VoteKansas.org

Siphiwe Sibeko, who was born and raised in Soweto township, is a mostly self-taught photographer who joined Reuters in Johannesburg in 2005 after working for several leading South African newspapers. In the following story, he describes covering the anti-foreigner violence that has swept parts of South Africa.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's political parties voted on Wednesday to abolish the Himalayan kingdom's 239-year-old Hindu monarchy, a key demand of Maoists after they ended a decade-long war against the government.

TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Taiwan will hold talks next month to hammer out the first steps in opening regular direct flights between the two sometimes bitter rivals, as ties warm following the election of a new president on the island.

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military sank two Tamil Tiger boats killing at least five rebels before dawn on Thursday, and rebel artillery fire killed four civilians, the military said.

CHARLEVILLE-MEZIERES, France (Reuters) - Self-confessed killer and rapist Michel Fourniret and his wife Monique Olivier were sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday in one of France's grimmest serial murder cases.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - After decades of foot-dragging, Canada is finally about to take a close look at what one aboriginal leader calls "the single most disgraceful, harmful and racist act in our history".

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Ash from the Chaiten volcano that has been erupting in Chile for nearly a month led the country's flagship airline LAN to cancel flights to a string of small airports on Wednesday.

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan television journalist Niloufar Habibi never wore the all-enveloping burqa until she was stabbed on her doorstep. Now it is her disguise.

CULIACAN, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican police need bigger guns to fight increasingly violent drug gangs, a federal police chief said on Wednesday, after drug hitmen killed seven officers in the northern city of Culiacan.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - A draft treaty for a worldwide ban on cluster munitions was adopted on Wednesday although major powers including the United States did not attend the meeting.

PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa's government said on Wednesday it was offering shelter to tens of thousands of African migrants who fled their homes during a wave of xenophobic attacks but denied it was setting up camps.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - An international conference accepted on Wednesday a draft treaty to ban the use of cluster munitions.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. warships will soon leave waters near Myanmar if the junta does not allow the American military to deliver food, water and other aid to cyclone survivors, a U.S. commander said on Wednesday.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's president appointed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Wednesday to head a national unity government agreed under a deal ending 18 months of political conflict.

LONDON (Reuters) - The pain of soaring oil prices provoked new protests in Europe on Wednesday, and Britain called for "global solutions" to the energy crisis.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's attorney general said on Wednesday a surge in drug gang killings, marked by murders of police and decapitations this month, showed an army crackdown on cartels is working.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations' human rights chief on Wednesday condemned the deadly political violence that has gripped Zimbabwe since its March 29 election and called for a full investigation into the killings and attacks.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO troops should not be left to shoulder police tasks in Kosovo, the U.S.-led alliance said on Wednesday as signs grew that a European Union plan to take over police duties there faced months of delay.

CHARLEVILLE-MEZIERES, France (Reuters) - Self-confessed killer and rapist Michel Fourniret and his wife Monique Olivier were sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday in one of France's grimmest serial murder cases.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing has learnt from the SARS epidemic and there will be no attempt to hide any outbreak of infectious disease during the Beijing Olympics, the city's chief medical officer said on Wednesday.