SomCable, Bluwan to Expand Fast Wireless Service From Somalia

SomCable, a broadband operator in Somalia, has chosen wireless technology company Bluwan SA to help introduce a high-speed wireless Internet service in the sparsely populated and predominately rural Somaliland region.

“We can do this Fibre Through the Air project at one-10th of the price of a fixed-line fiber connection,” Mike Cothill, chief executive officer of SomCable, said in a phone interview. “To run a cable to a home, you have to dig up people’s properties and management of the network is pretty expensive.”

Globecomm Systems Inc. (GCOM), a New York-based provider of satellite services, will deliver and integrate the system, according to an e-mailed statement from the companies. The goal is 1 million subscribers by 2015. Paris-based Bluwan will initially deploy hubs in Hargeisa, the capital, with a 5- kilometer (3.1-mile) range offering links fast enough for video and audio.

The network will expand to Burco, Borama and Berbera, and then across the border to Djibouti, which is connected to underseas fibre-optic cables. It may then extend to Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan, the companies said.

Somaliland, a former British colony, declared independence from Somalia in 1991, after the fall of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. No country officially recognizes its independence.

Users will connect to the wireless service via an outdoor antenna and the deal is worth at least $3 million for Bluwan, according to today’s statement. Each Bluwan hub will offer constant speeds of 2 megabits per second and peak speeds of 100 megabits per second to thousands of customers.

Standard access costs $5 a month and doesn’t allow downloads of video such as YouTube, SomCable said in a separate e-mail. A premium service at a minimum of $20 a month is “open completely to the Internet.”

Remittances from overseas workers account for an estimated 80 percent of Somaliland’s $500 million annual gross domestic product, while the sale of livestock mainly to buyers in the Middle East is its biggest generator of export income.

Internet connection speeds have improved and costs have fallen since 2009 in the region as at least four undersea cables began operating off Africa’s Indian Ocean coast, replacing more expensive satellite links.

Africa has fewer than five mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, compared with more than 10 percent in all other regions of the world, according to the International Telecommunications Union, a Geneva-based industry group.

- BLOOMBERG

Angered India demands change after gang rape exposes a society in crisis

Six men may face the death penalty after a student was attacked on a bus. Her death may be a turning point in the nation's attitude to women, reports Jason Burke in Delhi

The Observer, Saturday 29 December 2012 20.23 GMT

 

 

 

Protesters and mourners attend a vigil in Delhi as a student’s death galvanises Indians to demand greater protection for women. Photograph: Ahmad Masood/Reuters

 

At seven o'clock on Saturday night, they lit the candles – on Juhu Beach, where Mumbai meets the Indian Ocean; in the centre of the bustling southern cities of Hyderabad and Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore); at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in chaotic, poverty-stricken Lucknow, 1,000 miles to the north.

Simultaneously, thousands of people across this vast nation remembered a still anonymous 23-year-old medical student who, late on Friday night, died of injuries sustained when she was raped and brutalised with an iron bar by six men on a moving bus in Delhi two weeks ago.

In Delhi itself, a city full of temples, mosques and churches, scores gathered at a shrine set up at the bus stop where, tired of waiting for the rare public buses after a trip to see the film Life of Pi, the young woman and her male friend had accepted a lift from the men who would rape her. Whether those in the crowd were mourners, protesters or both was unclear. Under the hastily printed posters reading "You Inspired Us All" and "No to Violence to Women", they too lit their candles. "We are feeling very sad. We are feeling very angry. Now we hope our lives will change," said Archana Balodi, a 24-year-old student.

The six men who are accused of the attack were charged on Saturday with murder, an offence which can be punished by death in India. Even this would be insufficent, said some demonstrators. "Hanging them is not enough. They should be tortured like she was," said Srishdi Kumar, 16. "Then maybe there will be a change. Why not?"

The victim died of organ failure after internal injuries sustained during an assault that lasted for more than an hour. She and her male friend were thrown from the moving bus.

Few now doubt that India, and particularly Delhi, has a problem with rape and sexual violence against women. In recent weeks the issue has changed from being "a privately accepted fact" to a "public cause", said the local Indian Express newspaper. Now many are talking about a turning point.

"In legal terms, it can be [a turning point] if there is the political will. But more broadly it could be a turning point for young women in India. They have seen and sensed the power of their united voice and their resistance, and that is critical," Brinda Karat, a veteran activist and Communist MP, told the Observer.

Many have been angered by the response of the authorities since the incident. While leading figures of the beleaguered ruling Congress party pledged action and spoke of their deep sadness on Saturday, a huge security operation was under way in the capital city to prevent demonstrators reaching parliament, the India Gate war memorial or their own official residences.

Protests last weekend turned violent with water cannon, teargas and baton charges used to disperse demonstrators. But there appeared to be no such threat on Saturday and the massed ranks of police looked like an over-reaction rooted in the paranoia and aloofness of India's political elite.

In a rare televised address, Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress party, said that she spoke as "a mother and a woman", and called for efforts to counter "shameful social attitudes and mindsets that allow men to rape with such impunity".

Sexual harassment – known locally as "Eve-teasing" – is endemic in India. The belief that women are responsible for sexual assault is widespread. This year a series of rapes in rural areas in the state of Haryana, which is adjacent to Delhi, led to suggestions from politicians and community leaders that much sexual violence was consensual.

Investigations have revealed similar attitudes among the police. Women who report rapes are repeatedly ignored or even harassed themselves.

In the wake of the most recent incident, dozens of other rapes, often by multiple assailants, have been reported by the media across India. More than 24,000 rape cases were registered with the authorities in 2011, a 9% increase on the previous year.

In one incident reported last week, police took 14 days to register a complaint from a 17-year-old in Patiala, in the north-western state of Punjab, who attempted to report a gang rape. She later took her own life. Two officers have been sacked and one suspended.

The government has set up two committees to recommend new measures to combat sexual violence against women. One is likely to be the publication on the internet of a register of sex offenders; others include fast-track courts and a higher proportion of female police officers.

But the events of the past week have also revealed a growing gulf between young Indians and the ageing political class. The prime minister, Manmohan Singh, an 80-year-old former economist, encountered derision when he described the "emotions and energies this incident has generated" as "perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change".

Sheila Dikshit, the chief minister of Delhi – an otherwise popular figure who said she felt ashamed "not just as [chief minister], but as a citizen of India" – was booed when she tried to visit one of the protests in the city on Saturday . Few among the overwhelmingly youthful protesters had much confidence in their leaders. Many asked why they should trust political parties who in the last five years have fielded candidates for state elections that included 27 charged with rape and scores more under investigation for harassment and assault.
Brinda Karat said some good might yet come out of the tragedy – but at a high cost. "There has been a critical shift," she said. "But how many young lives and how many young women have to be sacrificed for change to happen?"

Six-year-old abduction girl, Atiya, back in Britain

A six-year-old girl returns to Britain more than three years after she was snatched and taken to Pakistan. The abduction, by her father, could influence her whole life, an expert tells Channel 4 News.

Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson arrived back at Manchester airport on Friday after vanishing in November 2009 when she went to stay with her father, Razwan Ali Anjum. The former insurance salesman said he was taking Atiya to Southport. Instead he took her to Lahore, Pakistan, and told Gemma Wilkinson - Atiya's mother - that she was "never going to see Atiya again".

Anjum is currently serving a prison sentence in the UK for refusing to reveal his daughter's whereabouts, despite a court order. Just last month Gemma Wilkinson, 32, from Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, launched a fresh appeal for information on her daughter's whereabouts. Ms Wilkinson has described her daughter's homecoming as "the best Christmas present ever".

'Something they never get over'

Alison Shalaby is from the charity Reunite International, which offers support to those affected by parental child abduction. Her own daughter was snatched by her Egyptian father. I asked her about what difficulties mother and child face after so long apart.

She told Channel 4 News: "There are going to be challenges because the little girl has been through this twice now - first the abduction from England to Paksitan, and everything that goes with that in her life.

We have spoken with adults who were abducted as a child - they say it's something they never get over. It influences their whole life. Alison Shalaby

"Now she's got a huge change again in her life. But hopefully with a mother's love and the assistance of the immediate family, and help from professionals, they'll be able to form a bond again.
"We have spoken with adults who were abducted as a child - they say it's something they never get over. It influences their whole life."

Jail term

Mr Anjum was handed a fourth consecutive jail term by a high court judge in April after he refused to reveal where his daughter was. Mr Justice Moor imposed a 12-month prison sentence after he found him in contempt of an order instructing him to disclose Atiya's whereabouts.
He said Anjum, who is in his late 20s, would not be eligible for release until he had served at least six months. Judges have previously imposed jail terms of two years, 12 months and another 12 months in the hope that Anjum would provide information. Judges re-jailed Anjum as each sentence neared its end.

