'there must be something better out there'

africa
BBC: Annan condemns violence, elections in Kenya
Mr Annan said conflict may have been triggered by disputed elections, but it had evolved into 'something else.'"
Econ: (meanwhile, high-tech voter fraud in the US?)

Econ: run-down of the peace deal and outstanding issues in Congo

asia
WP: "strolling" in Shanghai: middle-class citizens carefully organize protests against train extension
WP: video taken on anonymous protester's cellphone here

WP: shoring up the US military base in Guam
"The Pentagon has chosen Guam, a quirkily American place that marries the beauty of Bali with the banality of Kmart, as the prime location in the western Pacific for projecting U.S. military muscle. Guam has served as an important U.S. military outpost since World War II. But now the sultry tropical island, about three times the size of the District of Columbia and with a population of 173,000, is set to become a rapid-response platform for problems ranging from pirates to terrorists to tsunamis, as well as a highly visible reminder to China that the United States is nearby and watching."

WP: North and South Korea hold first talks of the year

middle east
LAT: Gazans keep crossing border into Egypt, face riot police; Hamas bulldozes another gap in wall, police withdrawn
Slate: what everyone should know about the Gaza Strip (no, not the latest pole dance)

NYT: Maliki to send troops to Mosul after attacks there
"'We have defeated Al Qaeda, and there is only Nineveh [the province Mosul is capital of] and Kirkuk left where the terrorists have fled to,' Mr. Maliki said in the southern city of Karbala. 'Today the forces started to move to Mosul, and the battle will be final.'
By most accounts, the struggle is likely to be challenging and unlikely to be final. Sunni insurgents have long been active in Nineveh. The province borders Syria, which has been a conduit for foreign fighters, and is a region marked by tensions between Sunni Arabs and Kurds."

Ind: Musharraf allays all concerns, says elections will be free and fair
WP: US reiterates that it will send troops to help Pakistani security forces against Al-Qaeda and extremist groups

Ind: bomb in Beirut targeted terrorism investigator

latin america
BBC: after killing, call for more security in Peru for judges, prosecutors, witnesses, and defendants in drug trafficking trials
"The latest killing marks the growing boldness of drugs gangs operating in Peru as cocaine production increases."

BBC: Sec Rice in Medellín to push for free trade pact with Colombia

WP: Brazil to try to halt increase in Amazon deforestation and development

europe
BBC: new, no-name far-right mega party in EU

LAT: Prodi loses vote of confidence, Italy's gov't collapses

BBC: former Tamil Tiger-turned government collaborator jailed in UK for identity fraud

Gdn: Moscow police arrested mafia boss's alias for tax evasion before realizing who they had
WP: no mistakes here: drafting young opposition leaders into military service
"Service in the army, which has a well-documented history of violent and sometimes fatal hazing, is feared by many young Russians, not just those who oppose the government."

misc
NYT: pages all reporters to weigh in on how the (democratic) primaries are playing out around the world
"'It is in many ways an uplifting sight to see a great democracy functioning at that most basic of levels,' said Lord Tom McNally, the leader of the small, opposition Liberal Democrats in Britain’s House of Lords. 'Even with all the money, the publicity, the power of television, the person who wants to be the most powerful man or woman in the world still has to get down and talk in small town halls and stop people on the street and stand on soapboxes'...'There is a desperate sense of need that there must be something better than Bush out there...'"