Mugabe apparently faces major defeat in Zimbabwe March 30, 2008

HARARE, ZIMBABWE — The main opposition party and independent observers said today that President Robert Mugabe was suffering a resounding defeat as election results were tallied, but no official returns were released and capital was rife with speculation that they were being rigged.

Tension was high in the capital, Harare, with police deployed on most corners as the delay in announcing results from Saturday’s balloting wore on. Usually, the first official results are released within hours of the polls’ closing.

There were unconfirmed reports that key ministers and Mugabe loyalists lost their seats in parliament.

In a briefing to diplomats, independent election observers said that with 66% of the vote counted, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, had 55% of the vote. Mugabe, 84, had 36% and ruling party defector Simba Makoni had 9%, it said.

Tsvangirai’s party said that with 12% of the polling stations reporting, he was winning 67%.

The estimate was based on figures posted at individual polling stations after election officials had signed off on them, the first time such counts have been posted under recent reforms to election law.

“The wave of change was too strong,” said one shocked official of the ruling ZANU-PF, who lost his seat. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said conditions were extremely tense, with speculation rife in the ruling party that the military might step in to back Mugabe and block the opposition from taking power.

The MDC defied government warnings that any early claim of victory would be considered an attempted coup.

“We’ve won this election,” said an exhausted Tendai Biti, MDC secretary-general, who had been up all night as MDC representatives sent in their results.

“The results coming in show that in our traditional strongholds we are massacring them. In Mugabe’s traditional strongholds they are doing very badly. There is no way Mugabe can claim victory unless it is through fraud. He has lost this election,” Biti said. “We must savor these scenes, as for the rest of our lives we’ll say we were there.”

A chirpy state television bulletin Sunday night announced that Zimbabwe Election Commission officials were “verifying” results before broadcasting interviews across the country on how smooth and peaceful the elections had been.

It was equally quiet at the ZEC “command center,” where results are normally posted. One independent observer who visited the center said there were just a few people sitting around reading the paper.

Noel Kututwa, chairman of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, an independent monitoring group, said the delay in results created tension and speculation, and called on the ZEC to release the results.

“The issue of the delay of the announcement of the results raises tension which is why we are saying the ZEC should release these results as quickly as possible,” he said. “Clearly the delay is fueling speculation that something might be going on.”

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

We’re ready with ‘Sarkar Raj’: Ram Gopal Varma March 30, 2008

Ram Gopal Varma had created a coup of sorts by casting the father-son jodi (Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek) in ‘Sarkar’, a film that left people awestruck, all thanks to the power-full performances by the Bachchans. This time round, Ramu has gone one-step ahead to add one more member (Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan) from the Bachchan clan and have named it ‘Sarkar Raj’, which happens to be a sequel to ‘Sarkar’. So now, let us hear from the director himself.

When is ‘Sarkar Raj’ releasing?
 
Either in the last week of May or first week of June, depending upon the matches, exams, vacations, etc. Reports of a delay are utter nonsense. Nothing is being re-shot. If I needed to do it, I would. But that isn’t the case with ‘Sarkar Raj’. All of us—Amitji, Abhishek, Aishwarya and I are happy with the product.

The film has an added significance because of the formidable cast…

I guess when the film stars the Bachchans, people would love to talk about the product. But they’re bitching unnecessarily about ‘Sarkar Raj’. Something negative or the other is always being written about it. The fact is that post-production is on. We’re ready with ‘Sarkar Raj’.

Do you feel that Sarkar Raj has gone beyond ‘Sarkar’?
 
In terms of scale, scope, and span, it goes far beyond the first film. Also it is my first film with a socio-political subtext. And it’s character-driven. If you take the ‘Godfather’ trilogy, they’re all character dramas. ‘Sarkar Raj’ isn’t exactly a sequel to ‘Sarkar’. In the sense, that it doesn’t take off right away from where the first movie trails off.

So how would you describe it?
 
