NAIROBI, 18 August 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Reporters killed amid concerns over human rights abuses SOMALIA: Policemen killed as bloodshed in Mogadishu continues SOMALIA: Alarming malnutrition rates as food crisis hits Shabelle region SUDAN: One million people may be affected by floods - government SUDAN: High hopes for new Darfur mission

ALSO SEE: ISRAEL-SUDAN: Safia A., "My husband was killed in Darfur in an attack on aid workers" http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73743

SOMALIA: 'Life in Mogadishu is so bad we'll risk our lives to escape' http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73739

SOMALIA: Conditions worsen in camps as thousands more flee Mogadishu

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73701

SOMALIA: Reporters killed amid concerns over human rights abuses

Press watchdog groups have condemned the 'savage' killing of two prominent Somali journalists, saying it demonstrates the perilous conditions reporters work in and threatens an independent media for the war-torn country.

Ali Iman Sharmarke, managing director of HornAfrik Radio, was killed on August 11 when his car hit a remote-controlled explosive device. He was driving from the funeral of Mahad Ahmed Elmi, director of Radio Capital Voice, who had been shot by unknown assailants earlier the same day in the capital Mogadishu.

Sahal Abdulle, a reporter with the Reuters news agency was also in Sharmarke's car and was injured in the attack. Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73703

SOMALIA: Policemen killed as bloodshed in Mogadishu continues

Assailants believed to be members of armed groups opposed to Somalia's transitional government and its Ethiopian allies have killed four police officers in the capital, Mogadishu, in continued fighting described by human rights organisations as mostly affecting civilians.

"These elements that are opposed to peace in Somalia targeted the police in an attack on Monday afternoon [13 August] and killed four of them and wounded several other people," Abdi Haji Gobdon, spokesman for the Transitional Federal government (TFG) told IRIN.

He said the attackers struck a police car with an explosive device, killing the officers. The "aggressors" used "hit and run" tactics to disrupt the government's efforts to maintain law and order in the city, he added, saying that the blast, which was in a busy street, could have killed or wounded several civilians. Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73724

SOMALIA: Alarming malnutrition rates as food crisis hits Shabelle region

Early warning agencies have reported a rapidly worsening food security situation in southern Somalia after the poorest harvest in a decade and escalating insecurity that has disrupted economic activities, caused high inflation and left people displaced.

More than 600,000 people in Lower and Middle Shabelle and Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, are in the midst of a sudden humanitarian emergency – characterised by high rates of acute and severe malnutrition, the Food Security Analysis Unit for Somalia (FAO/FSAU) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) said in a joint report issued on August 14. Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73744

SUDAN: One million people may be affected by floods – government

The torrential rains that have caused massive flooding in areas of Sudan could endanger the lives and livelihoods of one million people, the country's government warned.

In a statement published by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs on 14 August, the government said a large portion of the country continued to face further flood threats from rains expected until the end of the wet season in September.

With heavy rainfall predicted over the Ethiopian and Eritrean plateaus, the water levels of the Blue Nile, Atbara and Sobat rivers were expected to remain high, endangering areas around the banks of the Nile and its tributaries. Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73723

SUDAN: High hopes for new Darfur mission

Humanitarian workers in Darfur have welcomed the planned deployment of a joint UN and African Union (AU) mission in the region, but warned it would have to meet very high expectations.

"We are all optimistic," Andrew Barash of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said during a meeting between Rodolphe Adada, the new head of the mission, NGOs and civil society organisations in Geneina, capital of West Darfur State, on 16 August. "We need to have some sort of break to give us the confidence that the humanitarian space won't continue to shrink."

However, he added: "There are very high expectations. If these are not met, at least at the level that the people would assume to be the ground level, there are going to be a lot of people who are quickly disenchanted."

Sudanese NGOs echoed similar sentiments, calling on Adada to ensure that UNAMID creates a safer environment for humanitarian officials to do their work. "Humanitarian workers operating in natural or man-made disasters are exposed to various forms of dangers and sometimes death," said Al-Fateh Negm al-Bishom of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society in West Darfur. "We urge the AU and hybrid mission to protect [aid workers] as they deliver relief assistance to the needy." Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73780

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