Mogadishu, Somalia (AHN) – Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed, the Prime Minister of the transitional federal government of Somalia, flew to Djibouti for his first official visit abroad since he was nominated in October.

Somali government spokesman Abdi Hajji Goobdoon, told reporters that the Premier Mohammed was accompanied by a delegation that made the trip after an official letter of invitation from Djibouti President Isma’il Omar Gelle. The trip will strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two eastern African nations.

Somalia’s Premier and his delegation were cordially welcomed when they arrived in Djibouti City. Mohammed’s trip comes as the Djibouti government on Tuesday proclaimed it is ready to help Somalia’s new government bring peace back to Somalia.

Djibouti Ambassador to Somalia Tayib Dubad Roble, made the announcement after meeting in Mogadishu with Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed and several of the newly-sworn cabinet ministers.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. president’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is struggling in a critical condition at George Washington University hospital after admission on Friday morning.

“This morning, doctors completed surgery to repair a tear in his aorta. He is in critical condition and has been joined by his family,” said PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.

Earlier on Friday, at the regular briefing, Crowley refused to elaborate on Holbrooke;s condition, saying, “All I can tell you is that the ambassador is at the hospital at the present time, and beyond that I will — we will let you know, as we find out more.”

Crowley also refused to confirm media reports that Ambassador Holbrooke collapsed at Secretary Hillary Clinton’s office, saying on Friday, “It happened on the seventh floor,”

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London, United Kingdom (AHN) – International protest is building about the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange this week. Assange is being held in a British jail awaiting extradition to Sweden on rape charges.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is seeking to extradite him to the United States to face espionage charges after his Web site released more than 250,000 documents that exposed secret State Department communications. However, political leaders in Australia, Brazil, Russia and elsewhere say Assange is a political prisoner who is being punished for exercising rights of the free press.

Some of the harshest criticism is coming from Australia, where hundreds of people rallied Thursday in three cities to protest Assange’s arrest. Assange is an Australian citizen.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said Assange was merely doing the job of any journalist by publishing the documents. “The blame for any violations of the law should fall on the persons who gave the documents to Wikileaks,” Rudd said. “The Americans are responsible for that.”

The State Department communications, called “cables,” described Rudd as a “control freak” and said that he made mistakes as Australia’s foreign minister.

Rudd said he was unconcerned about the criticisms.

He also said Australia would offer consular help to Assange.

Consular help refers to sending diplomats to meet with a citizen of their own country who is arrested abroad to determine whether legal assistance can be arranged.

In Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described the arrest of Assange as a crime.

“I want to express my protest against this offense against free expression,” Lula said. “I will use the presidential blog to express my protest.”

He also encouraged the international news media to be more vigorous in defending Assange.

“The young man who is giving so much trouble to the diplomacy of the United States was arrested and so far I have not seen any protest defending free expression,” Lula said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described the U.S. government’s efforts to prosecute Assange as hypocritical.

“If it is full democracy, then why have they hidden Mr. Assange in prison,” Putin said during a press conference Thursday. “That’s what, democracy?”

Putin’s remarks appear to be a response to a February 2010 cable from Defense Secretary Robert Gates that said, “Russian democracy has disappeared and the government is an oligarchy run by the security services.”

In Mexico, the Journalists Club put up a plaque in their Mexico City headquarters honoring Assange for his “contribution to the conscience of mankind.”

The State Department documents published by Wikileaks described Mexico’s difficulties in managing its war with drug cartels. The cables described the government’s efforts as ineffective, often corrupt and divided among competing administrators.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Research Service is saying any U.S. prosecution of Assange would face unprecedented legal and diplomatic challenges.

A 24-page report from the government agency examines how the Justice Department could apply U.S. criminal laws to a foreign news operation.

“We are aware of no case in which a publisher of information obtained through unauthorized disclosure by a government employee has been prosecuted for publishing it,” the report said.

The prosecution of Assange creates First Amendment and diplomatic hurdles “based on concerns about government censorship,” the report said.

Some members of Congress, such as Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I.-Conn) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), say Assange should be prosecuted under the Espionage Act of 1917.

However, the Congressional Research Service report said no single law forbids the news media from publishing diplomatic cables only a “patchwork” of statutes that leave unclear answers.

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Port-au-Prince, Haiti (AHN) – Canada’s embassy in Haiti was temporarily closed due to electoral violence in the country.

The violent protests by Haitian students in the capital over the preliminary result of last month’s polls also caused the closure of other foreign embassies in Port-au-Prince.

According to the Canadian embassy, consular staff could not enter and leave the building safely because of the situation in the city, leading the property managers to shutter the edifice housing the embassy.

Schools and airports also temporarily ceased operations because of the escalating violence which had resulted in the death of at least two people.

Because of the tense political situation, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon called on Haitian President Rene Preval to restore calm and stability in the country. Cannon also expressed Ottawa’s concern about the charges of irregularities in the elections, but stopped short of calling for another election.

The presidency is supposed be contested by the country’s former First Lady Mirlande Manigat and Jude Celestin, Preval’s choice, based on the results of the votes.

