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...

Mogadishu- Somalia (PANA) -- Coca-Cola has opened a soft drinks plant here with a consortium of Somali investors staking 8. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Somali and Sudan peace mediators are scheduled to meet here Thursday with UN secretary general Kofi Annan. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The Executive Council of the African Union (AU) has warned all factional leaders and parties in Somalia to observe the 31 July deadline for the formation of a government of national unity or face sanctions from the international community upon failure to comply. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has granted Somalia $8. Full text...

New York- UN (PANA) -- What was once the world's largest refugee camp, hosting more than 250,000 Somalis in Ethiopia, has closed after the last return convoy left Wednesday for northwest Somalia, UNHCR said Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Four young Somalis have been selected to attend a two-week summer camp at one of the world's most famous football clubs, Real Madrid of Spain. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambia's Immigration Department has expressed concern over the influx of Somali nationals entering the country with forged Kenyan passports. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Somalia, Maxwell Gaylard and officials of aid agencies have expressed great concern about the worsening drought in northern Somalia. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The UN Humanitarian Coordinator Maxwell Gaylard and other senior officials have expressed "concern" over the deepening humanitarian situation in war-torn Somalia, now ravaged by drought. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- The European Union Friday welcomed the launching of the third phase of the national reconciliation conference on Somalia during the IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority for Development) ministerial meeting held in Nairobi 21-22 May. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The UNDP office in Somalia and the United Arab Emirates-based Zayed Foundation for Charitable and Humanitarian Activities Thursday signed an agreement for the latter to provide $2 million for a water supply project in Somalia. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Nearly 1,000 Somali refugees who found asylum in Ethiopia over the past 16 years are now heading home. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Two top United Nations officials in charge of Somalia have expressed "deep regret and concern" about recent factional fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, which has claimed dozens of innocent lives, including women and children. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Senior UN officials responsible for Somalia have expressed deep concern about the recent factional fighting in Mogadishu, in which dozens of innocent civilians, including women and children were killed. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) confirmed Wednesday that Abdishakur Yusuf Ali, editor of the independent weekly War-Ogaal has been in jail without charge for almost a month in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland in Somalia. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Thursday declared its intention to seek tough action from the newly formed African Peace and Security Council against violators of the arms embargo imposed on Somalia. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Somali National Reconciliation Conference has incurred one million-US-dollar budget deficit and this could affect the completion of the third phase of the peace talks in Nairobi, informed sources said Thursday. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- Somalia's Elman FC Sunday drew one-all against Jamhuri of Zanzibar in a quarterfinal match of the Confederation of East and Central African Football Associations contest dubbed the Kagame Cup. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union has re-emphasised to all AU member States to scrupulously adhere to the UN Security Council arms embargo on Somalia. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- As the 19-month long Somali Reconciliation Conference is about to resume here Friday for its final phase, civil society leaders have threatened to reject its outcome. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about reports that two local journalists have been detained in separate incidents in the self- declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeast Somalia, and the self-declared republic of Somaliland. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- Rwandan club side APR beat Somalia's Elmani 2-0, as the 30th edition of Confederation of East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) Cup finals kicked off here Monday evening at the Amahoro Stadium. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is mediating the Somali conflict has issued guidelines to parties to the talks to facilitate the signing of a final peace deal by July. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Uganda is contributing more than 100 police officers for the UN peace mission in Liberia in May, a Ugandan official said Wednesday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The European Union (EU) has made a fresh injection of 350,000 euro to prod on the troubled Somali peace process until the end of May, a team of visiting EU officials disclosed here Friday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Conflict resolution and peace remains the greatest challenge facing Somalia, women delegates from the country affirmed at the close of a three-week trainer's workshop organised in Nakuru, Kenya by UN Habitat under the Somalia Good Local Governance and Leadership Training Programme. Full text...

Nakuru- Kenya (PANA) -- For nearly three weeks, some 21 Somali leaders and university lecturers have camped in the central Kenyan city of Nakuru to map out ways of rebuilding their cities and towns ruined by a 14-year old clan war. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the overnight detention of Abshir Ali Gabre, news editor at the independent Radio Jawhar, on the orders of Somali faction leader Mohamed Omar Habeeb. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Hundreds of Somali refugees are returning home from neighbouring Djibouti with the start of repatriation convoys under the UN refugee agency. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- UN agencies and NGOs operating in Somalia launched an appeal to donors Friday for 111 million US dollars for the year 2004 to fund various emergency, recovery and development projects in the troubled country. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- An abducted UN relief worker recently released by his Somali abductees, said Tuesday that in spite of the ordeal, he was willing to return to Somalia after spending some time with his family here in Nairobi. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The UN has confirmed the release of staff member and German national Rolf Helmrich, who was abducted last month by an armed militia group in Somalia. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The UN Development Programme (UNDP) staff, German national Rolf Helmrich, who was abducted in Mogadishu a week ago is still being held by an armed militia group in the lower Juba region of southern Somalia, a UN official said Saturday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Defiant Somali warlords will be punished and sanctioned once the UN Security Council endorses the Transitional Federal Charter signed in Nairobi last Thursday, Kenyan foreign minister Kalonzo Musyoka announced here Wednesday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has urged Somali factional leaders to fully implement the declaration on amendments to the Transitional Federal Charter of the Somali Republic, paving the way for peace in the country. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Somali warlords and politicians Thursday signed an agreement to set up a new parliament that will elect a president as part of efforts to restore peace to their country that has had no central authority for 13 years. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Somali warlords and politicians are due to sign a deal Thursday to set up a new parliament that will elect a president for their country that has had no central authority for 13 years. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The World Bank and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have unveiled a new survey providing an overview of social and economic development in troubled Somalia. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- After several hours of delay, a regional summit on the Somali conflict finally opened in Nairobi Friday with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in attendance. Full text...

New York- UN (PANA) -- Preparing a new phase in the drive to help 90,000 people suffering from severe drought in northern Somalia, UN humanitarian agencies are appealing to rival local administrations to refrain from any violence that could disrupt the operation. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- The European Union Wednesday hailed IGAD (the Intergovernmental Authority on Development) for plans to convene a meeting of Somali leaders in Kenya in a move to prepare the third and last phase of the inter-Somali dialogue, but warned Somalis to be tolerant and have an inclusive approach. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya's Foreign minister Kalonzo Musyoka has appealed to the international community to redouble its efforts in resolving Somalia's internal conflict. Full text...

New York- UN (PANA) -- The UN Security Council has called for greater international support for enhanced implementation of the arms embargo on Somalia after hearing a report that the lack of an effective central government had provided opportunities for the activities of international terrorist organisations in the country. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Somali Peace talks are facing serious financial problems due to dwindling donor funding caused by the lack of a strategic framework to guide the reconciliation process, Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka said in Nairobi Monday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The World Food Programme (WFP) announced Tuesday it will expand operations in Somalia's northern Sool Plateau in response to the worst drought to hit the region since 1981. Full text...