Ki-moon to miss Olympics opening

My god or better my Buddha …he woke up! UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, an aide has said. The decision was due to "schedule issues" and had been made months ago, said UN spokeswoman, Marie Mukabe.

Meanwhile, Buenos Aires is braced for Friday's Olympic torch relay after anti-China protests in other cities. Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai has withdrawn from the torch relay's Tanzanian leg, due to concerns over human rights in China.

The BBC's Laura Trevelyan said the UN was anxious not to give the impression that Mr. Ban's absence was a boycott of the Games. Ms Mukabe said Mr. Ban "had conveyed to the [Chinese] government some months ago that he may not be in a position to accept the invitation to attend this important event due to schedule issues".

This means the decision was made before violent anti-Beijing protests in and around Tibet last month that were suppressed by a heavy security presence.

Late as always to everything I have to admit Ki-moon surprised me with this decision even though I would expect him to be more …UN and say why he really doesn’t go, emphasize that whatever UN stands for there is one country member of the security council that ignores and violates them!

Food riots deadly in Haiti

At least four people were killed and 20 wounded when demonstrations against rising food prices turned into riots in southern Haiti, officials say.

Reports say scores of people went on the rampage in the town of Les Cayes, blocking roads, looting shops and shooting at UN peacekeepers. The UN said its personnel had opened fire at some of the armed protesters.

For two days running, parts of Haiti have been erupting into violence triggered by the soaring cost of food. The prices of rice, beans and fruit have gone up by 50% in the last year. Earlier this week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a report saying that the food crisis threatened the Caribbean nation's fragile security.

This is to remind how important is NATO summit, long rich presidential lunches that there are people starve to death and that IS IMPORTANT!

Somalia fighting

Forty humanitarian agencies have warned of an impending catastrophe in Somalia unless urgent action is taken. The warning came as seven people were killed in the latest fighting between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia's government.

Reports say insurgents attacked and briefly took control of the southern town of Jowhar. One million Somalis have left their homes because of insecurity and hunger, the aid agencies say.

Over the past year, Mogadishu has been rocked by almost daily violence and the agencies say a further 20,000 people flee the capital every month. The UN Security Council will …discuss the situation on Thursday. That’s the major problem with Ki-moon, he …will discuss anything sometime!

Last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon presented the council with a report proposing the deployment of 27,000 peacekeepers to replace the stretched African Union force. Five soldiers and two civilians were killed in the latest outbreak of fighting in Jowhar, about 90km (55 miles) north of Mogadishu.

Hundreds of fighters, belonging to the Union of Islamic Courts, attacked the town and freed several prisoners. How many kids among them and how many are going to be …soldiers by the end of the week? Ten and twelve years-old soldiers?