WFP begins emergency airlifts to hunger-stricken Somalia (AFP)

NAIROBI (AFP) – The World Food Programme airlifted 10 tonnes of emergency supplies to Mogadishu Wednesday to feed thousands of malnourished children in drought-hit Somalia.

Somalia is the Horn of Africa country worst affected by a prolonged drought -- the region's worst in 60 years -- that has put some 12 million people in danger of starvation and spurred a global fund-raising campaign.

Pictures and footage of skeletal children with only a faint flicker of life left in them have conjured up memories of the 1984 Ethiopia famine in which an estimated one million people died.

The peanut-based paste flown to Mogadishu Wednesday was the first in a series of deliveries which aims to supply 100 tonnes of the nutritional supplement to 35,000 children every month, a spokesman said.

The scope of the catastrophe is huge though and delivering aid to one of the most dangerous countries in the world is difficult.

Nearly half of Somalia's estimated 10 million people are in need of relief assistance, owing to the effects of relentless violence and the drought that prompted the UN to declare famine for the first time this century.

Wednesday's airlift also to kicked off a series of WFP deliveries that will go to the Ethiopian town of Dolo on the border with Somalia and to the town of Wajir in northern Kenya, Orr said.

The WFP was forced to pull out from southern Somalia in early 2010 after they were banned by the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels, who control large areas of the region.

A handful of relief groups were however spared the insurgents' ban, but have been struggling to cope with the rising numbers of people in need of humanitarian aid.

At the weekend, the International Red Cross said it had handed out 400 tonnes of food in drought-hit areas controlled by the hardline Shebab rebels, the first ICRC-led drops into such areas since 2009.

The bulk of Somalia's drought-affected people are in the country's southern regions.

Last week, the UN declared famine in two southern Somalia regions of Bakool and Lower Shabelle, where up to 350,000 people are at risk of starvation.

In Nairobi, a team of humanitarian organisations met with donors to streamline operations to assist victims of the drought that has also hit parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda.

Aid agency Oxfam criticised French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire for announcing this week that the Nairobi meeting -- a monthly round-table between aid agencies and donors -- was a major conference on the region's crisis.

"Is the diplomatic activity stirred up by France recently not a smokescreen to hide its weak financial commitment?," Jean-Cyril Dagorn, an Oxfam official said in a statement.

Dagorn said that France, which called for a donors conference on Monday in Rome as the current G20 leader, had yet to boost its pledge for more funds for the crisis.

"Nothing concrete has been proposed by the G20, or even France in terms of direct support to small-scale agriculture and pastoralists to increase local food production," Oxfam said in a statement.

Officials said the UN had received about $1 billion (696 million euros) during Monday's Rome conference on the Horn of Africa drought, but needs a billion more by the end of the year to cope with the emergency.

The World Bank on Monday pledged more than $500 million, with the bulk of the money set to go towards long-term projects to aid livestock farmers while $12 million would be for immediate assistance to those worst hit by the crisis.

However charities have slammed low aid pledges and say not enough is being done.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said southern and central Somalia regions, the displaced and refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia were "of greatest concern for the coming six months," according to a statement.

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U.S. Afghanistan drawdown begins slowly, 800 Marines out in fall (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's drawdown in Afghanistan will begin slowly, with the departure of just 800 National Guard troops this summer, followed by some 800 Marines in the fall, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The details provided by Lieutenant General David Rodriguez, the outgoing No. 2 commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and Pentagon officials offered the most detailed look so far at how the U.S. military intends to carry out the withdrawal ordered by Obama in June.

Facing growing political opposition to the nearly decade-old war, Obama announced plans to pull out about a third of the 100,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan by the end of summer 2012 -- a faster timetable than the military had recommended.

The first 10,000 troops will come home by the end of the year. But Obama left the details up to his commanders.

"We have begun the process of working ourselves out of a job -- meaning we will hand over the lead to the Afghans gradually, over time," said Rodriguez, speaking to reporters in a video-conference from Afghanistan.

The Pentagon's small initial drawdown leaves as many as 8,400 troops to withdraw in the last few months of 2011, and Rodriguez said he expected commanders to wait until later in the fall before deciding how to thin out those forces.

Jeffrey Dressler at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, said Rodriguez's announcement was within expectations -- particularly given the need to keep the bulk of troops in place until the end of the year.

