• On the Heels of Further Violence, Kenya's Leaders Told to Prepare to Make Hard Choices
• Barak Obama Picks Up Key Endorsements After Cruising to Victory in South Carolina

• Critics Prepare for Over-Optimistic State of Union

• Burmese Government Prepares for What Ethnic Rebels Call a "Genocidal War"

• Protesters Around the World Demand Halt to Israeli Siege on Gaza

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• SUHARTO LAID TO REST
• UN CONFERENCE ON CORRUPTION
• EU OFFERS SERBIA INTERIM AGREEMENT
• MERE DROPS OF FUEL FOR GAZA

Over the weekend, human rights advocates held protests in over thirty cities worldwide calling for the end to Israeli attacks on and the sealing off of Gaza.   Israel has cited continued rocket attacks from Palestinian territory as the reason for their actions.  But protesters claim Israel's response has been disproportionate to the level of threat coming from within Gaza.  An estimated 3,000 people participated in the various rallies from Cape Town to Montreal and from St. Petersburg, Florida to Seattle.  FSRN's Saed Bannoura has more from Portland, Oregon:

Tonight President Bush will give the annual State of the Union address to Congress. Early reports from the White House suggest Bush will paint an optimistic picture of the Iraq war and the economy.  But many people question if this is grounded in reality.  FSRN Correspondent Matt Laslo reports from Washington.

The situation in Burma for pro-Democracy advocates has not improved, according to Amnesty International.  Despite claims and assurances by the Burmese government that the arrest of political dissidents would cease, new research by the human rights organization finds that nearly 100 political prisoners have been taken since last November.  According to Amnesty International director Catherine Barber, the new arrests have targeted those who have attempted to send evidence of the crackdown to the international community.  The military junta has also delayed a promised visit with United Nations Envoy Ibrahim Gambari until April.

Kenya has been a civil battleground since the end of December, when opposition leader Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki of fixing the National election.  Hundreds have been killed in civil strife and a political solution seems out of reach.

Over the weekend, as former UN head Kofi Annan visited victims of violence in the western Kenya town of Eldoret, fresh victims of violence were being displaced in other parts of Rift Valley. The violence in Kenya has yet again been taken to another level.  FSRN's John Bwakali reports from Nairobi.