For the want of a better description, I’d say that ‘Sarkar Raj’ takes us into another episode… in the adventures of the Nagare family’s life. The plots and issues involved make this a far bigger film than the first one.

Do the Big B and Abhishek have more scenes together?
 
I wouldn’t say more scenes. I’d say there’re more shades to their character. In the first part, the son Shankar got very close to his father because of a crisis. By the end of ‘Sarkar’, Abhishek’s character took over his father’s empire. In ‘Sarkar Raj’, they already share a pre-given equation.

Is ‘Sarkar Raj’ inspired by events connected to the Narmada dam project?
 
Not at all. You see, any kind film about the concerns of a family for a social cause will have protests and political agendas. But ‘Sarkar Raj’ has no direct bearing to any of the headlines recently. ‘Sarkar Raj’ does have political undertones. But it isn’t a political drama. At the end of the day, it’s about the triumph of the human spirit and a father-son relationship.

What about Aishwarya?

She plays a ruthless businesswoman whose only aim is to make money for her organization, whereas Shankar believes in using the financial resources for the betterment of the people. Abhishek believes in making money for the people. Aishwarya believes in making money from the people. So, Abhishek and Aishwarya are dramatically pitched against each other. An interesting relationship develops over the ideological fence. The romantic angle is secondary. Their ideological conflict is more important.

Why Aishwarya?
 
I needed a very strong actor for Anita’s role. Her beauty is so much at the forefront that it makes you forget her talent. It’s hard to look beyond her beauty. I took her on as a challenge. But when she emoted as Anita, I was shocked. She’s a truly intense actress. She understood the nuances of Anita’s character completely. I was taken aback. Her intensity matches her beauty, which says a lot.

Is this Aishwarya’s best performance ever?
 
I can gauge her performance from behind the camera. Only I know how hard it was for her to give life to her character. It’s easy to impress audiences with drama and crying. Aishwarya has no props to support her performance. She has brought out her character’s complexities without crutches. In that sense, it’s her best performance ever.

‘Sarkar Raj’ is a family film on two levels. Would the presence of the Bachchans together eclipse the film’s intrinsic merits?

I firmly believe that once the audiences get into the theatre, the characters will take over. They won’t look for the Bachchans or be disappointed by Aishwarya not being part of the family.

France’s Jean Nouvel wins Pritzker Prize March 30, 2008

The designer of a soaring, glass-shelled condo planned for Century City is the winner of this year’s Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor.

French architect Jean Nouvel is singled out in the Prizker jury citation for his “persistence, imagination, exuberance, and, above all, an insatiable urge for creative experimentation.”

Nouvel is the architect behind Paris’ Arab World Institute and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

In nearly four decades, Nouvel has designed more than 200 projects in his native France, around Europe, in Asia and the United States, fighting what he calls “generic architecture.”

“His inquisitive and agile mind propels him to take risks in each of his projects, which, regardless of varying degrees of success, have greatly expanded the vocabulary of contemporary architecture,” the jury said in its citation.

Nouvel, 62, said he was surprised at winning this year since he is not inaugurating any major work, but felt “very honored” to join the elite group of 32 Pritzker laureates. He is the second French architect to win the prize.

“I am very happy to be in a club of good friends, like Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Zaha Hadid,” Nouvel told Reuters by telephone from Paris.

In the works for the architect is a nearly Chrysler Building-sized tower next to New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

The project in Century City will display verdant gardens visible behind its glass walls

Nouvel says for him, “every project is an adventure.”

£650m smile of the porn heiress March 30, 2008

Scraping together a little extra income to support one’s party lifestyle can be a struggle for most hard-up students.

But when you are set to inherit the best part of £650million pounds, the drinks are bound to taste a little sweeter.

And the party appears to have started in earnest for Fawn James.

The 22-year-old granddaughter of porn supremo Paul Raymond, who passed away three weeks ago at 82, has wasted no time hitting London’s nightclubs.

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Porn heiress: 22-year-old Fawn enjoyed a night out at Embassy nightclub, near her grandfather’s old stomping ground

The heiress was seen beaming from ear to ear as she arrived at Mayfair’s celebrity haunt The Embassy last night, just a stone’s throw away from neighbouring Soho, where her grandfather made his millions.She was joined on her night out by her long-term boyfriend Nick.

Along with her 16-year-old sister India, she is likely to emerge as the main benefactor of the entrepreneur’s millions.

And already her casual student attire of biker jacket and faded jeans favoured around campus have been replaced by a look more befitting of the woman dubbed ‘Queen of Soho’.

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Home: Fawn left the club with her handsome male companion

Dressed in an elegant, thigh-skimming dress and pointed black stilettos, the heiress was accompanied by her equally suave boyfriend.”She looked fantastic,” said one party-goer. “But wouldn’t you if you’d just found out you were going to get that much money?

“She was very touchy-feely with the man she was with. He looks like the cat that got the cream he was smiling so much. He’s one lucky guy!”

The drinks order was surprisingly tame considering money is now no object. The pair shunned the champagne in favour of vodka tonics before leaving at 2am in a black Mercedes.

“She is a regular visitor to the Embassy,” said one party-goer. “The staff all know her and say she is the most polite and level-headed girl you could meet.

“It was a busy night and she was clearly enjoying dancing to the R and B music but you won’t ever see her falling out of a night club drunk. She is a girl of zero vices.”

Fawn is the daughter of Paul Raymond’s daughter Debbie, who died 16 years ago after battling drink and drugs.

She is currently studying for a masters degree in social anthropology at Edinburgh University.

However, unlike her fellow graduates, fretting over her first career move might not be such a worry for the heiress. She has already been made a director of several of her late grandfather’s companies.

She is also being tipped to take over Mr Raymond’s vast property portfolio, which includes vast swathes of London’s sex capital, Soho.

Arabs Denounce Dutch Anti-Islam Film March 30, 2008

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Islamic and Arab leaders denounced a Dutch film Saturday that portrays Islam as a ticking time bomb aimed at the West, demanding international laws to prevent insults to religions.

The 15-minute film entitled “Fitna,” or “ordeal” in Arabic, by Dutch anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders brought condemnations from Muslim capitals and street protests in Pakistan after it was posted on a Web site Thursday.

The film came on the heels of the republishing in Danish papers of a cartoon of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad that Muslims view as insulting.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir called on Muslims at an Arab summit in Damascus to “challenge those who insult” the prophet and proposed “a binding international charter” calling for the respect of religious beliefs.

“The offenses against our Arab and Islamic nations under the banner of freedom of expression are derogatory and defamatory and go against all human values,” al-Bashir said.

In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called Wilders’ film “a humiliation” to Islam.

The European Union’s 27 foreign ministers said they too objected to the film’s depiction of Islam.

“This view is sharply rejected,” they said in a joint statement released at the end of a two-day meeting in Slovenia. “The vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and violence.”

But unlike the Arab leaders, the European ministers defended the right to freedom of speech and called on Muslims to react peacefully. “Feeling offended is no excuse for aggression or threats,” they said.

The Jeddah-based Organization of the Islamic Conference said the film was intended to fuel hatred of Islam and “incite disturbances, conflicts and to threaten the security and stability of the world.”

The organization’s secretary-general, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, said at the Damascus summit that the cartoons and the film only increase anti-Islamic sentiments in the West at a critical time. However, he praised the Dutch government for distancing itself from the movie.

Hundreds of Muslims have demonstrated in Pakistan over the film and the country’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to deliver an official complaint against what it called a “defamatory film which deeply offended the sentiments of Muslims all over the world.”