"What the commanders are trying to do is conserve as much combat power as they can until the end of the fighting season," Dressler said.

Rodriguez and the Pentagon offered the following details on the initial drawdown, without ruling out further changes.

* The Army National Guard's 1st Squadron, 134th Cavalry Regiment in Kabul, with about 300 troops, leaves in July.

* The Army National Guard's 1st Squadron, 113rd Cavalry Regiment, also leaves in July.

* 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment in southwest Afghanistan, with over 800 troops, will leave in fall.

SHIFT TO THE EAST

Critics have said Obama's decision to bring troops home from Afghanistan faster than the military has recommended could jeopardize the next major push of the war, to unseat insurgents in the east.

Republican Senator John McCain, speaking in Kabul on Sunday, said Obama's drawdown plan created "unnecessary risk."

Although extra U.S. troops ordered into southern Afghanistan have made security gains there, the situation in the east of the country bordering Pakistan has deteriorated.

Rodriguez, however, said U.S. military plans to shift the focus to the east remained on track, despite the drawdown.

"As we continue to maintain the momentum in the south ... we will end up thinning out down there first, and then focusing more and more of our energy in the east," he said.

Still, he declined to say when that might happen, adding: "It's a little bit too early to take that guess right now."

The drawdown comes amid intense fighting in Afghanistan, where more than 1,500 U.S. forces have been killed since the war began. Last week, insurgents staged a brazen raid on the Kabul Intercontinental hotel, killing 12 people and raising fresh questions about whether Afghan forces are ready to assume responsibilities as U.S. forces pull out.

Rodriguez commended the Afghan forces on what he called a "great response" to the attack but played down expectations that violence would ebb any time soon.

Asked whether he expected violence to start subsiding this year or next, Rodriguez said: "That remains to be seen. It'll actually probably be next year."

(Additional reporting by David Alexander; editing by Todd Eastham)

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Minnesota government shutdown begins after talks fail (Reuters)

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Minnesota's state government began a broad shut down on Friday going into the July 4 holiday after Democratic Governor Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders failed to reach a budget deal.

Parts of the government had already begun to shut down on Thursday ahead of the midnight budget deadline, including some websites and dozens of highway rest stops on one of the biggest travel days of the year.

The budget impasse means that some 23,000 of the roughly 36,000 Minnesota state employees will be furloughed and state parks and campgrounds closed ahead of what is usually their busiest stretch of the year for the July 4 holiday.

Dayton and Democratic legislative leaders Senator Tom Bakk and Representative Paul Thissen met for more than a week with Republican leaders including House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch. The leaders met several times on Thursday in the governor's office.

Neither Dayton nor the Republican leaders gave any indication when they would meet next to discuss the budget.

"I deeply regret that the last week of intense negotiations between the Republican legislative leaders and Senator Bakk, Representative Thissen and myself have failed to bridge the divide between us," Dayton said in a speech.

He said his last proposed two-year general fund budget was $35.7 billion, but the differences between his approach and the Republican leaders had not changed since January. The gap between the two sides stood at $1.4 billion, he said.

Republican leaders had asked Dayton to call a special session to approve a temporary extension of funding for 10 days while the budget negotiations were completed, saying that they believed they were close to a budget deal.

Dayton dismissed the offer as "a publicity stunt."

"They have known for two months, I have said consistently, that I would not agree to anything until I agree to everything," Dayton said.

All but the most critical state functions will be suspended while the spending impasse continues into the new fiscal two-year period that starts on Friday, which would make the 2011 shutdown much broader in scope than one in 2005.

Dayton and the Republican-led legislature have been far apart in their public positions over a two-year budget plan to close a $5 billion deficit. Only the agricultural budget was approved during the legislative session that ended in May.

Dayton's first budget proposal included an income tax increase on the wealthiest state residents and an expansion in overall spending. Republican leaders first sought some tax cutbacks in aiming to halt spending increases.

In the latest negotiations, Republicans had offered to raise $1 billion of revenue by shifting schools payments and issuing bonds for tobacco settlement money and Dayton offered to limit his proposed income tax increase to residents earning more than $1 million per year. None of the offers stuck.

"Tax revenues are still in my view the fairest way to resolve this, but we have offered an awful lot of different possibilities and they have too," Dayton said.

