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Philippine election results: Voters test new electronic voting system

2010-05-11T01:26:00.000-07:00

Manila, Philippines – Filipinos are awaiting Philippine election results after trooping enthusiastically to the polls Monday to elect a new president, Congress, and local governments, in what is turning out to be a gauge of the maturity of their country’s democracy.
The elections are a test not only of how Filipinos would like to see their country governed but also of the mechanism for choosing their government. For the first time, a computerized vote-counting system is being used, in an effort to stamp out the vote-rigging that has caused chaos in the past.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) estimated that 85 percent of the 50 million-strong electorate turned out to vote, reflecting in part public interest in the novelty of computerization.
Comelec said only about 400 of the more than 80,000 machines malfunctioned during the polling. But there were reports of vote-counting machines malfunctioning in many voting precincts, in some cases causing ill-tempered scenes.
Voting machine malfunctions for top presidential candidate Many voters complained about waiting in long lines, wilting in the scorching sun, as voters ahead of them struggled to understand new, computer-compatible ballot forms. Comelec kept the precincts open for an extra hour to accommodate the crowds.
Among those who were initially unable to vote because a machine malfunctioned
was Benigno Aquino, a top presidential candidate. Early, unofficial tallies of a tiny percentage of the total vote gave Aquino the lead.
Aquino, feeding off the reputation for probity enjoyed by his late mother – ex-president Corazon Aquino, who toppled the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 – campaigned on an anticorruption platform. The administration of incumbent president, Gloria Arroyo, has been bedeviled by corruption scandals.
Aquino’s main rivals are ex-president Joseph Estrada, who was overthrown in 2001 for massive corruption, and property magnate Manny Villar.
Arroyo cannot run for president again, and there is suspicion among the opposition that it would be in her interest for this yearâ€™s election to be a complete failure, because that might allow her to cling onto power somehow.
The computerized vote-counting system has therefore been under intense scrutiny.
Aquino warns of 'people power' uprisingBut the real test began only when the polls closed, because that was when the machines began to transmit the results to central servers. Comelec expects complete results within 72 hours.
Any delay is bound to raise suspicion that somehow the system is being manipulated, and any such suspicions are likely to pose another test of the maturity of Philippine democracy.
Another bane of Philippine elections is violence. The security forces said nine people had been killed in election-related violence on polling day.
Aquino has warned of another “people power” uprising, like those that ousted Marcos and Estrada, if he is cheated of victory.

Men In Black III Lands Just Before Our Alien Ancestors Return To Earth

2010-05-10T02:20:00.000-07:00

Men In Black III is slated to return back to Earth in 2012, the same year that - according to the Mayan calendar - human civilization will end when our Alien ancestors return to this planet. Sound
far-fetched? Well, according to fanatics on the Internet Men In Black III is one of the movies, in a string of flicks designed to program us and prepare us for human domination. The news also goes on to say that the U.S. gov't (see Area 51) has been hiding information and even actual aliens from US citizens, while waiting on alien astronauts to return. SMH!

Despite the sinister overtone those sites portray, Men In Black III promises to deliver the aliens in a much more light-hearted fashion. And thank goodness- no one wants to be forced to think about Greys who travel light-years to find humans and stick probes where the sun don't shine!

After snubs, the red carpet's now out for Karzai

2010-05-10T02:14:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has tried sidelining, snubbing and strong-arming Hamid Karzai, with little to show for each approach. Now the administration is trying to hold its tongue and show a little love.
The Afghan leader, darling of the previous Republican administration of President George W. Bush, will get red carpet treatment when he comes to Washington for his widest engagement with U.S. leaders since winning re-election in a flawed vote last year.

