COLUMBUS, Ohio – Somali leaders in central Ohio expressed concerns that members of their community could be overlooked in the 2010 U.S. census.

An accurate count of Somalis in Columbus is critical because the population is growing and has a “powerful impact on the community,” said Hawa Siad of the Somali Women & Children’s Alliance in Columbus.

About 7,000 Somalis live in the city, according to the most recent census data, but local Somali leaders estimate far higher numbers. Counts help the government determine where to allocate funds for various items including social services.

Siad and members of several other Columbus Somali groups held a news conference Friday at the Global Mall, where they said the government needs to do more to educate Somalis, especially those new to this country, about the importance of returning census forms.

“We’re very enthusiastic to have our community counted, but what the government has to understand is that it is taboo in our culture to ask these kinds of questions,” said Mohamed Ahmed, vice president of the African Refugee & Educational Community Services.

Census officials said they have held workshops for more than a year to explain the census to Somalis.

“In the last 11 days, I’ve done 48 presentations,” Mussa Farah, a Columbus Somali leader and census worker, said Friday. He said he thinks the government is doing its best.

Another concern of the Somali groups is that many may not be able to read the census forms printed in English. Forms also are available in five other languages, with separate guides available in 59 additional languages, including a Somali dialect, Census spokeswoman Carol Hector-Harris said. She said the guides have been given to several Somali groups in Columbus.

Among other concerns is that no local Somalis have been hired to urge others to complete their forms, but Hector-Harris said the government has just started to hire such workers.

“Most of the forms were mailed out March 15 and should be returned by April 1, what we call ‘census day,’ ” she said. “We won’t know where to send people until after that date.”

journalgazette

In his Palm Sunday address the Pope said that Jesus Christ “leads us towards courage which does not allow us to be intimidated by the chatter of dominant opinions, towards patience which supports and sustains others”.

The pontiff did not refer to accusations over his handling of cases of paedophile priests, both as Archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982 and subsequently as head of doctrine at the Vatican. However, Vatican watchers said his meaning today was clear “in the current context”.

One Palm Sunday prayer, recited in Portuguese during the Mass, referred to “the young and for those charged with educating them and protecting them.”

Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and is the start of the Church’s Holy Week, which includes Good Friday, the sombre day of Christ’s Crucifixion, and Easter Sunday, which marks Jesus’ resurrection.

It has been overshadowed by the clerical abuse scandal which has spread across Europe to the Pope’s native Germany. On Good Friday 2005, shortly before the death of John Paul II and Pope Benedict’s election as his successor, the future Pope – then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – condemned the “filth” in the Church, a reference to paedophilia scandals.

Vatican officials maintain he has since been active in combating clerical sex abuse, especially during his visit to the United States in 2008, when he met a number of victims. In his recent pastoral letter to Irish bishops he called sex abuse a “grave sin” and a “heinous crime”.

However the Vatican is on the defensive and bracing for further revelations. It has already emerged that as Cardinal Ratzinger, the Pope allowed Father Peter Hullermann, a known paedophile priest, to receive “therapy” in his Munich diocese in 1980. Father Hullermann was later allowed to resume pastoral work with children, and in 1986 was convicted of abusing minors.

In addition a case has come to light in which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith told Wisconsin bishops to halt a church trial for Father Lawrence Murphy, a priest alleged to have abused up to 200 deaf boys, at a time when Cardinal Ratzinger was head of the Congregation.

The Vatican insists Ratzinger was unaware of Father Hullermann’s return to pastoral work and has also defended his handling of the Wisconsin case, saying Father Murphy was in ill health and the accusations against him dated back decades. He died not long after the Church trial against him was dropped.

In his homily today the Pope addressed himself to young people, reminding them that “Christian life is a path, or pilgrimage with Christ, a walk in the direction that he has chosen and shows us.”

On Saturday, the Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, acknowledged that the way the Church responds to the abuse scandal will be “crucial for its moral credibility.” He noted that most of the cases that have come to light recently occurred decades ago, adding “But recognising them, and making amends to the victims, is the price of re-establishing justice and purifying memories that will let us look ahead with renewed commitment together, with humility and trust in the future”.

