Zimbabwe's main opposition leader was briefly detained by police Wednesday, ahead of a planned protest march.

Former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan is in Kenya to begin talks aimed at resolving the bitter political dispute between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition challenger Raila Odinga. Underscoring the urgent need for a solution, opposition supporters and the police clashed again in Nairobi. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details from Kenya's capital.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is continuing to attract public support, with a new opinion poll showing he has a 63 per cent approval rating.

Amid speculation whether Fidel Castro will be the President again, Cubans elects a new Parliament on Monday where by 5th March a new President will be named.

Federal Cabinet of Australia has signed off on a plan to establish a new body to oversee infrastructure development across the country.

The battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the mantle of America's Democratic presidential candidate has moved into the pews of important black churches.

2007 was a bad year for freedom, according to a prominent rights-advocacy organization that has registered a global decline in political rights and civil liberties for the second consecutive year.

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson last night released the following statement on the results of Michigan’s Republican presidential primary:

Today going to South Carolina, Governor Mitt Romney will discuss his strategy to strengthen U.S. economy and make America more globally competitive. His chances of winning the Republican nomination for the U.S. Presidential race of 2008 are getting better and stronger after Romney won Michigan Primary last night.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda signalled he was unlikely to call an early election despite gridlock in the divided parliament.

Voters in Michigan go to the election polls in that state's primary Tuesday and Republican contenders Mitt Romney and John McCain are in a close contest there, according to recent polls. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Detroit, both Romney and McCain are working hard for every vote.

Taiwan's opposition nationalists, who favor closer ties with China, has declared a landslide victory in legislative elections 2008, claiming to have won more than two-thirds of the parliament seats, DD News reports.