because tear gas generally has a calming effect

AP: gets a scoop on police shootings from the Kisumu police chief:
''It was an extreme situation and there was no other way to control them,'' Kaindi said of the Dec. 29 clash in Kisumu. ''I gave the order to open fire myself when I heard that my officers were being overwhelmed. If we had not killed them, things would have got very bad...''We tried tear gas, but it didn't calm them,'' Kaindi said. ''Police felt their lives were in danger because there were very few of them, so they opened fire and controlled the situation.''
She said she wouldn't give the order again...
NYT: but one officer wasn't aware that policy had changed
Gdn: and neither were others, as 6 more shot dead
BBC: EU backs aid freeze to Kenya's gov't

LAT: Monk's speeches stoke resistance in Burma
"Shielding himself with allegory, he crisscrosses the country giving lectures that draw on history and legend to remind people that rotten regimes have fallen before. As the generals try to crush the last remnants of resistance, he is cautiously keeping the fire alive."
Gdn: British envoy predicts more protests

Ind: proofs-of-life generate indignation over treatment of kidnapping victims in Colombia
BBC: Catholic clergy contact the FARC to open negotiations for Red Cross visit to kidnapped

BBC: Libya to expel 1 million immigrants

AP: Peru files in World Court to dispute sea border with Chile. (article notes that Peruvians are still peeved after losing southern border war. in 1879.)

NPR: interview with SecDef Gates, discusses managing troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan
Slate: attrition in the US Army

LAT: Israeli coalition falls apart over peace negotiations with Palestinians - right wing Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) opposes any territorial withdrawal
BBC: meanwhile, more clashes in Gaza

BBC: Sri Lanka strikes rebel base; first attack after formal end of cease-fire

BBC: Pakistan military under fire for second day in Waziristan

AP: Bhutan to hold its first election; will become parliamentary monarchy with 27-year-old king

LAT: new president sworn in in Guatemala
BBC: same "president" sworn in in Uzbekistan

LAT: Mexican reporters tread cautiously to report on drug trade

LAT: Kosovo Serbs holding breath as independence to be announced
"The leadership of Kosovo plans to declare independence from Serbia in the coming weeks, and one of the looming unknowns is what will happen to the small enclaves of Serbs who still live in the ethnic Albanian majority province."

Gdn: Spain still struggling with anthem lyrics

New Yorker: how the US dealt with all the death after the Civil War (book review)
Econ: some of the dead were buried in Brooklyn

Salon: Dear Al-Qaeda - Bin Laden's no. 2 takes online questions

Salon: Walt argues for more realism in the editorial pages

NPR: maybe if everyone just got more sleep - less time for conflict!