The leading blog covering Kenya election news, Kenyan Pundit, has been shut down or hacked.

Her eye on Kenya’s Parliament site, Mzalendo, is still up but she is trying for a new blog soon.

(**UPDATE 5:30pm** Kenyan Pundit appears to be back up)

In the meantime, you can still check out other blogs for news.

Ryan Sheely, a Yale grad student who works in Kenya, relates the experiences of several friends from around Kenya. Well worth reading.

Ryan also points us to the Financial Times, who report that the US has effectively retracted its earlier congratulation to President Kibaki:

The US effectively retracted a statement from Washington that had congratulated Mr Kibaki on his victory by releasing a statement from its Nairobi embassy expressing concern about “serious problems experienced during the vote counting process”.

Separately, Ross Hynes, Canada’s high commissioner to Kenya, offered Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, a public show of support by allowing a crowd of journalists to see him meet Mr Odinga by the swimming pool of a Nairobi hotel.

The scenes were not shown on Kenyan television because the government had imposed a blackout on live broadcasts as supporters of Mr Odinga, incensed by allegations of a rigged election, clashed with police around the country. Some 124 people died in the violence, broadcaster KTN television reported mid-afternoon.

Diplomats want the government and Mr Odinga to act to lower tensions and find a solution to the crisis. The post-election turmoil has shattered Kenya’s reputation as one of Africa’s most stable and open democracies and stoked fears of prolonged political instability in east Africa’s most important economy, which is a regional hub for many multinationals.

Under pressure from diplomats, Mr Odinga moderated the incendiary language he had used on Sunday evening, but did not dispense with battle references. “Not even the Red Army was able to muzzle the people. They are prepared to lie in front of tanks to defend their rights,” he said after meeting Mr Hynes.

Mr Odinga called for “mass action” but urged his supporters to conduct themselves
peacefully. A spokesman for his Orange Democratic Movement said a plan to hold an alternative inauguration ceremony for Mr Odinga on Monday had been cancelled because it would have caused “mayhem”. The ceremony is now planned for Thursday.