Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- A two-day meeting on ways to lift the embargo imposed on Somali livestock and restore the crucial livestock trade with the Persian Gulf states entered its second Monday in Garowe, headquarters of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Sir Bob Geldof, the internationally acclaimed rock star cum philanthropist, accompanied by a film crew, Saturday jetted into Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, at the start of a five-day visit. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Denouncing the activities of all who seek to undermine the ongoing reconciliation process in Somalia, the African Union has advised the country's transitional legislature to speed up the formation of the government. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Somali warlord Mohamed Seid Hersi alias General Morgan and his forces have fled to the border with Kenya, following three days of intense fighting with rival groups for control of the commercial town of Kismayo, 400 km south of Mogadishu, sources indicated here. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Floods following torrential rains in the last two days have killed four people and destroyed houses in several Somali towns, including the capital Mogadishu and Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somali (PANA) -- Heavy fighting has erupted between militias loyal to runaway warlord Mohamed Hirsi, alias General Morgan, and supporters of the rival Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) in Southern Somalia. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Factional leader Hussein Farah Aideed expressed dismay Sunday at the continued insurgency in Somalia, warning of its adverse impact on the peace efforts underway in Nairobi. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The UN refugee agency, UNHCR plans to repatriate over 100,000 Somali refugees currently living in Kenya should the war-torn country form a new government, the agency said here Monday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Authorities in France have expressed satisfaction over the inaugural session of Somalia's transitional parliament, saying Paris hoped that this event will pave the way for a speedy election of the president of Somalia. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The president of Somalia's interim Parliament, Farah Hersi Bulhan appealed Thursday for international assistance to the country's efforts to contain the effects of drought, including acute food-shortage. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Somalia's new government will back the United States government's battle against terrorism in the Horn of Africa region, suspected of harbouring cells of Osama bin Laden's dreaded Al-Qaeda terrorist group, the country's parliamentarians said here Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Somalia's new post-war Federal Transitional Parliament will hold its first official meeting in Nairobi Thursday to elect an interim Chairman who will oversee the election of the Speaker and his deputies, officials said in the Kenyan capital Wednesday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The African Union (AU) peacekeeping force for Somalia is set for deployment after a special military observer mission sent to the war-scarred nation handed in its report, AU Chairman and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has announced. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Plans for Somalia's post-war reconstruction now takes center stage after international peace mediators surmounted a major hurdle in the peace process with the swearing in of the 275-member Transitional Federal Parliament here Sunday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Appealing to all leaders of Somalia to remain united, the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare has said the establishment of a Parliament for the Horn of Africa country is a significant turning point. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The French foreign ministry on Tuesday welcomed the inauguration of the transitional parliament of Somalia in Nairobi, Kenya on 22 august. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The large number of privately-owned airstrips along the Kenyan border with Somalia possibly played an active role in the smuggling of arms into the Horn of African nation, says a confidential report from the United Nations Security Council. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- UN aid agencies working under the Somalia Aid Co-ordination Body (SACB), have called for a partnership peace campaign and cessation of hostilities ahead of the International Day of Peace, marked 21 September. Full text...

New York- UN (PANA) -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has welcomed the inauguration of the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament in Nairobi, Kenya, venue of almost two-year negotiations for peace in the troubled Horn of Africa country. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Prospects looked bright for the emergence of a central government in strife-torn Somalia, as the country's new post-war Parliament was sworn in here Sunday. Full text...

