Kenyan Opposition Calls Off Protests At Annan's Request

President Kibaki yesterday offered his first public commitment to creating the prime minister's post his rivals have been demanding, and Kenya's opposition called off large protests. Both sides have been under mounting pressure to share power to end a dispute over who actually won the December 27 presidential election. The crisis has left more than 1,000 people dead and eviscerated the East African country's economy.

"I think we are at a very critical state of negotiations, and we need to focus on that," Kofi Annan, the former U.N. chief mediating the crisis, said after winning a pledge from opposition leader Raila Odinga to call off protests.

Elsewhere in Africa, a video made by white students showing black university employees duped into eating food that had been urinated on has prompted angry protests and criticism that racism remains entrenched in South Africa.