Karzai and a large delegation of Cabinet ministers were to arrive Monday for four days of events meant to show respect for a leader who has felt undermined and sometimes belittled by Washington, even as President Barack Obama greatly expanded a faltering war against insurgents seeking to topple Karzai.
The 8-year-old Afghan war is one main topic. Pentagon officials say they see signs of progress this spring, although by most measures the war remains a stalemate in the key Taliban-allied districts and a U.S.-led military push across southern Afghanistan is off to a slower start than hoped.
The postwar future of Afghanistan is another. Obama intends to begin withdrawing U.S. forces next summer, although few people think the war will be won soon after. No amount of reassurance from Obama is likely to change Karzai's view that the announced date puts a stopwatch on the conflict and gives the insurgents moral ammunition.
All sides will try to say as little as possible about the Obama administration's early ambivalence toward Karzai, which he took as a slight, or Karzai's recent outbursts against what he called foreign interference.
"They wanted a servant government," Karzai complained shortly after Obama made a surprise visit to Kabul in late March. Both leaders said at time that their meeting went well, but Karzai later bristled at remarks about the trip from U.S. officials that he found insulting.
So they will try again.
"The nature of strategic partnerships like the one between the United States and Afghanistan, they feature ups and downs," said Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, who directs Afghanistan and Pakistan issues at the National Security Council.
"But the difference between a mere relationship and a partnership like the one we're talking about here is that partnerships endure the ups and downs and continue to press forward towards the common goals on which the partnership is founded."
Apart from personality clashes, the underlying problems in that partnership are unchanged:
• Karzai presides over a weak central government established with heavy U.S. and European guidance and supported with billions in aid. He is a talented politician and a proven survivor, but he has failed to make an effective argument to Afghans in areas with strong Taliban affiliation that they should choose the rule of Kabul instead.
• Karzai's government suffers from endemic corruption that coexists with a larger culture of barter and payoff that the Taliban, warlords and drug rings also exploit. What Washington often sees as shameless nepotism or bribery, some of the powerbrokers Karzai may need the most see as their due.
• The war slogging on in its ninth year remains unpopular in the United States, Europe and in much of Afghanistan itself. Obama accepted the argument for more forces made by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the ascetic disciple of modern counterinsurgency theory he installed to turn the war around last summer. Now U.S. military officials say the window is closing on the time those troops can make a difference. At the top level, military leaders generally give it about another year — if the war remains a grudge match in the key districts then, there is little chance of changing the equation.
• Afghanistan still has an uneasy, unequal relationship with Pakistan, the nuclear-armed next-door neighbor that is, by many assessments, the more important determiner of whether al-Qaida again gains enough footing in the region to launch another catastrophic attack on the United States or its allies.
Karzai's discussions this week are expected to focus on the health of Afghanistan's central government, Karzai's outreach to disaffected tribes or potential insurgents, and the difficult counterinsurgency effort already under way in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar province.
He sees Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday, and Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday. There is no formal state dinner at the White House, but the Biden dinner is intended as a fence-mender. Biden was particularly incensed when Karzai remarked last month that if foreign interference in his government continued, the Taliban would become a legitimate resistance — one that he might even join.
Karzai will face close questions about that statement when he sees members of Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was visiting Afghanistan on Sunday, said Karzai will be received in Washington with "great dignity, great friendship and great candor."
One challenge for the administration this week is to talk tough about Karzai's duty to crack down on corruption without preaching, and without making Karzai look like a U.S. flunky to his countrymen. U.S. officials acknowledge that the sheer size of the foreign military and civilian operation in Afghanistan invites even more corruption, because it spends so much money.
That reflects the Obama administration's recognition it must deal with Karzai in a more straightforward manner — as the elected leader of a country where U.S. forces are fighting and the only partner the United States has as it tries to wind down the war, analysts said.
A year ago, U.S. officials frequently pointed to their efforts to find and develop regional and local political talent outside of Karzai's inner circle. That is still a tenet of McChrystal's revamped U.S. counterinsurgency strategy, but U.S. officials figured out that it did them no good to publicly undermine Karzai, said Gilles Dorronsoro, who studies the Afghan political system at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"What's changed is not the Afghan attitude but the U.S. attitude," Dorronsoro said. "The U.S. administration understands after too long that all the public pressure on Karzai was a mistake. Karzai now is dealing with the Americans probably better, because the Americans are less pushy, less bossy."

Gas prices rising nationwide, but maybe not for long

2010-05-10T02:10:00.000-07:00

Reports of rising gas prices nationwide could be misleading.
Gas prices typically rise every year as Memorial Day approaches. For one, refineries are switching over to their summer blend, which is more expensive, and companies expect a rise in demand during the summer driving season.
Gas prices peaked on June 19 last year, for example.
This year is no different with the average gas prices for a gallon Friday at $2.92, up four cents during the past week. States including New Jersey and Texas reported five to seven cent hikes in gas prices during the past week.

