Britain’s opposition Conservative Party were poised on Thursday to gain a parliamentary seat in mid-term for the first time in 26 years. The by-election in the northern town of Crewe, triggered by the death of the constituency’s member of Parliament, is being closely watched as an indicator of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s diminishing appeal.
Aid was trickling in on Sunday to an estimated 2,5-million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis in Burma’s Irrawaddy delta as more foreign envoys tried to get the junta to admit large-scale international relief. The junta’s official toll from the disaster stands at 77 738 dead and 55 917 missing.
A further -billion of debt relief for the world’s poorest countries is needed despite a decade of progress, the Jubilee Debt Campaign warns on Friday. The group’s latest report calls on the G8, World Bank and International Monetary Fund to cancel -billionn of debt, which it says is ”unpayable” and an obstacle to the battle against global poverty.
The Dalai Lama accused China of ”suppression” and demanded autonomy for Tibet as he arrived Thursday in Germany to start a Western tour ahead of the Beijing Olympics. ”The Chinese political authorities’ reaction, as before, was suppression. So it is very sad,” he said of China’s military crackdown.
Western powers kept up the pressure on Burma’s generals on Thursday to allow a massive aid effort as relief workers struggled to help an estimated 2,5-million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis. The European Union’s top aid official has warned that the military government’s restrictions on foreign aid workers were increasing the risk of starvation.
Burma tightened access to its cyclone disaster zone on Wednesday, turning back foreigners and ignoring pleas to accept outside experts who could save countless lives before time runs out. A top European Union humanitarian official said there was now a risk of famine, after the storm destroyed rice stocks in a main farming region.
The United States sent its first aid flight to Burma on Monday, but experts warned the relief effort was floundering and 1,5-million cyclone survivors were at grave risk from hunger and disease. The US military transport plane laden with emergency supplies was permitted to land by the ruling junta.
Seventeen years have gone by since T-90 tanks last rolled across the historic cobbles of Moscow’s Red Square. But on Friday they were back — with an unmistakable diesel-fumed roar — and trundling past Lenin’s tomb and the fantastic domes of St Basil’s Cathedral. Led by a rather tubby general holding a sword, Russia held its annual Victory Day parade.
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay says restaurants should be fined if they serve out-of-season fruit and vegetables. ”I don’t want to see asparagus in the middle of December. I don’t want to see strawberries from Kenya in the middle of March. I want to see it home-grown,” he said.
Pressure mounted on the Zimbabwe government on Thursday to admit foreign observers to oversee a presidential election run-off amid fresh claims that pro-government militias were instilling terror in communities in the countryside. Meanwhile, there was still no word on when a second round should take place.
Veteran rockers Queen, along with Razorlight and Simple Minds, will top the bill at an Aids benefit concert in London next month to mark Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, organisers announced on Tuesday. Precisely 46Â 664 tickets will go on sale for the three-hour gig in Hyde Park on June 27, which is in support of the former South African president’s 46664 campaign against HIV/Aids.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is looking to make popular concessions in a bid to win back support for his beleaguered Labour government after its drubbing in last week’s local elections. Labour ministers and backbenchers continued to voice support for the prime minister despite the worst local election results for the party in 40 years.
Britain’s Labour Party suffered its worst local election defeat on record and lost control of London on Friday, forcing Prime Minister Gordon Brown to rethink his strategy to avoid losing the next national poll. Conservative Boris Johnson, a journalist-turned-lawmaker prone to gaffes, wrested the prized post of London mayor from Labour’s maverick Ken Livingstone.
Senior Labour figures said on Friday the party needed to re-engage with voters after it suffered a drubbing in local elections while delighted Tories said they were on course to win the next general election. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party was on course to lose around 200 council seats — around a quarter of the party’s councillors.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his popularity plunging and his reputation for economic competence under fire, faced his first electoral test on Thursday since taking over from Tony Blair in June. The local council seats up for grabs in England and Wales, alongside a high-profile clash to pick the next mayor of London, were last contested in 2004.