Ms Wilkinson, a former charity worker, took legal action in an attempt to force Anjum to reveal the crucial details.
Anjum, who represented himself at the latest court hearing, indicated that Atiya was in Pakistan or Iran but said he did not know her exact whereabouts. Mr Justice Moor said he was sure Anjum was lying.
The judge said: "I am certain that he is in contempt. It is absolutely absurd for him to suggest that he does not know the whereabouts of his daughter and he cannot contact her. I am certain he is lying."
Another judge has previously said the case was "as bad a case of child abduction as I have encountered".

Atiya e-fit image

It is thought Atiya was found after police published a computer-generated e-fit image of what Atiya would look like now - a day before her sixth birthday in November.

Ms Wilkinson said:"It's been an absolute nightmare. As to her whereabouts we know nothing. We've had no contact. I'm worrying every day, every single day. Everything is affected by it. When I close my eyes I see her.

"I say goodnight to her every night before bed. I pray she's okay. We don't have any proof that she's okay, there is no proof she is still alive. It's been discussed that she could have been sold, but I don't want to believe it.

"She was so funny. She was a little bundle of joy. She loved her lipgloss and handbags - as soon as she got hold of my make-up bag, everything in it was hers. We just want her home."

Her "on-off" relationship with Anjum ended in 2008. "He's not prepared to back down - he's not prepared to work with the police," she said at the time.

Somaliland: Stop Misuse of Public Media

A wrong is a wrong. Yes, it is not something right.

They say two wrongs do not make a right. Yes, true it is.

But when a wrong is righted by a wrong, and another and another, thus infinite wrongs are “justified” to right on original wrong, what can that situation be?

Of course as nationalists we abhor, decry and condemn in the strongest terms possible the use (or is it misuse) of tribal chords struck to play clannish whims for ill-motives.

Worse of all is the trend of allowing such innuendoes to be aired or printed for dissemination through the public media.

By the way, the licensing means that have resulted in the off-shooting of numerous electronic “journals” or “radios” need to be reviewed, or were they in the place ever licensed at all?

To listen to a local “electronic” radio” giving audience to a local “poet” who enters a vociferous, voluble and fire-spitting rhetoric whose vehemence carries all the abilities of war-mongering is not only dangerous but so inconvenient  that we wonder who ever licensed such “freedom”.

To listen to war-mongering in song or poetic disguise only remind us of the Rwanda mass massacre that were not only catalyzed, but indeed, ignited and caused by radio stations.

For such a wrong to be countered in the same spirit by another wrongful move only compounds the situation even further and is only to fuel the fire hence the hog-wash would erupt into fire-balls.

So too would other “members” of other “communities” who feel “touched” do the same.

Before the media misuse is allowed to blend and integrate into our culture becoming a “normal in-thing” we should nip it at the bud now.

To the contrary, what we should see in the media should be positive trends. It is quite sad that the Guurti or parliament have forgotten what they are paid for.

Worthy Somalilanders should come fast to our aid and preach goodwill. Cabinet, Guurti, Parliament and traditional leaders should immediately see the dangerous route that the stirring up of tribal emotions may take hence should counter it immediately by disseminating the needful.

We should be responsible and know what is good and what is right. We should know what we are supposed and obliged to do. The media should not consciously nor unconsciously take part to misinform, disinform or equally take part in propagating ill-will through war-mongering propaganda.

The information department should review how local websites and blogs operate for we can no longer discern their agendas any more.

By MA EGGE

Somali woman gets 8 years in prison on ‘terrorism’ charge for her humanitarian work

By Staff |

December 13, 2012

 

San Diego, CA - A young Somali woman and well-known community activist, Nima Ali Yusuf, was sentenced to eight years in prison, here on Dec.11, for conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization. Yusuf, a volunteer at the Humanitarian African Relief Organization was accused of sending a small sum of money - $1450 - to members of Somali resistance organization al-Shabab.
At issue was the accusation that Yusuf helped out friends in Somalia, who were also said to be members of al-Shabab. 

The courtroom was packed with family, friends and supporters when Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz handed down the sentence.

A statement from Yusef’s defense committee refers to her as a hero and notes, “Nimo Yusuf is a daughter with great heart. She will go beyond her ability to help others. She is highly beloved in the Somali Community. She has touched the lives of so many of us here in the twin cities. She translated, provided transportation, cared for the sick and the widows. She loved her faith and followed its commandments of giving, helping, and caring. She carried the burden of others, solved their problems, counseled the youth, cried and cared for many of us who are struggling and adjusting to the new life in America.”