Monsignor Robert Zollitsch, head of the German bishops’ conference, has said the Vatican is compiling information from around the world with the aim of setting out new guidelines on abuse.

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, former archbishop of Milan and at one time a contender for the papacy, today Sunday told an Austrian paper that priestly celibacy should be “reviewed” as a possible cause of abuse by clergy. The Vatican has rejected suggestions that celibacy causes abuse, and Pope Benedict this month reaffirmed it as “a gift to God”.

source :timesonline

Carlo Ancelotti chose fine wine rather than fine words to illustrate the scale of his satisfaction with Chelsea’s savage statement of title intent. The toast, presumably, was Frank Lampard.

Ancelotti passed up the opportunity to expand on Chelsea’s 7-1 mauling of Aston Villa, a handy help to their potentially decisive goal difference after firing five past Portsmouth on Wednesday.

Ray Wilkins, the ever-engaging stand-in spokesman for a silent Ancelotti, said: “Carlo deserves a rest. He’s having a nice glass of red.”

Villa boss Martin O’Neill looked more in need of smelling salts than Sauvignon after one of his most embarrassing days as a manager – but it was the wonderful Lampard who deserved to have the corks popping after placing himself in the Stamford Bridge Hall of Fame.

Chelsea’s main priority was the win they needed as a lever to exert more pressure on Manchester United in the title race. The personal honours, however, go to Lampard and he deserves to be in the spotlight.

Lampard’s four goals sent him ahead of Roy Bentley and Peter Osgood and into third place in the all-time Chelsea goalscoring charts with a total of 151 goals. Only Kerry Dixon and Bobby Tambling are now ahead of Lampard.

The mere mention of those legendary names provides glowing testimony to the record of this remarkable midfield goalscorer, who has repaid the £11m fee Chelsea handed to West Ham United in June 2001 several times over.

Any striker would be proud of Lampard’s statistics, but a player who achieves this feat from midfield demonstrates a special talent. It was fitting that Lampard started and finished the goalscoring in a display that suggests reports of Chelsea’s demise in the race to win the Premier League might just be exaggerated.

And it was all done without the rested Didier Drogba, who was still able to indulge in some grandstanding with the delirious Stamford Bridge crowd as the goals flew in over his shoulder during a touchline warm-up.

“Didier, Didier What’s The Score?” was the question. He knew the answer – but Stamford Bridge also knew that his name would be among the first on the team-sheet for the potentially pivotal visit to Manchester United next Saturday.

Wilkins, an authority on what it takes to flourish in midfield at the highest level, said: “Frank is world class. We have a number of players who you would say are, or are very close to, world class. When you see the goals Frank has scored, and the level he has played to, then you have to say he is world class.

“He has the ability to get forward but also the ability to get back and defend. He is the same in training every day. He trains exactly the same as he plays, and if there are any young kids listening to what I am saying about Frank, then this is the example to follow.”

Lampard, incredibly, is still an acquired taste for some supporters – not at Chelsea it should be stressed – with many still questioning his right to a place in England’s World Cup team.

This is nonsense, of course. In a season where, and he may even admit this himself, he has not been quite at his best, Lampard remains a potent force – 21 goals in all competitions this season provides the hard evidence.

Lampard was helped by Ancelotti’s slightly tweaked formation, which suited him perfectly. Nicolas Anelka shone as the lone striker in Drogba’s absence, despite not getting on the scoresheet.

Ancelotti employed Joe Cole and two-goal Florent Malouda on the flanks, giving Lampard and Deco room to manouevre.

Yuri Zhirkov also played his part. And while the Russian’s defensive deficiencies were exposed by John Carew’s equaliser that gave Villa false hope, his attacking touches were outstanding as he was the victim of fouls for Lampard’s two penalties and also created the crucial third goal for Malouda.

Salomon Kalou was Chelsea’s other goalscorer as Villa ended beaten, bedraggled and a side that could barely wait to drag themselves away from Stamford Bridge. They looked humiliated – and so they should.

And on an afternoon of Chelsea landmarks, John Terry was able to celebrate his 450th appearance for the club – plus outstripping the mighty Ron “Chopper” Harris by captaining the club for the 325th time – with a win of some significance.

When Chelsea responded to deserved defeat against Inter Milan in the Champions League by only drawing at Blackburn Rovers, a sense of gloom appeared to enveloping their season.

Villa could hardly be placed in the same bracket as Mourinho’s Inter, but 12 goals in two games against Portsmouth and a side supposedly chasing a place in the top four states emphatically that there is still life in Chelsea’s title bid. And as a platform for the game at Old Trafford, this was built on solid foundations.

United’s impressive response at Bolton may have taken some of the lustre off Chelsea’s celebrations, but the way Stamford Bridge greeted news of Birmingham’s late equaliser against Arsenal was an indicator that they feel battle for the Premier League is very much joined.

Chelsea, for a team you could stake your mortgage on for reliability in recent seasons, have shown an inconsisent streak this season – but when they get it right they are hard to live with, as Villa found out.

O’Neill did not mince his words, describing the outcome as “as devastating as I have had in the game.” And for a manager who habitually, and understandably, talks up the talents of his players, he was scathing.

To suggest professional footballers have not tried, or given up when the game is beyond them, is a charge that should not be made lightly and must only be offered up sparingly.

Villa may have been at Stamford Bridge in body for the last 30 minutes, but they were not there in mind and spirit, so we should let O’Neill describe it when he says “at 3-1 we capitulated, which is not like us.”

They have a swift opportunity to gain revenge and respectability in the forthcoming FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, but Villa looked leg-weary and numbed by this harrowing experience. It will also spark fears that they may collapse again in the manner which undermined them at this stage last season.

Football being the game that it is, we should not be too surprised if Villa turned this result on its head at Wembley – but words could not do justice to the improvement that would be required to effect this transformation.

O’Neill wisely deflected talk of the effect on Villa’s hopes of finishing in the top four when he said: “On that performance we wouldn’t finish 44th.”

The mood could not have been more contrasting among Chelsea’s players – and all the main plaudits were rightly being showered on Lampard.

Silvio Berlusconi has been dogged by personal and political controversy

Italians are voting in regional elections seen as the biggest test for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi since his return to power two years ago.

Thirteen out of 20 regions are involved in the vote, being held over two days.

Mr Berlusconi has been at the centre of a series of political and personal controversies, which may affect the chances of his People of Freedom party.

Earlier, police said the postal service had intercepted a letter addressed to Mr Berlusconi containing a bullet.

A package, directed at a party in Mr Berlusconi’s coalition, the Northern League, was also seized but exploded, slightly injuring a postman in Milan.

A note in the package named the Interior Minister, Roberto Maroni, who has introduced tougher laws on illegal immigration. An anarchist group said it had sent it.

Coalition challenge

The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy in Rome says that after the European Parliament elections last June, the regional elections on Sunday and Monday represent the biggest test of public opinion since Mr Berlusconi was re-elected in 2008.

BERLUSCONI CONTROVERSIES December: Hit in the face with a model cathedral in Milan, breaking two teeth and fracturing nose October: Court overturns law granting PM immunity from prosecution while in office July: Media release audio recordings allegedly of night he spent with an escort; admits “I’m no saint” but denies paying for sex June: Forced to deny allegations he had paid prostitutes to attend parties at his official residences June: Photos published showing topless women and a naked man at his villa in Sardinia and of celebrity using PM’s official jet May: Wife announces she is divorcing him after he attends the 18th birthday of “female friend” April 2009: Tells victims of earthquake they should pretend they are on a “camping weekend”

Some 41 million Italians are eligible to vote – two-thirds of the population.

Close contests are likely in Lazio, which includes the capital, and Piedmont, an affluent northern region held by the centre-left.

The People of Freedom party currently controls only two of the 13 regions at stake, but had been expected to pick up more this time, our correspondent says.

However, a series of political and personal controversies surrounding Mr Berlusconi in recent months could limit the gains, he adds.

The party’s candidates have been barred from standing in Lazio after an official missed a deadline to submit the required documents.

The government passed an emergency decree to ensure the electoral list was included, but a top court overturned it.