Overall national gas prices are up 78 cents from a year ago. By the end of last week, however, signs were emerging that gas prices might peak in the not-too-distant future.
Gasoline futures fell and the price of oil also dropped with the strengthening of the dollar. The price of oil was $85 a barrel in late April. Now, it is $75.11.
In fact, Friday's price of $2.92 marked a nearly one cent decline from Thursday.
There is little evidence that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is having any impact on gas prices. Reports suggest that oil reserves remain high in the area. The greater concern would be the closure of the Mississippi River's Southwest Pass, a key shipping lane for finished gasoline, Phil Flynn, energy analyst with PFG Best in Chicago, told the Associated Press.
The hints that upward pressures on oil prices are easing comes against some forecasts. With the US economy showing signs of improvement, the expectations had been for the modest increases in gas prices to continue. Gasbuddy.com's Patrick DeHaan told the Monitor he expected gas prices to peak at about $3.10

JAY-Z.

2010-05-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

Music mogul JAY-Z joins the legendary Betty White as musical guest on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” show May 8.

JAY-Z will make his third appearance as musical guest in studio 8H. Multiple Grammy Award winner, Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter has dominated the rap industry and set trends for a generation. JAY-Z has had numerous number ones on the
Billboard Hot 100, including his latest hit “Empire State of Mind” featuring Alicia Keys; additionally, as an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200. In 2009, JAY-Z entered into a partnership with Live Nation to form Roc Nation. Through Roc Nation, JAY-Z released the Blueprint 3, his eleventh number one album, putting him ahead of Elvis for most number one albums by a solo artist.
“Saturday Night Live” is from SNL Studios in association with Broadway Video. The creator and executive producer is Lorne Michaels. Steve Higgins and Marci Klein are producers. Ken Aymong is supervising producer. Seth Meyers is head writer. Don Roy King directs.

Obama to unveil Kagan as US Supreme Court pick

2010-05-10T01:58:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama will Monday nominate US solicitor general Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, seeking to enshrine a persuasive voice on the bench for years to come, reports said.

Kagan, 50, who argues the US government's position before the Court in her current job, would replace retiring liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, 90, if she is confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
A former Harvard law professor with close ties to Obama and Democratic powerbrokers, Kagan would be the fourth woman to serve on the top US court, and the president's second pick after he chose Justice Sonia Sotomayor last year.
She would also be the youngest member of the current Court and, given her advocacy experience, may have the potential to emerge as a persuasive voice who could bridge the gaps between its liberal and conservative wings.
A high-powered legal scholar and veteran of the Clinton White House, Kagan -- unlike most Supreme Court picks -- has not served for years as a judge, meaning she has no damaging legal paper trail that could derail her confirmation.
She is also said to have cultivated ties with some conservatives, which could help her prospects of confirmation.
The US president has the chance with the lifetime appointments of Supreme Court associate justices to wield influence on US politics, law and the social direction for years after he leaves office.
Kagan would not likely however change the ideological balance of the Court, which is currently weighted towards conservatives.
Republicans may make a show of opposing Kagan's nomination but many observers believe that absent some unknown revelations, she is likely to win Senate confirmation.
She was confirmed to serve as solicitor general last year by 61 votes to 31 in the Senate.
Obama was expected to appear with Kagan at the White House at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) Monday to make the announcement, The New York Times said.
Though Kagan is currently serving as solicitor general, she has no direct judicial experience. Some liberal and legal interest groups had pressured the president to chose someone from outside the "judicial monastery".
Obama said in April, after praising the 34-year tenure of Stevens, that he would chose a replacement who "knows that in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens."
Kagan has spent years in academia teaching the law, rather than arguing cases on the courtroom floor, a factor that may have impressed Obama, a former constitutional law professor.
When she was facing Senate confirmation as solicitor general, she was praised by Attorney General Eric Holder for her "intelligence, experience and commitment to the rule of law."
Kagan would be only the fourth woman to sit on the nation's top court after Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, who made history as the first Hispanic justice.
Stevens, 90, joined the bench amid the traumatic fallout of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, and will step down after 34 years.
A 1981 graduate of Princeton University, Kagan completed her studies at Havard Law School in 1986, leaving just two years before Obama entered the prestigious institution.
She clerked for a judge on the Washington US Court of Appeals and for Justice Thurgood Marshall at the Supreme Court, before entering private practice from 1989 to 1991.
She was professor of law in Chicago and was chosen by then Clinton to serve as his associate counsel and then advisor on domestic policy between 1995 and 1999.
With the Clinton administration, Kagan cultivated contacts with many of the lawyers now serving in the Obama administration.
She was named by Clinton in 1999 to fill a vacancy at the Washington DC appeals court, and went on to become a visiting professor of law at Harvard in 1999 and then professor of law in 2001. She was appointed dean in 2003.
In a letter to the Harvard Law School when Obama chose her as solicitor general, Kagan said she had accepted the nomination "to help advance this nation's commitment to the rule of law at what I think is a critical time in our history."
Now as only the fourth woman to sit on the Supreme Court, she is once again blazing an historic trail.