Many Haitian’s are angry at the exclusion of popular singer Michel Martelly in the run-off for the presidency, prompting Haiti’s electoral body to make a recount of the votes.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Judicial Watch announced Thursday that it had filed a lawsuit against New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf seeking information about communications between them regarding an Islamic mosque and cultural center that Rauf plans to build a few blocks from Ground Zero.

The so-called Ground Zero Mosque has drawn criticism.

Now Washington, D.C.-headquartered Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, has filed a petition with the New York State Supreme Court asking it to force Bloomberg to comply with a public records request for communications between he had with Rauf and controversial Muslim groups, Judicial Watch said in a statement.

Judicial Watch filed a freedom of information request with Bloomberg’s office on Aug. 19. The Mayor’s office indicated it would supply the information in 20 days and failed to do so.

“Mayor Bloomberg’s support for the Ground Zero mosque needs to be fully explored. New Yorkers are going to want to know how closely he’s working with the radicals supporting the Ground Zero mosque,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is troubling that the Mayor’s office cannot be bothered to comply with the open records law. What is the Mayor’s office hiding?”

Judicial Watch is asking for:

•All records of communication between the Office of the Mayor and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf concerning the Cordoba Initiative’s proposed Cordoba House project.

•All records of of communication between the Office of Mayor Bloomberg and any of the following entities

1. Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR);

2. Islamic Society of North America (ISNA);

3. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT);

4. American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASTHMA);

5. American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC);

6. Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

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Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) – Israel, which has restricted all exports from Gaza since 2007 when Hamas took control of the region, has shown some liberty and allowed exports of items like furniture, textiles and agricultural products – a move welcomed by the human rights groups.

The right groups said that they would be more pleased only when Israelis would implement the plan of easing their blockade of the Palestinian territory. Hamas, however, criticized the move, and its spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri described it as a publicity stunt.

He pointed out that Israel not only restricts raw materials from reaching Gaza but also limits people’s movement in the impoverished coastal strip.

In last more than three years, Israel had only allowed transfer of flowers and strawberries from the strip. The decision to ease exports came after security cabinet vote where parliamentarians claimed that the move was aimed at improving the living standards of the Palestinian population.

The move came after repeated international pressure from the U.S., European Union and the United Nations on Israel to completely lift exports’ ban from Gaza.

International envoy for the Middle East, Tony Blair, also lauded the move and described it as a “significant step”, adding that there was “a long way still to go”.

Israeli rights group, Btselem, also welcomed the move but said that the implementation part would prove how honest the Israeli government was while making the announcement.

“In the past, even while allowing import and export, Israel placed arbitrary restrictions that impaired trade,” it said in a statement.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The White House called on lawmakers again Wednesday to pass a bill providing illegal immigrant students a path to citizenship if they serve in the military or attend college. The Senate and House were scheduled to vote on the measure, which proponents believe is a first step toward meaningful immigration reform but that Republicans call a “a mass amnesty proposal.”

Democrats in both chambers were set to consider the DREAM Act despite continued GOP opposition and a heavy load of other pending legislation to pass before Republicans take control of the House in the next Congress in January.

The votes are the most important on immigration reform since a bipartisan bill in 2006 supported by then-President George W. Bush failed. That earlier, larger immigration bill gave immigrants a pathway to citizenship and was defeated by House Republicans, who continue to oppose amnesty for aliens and want more border control.

The DREAM Act provides nonimmigrant status to young immigrants who meet several requirements. They should have arrived in the United States before turning 16 years old, lived continuously in the U.S. for five years before the bill was enacted, and were younger than 30 years when the legislation was enacted.

The bill is an updated version of a nearly decade-old measure that seeks to address the legal status of “young people [who] were brought to the U.S. and should not be punished for their parents’ choices,” according to the sponsor, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).

The new version has a lower age threshold and further requires young immigrants seeking permanent resident status to finish two years of either college or military service.

Safeguards have also been added, such as granting legal immigrant status to students only after 10 years of meeting the requirements. The legislation now also bans students from sponsoring members of their extended family, which conservatives call “chain migration.”

Students are allowed to sponsor their parents when they reach 21 years but if their parents entered the country illegally, the parents must seek to change their legal status outside the United States. They may apply for an immigrant visa at an embassy overseas but they cannot enter the United States for at least 10 years.

Republicans have insisted the legislation would promote chain migration and exacerbate the nation’s fiscal problems by costing state and local taxpayers $6.2 billion annually. They estimate between 1.3 and 2.1 million illegal immigrants would automatically qualify under the law, a number they say will only grow since the legislation has no cap.

Democrats cite a report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $1.4 billion.

“The students who earn legal status through the DREAM Act will make our country more competitive economically, spurring job creation, contributing to our tax base and strengthening communities,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said last month.

The top Republican in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, on Monday dismissed the argument.

“The CBO has clearly failed to account for a number of major costs factors with the DREAM Act, including unemployment, public education costs, chain migration, and fraud,” Sessions said.

