Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship for the last 16 days have threatened to blow up the MV Faina in the next 36 hours if ransom is not paid.

What is it that makes Pirates different from other brigands; why do dacoits of the sea excite the imagination where the land-bound highwayman invokes fear and loathing? To explain, we cite the curious case of the Pirates of Puntland.

The considerable interest in the US presidential election around the world may partly reflect just its entertainment value.

Fighting erupted Sunday between a group of pirates holding Somali ship and soldiers loyal to Somalia's semiautonomous state of Puntland between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, according to eyewitnesses.

The UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) says that during the period from mid-September to the beginning of October, elements from the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have conducted attacks on 16 localities in the DRC's eastern territory of Dungu, Province Oriental, killing a least 52 people, and abducting and then executing another 159 children and 10 adults.

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

American politics is tribal. Not in the sense of Kikuyu and Luo and Kalenjin and Kamba and all our competing ethnic groups, but is the racial and ethnic characteristics that make up the richly diverse country.

The United Nations' humanitarian arm has warned that food insecurity is worsening in Ethiopia, with over six million people now in need of emergency aid to stay alive.

A RELIGIOUS sect that preserves dead bodies is seeking to build a multi-million dollar autonomous city in Rakai district.

Since mid-September, the notorious Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), has killed over 200 people, including 159 children, according to a new United Nations report.

Thursday was Independence Day. And, as always, it was time to take stock of where the country stands 46 years on. President Museveni spoke of the lost years under Obote and Amin. And then the recovery under his leadership starting in 1986. That was self-serving but not entirely incorrect.

With a kind of hide and seek that is beginning to be the hallmark of the common market talks, there is a likelihood that the dream of reaping from a large economic market of over 90 million people, may fail.

ON Monday many primary schools countrywide were closed. Reason? It was World Teachers' Day and they needed a day off to attend the celebrations. In practice, however, most teachers used this as a day off to catch up on other issues.

A highly addictive, intoxicating drug is being openly sold in Ugandan shops and supermarkets.

The highway to Nsambya, a Kampala surbub is famed for its road side furniture outlets but makers of rustic furniture say lack of capital has hampered the growth of their business.

The world's most famous sport has not been very friendly to the people of Uganda despite endless claims that we love the game of football.

Unlike in the past, communities affected by the latest cholera outbreak in Kampala are now responding fast to public health guidelines aimed at containing the infection.

World football governing body Fifa have appointed Egyptian referee Essam Abd El Fatah to officiate the crucial 2010 World Cup/African Nations Cup qualifier between Uganda Cranes and Benin.

There are things that cannot be changed, regardless of whether you are Barack Obama or the beggar at the T-junction between Entebbe and Kampala road.

Kampala

The Uganda Human Rights Commission on October 3 commemorated "a Decade of Human Rights Work; Making Human Rights a Reality for All" at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel's Rwenzori Ballroom. Saturday Monitor's Solomon Muyita caught up with the rights body's Chairperson, Ms Margaret Sekaggya, and below, she talks about how she has managed the institution:-

There was a time when thousands would await the national team's return and jubilantly escort the motorcade all the way to a State dinner, yet on Wednesday evening a policeman wouldn't let their bus through an access road back to their hotel.

Despite possessing vast skills, the likes of Ibrahim Sekagya, David Obua, Nestroy Kizito and Eugene Sseppuuya, to mention but a few, may call time on their careers without playing in the much-cherished Africa Cup of Nations.

Busoga Kingdom has issued strict draft guidelines for the October 31 election of the new Kyabazinga of Busoga. Saturday Monitor has learnt that the guidelines have been designed to automatically eliminate fake or multiple candidacy from one chiefdom.

The emcee of the night, Elizabeth Pamela Acaye went through the night's star performer's achievements. "She performed at Nelson Mandela birthdays twice and she was the only female African performer at the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize concert.