The first peacekeepers to arrive in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu in more than 10 years were met with a surge of violence today, as mortars hit the airport during a welcoming ceremony and a deadly gunbattle broke out on the city’s crumbling streets.

THE government of Ethiopia has appealed to international donors of food aid to assist those at risk of starvation. This has perplexed those who remember the same government's recent claim of a bumper harvest.