People in the city of Laayoune, in Western Sahara, take to the streets on Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Green March, when Morocco took after the disputed territory. It came several days after the UN said genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty was the "most feasible solution" to the conflict.

Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011, when 237 attacks were reported. Somali piracy in the region at the time cost the world's economy some $7 billion.

Somalia's Minister of Internal Security, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Fartaag, held talks on Wednesday in Mogadishu with the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) and Head of the African Union Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM),