Somalia’s Parliament Hit With Deadly Mortar Attack A mortar attack this weekend on Somalia’s parliament killed at least six and injured 15, reports CNN. The attack occurred in Mogadishu while members of the body were having a meeting, according to an official. “While we concluded our session, the prime minister and the House speaker were leaving from the venue when mortars started landing around the building,” said the deputy speaker of parliament, Osman Elmibogore. A soldier and three children were killed when the mortars hit a school in the vicinity. No parliament members were injured in the attack, according to authorities. Hussein Osman Dhumal, Mogadishu’s police spokesman said the attacked was perpetrated by people “who oppose peace in Somalia,” reports the news service.

Tourism Down in Caribbean Region The global recession has hit the Caribbean’s tourism industry hard, with some nations reporting a double-digit decline visits, reports the BBC. Tourism across the region is down except in Jamaica, Cuba and Mexico’s Cancun region, the Caribbean Tourism Organization said.  Anguilla has been hit the hardest with an 18.8 percent drop in tourism; Antigua, St. Lucia, Montserrat and the Cayman Islands saw tourism drops between 11 and 14 percent, while the Virgin Islands had a 6.1 percent drop and Puerto Rico saw a 4.7 percent drop in tourism, according to CTO.

Zimbabwe’s Cholera Numbers Decreasing
It looks like the cholera epidemic that has been devastating Zimbabwe for months has passed its peak, according to the World Health Organization. In the most recent numbers, the number of new cases dropped to 2,000 a week in middle of March, reports the BBC. Earlier in the month, there were 3,800 new cases a week and there were 8,000 cases a week in February. “The situation with the current cholera outbreak is improving. …The overall trend over the last two months is of a decreasing number of cases and deaths,” the health organization said. But the weekly data aren’t always exact, WHO says, and the country’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said that the numbers were most likely a huge underestimate, reports the BBC. In addition, while the numbers have decreased nationwide, the number of cases in the capital, Harare, has been increasing. “The risk of the outbreak restarting in those areas of the country is real,” the report said. Since the start of the epidemic last August, there have been more than 90,000 cases of cholera in the country. About 4,000 people have died from the water-borne illness. 

Mandela’s Ex Can Run for S.A. Parliament
Even though she was convicted of fraud, Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife, Winnie Mandela, is eligible to run for a spot in South Africa’s Parliament during next month’s elections, officials ruled. Her opponents had argued that the nation’s constitution prevented her from running because of her conviction. But her party, the African Nation Congress, contended that since she was never actually sent to jail, she’s still eligible. And South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission agreed. The Constitution says that anyone who is “sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine” cannot serve in Parliament until “five years after the sentence has been completed,” reports the news service. Winnie Mandela got a three-and-a-half year sentence in 2004 for the charges, but it was suspended for five years. Critics have argued that even though the sentence has been delayed, it’s still active. The commission has stood by its ruling stating, “The candidate is not disqualified from standing as a candidate in the election of April 22, 009. The objection is accordingly dismissed.” The opposing party, the Democratic Alliance, is waiting on further explanation before planning their next steps, reports the BBC.

Prison protest ends in Ivory Coast. Police in the Ivory Coast have shut down a huge protest in the nation’s main prison, according to prison authorities. The ruckus began when prisoners in two blocks decided to revolt, prompting officials to call police. About 100 police officers fired guns into the air in an effort to break up the crowds of inmates, some of whom were throwing rocks at security guards. The prisoners protesting were some of the facility’s most dangerous inmates, according to the prison’s director. Police restored calm in the area around the prison after several hours. Six prisoners were injured as a result. The reason for the protest is in dispute. Officials say it was because the inmates were angry about a change in visiting hours implemented to prevent escapes. But rights groups say they were protesting overcrowding and poor conditions, reports the BBC. “You know that this place is overpopulated. The prison is around three or four times the maximum capacity, so the conditions for the prison guards and the prisoners themselves are quite difficult,” Drissa Traore, who heads the Ivorian Movement for Human Rights, told the news service. And, according to the BBC, 2,000 out of the 5,200 inmates in the prison have not been tried for the crimes for which they are incarcerated. Some have waited 10 years to be tried.

Somalia’s president axes prime minister. Somalia’s President Abdullahi Yusuf says he fired the country’s prime minister because he didn’t do his job, reports CNN. But the former prime minister, Hassan Hussein, says he has no right to fire him without the approval of Parliament. Hussein, who has just been on the job for 13 months, has reportedly butted heads with Yusuf over a proposed reconciliation agreement with the Islamic opposition. According to the nation’s constitution, the president would need the Parliament’s no-confidence vote to get rid of Hussein. Fighting in the nation between Islamic militias and government forces (with the support of Ethiopian troops) has forced more than 1 million Somalis from their homes. The waters aren’t safe either, with international ships continuously being hijacked by Somali pirates. Since Ethiopian forces pushed Islamist forces out of the nation’s capital, Mogadishu, in 2006, the country has been operating under a U.N.-sponsored transitional government.