• 'Spoiled' ballots could be critical as Kenya anxiously awaits election results

    Phil Moore / AFP - Getty Images

    Kenyans listen to a man speaking as residents of the Kibera slum in Nairobi discuss the incoming election results in the Kenyan capital on March 5.

    By Jason Straziuso, Rodney Muhumuza, The Associated Press

    A slow ballot count in Kenya's presidential election raised questions Tuesday about the election process, but it was the more than 325,000 "spoiled ballots" that emerged as a potentially bigger issue.

    More than 325,000 ballots — a number that keeps rising — have been thrown out for not following election rules, raising criticism of the electoral commission's voter education efforts. Those spoiled ballots, as they are called in Kenya, could still play a huge role on the election math and whether a runoff is declared for the top two candidates. Continue reading.

    Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin / AP

    Kenyans watch the provisional results for the presidential candidates as they are announced on television, at a restaurant in downtown Nairobi, Kenya on March 5.

    Slideshow: Kenyans vote in crucial election

    Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

    Five years after more than 1,200 people were killed in election-related violence, Kenyans went to the polls in a nationwide election seen as the most important in the country's 50-year history since independence.

    Launch slideshow

    Related: Kenya braces for elections, Odinga supporters rally


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  • Villagers get eyeball scans for unique identification in India

    Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters

    Village women stand in a queue to get themselves enrolled for the Unique Identification (UID) database system at Merta district in the desert Indian state of Rajasthan on February 22. In a more ambitious version of programmes that have slashed poverty in Brazil and Mexico, the Indian government has begun to use the UID database, known as Aadhaar, to make direct cash transfers to the poor, in an attempt to cut out frauds who siphon billions of dollars from welfare schemes.

    Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters

    A villager goes through the process of eye scanning for Unique Identification (UID) database system at an enrolment centre.

    Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters

    A villager goes through the process of a fingerprint scanner for the Unique Identification (UID) database system.

    Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters

    A general view of an enrolment centre for the Unique Identification (UID) database system is pictured at Merta district in the desert Indian state of Rajasthan.

    Mansi Thapliyal / Reuters

    Ghewar Ram (R), 55, and his wife Champa Devi, 54, display their Unique Identification (UID) cards outside their hut in Rajasthan.

    See more images from India in PhotoBlog.

  • Alabama voters decide to dip into state trust fund to avoid cuts in government services

    Michelle Lepianka Carter / The Tuscaloosa News via AP

    Johnny Noble votes in the auditorium at the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse Annex in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Sept. 18, 2012. Alabama voters decided by a 2-to-1 margin to avoid dramatic cuts in state government by withdrawing $437 million from a state trust fund to help balance the General Fund budget for the next three years.

  • Robert Sciarrino / The Star-Ledger

    The portrait of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack hangs outside the office of the Department of Administration Division of Purchasing at Trenton City Hall as FBI agents search file cabinets on July 19 in Trenton, N.J.

    FBI searches Trenton City Hall investigating mayor of New Jersey's capital

    FBI agents are searching offices in Trenton City Hall Thursday morning, a day after the feds raided the home of Trenton's mayor, whose two-year administration of New Jersey's impoverished capital city has been marked by accusations of nepotism and reckless spending. Read more on NBCNews.com

  • Russian police raid opposition supporter's apartment, leave with documents

    Maxim Shipenkov / EPA

    Masked investigators carry confiscated documents and equipment from the apartment building in which opposition leader Alexei Navalny resides after they finished a raid of his flat, in Moscow, Russia on Monday. Investigators and police officers, some with machine guns, stormed the homes of several Russian opposition leaders on 11 June, one day ahead of a planned mass rally by opponents of President Vladimir Putin. The so-called 'March of Millions' opposition rally, which was permitted by the city authorities, is to take place in Moscow on the 'Day of Russia' celebrated on June 12.

    Mikhail Voskresensky / Reuters

    A journalist films the apartment of opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny after it was searched by police in Moscow.

    Maxim Shipenkov / EPA

    Police officers armed with automatic rifles stand guard at the entrance of the house where an opposition leader Alexei Navalny has his flat as oppossition supporters wait nearby in Moscow. One of the supporters holds an iPad decorated with a poster picturing Alexei Navalny with the words beneath it 'Because we exist.'

    Msnbc.com's World News blog reports that raid signals a tougher approach to dissent at the start of President Vladimir Putin's six-year term:

    After tolerating the biggest opposition protests of his 12-year rule while seeking election, Putin now looks intent on damping down unrest.

    On Friday he signed a law that increased fines, in some cases more than 100-fold, for violations of public order at gatherings including street demonstrations, ignoring warnings from his human rights council that it was unconstitutional.