Obama tells aides not to be distracted on Afghanistan

2010-05-10T01:55:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AFP) – With Hamid Karzai arriving in the US capital Monday, President Barack Obama has told key members of his team not to be "distracted" by public spats with Afghanistan's president but to focus on shared common goals.
A US official signaled on the eve of the four-day Karzai visit that the United States wanted to overcome the "ups and downs" of its relationship with him and refocus on the fight against the Taliban.

The talks are seen by both sides as a chance to put damaging public rows between Washington and Kabul to rest, though Obama is also expected to privately press Karzai to do more to crack down on corruption.
Obama will offer Karzai all the trappings of a head of state, including Oval Office talks, a joint press conference and a White House luncheon on Wednesday.
The visit comes as the US military gears up for a crucial new stage of Obama's strategy to surge 30,000 extra troops into Afghanistan, in a bid to defeat the Taliban and allow US forces to start coming home next year.
The Washington Post first reported on Sunday that Obama told his key foreign policy aides to treat Karzai with more public respect, after the Afghan leader reacted badly to criticisms of him in the press by key officials.
The newspaper said Obama sought to impose discipline on his administration during a White House meeting last month.
"I wouldn't say he ordered people to desist," an administration official later told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"He did tell his administration that we need to be focused on working on a collaborative basis with our Afghan partners, and to stay focused on that effort rather than getting distracted.
"Any partnership will have ups and downs, but the important thing is to stay focused on our shared goals."
Obama's talks Wednesday with Karzai will be the first since the Afghan leader infuriated the White House with outspoken outbursts claiming that foreign nations were behind fraud in 2009 elections that returned him to power.
It has long been known that some key figures in the Obama administration have mistrusted Karzai and doubt his capacity to crack down on corruption and provide good governance in a stable Afghan government.
In one reported comment, which Washington later said was taken out of context, Karzai threatened to join the Taliban, just days after Obama concluded his first presidential trip to Kabul in late March.
Karzai grew bitter after receiving a copy of comments made by Obama's national security adviser James Jones on the way to Kabul that struck him as insulting, the Post said.
Days later, Karzai read in a newspaper article that an unidentified US official was threatening to put Ahmed Wali Karzai, his half-brother, on the military's kill-or-capture list, the paper noted.
"There has been a rough patch," the Post quoted a senior administration official as saying.
"Frankly, some of what Karzai said needed to be responded to. But the bottom line is that there has been an improvement since then in the atmospherics and in the substance of our dealings with President Karzai and his team."
While embracing Karzai, the administration is also stressing it will be conducting sweeping engagement this week with much of the Afghan cabinet.
The choreography of the visit appears to be an effort to show that Washington's ties with Afghanistan are not defined by its volatile relationship with Karzai alone.
Karzai, seen as a bright hope in Washington after the US-led war to depose the Taliban following the September 11 attacks in 2001, is now viewed with widespread mistrust, especially in Congress.
After he arrives on Monday, Karzai attends a dinner hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before sitting down for talks with her on Tuesday, to set the stage for his talks with Obama the next day.
On Thursday, Karzai will wrap up his stay with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where many of the US war dead from the Afghan conflict are buried.
Ahead of his visit, Karzai said the United States and its allies still had a long way to go before their security operations are successful in his country.
"We have traveled far together, but the international effort in Afghanistan still has miles to go," Karzai wrote in an op-ed piece in The Washington Post. "We are not yet delivering security to large portions of the country."

source: yahoo

Joe Biden in Spain to discuss Afghanistan war, global economic crisis

2010-05-10T01:50:00.000-07:00

Madrid
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has arrived in Spain to meet with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and King Juan Carlos for talks.

The visit follows Biden's trip to Brussels, where he told the European Parliament that Washington remains determined to deploy its planned anti-missile system in Europe to counter the danger of Iran's nuclear program and its long-range ballistic missiles.
In Madrid, Biden is to discuss bilateral issues, the war in Afghanistan and almost certainly the global economic crisis, including Greece, the U.S. Embassy said.
On Friday, Biden met with the king at Zarzuela Palace. On Saturday, he holds talks with Zapatero and visits a Spanish military base to meet troops due to return to Afghanistan.

source: AP ,yahoo

Mohammed Al Fayed sells Harrods store to Qatar Holdings

2010-05-08T05:41:00.000-07:00

The department store Harrods has been sold for a purchase price of about £1.5bn, the BBC can confirm.