Republican leaders had said they believed the sides were close to agreement, but Thursday afternoon Koch told reporters that after a temporary funding extension they could "work for the next week or so and get everything wrapped up."

Prison staffing, state police patrols and staffing at nursing and veterans homes were among services found critical and allowed to continue by a Ramsey County judge. Staffing at numerous other departments will be cut to the bare bones.

Other critical functions included the executive and legislative branches of state government and the courts.

Payments to schools and local governments, and programs such as food stamps, Medicaid and temporary assistance to needy families also will continue during the shutdown.

However, numerous other programs were not considered critical and will be closed including the state lottery, the gambling control board and the racing commission.

About 100 road and bridge programs not considered critical to prevent an imminent bridge collapse or in response to a road emergency also were to be suspended after Thursday.

The Minnesota Zoo would also close to the public with spending permitted only to feed and care for the animals.

And among popular northern Minnesota spots, vacationers may stay at the privately run villa and lodge operations at Giants Ridge golf resort during the shutdown, but its lauded golf courses will be closed.

(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Greg McCune and Jerry Norton)

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Israel begins removing part of West Bank barrier (AP)

NAALIN CROSSING, West Bank – Israel on Sunday began tearing down a section of its contentious West Bank separation barrier near a village that has come to symbolize Palestinian opposition to the enclosure, the military said.

The rerouting marked a major victory for the residents of Bilin and the international groups that have backed their struggle. But they said it fell short of their demands to remove the structure from the village altogether and vowed to continue with their weekly protests.

The dismantling of the section near the village of Bilin comes four years after Israel's Supreme Court ordered it torn down, rejecting the military's argument that the route was necessary to secure the nearby Modiin Illit settlement. Planning and legal wrangling held up its removal until now.

Col. Saar Tzur, the regional brigade commander, said the military has begun taking apart a 2-mile (3.2- kilometer) stretch of the barrier and has replaced it with a 1.6 mile-long (2.7 kilometer) wall adjacent to the settlement. He said the new route would give the military less response time in case of a potential infiltration.

"This is a new threat but we can handle it," he said, adding that the work would be done by the end of the week.

Bilin lost half its land to the barrier, and years of weekly protests there have frequently evolved into clashes between activists and Israeli troops.

Israel began building the barrier in late 2002 to keep out Palestinian attackers amid a wave of suicide bombers targeting its cities. It says the structure is needed to keep militants from reaching Israeli population centers.

But the barrier juts into the West Bank, and critics say the route is designed to grab land that Palestinians want for a state. The barrier, when completed, is projected to swallow some 6 to 8 percent of the West Bank.

Tzur said the new route will put some 140 acres (55 hectares) back in Palestinian hands. He said the total cost of the project is $9 million.

The protests have become a ritual of sorts each Friday, making the once out-of-the-way farming village a fashionable cause among activists. Nobel Peace Prize laureates Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu are among the notables who have participated. Naalin started similar marches three years ago.

The Bilin protests, attended by villagers as well as Israeli and international activists, usually involve a mix of marching, chanting and throwing rocks at Israeli troops. Two Palestinians, and five in the nearby village of Naalin, have died and hundreds others have been wounded since the protests began in 2005.

One Bilin demonstrator was hit in the chest with a tear gas canister and another woman died after she inhaled tear gas. Palestinians said she had a pre-existing medical condition that was exacerbated by the acrid fumes.

In March 2009, 38-year-old Tristan Anderson of Oakland, Calif., was badly wounded after he was hit in the head with a tear gas canister during a West Bank protest. Anderson lost his right eye and suffered brain damage.

Dozens of Israeli troops and police also have been injured, including one who lost an eye.

Tzur, the military commander, called the protests acts of violence, and said he doubted they would cease even after Israel rerouted the barrier's course because there was "big money involved" in backing the protesters.

Indeed, Bilin activists said the move would not influence their opposition.

"We are going to continue until we get all our rights. This barrier isn't for security. It's to steal land and build settlements," said Rani Burnat, a 30-year-old resident paralyzed in a separate demonstration 10 years ago.

In Ramallah Sunday, the Palestinian leadership endorsed an appeal to the U.N. General Assembly in September to recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The decision did not include operative steps.

Recently some Palestinian officials have expressed doubts about the initiative, which comes in place of peace talks with Israel.

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