Salim Changu was hacked to death in the coastal town of Kwale, police say.His death comes shortly after Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) Oscar Mwamnuadzi was arrested during a gunfight at his home in the town, in which two people were killed.

Tension has been rising in Kenya ahead of general elections due in March 2013. More than 100 people have been killed in ethnic clashes in the south-east Tana River area since August, in the bloodiest violence since the disputed 2007 presidential election.

Police spokesman Aggrey Adoli said Changu, the assistant chief for the Kombani area, was probably killed by MRC members who viewed him as a traitor, Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reports. Earlier, police launched an operation against the MRC following accusations that it planned to disrupt school examinations.

Two of Mwamnuadzi's bodyguards were killed during the raid on his home in Kwale and 38 people were arrested, the Daily Nation reported.In July, Kenya's High Court lifted a ban on the MRC, which the government had outlawed in 2010 after accusing it of being a criminal gang.The MRC accuses the government of marginalising the ethnic groups living along the coast, which is the centre of the country's tourism sector.Calls for the secession of the coastal region tend to intensify in the run-up to general elections, analysts say. (BBC)

President Obama left a riverside golf resort in Williamsburg, Va., Tuesday morning for the short flight to New York for his second televised debate with Republican Mitt Romney, scheduled for 9 p.m. at Hofstra University on Long Island.

Before he left Kingsmill Resort, Obama made a brief public appearance for the cameras and reporters. On a warm, sunny morning overlooking the James River, the president took a walk with advisers Anita Dunn and David Plouffe.

Obama was asked by a reporter,”How are you feeling about tonight?” He smiled and replied: “I feel fabulous. Look at this beautiful day.”A reporter then asked: “Are you aware Michelle voted for you yesterday?” Obama’s reply: “Thank goodness!”

It was a reference to the news that the first lady had dropped her absentee ballot in the mail on Monday. The Obamas are registered to vote in Chicago; the president will travel there on Oct. 25 and cast his ballot in early voting.

Finally, a reporter asked Obama about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement that she bears responsibility for the violence in Libya on Sept. 11 that claimed four American lives, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

The reporter asked: “Is Hillary to blame for Benghazi?”

Obama was silent and kept walking. But we’ll likely hear more on that question during Tuesday’s debate.