Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Wednesday announced his sudden resignation from the post of the government head and would not explain clearly the reasons for his decision.
Sanader, who is president of the senior ruling party Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), told an extraordinary news conference that he also decided to withdraw from his party duty and from active politics and become HDZ honorary president, the Croatian news agency HINA reported.

As one of the Australian government’s most senior ministers, Joel Fitzgibbon has overseen some important policy shifts in just over 18 months in office.
There was a new defence policy paper; a radical reform program for an at-times resentful defence department; and there were big changes in Australia’s role in two major conflicts, in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

Beleaguered by Labor Party plotters hoping to unseat him and by the prospect of disastrous local election results for Labor that are expected on Friday morning, Prime Minister Gordon Brown chose on Thursday to send out aides avowing to reporters, anonymously, that there was “no chance” he would resign.
The prime minister’s move, reported by the BBC and the Web sites of several British newspapers, surprised nobody, given Mr. Brown’s trademark as a political pit bull. He has a reputation for fighting his corner with a tenacity born of the decade …

Veteran Lib Dem Sir Alan Beith has become the first MP to declare an interest in replacing Michael Martin as House of Commons Speaker.
Sir Alan, who was in the running for the post in 2000, told BBC News he would stand if he had enough support.
He added that he had “started to get indications of that from people in at least three parties”.
Earlier, Mr Martin announced he would stand down amid pressure over his handling of MPs expenses.
He told the Commons he would relinquish his post on 21 June, …

The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, resigned on Saturday in a move intended to pave the way for a power-sharing deal between the two rival Palestinian political forces – Hamas and Fatah.
But Hamas officials quickly rebuffed Mr Fayyad’s announcement, casting doubt on whether or not his gesture would help lead to reconciliation between the sides.
The main goal of such a government would be to end the current situation in which the militant Hamas movement rules the Gaza Strip and Fatah, considered more moderate and supported by the West, rules the …

Ukraine’s parliament has dismissed Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko, who threatened to expel Russian Ambassador Viktor Chernomydrin over an interview in which he said it was “impossible” to agree on “anything” with Ukrainian leaders.
Ambassador Chernomydrin also said that situation could change with different leadership.
His comments came just weeks after Russia and Ukraine settled a high-profile energy dispute over Russian natural gas supplies. Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine in a price dispute January first. Russia later cut all deliveries through Ukrainian pipelines, causing shortages in several European countries, VOA reports.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has announced his resignation after months of power struggle in the country’s embattled government.
After four years at the helm of one of the most violent, impoverished countries in the world, Yusuf who is blamed for stalling a UN-backed peace process, handed his resignation letter to the parliament speaker for approval on Monday.
In his resignation speech to the parliament, Yusuf said he took “the decision to safeguard the interest of his people and his country”, Press TV correspondent reported.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A Somali official named prime minister last week resigned Wednesday, saying his controversial appointment was preventing the feuding government from fighting a strengthening Islamic insurgency.
Officials in the war-ravaged nation have spent most of their time fighting each other instead of Islamic insurgents that American officials fear are linked to al-Qaida.
The infighting came to a head last week when the Somali president unilaterally dismissed Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein and appointed a new one, Mohamed Mohamud Guled. The country’s parliament refused to approve the move, which was …