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/ 17 April 2008

Pressure mounts on Zimbabwe at UN

Western states joined the United Nations in urging action to ensure a fair outcome from Zimbabwe’s elections, but most African countries avoided the issue at a summit of the Security Council on Wednesday. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: ”No one thinks, having seen the results of polling stations, that President [Robert] Mugabe has won.”

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/ 16 April 2008

Zim to haunt Mbeki at UN summit

South African President Thabo Mbeki had intended to lead a summit on Wednesday at the United Nations in New York that would focus on the increasing peacekeeping chores of African Union troops. But on Tuesday, it became clear that Mbeki would not be able to dodge the ongoing election crisis in Zimbabwe.

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/ 15 April 2008

Oil sets new record high above $113

Oil set new record highs above a barrel on Tuesday as investors sought to hedge against a battered dollar. United States crude rose by ,80 to ,56 a barrel at 2.05pm GMT, after touching a record high of ,93. London Brent crude was up by ,91 at ,75, after a record high of ,85.

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/ 13 April 2008

Piercing the Mbeki shield

On the surface, South Africa’s assumption of the presidency of the United Nations Security Council earlier this month has no relevance for the Zimbabwe electoral crisis. Desperate Zimbabweans could call for help from the UN, but this call comes when South Africa is gatekeeper at the Security Council.

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/ 13 April 2008

Britain offers to host Darfur peace talks

Britain has offered to host peace talks on the strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur under proposals put forward by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his office said on Sunday. Details of the offer were released as activists in 30 countries prepared to hold a global day of action on Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict.

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/ 13 April 2008

SADC urges rapid Zim poll result

Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders called on Sunday for the rapid release of results from Zimbabwe’s election after a two-week delay that has raised fears of violence. A 13-hour summit in Lusaka also called on President Robert Mugabe to ensure that a possible run-off presidential vote be held ”in a secure environment”.

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/ 12 April 2008

Zim police ban rallies as summit draws close

Police have banned political rallies and the opposition has accused the authorities of waging a violent crackdown as Zimbabwe’s political crisis deepens nearly two weeks after a presidential election that produced no official winner. Zimbabwe’s neighbours hope to find a resolution on Saturday at an emergency summit in Zambia.

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/ 6 April 2008

Protesters disrupt Olympic torch relay in London

Anti-China protesters draped in Tibetan flags disrupted the Olympic torch relay through London on Sunday, billed as a journey of harmony and peace. Scores of Chinese officials in blue suits and British police on foot and bicycles guarded the celebrities and athletes carrying the torch, but demonstrators repeatedly broke through their security cordon.

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/ 5 April 2008

MDC: Mugabe preparing for violence

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai declared himself the clear winner on Saturday of a presidential election and accused Robert Mugabe’s ruling party of preparing for a "war" against the people. "The result is known, that the Movement for Democratic Change [MDC] won the presidential and parliamentary election," Tsvangirai said.

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/ 5 April 2008

Mbeki, Brown to meet for talks on Zim

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to meet South African President Thabo Mbeki later on Saturday for talks on the situation in Zimbabwe, Brown’s office said. Mbeki is in Britain to attend a conference of centre-left leaders in Watford near London. The two leaders were expected to meet in private on the sidelines of the conference.

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/ 4 April 2008

Tensions rise at Russia-Nato summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday started a tense summit with Nato leaders amid mounting tensions over United States anti-missile defence plans and the alliance’s expansion toward Russian territory. In a rare moment of cooperation, Russia and Nato concluded a deal on land transit for non-military freight to Afghanistan.

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/ 1 April 2008

Edgy Zimbabwe awaits more vote results

Zimbabwe sat on a knife-edge on Tuesday as it awaited a new leader amid mounting pressure to swiftly release full results of an election already claimed by the opposition. For a second night running, security was stepped up in and around the capital, Harare, in readiness to quell any post-electoral unrest.

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/ 30 March 2008

Prospect of French Nato return tilts power balance

The prospect of France returning to Nato’s military command after more than four decades of estrangement is tilting the balance of transatlantic relations. The United States is courting France as a new partner in leadership, overshadowing Britain and Germany, diplomats and analysts say, even though President Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to skirt the reintegration issue at this week’s Bucharest summit.

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/ 29 March 2008

Merkel won’t attend opening of Beijing Olympics

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Friday became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics in Beijing. As pressure built for concerted Western protests to China over the crackdown in Tibet, European Union leaders prepared to discuss the crisis for the first time on Saturday, amid a rift over whether to boycott the Olympics.

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/ 28 March 2008

Justice at last for Mrs Sarko thanks to Carlamania

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday applauded the acres of admiring British media coverage of his wife during the first day of the state visit, saying he felt justice had been done after a week of ”wretched” press in Britain and in France. Some British papers had printed a 15-year-old photograph of Carla Bruni naked in her days as a supermodel.

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/ 27 March 2008

Tsvangirai vows to revamp Zim economy

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader pledged on Wednesday to revamp the country’s crumbling economy by introducing a new currency within six months if he wrests the presidency from Robert Mugabe in weekend elections. ”The economy is dead,” Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, told thousands of supporters in Murewa.

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/ 21 March 2008

Mugabe warns over Kenya-style violence

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe warned the opposition on Friday against Kenyan-style violence if they lose next week’s election, saying security forces stood ready to crush such protests. The 84-year-old leader faces a stiff challenge from former ally Simba Makoni and long time rival Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

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/ 20 March 2008

China makes arrests in Tibet crackdown

Tibet authorities said on Thursday they had arrested dozens of people involved in a wave of anti-Chinese violence and prompted Beijing to pour in troops to crush further unrest. China’s response to last week’s violence has sparked international criticism and has clouded preparations for the Beijing Olympics.

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/ 20 March 2008

China ramps up security, cautions UK on Dalai Lama

China ramped up security on Thursday to quell a Tibetan uprising as it expressed concern over British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s planned meeting with the Dalai Lama. Huge military convoys were seen heading towards Tibet, while a build-up of troops took place in nearby provinces after a week of violent protests against China’s rule of the region.

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/ 16 March 2008

Bringing down the new Berlin Walls

The highest and oldest wall is that which separates ”us” from ”them”. This is described today as a great divide of religions or ”a clash of civilisations”, which are false concepts, propagated to provide ”the other” — a target for fear and hatred that justifies invasion and plunder, writes John Pilger.

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/ 6 March 2008

Tippling ministers sometimes trip on UK budget day

To deliver the longest British budget speech of all time, William Gladstone imbibed a throat-soothing mixture of sherry and beaten egg to help him through a marathon that lasted four hours and 45 minutes. enjamin Disraeli reached for brandy and water to deliver the shortest budget — he took just 45 minutes to plot the path for the nation’s finances.

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/ 4 March 2008

UK backs ban on Zim cricket tour

Britain said on Tuesday it would support a ban on a tour next year by the Zimbabwe cricket team in protest at President Robert Mugabe’s rule, but the decision was up to the sport’s authorities. The BBC’s Inside Sport said the government was looking at several options to stop next year’s tour.