A corruption investigation into building contracts for last year’s G8 summit in the earthquake-stricken Italian city of L’Aquila has also implicated Mr Berlusconi’s civil protection chief, Guido Bertolaso.

Then last week, Italian media said the prime minister was being investigated for allegedly trying to pressure the communications watchdog to block state TV talk shows critical of his government.

Mr Berlusconi had already suffered a turbulent 2009, marked by allegations about his friendship with a teenage model and about escort girls attending parties at his residences.

His wife also filed for divorce, and he suffered a broken nose when a man threw a model of Milan cathedral at his face.

Unemployment and the economy are also concerns for voters.

Some analysts say a poor result in the regional elections for the People of Freedom might give the Northern League more power over Mr Berlusconi in the coalition government.

Others say the 73-year-old billionaire may even face a challenge to his leadership – possibly from the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Gianfranco Fini – though that is seen by most as unlikely.

Our correspondent says the regional elections a rare chance for millions of Italians to express their views on Mr Berlusconi.

Although turnout may not be high, the results will be studied by his allies and opponents alike, to see which direction Italy will follow, he adds.

Source BBC

Regional government spokesman Mohamed Abdullahi who talked to reporters confirmed the death of Qoorleex adding that after the landmine blast government forces cordoned off the whole area and made house to-house search.

“Our forces have arrested some suspects who are being questioned for their role in the blast that killed the district commissioner,” the Banadir regional spokesman told reporters.

He said that the region’s deputy governor Warsame Mohamed Hassan has also been wounded by the landmine explosion which occurred as government forces were engaged in an operation to demolish hundreds of houses near Mogadishu airport.

Meanwhile, the Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab militants have claimed responsibility for the explosion.

“The Mujahideens have carried out the successful attack against the western-proxy government officials and more other attacks will follow,” the group said in an emailed-statement Saturday.

Source: APA

HADRAMOUT, March 27 (Saba) – About 72 would-be refugees of Somalia, including 26 women and 9 children, have reached Yemen’s coasts, security sources said on Saturday.

“About 72 Somalis reached the coastal area of Broom district in Hadramout province and Taiz province”, the sources said.

The Somali refugees have been sent to a temporary camp in Me’afah district of Shabwa province.

The sources said that 43 Somali men were detained by the authorities in Saada province as they were trying to sneak illegally to neighboring countries.

They have been sent to a camp of Somali refugees in Kharaz area in Lahi province, southern Yemen.

Later, Yemeni authorities have prevented Somali refugees from leaving the refugees camps without permission.

Source: SABA

MOGADISHU, March 27 (Xinhua) — The Islamist radical group of Al Shabaab in Somalia on Saturday claimed responsibility after a senior Somali government official was killed by a roadside bomb explosion in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Ahmed Sheikh Mohamoud Qorleh, District Commissioner (DC) of Hamar Jajab district in Mogadishu, was killed after a remotely controlled bomb ribbed through his car, Banadir regional authority Abdi Kafi told Xinhua. The deputy DC for security was also injured in the blast which took place in the Somali government-controlled Afisyoni neighborhood, south of the capital Mogadishu.

Islamist Al Shabaab movement has previously targeted Somali government officials and security forces and have carried out similar high profile assassinations of senior Somali government officials.

The group, which controls much of south and center of the war ravaged east African country, wants to topple the internationally recognized Somali government which it considers as un-Islamic and a puppet of the West. Somali government security forces have cordoned off the area following the attack and began searches for the perpetrators of the attack.

Islamist rebels control large swathes of the restive coastal city while they covertly operate in the Somali government controlled side of the city where they have carried out attacks on the security forces and important government installations.

Source: Xinhua

Saturday, March 27, 2010
By JOE MBUTHIA,Paris, Friday

Maritime security is under a much bigger threat from the Somali pirates than earlier thought, a spokesman for the French chief of staff said on Friday.

Speaking to a visiting group of African journalists from Burundi, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya, Rear Admiral Christophe Prazuck, who also heads the communication department in the ministry of Defence, added that the previously rag-tag group of Somali attackers was becoming better organised by the day.

Earlier, the attacks seemed uncoordinated, and in many cases, a ship could speed off before the pirates could hoist their ladders along the ship in order to forcibly board it, but now the attacks are taking an ominous turn, with precision that was hitherto unseen.

