The number of people in Somalia in need of emergency food aid is likely to rise one million from the current 2.5 million in the coming months, the United Nations warns. Mark Bowden, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the region, says Somalia faces a worse situation than Darfur. (BBC, June 16)

The Council of Ministers of the Somali transitional government unanimously approved a peace agreement signed last week in Djibouti with the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS). The accord has yet to be approved by the Somali national parliament. A significant faction of the Eritrea-based ARS boycotted the talks, saying there can be no dialogue until Ethiopian troops leave Somalia. (Xinhua, June 17; IRIN, June 10)

Paris announced that France will seek naval cooperation with Chinese forces in the Red Sea to combat piracy off Somalia's coast. (AFP, June 16)

See our last post on Somalia.