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What can you do when you see you've got a missed call and a text... from al-Shabaab? Mary Harper reflects on the unnerving communications she's received from the militant fighters who have intimidated targets across Somalia and East Africa.

And there are tidings of a new barbarian invasion of Rome - though this time in feathered form: Alan Johnston feels the menace of the thuggish seagulls moving into the city.

Producer: Polly Hope

Photo: The remains of a car on the streets of Mogadishu on July 5, 2014 after it exploded outside the Somali parliament building in an attack claimed al-Shabaab. (ABDIFITAH HASHI NOR/AFP/Getty Images)