The FBI made use of wiretaps against Yusuf and, according to court records, intercepted and recorded 35,000 calls made by her.

Mick Kelly, of the Committee to Stop Repression, states, “A good person who did good things is being sent to prison for a very long time. The government wants to criminalize people who support a Somalia that is independent of foreign domination. She should be released at once.”

U.S. ‘terror’ and gun laws extended to Somalia - Somalis face New York City trial

By Mick Kelly |

December 28, 2012

 

Brooklyn, NY - Three men from Somalia, Ali Yasin Ahmed, Madhi Hashi and Mohamed Yusuf, appeared in Federal District Court here, Dec. 21, on charges of violating U.S. “material support for terrorism” and gun laws. What makes this case different from the dozens of U.S. cases involving Somali men and women in Minnesota, California and other states is that there is no indication the men are U.S. residents or citizens, or that they have ever traveled to the U.S.

The conspiracy to provide “material support to a foreign terrorist organization” stems from their alleged membership in the Somali resistance organization, al Shabaab. Al Shabaab is an Islamic political movement that is fighting the U.S.-backed foreign intervention in Somalia.

The gun charge, according to a Dec. 21 press release form the New York Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office, involves the “unlawful use of machine guns” in Somalia.

The case against the three men rests on the dubious legal theory that U.S. laws can be applied anywhere in the world. The New York Times states, “Court documents show no connection between the alleged crimes and the United States.”

Two of the men, Mohamed Yusuf and Ali Yasin Ahmed, lived in Sweden for a time. Madhi Hashi was born in Somalia and grew up in England. The British newspaper, The Independent reported on Dec. 23 that when Hashi lived in London, he was one of a group of young people who said they were pressured by the UK intelligence agency, MI5, to become informants. After his return to Somalia, Hashi’s UK citizenship was revoked.

The Independent says of Hashi, “His family had no idea where he was for five months until he appeared in a New York court on Friday accused of terrorism. Last night, his British lawyer, Saghir Hussain, said: ‘This has all the hallmarks of rendition. It appears the withdrawal of citizenship and the kidnapping by the Americans may have been co-ordinated.’”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office claims, “In early August 2012, the defendants were apprehended in Africa by local authorities while on their way to Yemen.” On Oct. 18, 2012, a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned a sealed indictment against the defendants. On Nov. 14, 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation took custody of the defendants and brought them to the Eastern District of New York.”

The Independent quotes Hashi’s father, Mohamed, “’We are not some slaves who can be passed around from one owner to another,’ he said. ‘Why was our son sent to the U.S.? He has been a British citizen for 15 years but then his citizenship was taken away suddenly and now we find out that he's in New York? Our family had to find out this news from public news sources as no one has contacted us until now. We are very worried about his condition as we have no information. The U.S. have not given our son any rights – we don't know where he's being held, how to contact him or how he's being treated. It is shocking that something like this can be done to someone based on accusations and suspicion only.’”

Among those who announced the charges against the three men Dec. 21 was Raymond Kelly, the Commissioner of New York City Police Department. The NYPD has built a massive intelligence network that spys on Arabs and Muslims around the U.S. It is also setting up satellite offices in other countries.

One year after killing of our two colleagues in Somalia

29 December 2012 

It is with great sadness that the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) marks one year since our two colleagues, Philippe Havet and Andrias Karel Keiluhu ("Kace"), were brutally murdered in Mogadishu.

Philippe, a 53-year-old emergency coordinator from Belgium, and Kace, a 44-year-old medical doctor from Indonesia, were working with MSF teams to provide emergency medical assistance to displaced and resident populations affected by the conflict in Somalia.

"Philippe and Kace are greatly missed and today we extend our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to their families and friends," said MSF general director Christopher Stokes.

Following their tragic murders, MSF decided to close two large medical centres in the Somali capital. However, MSF continues to operate 10 projects throughout Somalia and provides medical and humanitarian aid to thousands of Somali refugees in camps across the border in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Today, two other MSF employees, Blanca Thiebaut and Montserrat Serra, remain held against their will in Somalia after they were abducted from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, on 13th October 2011. MSF once again condemns this act of violence and demands their immediate release.

An Eritrean scholar gets two international recognitions on his work in Remote Sensing

 By Prof. Dr. Embaie Ferrow | On Monday, 29 October 2012, during the biennial African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE) conference in Eljadida, Morocco, P

Prof. Tsehaie Woldai was honored with two awards: the AARSE-AFRICA highest Achievement Award for his work as founder, immediate past President and for turning the association into a political force shaping Africa’s Space programs.

