Kenya president rejects lavish pay for legislators

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's President has vetoed legislation in which members of parliament gave themselves a hefty send-off package in a late-evening vote on the last day of session before national elections.Mwai Kibaki Saturday ordered the attorney general to redraft the law to make it compliant with the constitution. The bill adopted Wednesday would give each parliamentarian a nearly $110,000...

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Somali pirates free 3 Syrian hostages

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A Somali official says three Syrian hostages held by Somali pirates have been released after more than two years in captivity.Mohamed Aden Ticey, an administrator based in Adado town in central Somalia, said Saturday no ransom was paid for their release.The three were the last to be freed of the 21 surviving crew of the ship MV Orna, owned by a company in the UAE. One crew...

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French commando killed in Somalia hostage raid

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A raid to free a French intelligence agent held captive in Somalia for three years went horribly wrong, leaving 17 Islamists and at least one French commando dead in a mud-caked farming town deep in militant territory.In the chaotic aftermath of the firefight, the hostage's fate was unclear Saturday. The Islamists denied French claims that he was killed and said they had...

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