Somalia: Somali officials say Ethiopia-backed government troops are poised to capture the capital, Mogadishu, after Islamist forces fled the city.
A government spokesman (Abdirahman Dinari) said today (Thursday) joint Ethiopian and Somalia government forces were in control of the main routes to the capital. He said Mogadishu's capture was imminent.
Earlier, the head of the Islamist movement (Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed) told the al-Jareeza television network that all Islamist forces have withdrawn from Mogadishu to avoid bloodshed.
The retreat comes hours after Somali government troops, backed by Ethiopian forces, advanced to within 30 kilometers of the Islamist-held capital.
Gerald Ford: Funeral services have been announced for former U.S. President Gerald Ford, who died Tuesday at the age of 93.
After a private family service Friday in California, the remains of the 38th president will be flown to Washington on Saturday, and taken to the U.S. Capitol. The body will lie in state in the Rotunda, where a state funeral will be held on Saturday evening.
Mr. Ford's remains will then be taken to the National Cathedral in Washington on Tuesday for a funeral service, then flown later that day to his presidential library in his home state of Michigan.
He will be buried on a hillside near the museum, located in the city of Grand Rapids, on Wednesday. There will be public viewings of the casket in California, Washington and Michigan.
Ford – Iraq: Former U.S. President Gerald Ford told a reporter more than two years ago that he disagreed with President Bush's decision to invade Iraq.
The exclusive interview with veteran reporter Bob Woodward, conducted in July 2004, was published in today's "Washington Post" newspaper.
Mr. Ford said if he were president, he would not have sent troops into Iraq in March 2003 to topple dictator Saddam Hussein, based on the facts that were publicly available at the time, and would have pushed for sanctions instead.
The former president was also skeptical about Mr. Bush's emphasis on spreading democracy around the world.
Asia Quake Telecom: Telecommunications companies serving East Asia have dispatched boats to repair several undersea transmission cables damaged by Tuesday's earthquake off southern Taiwan. The damage caused significant disruptions to phone and Internet services within Asia and beyond.
Phone service is improving across much of the affected parts of East and Southeast Asia, but Internet access remains spotty.
Communications companies say they are rerouting as much data as they can, in addition to dispatching the repair crews. But, they say repairs and full restoration of service could take weeks.
The seven-point-one magnitude quake Tuesday evening caused two deaths and 42 injuries in Taiwan.
Indonesia Floods: The Indonesian government and aid agencies are scrambling to deliver badly needed food and supplies to people affected by flooding in northwestern Sumatra island.
Rescuers are still looking for stranded people who survived the rising waters and landslides. Emergency workers are using helicopters and boats to reach remote areas totally cut off by the floodwaters.
Days of heavy rain have inundated the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, and brought flooding to nearby southern Malaysia, as well.
At least 100 people have been killed by the flooding in Indonesia and 400-thousand have been forced from their homes. In Malaysia, at least 10 people have died and many other have been made homeless.
Indonesian government officials say illegal logging and deforestation have made the area more vulnerable to floods.
Listen to our World News for details.