Kenya Feels Betrayed by 'Brother Barack'

Stonewalling by Kenya rivals paralyzing talks

(NEWSER) - Kenya's peace talks have ground to a standstill and the task of coaxing the country's two rival parties into an agreement is beginning to try even the patience of former UN secretary-general and lead negotiator Kofi Annan, reports the BBC. The two sides cannot agree on a power-sharing deal and aides say an increasingly exasperated Annan is beginning to feel like a "prisoner of peace." More»

Candidate tells opposition leader in father's homeland he's worried about violence

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama called Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga in an effort to help defuse the bloody post-election standoff in the African nation. "He called to express grave concern over the election outcome," Odinga's spokesman told the AP. Obama's father was from Kenya, where 500 people have died in brutal ethnic-cleansing-style violence since the disputed December 27 election. More»

Top US diplomat in talks as humanitarian crisis grows

(NEWSER) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki today pledged to form a unity government, after talks with the top US diplomat for Africa aimed at solving the country's violent post-election crisis, the BBC reports. Jendayi Frazer met first with opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has said he will not negotiate unless Kibaki steps down. Another meeting is planned. More»

And as for Kenya comment, 'I made a mistake, I corrected it'

(NEWSER) - Mike Huckabee has more to say on both of his recent headline-making statements: That Barack Obama grew up in Kenya , and that Natalie Portman is setting a bad example with her out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Mediaite reports Huckabee’s comments from Sirius Radio’s POTUS channel:

• On Kenya: “The reaction ranged from, ‘This guy is so dumb he doesn’t know that Barack Obama grew up in Indonesia not Kenya,’ all the way to the other extreme, I saw people like Andrea Mitchell saying, ‘Oh no, he did this on purpose, he is very smart and shrewd, he did this in a calculating way.' Well, I can’t be both. I can’t be the dumbest guy in the room and the smartest guy in the room at the same time. I have to be one or the other, or maybe it was just that I made a mistake, I corrected it.”

20K flee country as violent confrontation looms

(NEWSER) - Last chance for a peaceful resolution? West African leaders met with Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo today to try to resolve the country’s post-election strife, the BBC reports. The heads of Benin, Sierra Leone, and Cape Verde met with Gbagbo, who has refused to step down despite international support for his opponent, President-elect Alassane Ouattara. A regional bloc has threatened to use force if Gbagbo refuses to budge. More»