New York- UN (PANA) -- The UN Security Council has endorsed a six-month extension of its 12-year-old arms embargo on Somalia, citing continuing violations of the sanctions. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya's economic co-operation strategy with Somalia will revolve around the development of a vibrant livestock sector, revitalisation of the Horn of African nation's aviation industry, and the clean-up of oil spills in the country's major Indian Ocean ports. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Wednesday launched its first project to facilitate the transfer of Diaspora expertise to Somalia. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Women delegates to the 22-month long Somali National Reconciliation Conference Tuesday accused clan leaders of bias and flouting rules governing the selection of the 275-member Transitional Parliament to be inaugurated here Thursday. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- A 15-man delegation from the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Arab League arrived here Saturday to visit several areas controlled by warlords. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The International Olympic Committee (IOC), citing fraud, has barred Somalia Olympic chief Farah Addo from attending the Games opening Friday in Athens, Greece. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Four Somali youths, fresh from a two-week summer camp in Spain courtesy of the Real Madrid Football Club, Friday sent passionate appeals to the international community to support sports initiatives among the youth in the war-torn country as part of peace-building measures. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- For a country that has had no government in the past 14 years, the prospects for a lasting peace in Somalia presents daunting challenges for its political leaders, the African Union and the sub-regional body, the Inter- Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- The European Union has welcomed the successful conclusion of the ministerial meeting of the Inter-governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) in Nairobi on 30 July, which finalised the designation of Somalia's transitional federal parliament. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Somalia's Transitional Government must consider human rights as a major priority in its programme, Amnesty International said in a released issued to PANA in Paris Monday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Bethwel Kiplagat, the chief negotiator of the Somali peace talks has recommended the imposition of sanctions on warlord Mohammed Siad Hersi ' Morgan' by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member States. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Authorities in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland have suspended flights by European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) planes over payment of landing and airport operational fees. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- At least eight people were killed and scores wounded during two-day of fighting between farmers and pastoralists in Somalia Lower Shabelle region 400 km south-west of here over the weekend. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- The government of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland has banned all local and international organizations from engaging in civil society activities and political debates, Interior Minister Ismail Adan Osman affirmed here. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Council of Ministers begin a two-day meeting in Djibouti Wednesday on post-war reconstruction in Somalia, Kenyan Environment Minister Kalonzo Musyoka, Chair of IGAD Facilitating Committee said in Nairobi Tuesday. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- More than 300 illegal immigrants of various nationalities are currently stranded in Bosaso, a port town in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, with the vain hope of finding boats to take them to Europe and the Middle East. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Somalia has become a "magnate for predatory militias" because of its advanced state of urbanisation coupled with conflicts over resources in Mogadishu, its administrative capital, says a report released here Monday. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Hundreds of Somalis including family members and religious leaders Sunday took part in a memorial service for the 47 university students executed in 1989 by soldiers during the regime of the late former President Mohamed Siad Barre. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Banadir Hospital, the biggest health centre in Mogadishu reopened on Saturday to the public after being under the control of armed militiamen for 14 years. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- What locals describe as an unprecedented drought has forced thousands of pastoralists in Somalia to move to less affected areas, especially along the border with Ethiopia. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- A six-month project took-off Friday to register houses, buildings and undeveloped lands in Hargeisa, capital of the self-proclaimed and hitherto unrecognised Republic of Somaliland. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Somali post-war Transitional Parliament is to be inaugurated 30 July, an official of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is mediating the country's peace process said in Nairobi Friday. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- An unidentified group of Somali gunmen has forced 172 refugees from Zanzibar Island in Tanzania to vacate a camp owned by the Mogadishu Water Agency where they had lived since late 2001. Full text...

New York- UN (PANA) -- The UN Security Council has welcomed the African Union (AU) plan to send military monitors to Somalia, and called on Somali leaders to support the initiative. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Floods have devastated crops on 100 hectares of land and damaged several houses in Kunuwarey district of Lower Shabelle region, about 400 km from Mogadishu, the Somali capital. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- For the last four months Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland has been facing severe shortage of water. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- The shooting to death of a policeman on Sunday while mediating in a land dispute in Hargeisa brings to 46 the number of persons killed over land related cases in the past six months in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- More than 120 orphans were re- admitted to a newly built orphanage here after most of them spent over one year on the streets of Mogadishu following the closure of their orphanages. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Doctors here have warned city resident against a widely used local drug called 'Dawo Rabi' (God's medicine), whose peddlers claim it can cure several diseases, including cancer. Full text...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- More than 700 returnees brought back by the UN High Commission for Refugees from the Hartasheikh refugee camp in Ethiopia have decried what they said were poor living conditions at their transit center on the outskirts of Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland. Full text...