Is US ready for a black President?(16, Dec 2006)
In a country where race is still a powerful force, there is speculation that Barack Obama, the senator for Illinois since 2005 might run for President in the next elections. The 45 year old senator graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991 and became the first African - American president of the Harvard Law Review. Enjoying mass adulation, he has been profiled by magazines like Time, Newsweek and Harper's thanks to his best selling book Audacity of Hope. The question of will he or won't he stand for president has become the talking point for Democrats. Though Obama has not commented on the issue, he thinks that people judge you based on your merits and not by your race. Whether U.S is prepared to have a black president or not remains to be seen.

Somalia and Ethiopia brace for war(16, Dec 2006)
The inevitability of war hangs over Mogadishu, Somalia's capital city. Unlike the internal anarchy that has affected the country for the past 15 years, the battle is now with Ethiopia which is threatening to de stabilize the country.

In the past week, the increasingly militant Islamists in control of Mogadishu and much of the rest of the country have begun a food drive and a money drive and have sent doctors and nurses, along with countless young soldiers to the frontlines. Analysts are of the opinion that a full scale conflict between the Islamists and Ethiopia, a country with a strong Christian identity would be disastrous for Somalia, which is already suffering from severe flooding and years of neglect.

November: Current Affairs.