

A contingent of 21 AFM soldiers are back from Somalia where they formed part of an EU-mandated anti-piracy mission. The contingent worked with Dutch forces on the warship De Zeven Provincien. They performed various boarding missions of suspicious vessels. The four officers and 17 men were away for 16 weeks and were lucky to escape unharmed when a hand grenade was thrown as a restaurant in Djibouti which they had just left. This was the longest deployment off the coast of Somalia for AFM soldiers so far. A number of relatives awaited their arrival this morning and watched on as they were presented the Dutch Medal for Peacekeeping Activities.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“The cheetah is a living symbol of speed, and displays amazing feats of acceleration to capture prey, but it cannot elude the poacher. If we are to succeed against the criminals, we must display similar predatory skills in identifying the criminal networks, rolling up the trafficking routes and seizing assets. Just like the cheetah’s speed, stamina and agility are essential for success.”

We cannot stand idly by while cheetahs are hunted to extinction

27 Aug – Source: The National – UAE – 623 words

Despite being the world’s fastest land animal, the cheetah is rapidly losing the race against the poachers and traffickers. Over the last century, the population of this emblematic member of the big cat family has dropped 90 per cent and much of its territory in Africa has been turned over to farming. Fewer than 10,000 cheetahs are left in the wild, including a small population in Iran. Their numbers continue to slide. Today’s demand for pet cheetahs in the Middle East is fuelling a calamitous drop in its numbers in the wild. Cubs are poached in the Horn of Africa, and then shipped from Somalia to Yemen by boat before being driven into the Gulf states by road. It is thought that up to 50 to 70 per cent of the cubs die along the route. Given that as many as 90 per cent of all cubs are killed by predators in the wild, it is easy to appreciate the catastrophic damage that this illegal trade has on cheetah numbers. Thankfully, countries are starting to organise. Last year, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda called on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) to investigate the scale of the trade and its many trafficking routes. The reply from Cites was delivered in a report published this July. It made for depressing reading: the greatest impact of this trade has been on the East African cheetah population, and it is being driven by the demand for exotic pets across the Arabian peninsula. According to Cites, the trade has been continuing for at least 15 years.