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  • Former President George W. Bush and family join President Obama for portrait unveiling at White House

    Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

    US President Barack Obama, former US president George W. Bush with First Lady Michelle Obama and former First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the unveiling of the Bush's portraits on Thursday in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC.

    Carolyn Kaster / AP

    Former President George W. Bush unveils his portrait in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday.

    Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

    Former US president George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush speak during the unveiling of their portraits on Thursday in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC.

    Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

    Former US President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara arrive for the portrait unveiling of former US president George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC.

    Charles Dharapak / AP

    President George W. Bush's daughters Jenna and Barbara have their photo taken in the East Room at the White House in Washington on Thursday prior to the unveiling of President Bush's official portrait.

    President and Mrs. Obama host former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush for the official unveiling of their portraits, which will will hang in the White House.

    This report from NBC's Shawna Thomas includes some of the humor the two presidents shared at the event:

    “When the British burned the White House ... in 1814, Dolly Madison famously saved this portrait of the first George W. Now Michelle, if anything happens, there's your man,” Bush joked. (During her speech, First Lady Michelle Obama promised she’d go straight for his portrait.)

    And former President Bush didn’t spare the current president: “I am also pleased, Mr. President, that when you are wandering these halls as you wrestle with tough decisions, you will now be able to gaze at this portrait and ask: What would George do?

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  • Scuffle in Ukraine parliament over official use of Russian language

    Reuters

    Deputies scuffle during a session in the chamber of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev on Thursday. Opposition deputies brought proceedings to a halt inside the Ukrainian parliament on Thursday, when they staged an action against the bill about the basics of the language policy.

    Maks Levin / AP

    Lawmakers from pro-presidential and oppositional factions fight in the parliament session hall in Kiev, Ukraine on Thursday. A violent scuffle has erupted in Ukraine's parliament over a bill that would allow the use of the Russian language in courts, hospitals and other institutions in the Russian-speaking regions of the country.

    Reuters

    Deputies scuffle during a session in the chamber of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev.

    Maks Levin / AP

    An opposition lawmaker Mykola Petruk receives first aid after fighting between pro-presidential and opposition factions in the parliament session hall in Kiev.

    A fight broke out on the floor of the Ukrainian parliament as lawmakers debated the use of Russian as the official language in certain parts of the Ukraine. NBC's Willie Geist reports.

    •Sign up for the msnbc.com Photos Newsletter

  • Soldiers stage coup in Mali

    Habibou Kouyate / AFP - Getty Images

    Soldiers crowd a truck in a street of Bamako on March 22. Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was forced to flee his palace during an overnight coup, is well and in a safe location, a loyalist military source told AFP Thursday. Toure, who was to step down after an election scheduled for April 29, is "in good health... and in a safe location" following the seizure of power by a group of renegade soldiers, the official said without elaborating.

    Habibou Kouyate / AFP - Getty Images

    Residents run past soldiers in a street of Bamako on March 22. Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was forced to flee his palace during an overnight coup, is well and in a safe location, a loyalist military source told AFP Thursday. Toure, who was to step down after an election scheduled for April 29, is "in good health... and in a safe location" following the seizure of power by a group of renegade soldiers, the official said without elaborating.

    Nic Bothma / EPA

    A file picture dated April 27, 2007 shows Mali president Amadou Toumani Toure at an election rally in the capital Bamako, Mali.

    BAMAKO -- Renegade soldiers said they seized power in Mali on Thursday and ordered its borders closed, threatening to reignite instability in a Saharan region shaken by the conflict in Libya.

    The overnight coup bid was led by low-ranking soldiers angry at the government's failure to stamp out a two-month-old separatist rebellion in the north of the west African state.

    Heavy weapons fire rang out throughout the night as the presidential palace came under attack. The whereabouts of President Amadou Toumani Toure, who oversaw a decade of relative stability, are unknown.

    Mali's neighbors, the United Nations and world powers from Paris to Washington called for a return to constitutional rule.

    The 7,000-strong army has for weeks sought better weapons to fight northern Tuareg rebels bolstered by heavily armed ethnic allies who fled Libya after fighting for ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

    Read the full story.

    -- Reuters

    Malin Palm / Reuters

    Malian soldiers and security forces gather at the offices of the state radio and television broadcaster after announcing a coup d'etat, in the capital Bamako, March 22. Renegade Malian soldiers went on state television on Thursday to declare they had seized power in protest at the government's failure to quell a nomad-led rebellion in the north.

     

    Malin Palm / Reuters

    General view over the offices of the state radio and television broadcaster after Malian soldiers announced a coup d'etat, in the capital Bamako, March 22. Renegade Malian soldiers went on state television on Thursday to declare they had seized power in protest at the government's failure to quell a nomad-led rebellion in the north.

     

  • Vermonters participate in government at Town Meeting Day

    Photos by Toby Talbot / AP

    A voter casts his ballot at the Town Meeting, March 6, 2012, in Strafford, Vt. People across Vermont are headed to their town halls, school gymnasiums and other locations to decide issues big and small. Tuesday is Town Meeting Day in much of Vermont. Across the state more than 50 towns are voting on whether to urge Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to declare that corporations are not people.

    Maria Cabri, left, and Eva Behrens chat before the Strafford Town Meeting on Tuesday.

    From Vermont’s Secretary of State website: On Vermont’s Town Meeting Day, the first Tuesday in March, citizens across the state come together in their communities to discuss the business of their towns.  For over 200 years Town Meeting Day has been an important political event as Vermonters elect local officers and vote on budgets.  It has also been a time for neighbors to discuss the civic issues of their community, state, and nation.

    Town meeting also serves a social function. It brings people together who might not otherwise know each other.  This can strengthen social ties within a town and help people work together to tackle community problems.

  • Government Printing Office produces hefty copies of 2013 budget

    Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

    Government Printing Office GPO) employees Clark Hopkin, left, and Sam Simm, ready copies of President Barack Obama's fiscal 2013 federal budget books on Thursday in Washington.

    Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

    Government Printing Office (GPO) employees, from left, Leon Thornton, Quintin Mozie and David Pennington, work on copies of President Barack Obama's fiscal 2013 budget book on Thursday.

    Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

    Copies of of President Barack Obama's fiscal 2013 federal budget are readied for shipment.

    Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

    Copies of of President Barack Obama's fiscal 2013 federal budget are displayed at the Government Printing Office.

    The budget contains an unemployment rate forecast averaging 8.9 percent in 2012, but a different projection may emerge:

    "The forecast of the unemployment rate that will accompany the budget should be considered stale and out of date," wrote Alan Krueger, who is chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

    In mid-November, when the economic forecasts were compiled, the nation's latest reported unemployment rate was 9 percent. Last month, the jobless rate dropped to a three-year low of 8.3 percent as employers added 243,000 new jobs.

  • Charlie Litchfield / Idaho Press-Tribune via AP

    Flanked by Idaho Transportation Department Director Brian Ness, left, and Lt. Governor Brad Little, right, Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter laughs while addressing the crowd at a "Capital for a Day" event, Jan. 27, 2012, in Murphy, Idaho.

    Idaho state government moves to Murphy as part of the state’s ‘Capital for a Day’ program

    By Robert Hood

    Murphy, Idaho is an unincorporated town in Owyhee County in the southwestern part of the state. It is the county seat of Owyhee County, and it is one of the smallest county seats in the nation.

    From the Idaho.gov website: For Governor Otter, making sure government maintains its role as the people's servant requires keeping in touch with all Idahoans. He also knows that the strength of our Republic relies on an engaged and informed citizenry.

    That's why Governor Otter and members of his Cabinet travel to a rural town in a different Idaho county every month. The communities become Idaho's Capital for a Day, and their residents the focus of the Governor and his administration for an entire day. Idahoans ask questions, share their opinions, and seek answers from State agencies.

    "It is our job in State government to ensure people in communities all over Idaho have a real say in determining their own future. It shouldn't be the case that folks in Boise have a greater role in contributing their civic virtue to our statewide discussions than people in Moyie Springs or Malad, Ferdinand or Firth, Wallace or Wendell," Governor Otter said. "That´s why I bring 'Capital for a Day' to a different rural town every month – to listen, learn, and solve some problems if we can."

    Click for a brochure on the “Capital for a Day program (pdf)

  • Iowa's Gov. Branstad faces chanting protesters after delivering his Conditions of the State address

    Charlie Neibergall / AP

    Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, center right, walks back to his office amid chanting protesters after delivering his Conditions of the State address before a joint session of the Iowa Legislature, Jan. 10, 2012, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa.

    The DesMoines Register reported on Tuesday that the Governor Terry Branstad spoke to a joint session of the Iowa House and Senate for his annual Condition of the State address at the Iowa Capitol. His 2012 legislative program focuses on reducing commercial property taxes, creating high-quality jobs, developing a “supply chain cluster” of factories around major employers like Deere & Co. in Waterloo, and retaining Iowa businesses and careers.

    The governor said the state has its finances “back in order” as a result of the 2011 legislative session. He praised state legislators for ending a dependency on one-time revenue, such as federal funds, and for paying for a balanced budget using ongoing revenue. In addition, he said the state has a two-year budget for most areas of state spending.

    However, the Registers’s Jason Chalworth reported that some citizens were turned away from the House chambers and balconies during Gov. Terry Branstad’s Condition of the State speech.

    There were Occupy-related protesters at the Capitol, some chanting loudly outside the chambers immediately before and after the speech. There were no interruptions to the speech.

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