AFRICANANEWSWORLD

ZIMBABWE TALKS AT A STANDSTILL

PRETORIA, Africa South, July 28 - Unnamed sources in Zimbabwe’s MDC opposition say historic talks with the governing Zanu-PF party are deadlocked.

A dispute has apparently arisen over a push by President Robert Mugabe’s party to have MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai appointed “third vice-president”.

The MDC sources said this was “insulting”, and reflected negatively on the talks’ facilitator, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.

Talks began last week after a rare meeting between the two leaders.

The delicate negotiations following this year’s disputed elections are meant to be happening under a news blackout, but sources in the Tsvangirai camp have told the BBC that they have now ground to a halt… read whole story

SUDAN RALLIES BEHIND LEADER REVILED ABROAD

In today’s New York Times front-page, there is an article about how people in the Sudan, from different political spectrum, were lining up behind President Omar al-Bashir to show solidarity with him.  Last week, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, filed charges against Bashir for genocide and crimes against humanity.  The article tries to paint a picture of a Sudan that would break up if Bashir was removed or arrested, and engender a situation like Somalia.... read the full story here.

OIL UP ON NIGERIAN ATTACK, DEMAND STILL A
(AP) - Oil prices fluctuated Monday after an attack by militants on Nigerian oil pipelines and comments by Iran’s president suggested a significant increase in the country’s nuclear program. Concerns about flagging U.S. demand once again limited the gains.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 77 cents to $124.03 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.23 to settle at $123.26 a barrel on Friday _ a drop of more than $20 in just weeks _ as investors questioned whether crude’s decline reflects a serious deterioration in demand....read the full story here

CHINA TO INVEST $3.3 BILLION IN NIGERIA’S POWER SECTOR

China is to invest the sum of $3.3 billion in Nigeria’s power sector, which has been plagued by shortages and no light supplies, sometimes reaching 30 days....read the full story here

$100 MILLION MISSING FRO NIGERIAN MISSIONS’ ACCOUNT - REPS

A whopping N10.2 billion is allegedly missing from the accounts of some Nigerian missions abroad and the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives which made the discovery has insisted that the money must be found by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and paid into the federation account...read full story here

THE MANUAL FOR DESPOTS

Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Morgan Richard Tsvangirai held hands. Mugabe tried to lift Tsvangirai’s hand above the shoulder, to join it in his in a triumphant double fist, a gesture reminiscent of the moment he held up Joshua Nkomo’s hand and with that gesture killed opposition politics in Zimbabwe for a long 12 years.

Tsvangirai may also have had Joshua Nkomo in mind, at that moment, because he seemed to resist this, his hand remained just below shoulder level, and Mugabe had to be content with a sideways shake and a toothy grin. Mugabe grinned. Tsvangirai grinned. Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara grinned. Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki grinned. They all grinned and were happy together.

It is surreal, this orgy of grinning, this sudden, blinding flashing of teeth: barely a month ago the pictures of torture camps filled television and computer screens, photographs of burnt bodies illustrated the stories of horror from Zimbabwe. Seared on the minds of millions were the story of the death of Abigail Chiroto, killed in an arson attack, and the haunting image of Joshua Bakacheza, diminished and fragile in his death, just two of the victims that made the front-page news of just about any newspaper that gave prominence to Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai was warning the world about genocide in Zimbabwe. Barely a month later he is sitting down to talk with the genocidaire-in-chief.... read the full story

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