Police fired tear gas to break up pro-government demonstrations in Kenya today in advance of the arrival of former UN chief Kofi Annan on a peacemaking mission.

Fierce fighting over land killed 22 people and left 200 homes burned in Kenya's troubled western Rift Valley, officials said today, yet another eruption of ethnic clashes following the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.

Clan gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade and briefly exchanged gunfire with government troops outside the presidential residence in Mogadishu today, leaving at least six dead and 10 wounded.

Suffering continues in war-ravaged western Sudan. But to the south, after 21 years of conflict, things are looking up.