Morgan Tsvangirai-A profile March 30, 2008

 

Morgan Tsvangirai born March 10, 1952, is a trade unionist, human rights activist, Democrat and President of the mainstream ^[1] Movement for Democratic Change, the main opposition party in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai was born in the Gutu area in then-Southern Rhodesia, the eldest of nine children and the son of a carpenter and bricklayer. After leaving school early, in 1974 he started working for the Trojan Nickel Mine in Mashonaland Central. He spent ten years at the mine, rising from plant operator to general foreman.

Tsvangirai is a product of important social movements in Zimbabwe, which include the labour and constitutional reform movements. He is the former Secretary General of the powerful Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and is the founding chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly, a group that advocates for a new constitution for Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai became branch chairman of the Associated Mine Workers Union and was later elected into the executive of the National Mine Workers Union, and in 1989 he became the Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the umbrella trade union organization in the country.

It was Tsvangirai who led the ZCTU away from its alliance with the ruling Zanu PF. As his power and that of the movement grew, his relationship with the Government deteriorated. He has also been a victim of premeditated and government-inspired harassment and violence. There have been three assassination attempts,^[2], which include the 1997 attempt, where unknown assailants burst into his tenth story office and tried to throw him out of the window.

In 1999 he founded and organized the Movement for Democratic Change, an opposition party opposed to Mugabe’s rule.

Tsvangirai lost the March 2002 presidential election to Robert Mugabe of the ruling Zanu-PF party. The election provoked widespread allegations that Mugabe had rigged the election, through the use of violence, media bias, and manipulation of the voter’s roll, leading to abnormally high pro-Mugabe turnout in some areas.

Morgan Tsvangirai served as Chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) in 1997 which was formed as a grouping of individual Zimbabwean citizens and civic organisations including, labour movements, student and youth groups, women groups, churches, business groups and human rights organisations. These individuals and groups formed the NCA to campaign for constitutional reform after realizing that the political, social and economic problems affecting Zimbabwe were mainly a result of the defective Lancaster House Constitution and can only be resolved through a new and democratic constitution. He stepped down after being elected president of the MDC.

Tsvangirai was arrested after the government alleged that he had threatened President Robert Mugabe. The Movement for Democratic Change leader had told 40,000 supporters at a rally in Harare that if Mr Mugabe did not want to step down before the next elections scheduled for 2002 “we will remove you violently”.

“However Tsvangirai said that he was giving a warning to President Mugabe to consider history. There is a long line of dictators who have refused to go peacefully – and the people have removed them violently,” he said.

The courts dismissed the charges.

In May 2003 Tsvangirai was arrested on a Friday afternoon shortly after giving a press conference, the government alleged he had incited violence. In the press conference he had said:
“From Monday, June 2, up to today June 6, Mugabe was not in charge of this country.
He was busy marshaling his forces of repression against the sovereign will of the people of Zimbabwe.
However, even in the context of the brutalities inflicted upon them, the people’s spirit of resistance was not broken.
The sound of gunfire will never silence their demand for change and freedom.”

March 2007 beating and arrest

On March 11, 2007 a day after his 55th birthday, Tsvangirai was arrested on his way to a prayer rally in the Harare township of Highfield.^[13]

Morgan Tsvangirai talks to the media from his hospital bed after being arrested and beaten.

His wife was allowed to see him in prison, after which she reported that he had been heavily tortured by police, resulting in deep gashes on his head and a badly swollen eye.^[14]. The event garnered an international outcry and was considered particularly brutal and extreme, even for a regime as nefarious as Mugabe’s.

He was tortured by a crack commando unit based at the army’s Cranborne Barracks on March 12, 2007 after being arrested and held at Machipisa Police Station in the Highfield suburb of Harare.

In September 2007 it was widely reported that Tsvangirai met Thabo Mbeki, the President of South Africa for crucial talks with on how to speed up talks between the ruling ZANU PF and the Movement for Democratic Change party.

Xcor rockets into private space flight by 2010 we have got the picture March 30, 2008

 

Xcor Aerospace announced its intention to offer private suborbital space flights in 2010. The company plans to build the Lynx, a two-seat spaceship that is about the size of a private aircraft. The Lynx will let passengers experience weightlessness at the edge of outer space for about four and a half minutes.

