Today, nearly two years later, the transitional government that was forced on the Somali people by external forces has done nothing but leave a sad and embarrassing mark in the country’s history. The invasion of a sovereign state that was carried out in violation of international laws and charters was one of the 21st century’s worst war crimes. The transitional government that was installed in power to serve foreign interests failed to gain any acceptance among the people and is now a political corpse being guarded by external forces.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A lion ate a local man in eastern Ethiopia after escaping from a game park, police said on Sunday.

Staff at the Metehara sugar factory ventured into a nearby cane plantation last week to search for a missing worker. More on Lion kills Ethiopian after straying from park

MOGADISHU, Somalia: Mortars slammed into a market in Somalia’s capital Monday, killing up to 30 people including children and overwhelming hospitals with dozens of wounded in the worst fighting in months, witnesses said. More on Witnesses: Up to 30 killed in Somali capital

The African National Congress (ANC) said it had named Mr Motlanthe to take the position of caretaker president.

Parliament is to confirm Mr Motlanthe’s appointment to the post, which he will hold until elections in early 2009.

WASHINGTON – Five days from their first presidential debate, Democrat Barack Obama has climbed in the polls as Republican John McCain fumbled his response to a looming U.S. economic cataclysm — one that threatened to match the financial catastrophe of the 1930s Great Depression.