How many people still live in Somalia? No one knows. The UN says around 10m. Just as Somalia’s problems of jihadism and piracy have gone global, so have its people. War has scattered Somalis across the world. But the diaspora is probably at least 1m-strong—favourite outposts include Cardiff, Dubai, Minneapolis and Stockholm—and plays a big part in the country’s politics. More on Somalia’s Demography: Little-known, Dispersed and Dying – No Wonder no one Knows for Certain What Should be Done

A meeting hosted by the European Commission on Somalia’s peace process has opened in Brussels. The meeting follows two days of heavy fighting in Mogadishu, which have threatened the efforts of the country’s new president to reestablish government control in the capital. More on European Meeting on Somalia Opens

 Renewed fighting in Somalia has forced about 17,000 people to flee their homes, according to a local human rights group. More on Thousands flee Somalia fighting

At least 15 people have been killed and 90 injured during the fiercest fighting in the Somali capital Mogadishu since a new president was elected last month.

The battle focused on the south of the city, with rebels firing mortars at the presidential palace and a base for African Union and government troops. More on Mogadishu rocked by fierce battle

At the beginning of the year, we pledged to help initiate and sustain an Ethiopian Diaspora dialogue and consultation process with the aim of building broad consensus for collective action. We expressed our hope that with the proper groundwork it is possible to clearly identifying a set of issues over which pro-democracy Diaspora Ethiopians could take a unified position and speak in one thundering voice. We boldly proclaimed the inspirational theme, “Ethiopian united can never be defeated!” More on Seeking Paths to Ethiopian Diaspora Dialogue and Consultations

Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5, voiced his concerns over increasing numbers of young men travelling to the East African country in an interview with the Daily Telegraph last month. He talked of “networks that help individuals go and take part or provide support to extremist gangs in Somalia” and may return to attack Britain. More on “Zenawi’s Invasion Radicalized Somali Youth” CIA chief

This article is about Somaliland`s fanatical, hasty unification with Somalia in 1960 and how Somalia doomed the union with political deprivation (1960-1982) and atrocities (1982-1990). It also states reasons of why the union is not revivable. In this article, North is referred to Somaliland and South is referred to Somalia as used in the three decades of the union.] More on Somaliland-Somalia: The History of Chauvinism-Created Union

More than 300 clerics and clan elders gathering in the bullet-pocked capital, Mogadishu, called Thursday for African Union peacekeepers to leave Somalia within 120 days, a demand that put the nation’s transitional government in an awkward position. More on Somalia: A Disagreement Over Peacekeepers

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama must urgently seize the opportunity to help Somalia’s new leaders unite their strife-torn country under the rule of law, a senator said in a letter released Thursday. More on US senator urges Somalia policy overhaul

MOGADISHU ( Sh. M. Network)-Abdulahi Hassan Barise, the spokesman of the Somali police forces has confirmed that most of the government checkpoints were removed from the streets in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday.    More on Checkpoints removed