The United States and European Union have dispatched envoys to Armenia to try to help defuse the political crisis underway since disputed elections February 19. The Bush administration says both sides in the political conflict are responsible for restoring order after lethal weekend rioting. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says talks between Kenya's government and opposition leaders aimed at ending a post-election political crisis have been suspended.

The United States is expressing disappointment over the continued political impasse in Kenya following last December's disputed election. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the Bush administration is considering penalties against those responsible. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

President Bush is stepping up U.S. support for efforts to end the political crisis in Kenya. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports he is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Nairobi during his upcoming trip to Africa.

The chief mediator in the Kenya reconciliation talks, Kofi Annan, has briefed the Kenyan parliament on the negotiations. VOA's Scott Bobb reports from Nairobi that the former U.N. Secretary-General placed a media blackout on the talks as part of efforts to forge an accord by the end of this week.

Lebanon's parliament has postponed Monday's scheduled presidential election, the latest in a series of delays during the country's political crisis.

A delegation from the East African regional bloc IGAD has concluded a visit to Kenya to discuss the current political crisis. As Derek Kilner reports from Nairobi, recent days have seen a flurry of diplomatic statements and visits addressing the political deadlock and violence that has gripped Kenya since a disputed December election.

While much attention is being focused on Kenya’s political turmoil, the situation in neighboring Somalia has gotten worse in recent weeks. The violence continues on a daily basis and more people are being displaced.

In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni’s government has dismissed demands by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) at ongoing peace talks as untenable. The rebels are demanding at least 35 percent of the top military jobs in Uganda’s army before signing a final peace deal.

In the Comoros Islands, the union government says it is ready to invade Anjouan and over throw embattled President Mohamed Bacar, whose presidency the government describes as illegal.

Kenya’s main opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) says it will stage a demonstration against the meeting of heads of state of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) scheduled to open in Nairobi Wednesday.

French Defense Minister Herve Morin is in Chad for a meeting with beleaguered President Idriss Deby, whose government has been holding off rebels threatening to take the capital.