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This is a report I did for the BBC about the Tuareg, who are fighting a rebellion in northern Mali. Today they entered the strategic town of Gao, just a day after they seized another important place, Kidal, in the north-east. It's not only the Tuareg who are fighting - the rebellion is made up of a bewildering array of groups, including Islamists. But the majority are Tuareg, fighting a separatist cause. The Tuareg are a nomadic people who occupy a huge, harsh area of desert and semi-desert, stretching from Mauritania in the west to Chad in the east. They are sometimes called 'The Blue People' because the indigo dye in their robes and turbans seeps into their skin. They have traditionally driven their camel caravans across the Sahara and the Sahel, paying little attention to national boundaries. Throughout history they have been renowned as warriors, carrying an extraordinary array of knives, sword, arrows and daggers as they make their way across the desert. Tuareg rebell

People are asking where they can buy my book in Africa. Here's a list of some of the shops that are selling it. Somalia : The book is available in Mogadishu from  Salim Stationary and Books, Dah abshiil building, opposite Maaliki General Trading, Ceelasha and Banadir Books, Kilometre 4. For further details phone the owner of the bookshops, Mohammed Mire on + 252 615 503 233 or +252 615 118 181. Kenya : It is available in Nairobi at  Bookpoint, Books R Us, Westland Sundries, and Bookstop in the Yaya Centre. Tanzania : You can buy it in  A Novel Idea in Dar es Salaam. It is also available on Amazon and directly from the publishers, Zed Books. Zed Books also recommends The Book Depository which doesn't charge for postage. It offers a good discount and sends books all over the world. Here is the link: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/search?searchTerm=getting+somalia+wrong

I will be discussing my book, Getting Somalia Wrong?, with two very clever young Somali women, Quman Akli and Idil Osman at Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, London EC2 on 20 April at 6pm. http://www.kayd.org/?p=635

I took part in an interesting radio discussion about Somalia with the wonderful Quman Akli and Mohamed Haji Ingiriis, two super clever young Somalis based in London. Laura Hammond of SOAS also featured. Here's the link if you want to listen: http://soasradio.org/content/africa-regional-spotlights-getting-somalia-right-part-i

Some of them are pretty poetic. "Funny how bitter Kenyans witter on Twitter as KDF boys in the forests wildly flutter with hopes of glitter now down the gutter – what a pity!"

In the past few days I have given talks on my book to a gathering of Somali students in London and members of the Somali community in Bristol. Both events were well attended, and I was touched and overwhelmed by how many people have read my book. The group United for Somali Students (USS) invited me to speak at the Africa Centre in London's Covent Garden. They baked delicious cup cakes for the occasion, as well as bringing halwa and soft drinks. I was by far the least articulate member of the panel, outshone by the remarkable Rahma Ahmed of the Somalia Relief and Development Forum and Hanan Bihi of USS. The room was full, the questions were direct, challenging and passionate, and the students raised enough money to sponsor dozens students back home in the Somali territories. They also made the point that the 'world's most dangerous city' of Mogadishu has several universities, and that Mogadishu University has recently been ranked the 25th best university in Africa, out

http://www.voscur.org/content/book-launch-getting-somalia-wrong-mary-harper

This is an exemplary account of the current situation in Somalia and Somaliland in the Horn of Africa. Drawing on visits to the area over a number of years, and long-established acquaintance with Somalis from a wide range of backgrounds, the author has built up an impressively well-informed and sympathetic understanding of the Somali world.  She is particularly acute in her positive assessment of Somali achievements in such areas as internet banking  and cell-phone communication where Somalis play a leading role in Africa.  Her approach is refreshingly positive as she charts the remarkable ways in which Somalis have managed to survive against all the odds. She does not minimise the appalling problems caused by protracted conflicts which seem almost insoluble in Somalia and which, as she clearly concludes, have been generally aggravated rather than alleviated by foreign intervention.  She exposes with admirable clarity the hackneyed inadequacy of the concept ‘failed state’ regularly app

These are photos of images painted on an Al Shabaab base in Baidoa, recently captured by Ethiopian troops. Look and listen out for reports from Baidoa by BBC's East Africa correspondent, Will Ross.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCgKOHKW7EU