  

AARSE, sine Prof. Tsehaie founded it in 1992, is a composition of over 1800 members, including 32 national associations and societies, 5 space agencies in Africa and over 200 international organizations from Asia, Australia and the America involved in satellite remote sensing and space activities. It is by far the largest association
of its kind in Africa. Its conference attracts an average of 650 participants and over 60 exhibitors and more than 20 sponsors (gold, platinum and silver).

The second award, given on the same day, was the ESRI ‘Making a Difference in Africa’ award. The ESRI award is given once a year to distinguished personalities from various continents during its user conference in San Diego, USA. The conference attracts over 15,000 participants from all over the world. This is the 26nd award in a row so far received.

A Brief Resume of Dr. T. (Tsehaie) Woldai

Dr. Tsehaie Woldai holds an MSc degree from the International Institute for Geo‐Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Enschede, The Netherlands (1976) and a PhD degree of the Open Universit.

Tsehaie Woldai worked with the Geological Survey and the Water Resources Authority of Ethiopia including: Gulf Oil Company in Ethiopia, Leiden University and the Netherlands Institute for Higher Scientific Research (ZWO) before he joined permanently ITC as an Assistant Professor in 1982. In 1997, he was appointed to the position of Associate Professor and beginning 2008 he holds the position of Portfolio Manager for Marketing and Project Services within the Department of Earth Systems Analysis at ITC.
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Dr. Tsehaie Woldai is a Fellow of the Geological Society of Africa (GSAF); Founder and the current President of the African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE), an Association with more than more than 1200 members in 29 African countries and around 100 institutional members representing 31 countries outside the continent. He is also AARSE leading Official delegate to “Group on Earth Observation (GEO)”; Advisory Member for GEO task US‐09‐01a on Disasters Societal Benefit Areas; Commission VI Secretary of the International Society of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (ISPRS); Evaluator of the European Union FP7 Framework Research on “Environment”; Associate Editor for African Affairs, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Newsletter; Editorial Board
Member, International Journal of Digital Earth; Coordinator of the University Network for Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa (UNEDRA) and Guest Editor, Supplement Issue on “Remote Sensing For Africa”, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, Vol.1, 2010.

Green and Inclusive Project to Benefit the Horn of Africa

The Board of Directors of the African Development Group has approved US $125 million in funding for the first phase of a drought resilience project and provision of long-lasting means of subsistence to populations in the Horn of Africa.

Three countries, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, as well as the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development are involved in the first phase of this regional project funded by way of loans and grants provided by the African Development Fund (ADF) beginning in 2013.

The African Development Fund grants amount to US $15 million for Djibouti, and US $7 million for the IGAD Secretariat. The ADF loans of US $46 million and US $56 million to Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively, will go to support activities aimed at restoring the means of subsistence of the populations through investments in natural resources management, land management, restoration and protection of the ecosystem, as well as agriculture and livestock infrastructure.

The project will equally contribute to the improvement of storage, marketing and transportation facilities, including the upgrade of rural roads. The objective is to focus on the deeper causes of the region’s vulnerability in order to build resilience in the face of medium- and long-term drought periods, consolidate peace and promote the equitable use of limited natural resources.

Certain drought-prone regions are concerned by the project, namely: Beyya Dader, Gaggade-Derela and Weimar in Djibouti; Afar and Somali in Ethiopia; and Baringo, Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu, Turkana and West Pokot – six arid and semi-arid regions in Kenya. According to estimates, the project will benefit 12 million people, 98 million cattle, and 173 million sheep and goats that are victims to drought.

The implementation of the inclusive green program will have a deep-rooted environmental and socio-economic impact in these regions

Electric Inter-connectivity Reinforcing Relations in Horn of Africa

Friday, 28 December 2012

Spokesperson of Foreign Ministry Ambassador Dina Mufti said Ethiopia’s power sale to neighboring countries is playing a crucial role in reinforcing the country’s relations within the sub-region. 

Ethiopia  Foreign Ministry Ambassador Dina Mufti

Ambassador Dina explained the power deals Ethiopia is making with neighboring countries contribute to the African Union’s efforts of continental integration. 

Mihret Debebe, Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation said the power inter-connectivities are happening after thorough studies of financial feasibility and of environmental impact assessments.

Ethiopia, which is seen as a power hub for the East Africa-wide power grid connection, is now connecting with Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan.