Kenya has failed to halt an investigation of the International Criminal Court into violence that killed more than 1,000 people after elections in 2007. Judges at the court

ruled against

the Kenyan government's request to declare the case inadmissible. Earlier, ICC officials arrived in Nairobi to discuss a witness protection programme for the case against six senior Kenyans accused of organising the violence.

President Obama has

nominate

d General Martin Dempsey as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the most senior post in the American armed services. President Obama described General Dempsey as one of America's "most respected and combat-tested generals". Jonny Dymond reports from Washington.

General Dempsey's most recent combat command was in Iraq. He led the 1st Armoured Division as it struggled with the early years of the anti-American insurgency in Baghdad. He is understood to

be wary of

high-tech projections of future military needs. His experience in counter-insurgency has led him to place a premium on boots on the ground. But his biggest challenge may be more prosaic. Defence consumes around 20% of the federal budget. From across the political

spectrum

, there is a demand for cuts. After a decade of generous budgets, the US military is going to have to do with less.

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has suffered a setback in local elections in his hometown Milan. Mr Berlusconi's party candidate for mayor was defeated by her opponent Giuliano Pisapia, who will become Milan's first left-wing mayor in almost two decades.