Hostage breaks down in painful call to brother

Terrorizing Aid to Somalia

The United States is willfully letting millions of Somalis go hungry in its drive to hunt down terrorists.

BY NATALIE PARKE | OCTOBER 30, 2009

There is a new humanitarian crisis unfolding in Somalia, and the United States is partly to blame. Despite sending $2 million and 40 tons of arms and ammunition to the country's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) earlier this year, now, the United States is withholding humanitarian aid until relief agencies agree to comply with strict, game-stopping conditions.

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The decision to abruptly halt assistance came following suspicions that U.S. aid might be ending up with Somali "terrorists." The main worry is an al Qaeda-linked group called al-Shabab, the leading Islamic militant group fighting against the feeble but internationally backed government. Al-Shabab controls most of south-central Somalia, while the TFG controls only a few areas of the capital, Mogadishu. The south-central region is home to 2.7 million of the 3.63 million Somalis in need of emergency assistance. So, reaching many of Somalia's people with aid would likely entail operating on al-Shabab's turf and interacting with elements of the group to facilitate logistics.

U.S. Treasury Department sanctions strictly prohibit any financial transactions or dealings with al-Shabab and other Somali groups labeled as "terrorists." Yet clearly the concern is not absolute; the U.S. government seems less concerned that the guns and ammo sent as military assistance, intended to prop up the fragile government and keep control of a country brimming with violence, are allegedly being resold on the streets of Mogadishu.

The halt in humanitarian assistance will cripple the work of relief organizations and, as a consequence, hurt their Somali beneficiaries. U.S. officials justifiably fear that they and their partners could be held responsible, even prosecuted, for supporting terrorists if relief funds ended up in the hands of al-Shabab. At first, the U.S. government reviewed the situation and "delayed" funding. Subsequently, Washington issued conditions with which aid agencies must comply to legally operate in Somalia. But the conditions are so restrictive that it would be virtually impossible for operating agencies to meet them. (To preserve the security of those groups on the ground, specific conditions cannot be stated here.)

The damage is not just temporary. The new, politically charged rules would destroy relief organizations' neutrality in Somalia. Humanitarian aid derives its legitimacy from impartiality -- the notion that aid is provisioned on need alone, rather than politics. In Somalia, where the U.S. government is often viewed unfavorably, political impartiality is a practical consideration as well; it is central to the ability of relief agencies to function safely and effectively. The new U.S. conditions would undermine this core principle by making it nearly impossible for relief agencies to legally operate in al-Shabab-run territory, including many of the most desperate regions of Somalia. The country is already one of the most dangerous for humanitarian workers, so the United States' attempt to bring relief workers under its purview will only increase Somali suspicion toward them and make the environment more precarious.

On top of this policy disaster, money for relief in Somalia is running out. The U.N. World Food Program estimates that its coffers will be empty within the next few weeks. Even if more funds were pledged today, it could require as many as four months for the money to reach beneficiaries on the ground. There will be an inevitable gap in assistance to Somalis.

The timing could not be worse. The country's already catastrophic humanitarian crisis is being compounded by a drought that has struck much of the Horn of Africa. Nearly half the population is estimated to urgently need aid -- some 3.63 million people.

The U.S. government is holding the Somalia relief enterprise and its beneficiaries hostage to its counterterrorism policy. Agencies have resolutely upheld their commitment to humanitarian impartiality and refused to be shut down by unreasonable conditions. Unfortunately, that precludes them from accepting U.S. funds -- normally half of all aid to Somalia. Until Washington lets agencies fulfill their mission unhindered, the U.S. mission to win "hearts and minds" in Somalia, a feared up-and-coming stronghold of terrorism, will be completely undermined. Knowingly allowing millions of people to suffer is no way to win friends.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - US researchers have found a way to coax human embryonic stem cells to turn into the types of cells that make eggs and sperm, shedd

Somalis get first-ever debit card

The firm says Somalis have the same needs as British or Americans

A money-transfer company has made a piece of banking history in Somalia - introducing the first-ever debit card in the breakaway region of Somaliland.

The firm, Dahabshiil, hopes eventually to roll the system out to all Somali-speaking areas from Djibouti to Kenya.

They say large shops and hotels in areas with good internet connection and electricity can sign up to the service.

The card was launched in Somaliland's capital Hargeisa because of insecurity elsewhere in the region.

'Cashless society'

Somaliland declared itself independent from Somalia in 1991, when the country's central government collapsed.

Since then, Somaliland has forged a relatively stable state, despite its lack of international recognition.

Most of the rest of Somalia has been wracked by violence and Islamist insurgencies while

Dahabshiil boss Abdul Rashid Mohamed Said told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme he regretted that people overseas hear only bad news from Somalia.

"We believe Somalis here have the same needs as people in the UK or America and that's why the debit card will make their lives easier," he said.

He said he hoped to create a "cashless society" by encouraging customers to link their accounts directly to their cards.

The BBC's Jamal Abdi says people he spoke to on the streets of Hargeisa hope the new cards will reduce the long queues outside money-transfer agencies.

Dahabshiil has made its name by handling cash transferred by Somalis living overseas to their relatives back home.

Some estimates say as much as $1bn (£610m) is sent into Somalia from the emigrants.

Curry spice 'kills cancer cells' curry

Curry spice 'kills cancer cells'
curry
The yellow spice gives curries their bright colour

An extract found in the bright yellow curry spice turmeric can kill off cancer cells, scientists have shown.

The chemical - curcumin - has long been thought to have healing powers and is already being tested as a treatment for arthritis and even dementia.

Now tests by a team at the Cork Cancer Research Centre show it can destroy gullet cancer cells in the lab.

Cancer experts said the findings in the British Journal of Cancer could help doctors find new treatments.

Dr Sharon McKenna and her team found that curcumin started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours.

'Natural' remedy

The cells also began to digest themselves, after the curcumin triggered lethal cell death signals.

Dr McKenna said: "Scientists have known for a long time that natural compounds have the potential to treat faulty cells that have become cancerous and we suspected that curcumin might have therapeutic value."

Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, said: "This is interesting research which opens up the possibility that natural chemicals found in turmeric could be developed into new treatments for oesophageal cancer.

"Rates of oesophageal cancer rates have gone up by more than a half since the 70s and this is thought to be linked to rising rates of obesity, alcohol intake and reflux disease so finding ways to prevent this disease is important too."

Each year around 7,800 people are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in the UK. It is the sixth most common cause of cancer death and accounts for around five percent of all UK cancer deaths.

Pirates 'seize UK yacht couple'

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has contacted the couple's family

A search is being carried out for a British couple who are feared to have been taken captive by Somali pirates while sailing near the Seychelles.

Paul and Rachel Chandler, aged 58 and 55, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were heading for Tanzania in their yacht, the Lynn Rival.

They sent a distress signal on Friday but have not been heard from since.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said his sources believed they were being taken to Somalia.

He said it was thought the couple and their yacht were headed for the port of Haradheere.

'Ransom demands'

A pirate called Hassan told the Reuters news agency: "The British couple are in our hands now. We captured them as they were touring in the Indian Ocean."

The two captives were healthy and ransom demands would follow, he added.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokeswoman said it could not confirm whether pirates were involved.

"We are in touch with the family in the UK and the Seychelles coastguards which continues to monitor the situation and has conducted a search of the area," she added.

A spokesman for the Seychelles Coast Guard said they had not heard from the couple, who were out of reach by satellite phone.

He said: "There have been reports that they were hijacked by pirates but no one can prove that. We don't know what has happened and cannot speculate."

The couple's niece Leah Mickleborough said she last saw the couple at her wedding in September.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live they were experienced sailors who had lived on their yacht for several years.

She said the family were told on Friday that the distress signal had been set off but switched off again, as if it was an accident.

They were expecting the couple to come into a dock on an island where they could make contact, but were warned by the FCO on Monday that there would be reports of a kidnapping in the media.

"We were fairly confident that maybe it was just an accident," she said.

"All of us in the family are extremely upset by what's happened and we're very distressed.

"We all hope they are OK and this can be resolved easily."

Pirate attacks

Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the couple's distress beacon was activated at 2300 BST on Friday.

They were on a 150 nautical-mile passage south-west to the Amirante Islands, en route to Tanzania when they used the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon.

The couple have been sailing around the world on their yacht, the Lynn Rival

The route would have taken the couple near Somali waters which are notorious for pirate attacks on ships and smaller boats.

It is understood that there had been pirate activity in the area earlier in the day.

Earlier this year Seychellois officials requested help from the international community to defend their waters.

The Chandlers previously wrote of "the Somali pirate problem" that delayed other voyages to Tanzania.

In a post on their blog in June, the couple wrote: "The seas around the Seychelles are now too rough for the pirates to operate in."

Nick Davis, Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre, said the waters around the Seychelles had become one of the most dangerous areas in the world for piracy since warships had moved into the Gulf of Aden to protect merchant ships.

In the past few weeks pirates have taken a fishing boat, container ship and cargo dry bulk carrier.

A Navy spokesman said the Davenport-based frigates HMS Cumberland and HMS Cornwall Royal, which are on anti-piracy patrols, are involved in the search.