Somalia's capital was rocked by intense fighting as an alliance of anti-government Islamist factions led by influential Islamist cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys launched a large-scale offensive in and around Mogadishu. Close to 200 civilians were killed, hundreds wounded and over 46,000 displaced by heavy shelling into residential areas. The

KHARTOUM, June 1 (Reuters) - More people have died in tribal violence in post-war southern Sudan in recent months than in the western Darfur region plagued by ethnic and politically driven fighting, the United Nations said.

Hundreds have died, thousands have been displaced and scores of villages razed in the south, which was ravaged in a civil war with the north that lasted more than two decades. A peace deal signed in 2005 ended that war.

But in 2003, before the southern deal was reached, another conflict erupted in Darfur that the United Nations

The Chinese envoy to Sudan, Liu Giujin, said that the government managed to control the humanitarian situation in Darfur, after the expulsion of NGOs.

Meanwhile, the Spokesman of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ali Al Saddiq, said that officials from the Government clarified to the Chinese envoy the efforts exerted to maintain good relations with Chad.

Al Saddiq added that Chad has repeatedly rejected the Sudanese initiatives in this issue.

He further said that the Chinese envoy

In the context of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), there has been growing discussion of the multi-dimensional relationship between migration and development. However, the older debate regarding the relationship between refugees and development (known as 'Refugee Aid and Development' during the 1980s and revived as 'Targeted Development Assistance' in the early 2000s) has largely sidelined. This is regrettable because using development assistance to support refugees in their countries of first asylum has great potential to enhance their

Al-Bashir, angered by restrictions put on his National Congress Party in its campaigning in the south, threatened to ban the south's ruling Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the north, the Sudan Tribune reported Sunday.

He accused the SPLM of setting up obstacles to other parties in their campaigning in the south.

"We cannot accept the existence

This scientific study, conducted in partnership with Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI), corroborates women's accounts of rape and other crimes against humanity that they have experienced in Darfur, as well as rape and deprivations of basic needs in refugee camps in Chad.

"Many Darfuri women refugees live

- Two suspected cases of Influenza A (H1N1) have been investigated and turned out to be negative.

- WHO Floods task force activated.

- Meningitis: More than 38000 people vaccinated in Darfur.

- Update on Médecins Sans Frontières activities in Northern Sudan.

- Medair commences Reproductive Health program in South Kordofan.

- UNFPA/FMOH Celebrated the International Day of the Midwife. WHO/MOH celebrated World Tobacco day.

Preparing for seasonal floods

The Health Cluster is working with the