“Lynx will be the greatest ride off Earth,” said XCOR test pilot, former pilot, astronaut, and Space Shuttle commander, Col. Rick Searfoss (USAF-Ret.). He notes that passengers will be able to see stars and the Earth from space while riding up front in the spaceship, sitting next to the pilot.

Xcor has been developing rocket propulsion systems for nine years. It claims that the Lynx will be fully reusable, burn cleanly, and will have minimal impact on the environment.

Credit: Xcor Aerospace

 

This is the route that the Lynx is expected to take. It will reach 200,000 above the Earth then do several loop the loops to slow down before returning the land.

 

This should give an idea of the size of the Lynx.

E Guinea seeks Thatcher’s arrest March 30, 2008

Equatorial Guinea has issued an arrest warrant for Sir Mark Thatcher over his alleged role in a failed 2004 coup.

The country’s attorney general said that Sir Mark, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, had provided money and transport.

In 2005, Sir Mark was given a fine and a suspended sentence in South Africa after pleading guilty to unknowingly helping to finance the plot.

However, he has always denied any direct involvement.

He told the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper he was not worried by the arrest warrant.

“As far as I’m concerned the issue has already been dealt with,” he was quoted as saying.

“I’ve been charged and tried in a court in South Africa on exactly those charges so I don’t see what more they can do.”

That’s what we call achievement! March 30, 2008

Pappu Saein, Reshma and Shoaib Mansoor In the President’s Awards ceremony held at the Governor’s House (Lahore) on March 23 (Pakistan Day), a couple of the industry’s biggest players were brought into a limelight of another kind – a kind they’re not quite used to! Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan received the Presidential Award, Atif Aslam and Zulfiqar Ali alias Pappu Saein received the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and vocalist Reshma along with film director Shoaib Mansoor received the prestigious Sitara-i-Imtiaz.
Shafqat Amanat Ali, of course, is the fifth member of his family to be honoured by the government. Those whose footsteps he is walking in are his father Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, his uncle Hamid Ali Khan and his brother Asad Amanat Ali Khan. Shafqat is proud to be the fifth in row. And for all youngsters who’ve been enthralled by his voice, from Fuzon to ‘Mitwa’ believe its well-deserved. Atif Aslam received the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, which refers to the honour he has brought to Pakistan by performing in almost 25 countries last year. Atif is very patriotic and believes there could be no honour bigger than bringing pride to the country. His vocals are undeniably brilliant, but he believes it’s his patriotism that has brought him the award. Pappu Saein, also the recipient of the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz is Pakistan’s most famous dhol player. He has played at the Royal Albert Hall as well as at the Pakistan Day Parade at the Trafalgar Square in London last year. Instrumental rock band Overload may have brought him to the limelight, but it is his strong percussion that lends so much soul to the band, rather than the other way around.
Reshma’s contributions to building the music industry may seem like long forgotten but apparently the government remembers. We celebrate our musicians’ success in India, especially Bollywood these days, but it is actually Reshma that lent her voice to the soul stirring ‘Lambi Judaai’ for the film Hero, back in the eighties. The film, that marked the debuts of Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi made this song an anthem. And in the Dimpla Kapadia starrer Lekin, the song ‘Yaara Seeli Seeli’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar was a plagiarized version of Reshma’s Punjabi folk song, ‘Ni Main Seeli Seeli’. She truly is an unsung hero of Pakistan’s music industry. Shoaib Mansoor’s honour needs no explanation. With Khuda Kay Liye, the groundbreaking director did what many others had been contemplating for years. Not that they would have succeeded the way he has. With the film opening in India this weekend, he has flung the reputation of Pakistan’s film industry out of the woodwork and straight into the limelight. A revolutionary theme and an equally riveting film, Shoaib Mansoor deserves this more than anyone else