NAIROBI, Kenya -- Police in Nairobi used water cannons and tear gas on hundreds of Kenyans at a banned rally Thursday protesting alleged vote fixing in the presidential election.Opposition leader Raila Odinga defied a police ban on the rally against Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election on Dec. 27, South Africa's Durbin Post reported.The protesters chanted "peace" and sang the Kenyan national anthem as police blocked off the area around the downtown Uhuru park in ... [full story]

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Campaign workers for most of the U.S. presidential hopefuls were manning the 1,781 sites of caucuses in Iowa Thursday.The site of the country's first vote toward selecting Democratic and Republican candidates for president traditionally has low voter turnout, CNN reported. The state Democratic Party said 124,000 people participated in the 2004 caucuses. U.S. President George Bush was unopposed that year, but in 2000 Iowa caucuses, 87,000 Republicans took part.Two Republican contenders ... [full story]

A break in a large water main closed SE Reed Market Road between Paiute Way and Harold Street in Bend early this morning, but crews worked throughout the night and were able to reopen it by about 7 a.m. According to a news release prepared by Bend Police Sgt. Dan Ritchie, the break was reported about 1:20 a.m., and the stability of the road was unknown.  Motorists were encouraged to use alternative routes. [full story]

A West Linn woman and her 8-year-old daughter died early Tuesday morning from injuries sustained in a crash on Highway 35 south of Odell New Year’s Eve, police reported. Another passenger remains in critical condition, and Oregon State Police (OSP) are continuing the investigation.   An Oregon mother and daughter died Tuesday from injuries sustained in a crash on New Year's Eve after the driver hit an icy patch of road in a shaded area and lost control ... [full story]

Five people received what police described as non-life threatening injuries Sunday afternoon in a two-vehicle head-on crash on Highway 26 in Clatsop County in northwest Oregon.   Five people including two children were injured in a near head-on crash on Highway 26 in Clatsop County, Oregon - OSP photo The crash occurred about 4:50 p.m., December 30, on Highway 26 near milepost 25 east of Elsie, Oregon State Police (OSP) reported.  26-year old Zachary Albrecht from Cannon Beach ... [full story]

An 18-year-old Redmond man is being charged with multiple traffic-related offenses following an alleged attempt to elude an Oregon State Police (OSP) trooper in the Redmond area that ended when his car drove into an irrigation ditch and became stuck. The suspect fled on foot but was taken into custody with the help of Redmond police and Deschutes County deputies, police reported.   The 18-year-old driver of this vehicle allegedly led police on a car and ... [full story]

A 33-year old Bend man was arrested early Monday in connection with an alleged vicious domestic assault and rape that left the victim with “substantial” facial injuries including a broken jaw, police reported.   Fabien Patino - DCJ photo Bend Police officers were called to a residence in southeast Bend to a reported physical domestic disturbance about 3:45 a.m., January 1, Sgt. Brian Kindel said.  Upon arrival, they found the injured victim -- an adult woman whose name ... [full story]

A driver who ignored the emergency lights of a deputy’s patrol car on China Hat Road south of Bend on New Year’s Eve eventually stopped, got out of his vehicle, then apparently shot and killed himself with a rifle, authorities reported. The investigation is continuing, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Lt. Shane Nelson said, but information gathered so far indicates the 27-year old man died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A deputy tried to pull the driver over ... [full story]

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- Sudanese and U.S. officials said Wednesday there was no immediately apparent motive in the gunning down of a U.S. diplomat and his driver in Khartoum.John Granville, 33, an employee of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and 40-year-old Sudanese national Abdel Rahman Abbas were shot multiple times and killed early Tuesday while in a car bearing diplomatic license plates, Voice of America reported.A Sudanese Foreign Ministry statement said Granville was shot in ... [full story]

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Arson at a church in western Kenya killed at least 50 people in post-election tribal violence sparked by allegations of vote-rigging.Correspondents from The Times of London and The New York Times said a mob doused the church with gasoline and set it afire on Tuesday in the town of Eldoret.The deaths pushed the toll past 300 since the Dec. 27 election that returned incumbent President Mwai Kibaki to power with a tiny ... [full story]