WASHINGTON – Top Democratic leaders intend to push for a quick end to the battle for the presidential nomination when primaries are over next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday, adding that he, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and party chairman Howard Dean will urge uncommitted delegates to choose sides. More on Top Dems to push for swift end to primary race

The Somali transitional government and its main rival will resume peace talks in Djibouti on Saturday, the UN political office for Somalia announced on Thursday.

    The second phase of the negotiations will open on Saturday followed by a UN Security Council delegation visit on June 2-3, UN special envoy for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said in a statement. More on Somali peace talks set to resume in Djibouti

For centuries, nomads have dropped down from the rocky hills around here to carve bricks of salt from an ancient lake and haul them away on the backs of camels. But a new salt miner is trying his hand, and he may be a harbinger of what is to come. “As a salt person, my first impression was why was all this salt just sitting here,” said Daniel Sutton, an American salt miner who is overseeing a new $70 million operation to industrialize the collection of Djibouti’s plentiful salt. “There’s 50 square miles of salt. It runs 20 to 30 feet deep. This could be huge.” More on Investors In Tiny Djibouti Think Big…!!!

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The Woyanne ambassador in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, has indicated that the government of Woyanne  is initiating policy changes to help improve security.

Woyanne Ambassador Fisaha Shawel told journalists Thursday that the Woyanne  army will stop search operations across Somalia. More on Woyanne is looking exit strategy from Somalia

WASHINGTON – In a White House full of Bush loyalists, none was more loyal than Scott McClellan, the bland press secretary who spread the company line for all the government to follow each day. His word, it turns out, was worthless, his confessional memoir a glimpse into Washington’s world of spin and even outright deception.

John McCain’s campaign sent out a fundraising e-mail a few hours ago, soliciting supporters to drop $250 for a personalized McCain logo banner. The subject of the e-mail, Frank Donatelli, says he and his wife have “been proud to work for and support” John McCain since his first presidential bid, and are proud to publicly showcase their support for the presumptive GOP nominee. More on McCain appoints Woyanne lobbyist as top campaign official

Shabelle (Mogadishu):At a full volume blasts could entirely heard in Liban region of Somali administrative region in Ethiopia later on Tuesday according to the residents. 

The explosion just about three were reported to have been under fired on a social gathering place in the region. More on Ethiopia: Explosions Rock in Somali Region

Amnesty International today challenged world leaders to apologize for six decades of human rights failure and re-commit themselves to deliver concrete improvements.

“The human rights flashpoints in Darfur, Zimbabwe, Gaza, Iraq and Myanmar demand immediate action,” said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, launching AI Report 2008: State of the World’s Human Rights.

Thousands are dying in street fighting and there’s been a mass exodus from the city. Things are the worst I’ve seen in 17 years of covering the civil war here, which explains why UN officials have designated Somalia as ‘Africa’s worst humanitarian crisis’.

Why is it so bad? And why should we care?

The answer to both questions is because we in the UK are directly fuelling this mess.

British taxpayers’ money is helping to bankroll one side in this vicious conflict, and several Somali leaders who have been linked to allegations of war crimes against countless civilians are living double lives in Britain.

Let’s get our facts straight! Ethiopia never invaded Somalia. Meles Zenawi did! Without public debate or discussion. On his own initiative, and by is own diktat. Last year, the former Ethiopian president Dr. Negasso Giddada expressed his bewilderment over Meles’ invasion: “Somalia is not a threat to Ethiopia. The Somalis didn’t attack us, so why are we fighting them?” Since December 2006, Ethiopians have been asking one simple question: Why did Meles invade and continues to occupy Somalia in the name of Ethiopia?