Kenyans will elect a new president Dec. 27 in polls that are expected to be the most competitive since the East African country gained independence from Britain 44 years ago. More than 14 million voters, the highest number ever, will pick from nine contestants for Kenya’s top seat and from about 2,600 candidates for the country’s 210 parliamentary seats. But the real presidential contest will be between friends-turned-foes Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent, and Raila Odinga, a maverick opposition leader. Kibaki, the country’s third president, fell out with Odinga after the former allegedly reneged on a power-sharing agreement sculpted by a [...]
WASHINGTON – It remains unclear whether Congress will support the Bush administration’s request for an initial $550 million to help Mexico and other Latin American countries beef up their law enforcement and militaries in the fight against drug cartels and other organized crime. The proposed aid package, known as the “Merida Initiative,” has been hailed by the White House and Mexican President Felipe Calderón as “a new paradigm” of strengthened law enforcement and counternarcotics relations between the United States and Mexico. However, the initiative has no shortage of skeptics here and in Mexico, where, according to one Democratic staffer with [...]
NEW DELHI – India’s Communists continue to wage an aggressive campaign to derail the landmark U.S.-India nuclear deal that would ensure stronger ties with Washington and the reliable energy supply needed to fuel India’s scorching economy. Debate over the deal in the upper house of Indian Parliament this week– replete with personal verbal attacks and walkouts — peaked Wednesday when leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) declared that a “big majority” was against it and insisted the government not undermine democracy by trying to move forward. Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI-M, challenged that “any move to [...]
