When three attempts to cure Abdulhakim*, 42, of tuberculosis failed, the father of nine living in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia, took his doctor's advice and tested for HIV - the result came back positive. His family's reaction was predictable: his brothers stopped grazing their goats and sheep alongside his, and many of his relatives wouldn't touch him. "My wife and children are the only ones who have stood by my side," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

Somali Interior Minister Abdulkadir Ali Omar has been wounded in a deadly bomb attack in the capital Mogadishu. The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in the city says the minister's secretary was killed and a bodyguard also injured. The minister was passing through the capital's bustling Bakara market - a stronghold of the radical al-Shabab militia - when a landmine went off.

The Somali Coalition For freedom Expression (SOCFEX) condemns the arbitral detention of the editor of YOOL and the subsequent sentencing to five months by the regional court of Hargaisa in the self declared state of Somaliland after being accused of publishing newspaper without proper authorization. Mr. Mohamed Abdi Urad has been detained by the Somaliland police in late February 2009. He was held in the headquarters of Somaliland CID in Hargaisa. He appeared in court briefly once and was sent back to detention after prosecution failed to make credible charges.

China's navy will renew an anti-piracy mission to the Gulf of Aden when the current commitment expires in the coming months, a naval top officer was quoted as saying by state media on Monday. China's three-ship anti-piracy flotilla took up its duties off the Somali coast in January on a four-month mission and new ships will be sent to take over in late April or in early May, the China Daily newspaper quoted the navy deputy chief of staff, Rear Adm. Zhang Deshun, as saying.

Three months after aid deliveries to the south Somali coastal town of Merka stopped, several thousand displaced people are facing a food and water crisis, sources said. "What little food we had is gone; we have had no help in almost three months," Zeinab Sheikh Hassan told IRIN. "We are in a desperate situation and we need help now."

Without an immediate infusion of funding, the already grave malnutrition and disease levels in Somalia will worsen, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has cautioned. In an alert to donors, the Office highlighted the need for assistance for emergency nutrition as well as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes in two regions in north and central Somalia.

Over 40,000 internally displaced persons have returned to Mogadishu in the last six weeks. The majority of the returnees are from Hiraan, Mudug, Galgaduud, Lower and Middle Shabelle in the southern and central regions, which are experiencing a combination of renewed conflict and severe drought.

Twin explosions Sunday killed 11 Burundian troops at a compound used by African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu, Somalia, authorities said. Shabelle Media Network reported al-Shabaab, an Islamic extremist group with ties to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack. Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheik Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansoor, said one of their fighters detonated a jacket laden with explosives inside the Burundian base and another suicide bomber exploded his car.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the murder of Said Tahliil Ahmed, Director of HornAfrik- a radio and television station in the Somali Capital Mogadishu- who was gunned down on 4 February 2009. "We condemn this murder which is the result of the lawlessness in Somalia," said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa Office.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has warned that a call by the United Nations Special Envoy in Somalia, Ahmed Ould Abdallah, to suspend news reporting from Somalia was an "ill-thought out and counter-productive" response to the media crisis in the country. "We oppose this move because it will not work and could make the situation even worse for journalists," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary.

Presidential candidates are preparing to address the expanded Somali parliament a day before it votes to choose a new head of state. At least 14 candidates are running, including Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein and moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. An additional 149 opposition members have been sworn in to parliament which is meeting in neighbouring Djibouti.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed the release of Somali journalist, Abdifatah Mohamed Elmi, after 146 days in captivity. Photojournalist, Abdifatah Mohamed Elmi, was abducted on August 23, 2008 with two foreign journalists, namely Amanda Lindout of Canada and Nigel Brenan of Australia. Elmi's two drivers, Mohad Isse and Marwali were also abducted.

Tens of thousands of Somalis have gathered at the football stadium in Mogadishu to celebrate the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from the city. The stadium was a former Ethiopian base and Islamist and clan elders called for Somalis to solve their own problems and not resort to more violence.

More than 50,000 people fleeing chaotic conditions in Somalia and neighbouring countries crossed the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden to Yemen in 2008, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday. At least 590 drowned and 359 were reported missing among the 50,091 known to have made the perilous voyage in Somalia-based smugglers' boats last year, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said.

Abdurahman Mohamad Farole has been elected as the new president of Puntland, a regional autonomy. Before his election to the presidency, he was the finance minister and close ally of the outgoing president Adde Musa.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the murder of Hassan Mayow Hassan, a Somali journalist, who was shot dead in the Afgoye District of lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia. "We strongly condemn this killing which marks a violent start of the year for journalists in Somalia," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. "There is an urgent need to end violence against journalists in Somalia and all warring factions must refrain from targeting the media.

EU forces in the Gulf of Aden have prevented several pirate attacks in the last few days and arrested more than 25 pirates. Somali pirates gave up a raid on a Greek oil tanker on Friday (2 January) after the intervention of EU forces, the Greek merchant marine ministry has reported.

This latest International Crisis Group report, argues that the announced withdrawal at year’s end of the Ethiopian army, which intervened in December 2006, opens a new period of uncertainty and risk but also provides a chance to launch an inclusive political process. “The world is preoccupied with a symptom – piracy – instead of concentrating on a political settlement, the core of the crisis”, says Rashid Abdi, Crisis Group’s Somalia Analyst. “There is no quick fix to Somalia’s tragedy, but this opportunity must not be missed”.

Members of the Somali parliament allied to Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the president, have said that they are in hiding after they received death threats. The group said on Thursday that they were in Baidoa, in south-central Somalia, after militia men and soldiers entered parliament.

Ethiopia has missed the deadline set out in a peace deal to withdraw its forces from Somalia, but has promised to go by the end of December. The recent agreement between the transitional government and Islamist opposition set Friday as the deadline. A BBC reporter in the capital says the troops are still in their bases. "Our total withdrawal... will be by the end of this month, the prime minister has made it very clear," Ethiopia's London ambassador told the BBC.