Up to 400 African Union (AU) peacekeepers arrived on Saturday in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital according to sources close to AMISOM troops.

When I called for Somali's division last week, I expected the vitriolic reaction I have received from the war-weary country's refugees in the US, Britain, Denmark, Eritrea and Mogadishu.

Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks denied that there were talks with the company that belongs to the ship following media reports said that the two sides agreed $8mln for the release of the ship.

The Islamic courts union has revealed that there is advanced investigation regarding the killing of Somali peace elder Dahar Hersi Hoshow who was killed in the town of Beledweyne, central Somalia.

African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops and particularly Ugandan troops who are based at the KM4 junction in Mogadishu shot dead a street child after they opened fire at him as they were passing by on Thursday night ccording to eyewitnesses.

A ship ferrying UN food aid arrived in Somalia's Mogadishu port on Friday night escorted by a Canadian frigate to deter an attack by pirates.

On paper, Uganda Cranes need divine intervention to progress to the next phase of the 2010 Africa Cup Nations/World Cup qualifiers but striker Eugene Sseppuuya doesn't believe so.

Kenya is set to begin training up to 10,000 Somali troops. Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula told African ambassadors meeting at the Serena Hotel that the training of the military, paramilitary and police officers will be carried out according to local training programmes. The government is keen to see the Somali government stand on its two feet, but insists that the recruitment of the trainees will have to be done fairly across Somalia.

AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia] said Villa Somalia came under attack by "enemies of peace and spoilers of the initiative to return sanity to Mogadishu" at about 18.00 hours local time on Monday, 6 October 2008 as the statement mentioned.

A UN delegation has visited refugees in Elasha biyaha area outside Mogadishu on Thursday.

Kenya will not budge to media pressure to explain the destination of the hijacked arms aboard a Ukrainian ship, Government Spokesman Alfred Mutua said on Thursday.

A closed source on the ground in Somalia,who is conversant with the country's political dynamics, reports a marked shift in its power configuration, as sub-clan loyalties increasingly supplant broader alliances and coalitions in the face of an expected and imminent withdrawal of Ethiopian occupation forces.

Ethiopian forces deployed in parts of Somalia will soon be dispatched to the southern port of Kismayo, some 500km south of the capital Mogadishu, reliable sources tell Garowe Online.

The spokesman for a Somali Islamist guerrilla group, al Shabaab, held a press conference via the telephone to local media, Radio Garowe on Thursday.

A closed source on the ground in Somalia,who is conversant with the country's political dynamics, reports a marked shift in its power configuration, as sub-clan loyalties increasingly supplant broader alliances and coalitions in the face of an expected and imminent withdrawal of Ethiopian occupation forces.

Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps in and around Somalia's southern port town of Marka have been left without shelter after heavy rains pounded the area, officials said.

The United Nations has authorised force to free the hijacked Ukrainian ship.

Thursday, October 9, 2008 is the 14th day since Somali pirates hijacked the Ukranian ship.

Two government workers kidnapped in Mandera Town are still missing.

The decision by the United Nations Security Council to sanction international navy vessels and military aircraft to use "all necessary means" to stamp out piracy off the coast of Somalia gives a seal of approval to those countries whose warships are surrounding the hijacked Mv Faina and to attack it and free the hostages and military hardware cargo.