From Mogadishu -- Gabriel Gatehouse on how the al-Shabab militants have managed to lose friends and influence among the population of Somalia and given a boost to the African peacekeepers there Andy Martin's talking of a rift in the Irish church as Dublin prepares to welcome tens of thousands of Catholic visitors to the capital for an event some have called the 'Catholic Olympics.' A shaded graveyard in Kabul: Andrew North says the memorials there tell a story about Afghanistan's strategic value and the many times foreign soldiers have marched onto its soil Chancellor Merkel of Germany likes straight talking, Steve Evans in Berlin believes. During the visit to Berlin of prime minister Cameron, she used vocabulary British politicians would hesitate to voice in public. And the repressive policies of the apartheid era may be long gone but colour remains a preoccupation in South Africa as new mother, Tara Neill, has been finding out