Sri Lanka elects new parliament

Sri Lankans are voting for a new parliament - two months after President Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected to power with a clear margin.

His government has since then locked up the principal defeated presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka.

And the opposition has now split, with no unified voice to criticise the government.

Like the campaign for the presidential poll, this one has been marked by widespread - if low-level - violence.

It has also seen vindictive, personalised politics and constant breaches of electoral rules, causing the election commissioner once more to wring his hands.

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Geithner set for talks on yuan during visit to China

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is due in China for talks with Vice-Premier Wang Qishan to discuss a long-running dispute over the yuan.

The last-minute visit comes as the US tries to persuade China to allow its currency to trade more freely on foreign exchange markets.

The US has accused China of keeping the yuan artificially low, making it hard for US exporters to be competitive.

There are signs that China may be softening its stance on its currency.

Conciliatory gesture

Mr Geithner has been visiting India and flew to Hong Kong on Wednesday evening. He is due to fly to Beijing later on Thursday.

While in India, the Treasury secretary said he was confident that China would decide a more flexible yuan was in its own best interests.

The White House also reaffirmed its desire on Wednesday to persuade China to embrace a more flexible currency in a concerted effort to push for some kind of resolution to the long running dispute.

The US is talking tough but also making conciliatory gestures towards China.

Last weekend, the US Treasury delayed the publication of an official report on whether China manipulates its currency.

Mr Geithner said he would delay the report, which was due on 15 April, until after a series of G20 and bilateral meetings with China.

The yuan will also be on the agenda next week when President Barack Obama meets his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in Washington.

Trade imbalances

There are some signs that the US's efforts to persuade China may be rewarded.

Zhu Baoliang, chief economist at the State Information Centre, a government think-tank, said: "Regardless of how much pressure the US puts on China, we cannot let the yuan float. What we can do is depeg the yuan from the dollar."

This compromise measure would make the yuan more flexible.

Many observers see the yuan as key to addressing trade imbalances that are destabilising the global economy.

A weak yuan means China can export goods cheaply, allowing the country to run a huge trade surplus.

The US, along with most developed western economies, imports much more than it exports, leading to a massive trade deficit.

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Sudan's Umma party declares election boycott

One of Sudan's key opposition parties has said that it plans to boycott the country's elections.

A spokesman said the Umma party would not take part in the presidential, parliamentary or state polls.

Sudan's first multi-party elections since 1986 are scheduled to begin on Sunday.

The Umma party's decision follows that of the main southern Sudan party, the SPLM, to boycott the vote in the northern areas.

"We have decided to boycott the electoral process at all levels," said Sarah Nugdalla, head of Umma's political bureau.

Umma was among a group of opposition parties that had given the Sudanese government a deadline to introduce reforms in return for a pledge to take part in the elections - as long as these were delayed until May.

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Kyrgyzstan opposition sets up 'people's government'

The opposition in Kyrgyzstan says it is setting up a "people's government" after deadly clashes left dozens dead.

An opposition leader and former foreign minister, Roza Otunbayeva, told the news channel that new defence and interior ministers had been appointed.

The whereabouts of President Bakiyev are not clear but reports say that he has flown out of the capital, Bishkek.

Protests at rising prices, corruption and the arrest of opposition leaders had erupted in three cities.

Ms Otunbayeva said the interim government would remain in power for six months and draw up a new constitution.

Kyrgyzstan is a strategically important Central Asian state and houses a key US military base that supplies forces in Afghanistan. Russia also has a base there.

Ms Otunbayeva said these military bases could continue as before.

The United States said it deplored the violence and urged "respect for the rule of law". It also said it believed the government was still in control.

Russian PM Vladimir Putin denied that Moscow had played any role in the unrest, saying it was a "domestic affair" and that there should be "restraint".

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the protests showed the "outrage at the existing regime".

A spokesman for Ban Ki-moon said the UN secretary general was "shocked by the reported deaths and injuries that have occurred today in Kyrgyzstan. He urgently appeals for dialogue and calm to avoid further bloodshed".

Gunfire is continuing into the night in Bishkek with shops set alight.

A news channel Reporter in Bishkek says there is widespread looting, with hundreds of protesters moving from one store to another.

The Kyrgyz health ministry said 40 people had died in the clashes and more than 400 were injured.

But the opposition says that is far too low. In a broadcast on a TV channel it took over, spokesman Omurbek Tekebayev said at least 100 demonstrators had been killed.

The opposition used its channel to say that it was setting up a government that would be headed by former foreign minister, Rosa Otunbayeva.

Ms Otunbayeva said in a broadcast: "Power is now in the hands of the people's government. Responsible people have been appointed and are already working to normalise the situation."

The Associated Press news agency reported that an opposition leader had taken over the National Security Agency, the successor to the Soviet KGB.

But Galina Skripkina, of the opposition Social-Democratic Party, told Reuters news agency that the president had not yet resigned.

"He must... formally submit his resignation to parliament so we can appoint a caretaker government," she said.

Reuters also quoted the Kyrgyz border control as saying the frontier with Kazakhstan had been closed.

Agence France-Presse says the US has suspended military flights at its base in Kyrgyzstan.

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