The Zimbabwe government savoured a rare diplomatic victory on Wednesday after the United Nations Security Council failed to agree on how to respond to the country’s post-election crisis. Western countries such as former colonial power Britain had been trying to steer the council to adopt a common strategy on the situation in Zimbabwe.
Darfur rebels accused the government on Tuesday of bombing areas under their control and said attacks this week showed Khartoum was not serious about seeking peace. But the army denied the accusations, which come during the visit of a Sudanese delegation to London to follow up on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s offer to host Darfur peace talks.
Gordon Brown said on Tuesday the government needs to send a message that cannabis is ”unacceptable,” increasing speculation he will decide to tighten drug laws. The British prime minister said he was particularly worried about the growing use of skunk cannabis, which he described as ”more lethal”.
South African President Thabo Mbeki’s failure to criticise neighbouring Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe has weakened his international stature, analysts said. Once hailed as a leader focussed on Africa’s revival, Mbeki’s silence on Zimbabwe has been blamed either on misplaced loyalty or crippling deference.
A top United States official urged African leaders on Sunday to put pressure on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to release the results of the presidential election, insisting the opposition had won. The Southern Africa Development Community ”should ensure that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission releases the results of the elections,” said US Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer.
President Robert Mugabe’s party has failed to secure control of Zimbabwe’s Parliament in a partial recount of the March 29 election, results showed on Saturday, handing the ruling party its first defeat in 28 years. Results of a parallel presidential poll have not been released and Mugabe has been preparing for a run-off against Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition.
China is to hold talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism whom it blames for a wave of unrest, state media reported on Friday, as the Olympic flame arrived in Japan. The move comes after concerted pressure from the West on China to talk to the Dalai Lama and marks the first serious step to defuse tensions.
African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma said on Thursday it is not yet the time to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe in the wake of its undecided presidential election. ”I do not think we have reached the stage of an arms embargo in Zimbabwe,” Zuma told journalists during a visit to London.
”Well, what would you do in your country?” That was the question a group of Darfuri refugees put to an aid worker in their camp near the Sudanese border 18 months ago. Anna Schmitt was trying to collect documentary evidence of the atrocities, but the camp elders were growing increasingly frustrated that their voice was not being heard in the West.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma and Britain made a united call on Wednesday for an end to the election stalemate in Zimbabwe, stepping up pressure on President Robert Mugabe to release results. Zuma, who has become the most outspoken African leader on Zimbabwe, held talks in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Ahead of talks in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma on Wednesday refused to condemn Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe over the ongoing failure to publish presidential election results and widespread post-election violence.
A ”silent tsunami” unleashed by costlier food threatens 100-million people, the United Nations said on Tuesday, but views differed as to how to stop it. The Asian Development Bank said there was enough food to go round, and the key was to help the poor afford it. It said Asian governments that have curbed food exports were overreacting.
Fortune-tellers, mediums and spiritual healers marched on Downing Street on Friday to protest against new laws they fear will lead to them being ”persecuted and prosecuted”. Organisers say that replacing the Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951 with new consumer-protection rules will remove key legal protection for ”genuine” mediums.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Thursday night set the seal on a new phase in Britain’s special relationship with the United States when he won ringing endorsements from the present and future generations of American leaders. US President George Bush hailed Brown as a ”good friend”.
Zimbabwe’s beleaguered President Robert Mugabe was set on Friday to make his first keynote speech since the country’s disputed polls at celebrations to mark the 28th anniversary of the country’s independence. Mugabe was scheduled to be the main speaker at a rally at the Gwanzura Stadium in Highfield, a suburb of Harare.
Correspondence published by Zimbabwe’s state media that was purported to be between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) chief Morgan Tsvangirai is a hoax, the United Kingdom embassy said on Thursday.
Zimbabwe’s government on Thursday accused opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason, saying he had plotted with former colonial power Britain to bring about regime change. It cited alleged correspondence between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tsvangirai.