“Nor does the CBO take it account what history has proven: passing amnesty will incentivize even more illegality and lawlessness at the border. In addition the CBO assumes a large portion of these will obtain jobs, but there is no surplus of job opportunities,” he added.

Reid, however, has pointed out, “Secretaries of Defense from both parties have supported this bill because it strengthens our Armed Forces,. In fact, this bill has a long history of bipartisan support, and was originally co-authored by Republicans.”

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday called fellow Democrats to quit playing games with ordinary Americans’ lives noting that his top priority is ” to do what’s right for the American people, for jobs, and for economic growth.”

Addressing journalists at a press conference in the White House, the President said that he was “focussed on making sure that tens of millions of hardworking Americans are not seeing their paychecks shrink on January 1st just because the folks here in Washington are busy trying to score political points.”

There was a loud murmur from left-leaning Democrats as the President announced his compromise plan with Republicans to create jobs and boost consumer spending along with extending all the tax cuts that are set to expire on Dec. 31.

Democrats were angry with Obama’s nod to continuation of the controversial Bush-era tax cuts announced nearly a decade ago for the wealthiest households, adding billions in staggering addition to the deficit over the next two years.

Vice President Biden, one of the architects of the compromise, did not have much success at the Capitol but he is expected to return on Wednesday to pursue further with Democrats.

There were, however, whispers of approval also in legislative corridors of power as one of the Democrat insider reluctant to be quoted, noted major tax-breaks to boost capital injections, unemployment benefits to continue for 13 months and savings for working couples with tax-breaks.

Obama told journalists at the hurriedly called press conference, “Two million Americans who lost their jobs and are looking for work will be able to pay their rent and put food on their table.”

With an eye on his sulking Democrats, Obama, “I understand the desire for a fight. I’m sympathetic to that. I’m as opposed to the high-end tax cuts today as I’ve been for years,” he said. “But in the meantime, I’m not here to play games with the American people or the health of our economy.”

John D. Podesta, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American Progress said in a statement, “I think the President was right to choose helping working Americans over a December conflagration,” noting, “President Obama decided he couldn’t abandon the millions of Americans who are struggling to keep their families afloat, who are diligently searching for work, and who simply cannot afford higher taxes right now.”

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Mogadishu, Somalia (AHN) – Somalia’s military court has carried out the death penalty against a Somali government soldier found guilty of deliberate killing another soldier, an official said Tuesday.

Nur Ahmed Shire was sentenced to death days ago and the sentence against him has been fulfilled, Hassan Hussein Mungaab, the chairman of Somalia’s military court, announced.

Mungaab said Shire was found guilty of intentionally shooting and killing another soldier, Shafi’i Ahmed Ali, on Nov. 2.

The punishment, which took place at a police center at Mogadishu’s Hamar Jajab district, was carried out by a firing squad.

Afterwards, the chairman of Somalia’s military held a press conference at the center warning transitional government forces against committing meaningless killing.

“If a fighter from Al Shabaab or Hizbul Islam is captured fighting, the military court will carry out capital punishment against the arrested fighter,” he told reporters.

The sentence is the first of its kind for Somalia’s military court since the new government took office late last month.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The United States on Monday stressed national “solidarity with our South Korean and Japanese allies and noted that these consultations demonstrate the strength of our shared commitment to advancing regional security and stability.”

In a post-meeting statement National Security Council Deputy Spokesman Ben Chang noted the interaction “as part of the historic Trilateral meetings between our three countries,” represented by U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Seiji Maehara, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea Kim Sung-hwan.

Citing the North Korean provocations, Chang said, Donilon emphasized the “timeliness” of the meetings, expressing “the President’s support and personal interest in this Trilateral process.”

The explosive situation in the region was created with Pyongyang’s fatal artillery strike on South Korea’s Yeonpyeong island near the disputed western maritime border, killing two South Korean soldiers and two civilians.

“Consistent with our efforts to strengthen these core alliances over the course of the last two years, Mr. Donilon underscored U.S. solidarity with our South Korean and Japanese allies and noted that these consultations demonstrate the strength of our shared commitment to advancing regional security and stability,” the statement said.

Chang summed up the meeting with a stern warning to North Korea: “The three officials pledged to remain fully coordinated in sending a clear message to North Korea – that if it chooses the path of denuclearization, the road to reintegration into the international community will be open, but if it chooses further provocations and threats, it will further isolate itself.”

Earlier, Japanese Minister Maehara and Korean Minister Sung-hwan met with the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, for a ministerial trilateral.

Clinton noted that the role of China in the region cannot be denied but the trio rejected Chinese call to return to the six-party talks with North Korea.

In a joint statement, the three leaders “reaffirmed that resumption of the Six-Party Talks will require the DPRK to make sincere efforts to improve relations with the ROK as well as taking concrete steps to demonstrate a genuine commitment to complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization.”

Moreover, President Barack Obama on Sunday night had called China’s President Hu Jintao to discuss global hot spots giving a headache to Americans including North Korea.

During the call, the two presidents discussed the North Korean shelling of a South Korean island on Nov. 23 and the pursuit of a uranium enrichment program by the North.

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