Kenya Feature: A Beginner's Guide to Today's Elections

President Obama appeals to Kenyans to reject the intimidation of violence and host free, fair and peaceful elections

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Today's elections in Kenya are seen by many as a key to the stability of East and Central Africa, amid neighbours such as Somalia, the recently-divided Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At the same time, there is the legacy of past election violence and the complication that a leading presidential candidate has been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

So what is happening today?

The elections are for a new President, MPs, and local representatives. They are the first under the new Constitution, passed in 2010.

What is the background?

In 2007, Kenya was the model of stability and opportunity within an otherwise chaotic region, or so it seemed.

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UAE (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 94 Activists Go on Trial

January protest on behalf of 94 detained activists in the UAE (Photo: AP)

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Regime's Shelling of Homs
Sunday's Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Minister of Finance Tries to Resign Amid Financial Crisis

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1635 GMT: Yemen A suicide bomber today killed "at least 10 members of a pro-government militia".

A local commander told Reuters that 15 others were wounded, some seriously, in the attack which struck a local office of the Popular Committees in Lawdar, a town in the southern province of Abyan.

According to Reuters, the targeted militia had "helped the Yemeni army to drive al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants out of southern strongholds in a U.S.-backed campaign last year".

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Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Minister of Finance Tries to Resign Amid Financial Crisis

See also Syria Live Coverage: Fighting on the Iraq Border
Saturday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 1 Killed in Continuing Protests in Mansoura

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Minister of Finance Nabil Qassis2155 GMT: Egypt. One person has been killed and more than 400 injured in clashes between protesters and police in Port Said.

At least 260 of the wounded suffered from tear gas inhalation. A 21-year-old protester was slain and at least 39 people were injured by gunfire, including seven members of the security forces.

There was also confusion with reports of confrontations between the police and the army, as army colonel responsible for the unit at the Governorate building was shot in the leg and a Central Security Forces (CSF) conscript was killed by unknown assailants.

The official spokesperson of the Egyptian armed forces, Colonel Ahmed Ali, denied the reports: "It is completely untrue that armed forces units in Port Said exchanged fired with police forces during the clashes."

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Syria Live Coverage: Fighting on the Iraq Border

Extract from President Assad's interview with Sunday Times of London (see 0800 GMT)

See also Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Minister of Finance Tries to Resign Amid Financial Crisis
Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting Around Aleppo

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2205 GMT: Casualties. Footage, with graphic images of the wounded, has been posted of the aftermath of regime shelling of the Damascus suburb of Douma.

1840 GMT: Elections in Insurgent-Held Areas. A vote has been held to elect 29 council members for insurgent-held areas in Aleppo Province.

"For the first time, Aleppo will have a freely elected provincial council. We hope the whole of Syria will have a free election soon," candidate Yehia Naanaa from Hreitan said.

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China Feature: Week in Review --- The "Chinese Dream" with Taiwan, Protecting Ships Near Somalia (Lin)

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) with Lien Chan of Taiwan's Kuomintang Party

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President Promotes Cross-strait Ties with Taiwan

President Xi Jinping met with Lien Chan, the visiting Honorary Chairman of the Kuomintang Party, Lien Chan at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.

The Kuomintang were the long-time rulers of China before the Communist Party took control in 1949, moving to the island of Taiwan after the Revolutionary. China does not recognise an independent Taiwan, claiming it as part of "one nation", but does maintain a relationship with the Kuomintang.

In the first meeting between senior officials after the 18th Communist Party Congress, Xi expressed his hope that those on both sides of the Taiwan Strait can cooperate:

If the brothers are of the same mind, their sharpness can cut through metal. "We sincerely hope Taiwan can develop along with the mainland and compatriots from both sides of the Strait can join hands in realising the "Chinese dream".

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Iran Live Coverage: Revolutionary Guards v. Ahmadinejad

See also Saturday's Iran Live Coverage: The Oil Squeeze Renewed

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2145 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mohammad Javad-Rouh, the editor of Mehrnameh magazine, has been arrested after a raid on his home.

1501 GMT: Diplomacy Watch. Another dose of optimism from Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi after last week's nuclear talks in Kazakhstan, "From this day forward, sanctions will decrease."

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Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting Around Aleppo

Fire burns over southwestern Aleppo on Friday

See also Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 1 Killed in Continuing Protests in Mansoura
Friday's Syria Live Coverage: Foreign Governments Pledge Support for Opposition --- But How Much?

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1627 GMT: SCUD Missiles. The blog of Brown Moses, one of the leading analysts of weapons in the Syrian conflict, is highlighting what may be the first photographic evidence of the debris of a SCUD missile fired by the regime.

The photo was reportedly taken in Moelh in Deir Ez Zor Province.

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Iran Live Coverage: The Oil Squeeze Renewed

See also Iran Video Feature: 50 Iranians Answer, "What's Your Wish?"
Iran Feature: The Fear in the Corridors of Evin Prison
Friday's Iran Live Coverage: "Widespread and Systematic Violations of Human Rights"

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1758 GMT: The Battle Within. Prominent MP Ahmad Tavakoli --- who is also a relative of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani and head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani --- has criticised both President Ahmadinejad and Mir Hossein Mousavi, the candidate in the 2009 Presidential election who has been under strict house arrest for more than two years, for "social mobilisation against the Supreme Leader".

1708 GMT: Oil Watch. Another problem for Iran's sagging oil exports, as Mercator Lines has stopped offering a ship for transporting Iranian oil to India because of US political pressure.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 1 Killed in Continuing Protests in Mansoura

Protests and clashes in Mansoura in Egypt, where one person was killed early this morning

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting Around Aleppo
Friday's Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Activist Zainab AlKhawaja Given 3-Month Sentence

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1831 GMT: Egypt. Visiting Cairo, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the Egyptian Government's need to agree a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund is "paramount".

Kerry said he was certain that US cooperation with Egypt can only happen if Cairo "makes the right fundamental choices" regarding the talks with the IMF.

The Morsi Government said on Thursday that it will invite an IMF team to reopen talks.

"It is paramount, essential, urgent that the Egyptian economy get stronger, that it gets back on its feet," Kerry told Egyptian and American executives. "It's clear to us that the IMF arrangement needs to be reached, that we need to give the market that confidence."

The Morsi Government agreed the loan in principle last November but it was put on hold at Cairo's request amid political unrest and an inability of the President to implement tax rises necessary for the IMF assistance.

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Iran Video Feature: 50 Iranians Answer, "What's Your Wish?" (Molavi)

Hat tip to Golnaz Esfandiari....

Ali Molavi asks 50 people in Tehran, "What's your wish for today?"

Click on "Turn on English" for captions: