"Mugabe aims to bury Blair"

Nigeria welcomes Gnassingbe's resignation
The chairperson of the African Union, Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday hailed the decision of Togo's army-installed leader Faure Gnassignbe to step down ahead of elections as a "victory for democracy".

African Union demands Togo guarantee
fair elections after president resigns
West African leaders lifted sanctions against Togo after its military-installed president stepped down, but the African Union warned the government Saturday it must ensure that upcoming presidential elections are fair and transparent.

UN-led mass immunization drive across Africa
A mass immunization campaign against polio spearheaded by United Nations agencies and their partners started today for 100 million children in 22 countries in the first drive this year to stop the resurgence of the disease, as reports came in of a new case in Ethiopia.

U.N. council tallies W. Africa problems
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says reforming security and reintegrating former fighters into their West Africa communities takes funds not yet forthcoming.

South Africa backs campaign to attract exiles
South Africa has stepped up a campaign to lure back millions of skilled workers who had left the country, with a conference in London to persuade them they have a bright future back home.

Huge Medical Personnel Loss to West Hurting Africa
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a global body that tracks labour migrations and coordinates refugee evacuation, relocation and repatriation logistics reported in Ethiopia recently that the developing world (Sub Saharan African, parts of Asia and Latin America) is losing a staggering $552 billion in medical personnel streaming into Europe and North America.

US Official: Darfur genocide trials should be in Africa
With no letup in Sudan's Darfur crisis, a top Bush administration official squared off with critics Friday about the proper venue for putting on trial those responsible for grave abuses committed in that region.

The final stroke will come this year when Venezuela's
President Hugo Chavez Frias switches to the Petro-Euro
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has stressed the importance of a South American union. He said a union is the only answer to stop the USA from "eating us up one by one." He said higher levels of freedom could only be attained via South American integration. That would be achieved through common projects together.
The integration between Brazil and Venezuela should be seen as an example of what can be achieved.

The Hypocrisy Taboo
If one accepts George W. Bush's lecture to the Russians that democracy requires a free press unafraid to criticize national leaders, then what kind of political system exists in the United States where the news media seems so scared of Bush that it shies away from mentioning the president's autocratic tendencies?

Bush in Europe: The Visiting Emperor
Despite the generally cheery press reports of Bush's reunification trip to Europe, the President is sticking hard and fast to a foreign policy that aims to expel evildoers from our midst, i.e., Iran, unless it changes its ways.

Is This Your Ownership Society?
Would you invest in a company that cut your wages, laid off your cousin, polluted your neighborhood, cut your health insurance and raided your retirement fund? If so, you'll love President Bush's "ownership society."

Mugabe aims to bury Blair
He also accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair of seeking to recolonise the country. Mr Mugabe said the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was a front for Mr Blair. "Only 33 days are left for us to demonstrate that we are united," Mr Mugabe told about 30,000 people gathered at a stadium in Marondera town, 74km east of Harare.