In almost all cases, the attackers are always 11 in number, and come in three boats. One is a supply boat with fuel, and food, while the other two are for attacking. When two boats attack from either end, one fires at the ship while the rest quickly place the ladder and climb on board.

“If they fail, the pirates quickly throw their weapons into the sea because without evidence they cannot be taken to any court of law,” said the rear admiral. “They later claim to be fishermen.”

Prazuck also indicated that with the recent attack of a ship more than 1,000 miles closer to India, it seemed that the pirates have widened their area of operation. Attacks, he said, had also increased, from 20 in 2008 to 90 in 2009.

With more than 30 European ships operating in the Indian Ocean area, coverage is still inadequate and best practices are being instituted to combat the piracy menace.

Priority

He also said that assistance to Kenya and Seychelles, where the pirates are taken for trial, has been a priority for the European, NATO and the other forces operating in the Indian Ocean area to combat piracy. But a lasting solution is being sought, and he concurred that it lies in Somalia rather on the high seas.

Source: Daily Nation

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A government official and three other people were killed on Saturday by a roadside bomb triggered by remote control in the Somali capital, witnesses and police said.

Ahmed Mohamud, district commissioner of the Mogadishu district of Hamar Jajab, was killed while driving in a part of the city controlled by the government and African Union peacekeepers.

“He died on the spot, two soldiers and a civilian woman also died there,” police officer Abdi Hassan told Reuters.

The rebel group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack which also left several people wounded.

“Our bombs unit was responsible for the bomb that killed a senior official of the infidel government,” al Shabaab said in a statement.

Elsewhere, a male civilian and a policeman were killed in clashes at a site near the airport where the government began clearing the area this week to improve security, a resident said.

“We were living here since the fall of Siad Barre (Somalia’s former ruler) and we don’t know where to move now,” Hussein ali Ahmed, one of the residents affected, told Reuters.

“We are outside with our children, the place is surrounded by government troops pulling down our homes,” he added.

Somalia has had no effective government for 19 years and the the government has been promising an assault on the al Shabaab — viewed by Washington as al Qaeda’s proxy in the region — to drive them out of the capital.

Source: Reuter

Israel and Egypt sealed their borders with Gaza in 2007 after Hamas militants overran the coastal territory. Since then, Gaza has depended heavily on smuggled cash and goods.

Egypt is building an underground barrier along its border with Gaza to try to cut off the smuggling.

———

Associated Press writer Ashraf Sweilam contributed to this report from Rafah, Egypt.

The Associated Press.

Israel withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip Saturday after some of the fiercest gunbattles with Palestinian militants in the Hamas-run territory since last year’s military offensive.

Israeli troops used bulldozers to “remove infrastructure used by terrorists to attack soldiers” before the early morning withdrawal, a military spokeswoman said.

Gaza militants, meanwhile, fired a rocket into southern Israel on Saturday, but no injuries were reported, the military said. Two others fell short of Israeli territory.

The violence began Friday when soldiers patrolling the border crossed into Gaza after spotting Palestinians planting explosives near the fence with Israel.

Two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian militants were killed in the gunbattle, the military said. Palestinian medics said one civilian was killed and seven were wounded in the fighting. Militants reported one wounded and one missing.

Israel’s military held Gaza’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers responsible for the violence.

“We will not tolerate any attempt to harm the citizens of the state of Israel and we will continue to operate firmly against anyone who uses terror against it,” a military statement said.

The violence underscored some of the challenges the U.S. faces as it tries to get Israeli-Palestinian peace talks back on track.

Senior Israeli Cabinet ministers plan to meet Sunday to draw up a response to President Barack Obama’s demand for peace gestures toward the Palestinians, Israel’s Channel 10 TV reported. A government spokesman could not immediately confirm or deny the report.

The ministers began discussing the matter on Friday.

Washington has demanded the gestures to try to jump-start U.S.-brokered peace talks, which were derailed by Israeli plans to continue building in contested east Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to keep the entire holy city as Israel’s capital, while the Palestinians claim the eastern sector as