Owner Mohammed Al Fayed has agreed to sell the exclusive west London store to Qatar Holdings.
Ken Costa, who acted as an adviser to the deal, said that Mr Al Fayed was retiring "to spend more time with his children and grandchildren".
A colourful and controversial figure, Mr Al Fayed acquired Harrods in 1985 following a £615m takeover bid.
The deal was signed in the early hours of 8 May, BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said.
Our reporter added that Mr Al Fayed's motivation for selling was unclear, but the price tag was not inconsiderable in a post-recessionary market.
The BBC understands that Mr Al Fayed will stay on in some capacity but will not be involved in running the company day-to-day.
The sale will include all parts of the Harrods group, including Harrods Estates and a charter aircraft service.
Mr Costa, chairman of asset managers Lazard International, who advised the Al Fayed family trust on the sale, said Qatar Holding had been "specifically chosen" by Mr Al Fayed because he believed it had the "vision and financial capacity" to support the long-term growth of the store.
"In reaching the decision to retire, he wished to ensure that the legacy and traditions that he has built up in Harrods would be continued, and that the team that he has built up would be encouraged to develop the foundations that he has laid," Mr Costa added.
Reports in March had suggested that the Gulf-based investor, which works on behalf of the royal family in the Arab emirate of Qatar, had approached Mr Al Fayed about a possible deal.
However, staff were assured at the time that the store was not for sale.
Repeatedly refused
Mr Al Fayed's UK business interests include the Premiership football club Fulham FC and a recent rich list put his fortune at £650m.
During the 1980s, a battle for control of the store formed part of a long-running feud between Mr Al Fayed and the late businessman Tiny Rowland.
Mr Rowland later accused his business rival of breaking into a safety deposit box stored at Harrods.
Egyptian-born Mr Al Fayed waged a 10-year campaign in an attempt to prove that Princess Diana and his son Dodi, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, were murdered in a conspiracy.
Despite living in Britain for decades, the multi-millionaire businessman has repeatedly been refused a UK passport.
After his first passport refusal, Mr Al Fayed revealed he had paid two Conservative ministers - Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith - to ask questions related to his interests, in the House of Commons. Both left the government in disgrace.
He claimed another political scalp in Jonathan Aitken, the cabinet minister who resigned after the Harrods boss revealed he had been staying free at the Ritz in Paris at the same time as Saudi arms dealers.

Volcanic ash cloud shuts Spanish airports

2010-05-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

Spain has closed 15 airports as a cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano drifts south over Western Europe.

National airport management agency Aena said nine airports closed early on Saturday and six more shut from 1200 local time (1000 GMT).
The restrictions would be in place until at least 1800, Aena said
Most flights between Europe and North America are being diverted because of the ash cloud's latest drifting, officials at Eurocontrol said.
Flights are being rerouted north and south of the 1,200 mile (2,000km) long cloud.
On average, 600 airliners make the Atlantic crossing every day, correspondents say.
Aena said the airports affected were Bilbao, San Sebastian, Vitoria, Zaragoza, Pamplona, La Rioja, Santiago, La Coruna, Vigo, Asturias, Santander, Leon, Valladolid, Burgos and Salamanca.
Eurocontrol, the agency that co-ordinates aviation safety in Europe, said airports were also expected to close in northern Portugal and parts of southern France.
In the UK, some flights to Spain were being affected.

At London Stansted, 22 Ryanair flights to the Canary Islands, mainland Spain and Portugal were cancelled, along with three EasyJet flights.
Flights from Gatwick to Portugal, Alicante and Madrid were cancelled and at Heathrow some flights to La Coruna in northern Spain were also grounded.
Last month, thousands of travellers were stranded after ash shut down airspace across Europe.
Recent images have shown activity in the Eyjafjallajokull volcano intensifying.
Experts at the UK's Met Office said it was sending ash up to heights of 30,000 ft (9,100m).

Flights across Ireland and parts of the UK were disrupted earlier this week.

Clegg meets top Lib Dems over election deal with Tories

2010-05-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

Nick Clegg has met senior Lib Dem MPs to discuss a power-sharing offer from the Tories, after the UK election resulted in a hung parliament.

He stressed his priorities, including "fundamental political reform", but said they would act in a "constructive spirit" in the "coming hours and days".
The Tories won most seats but were short of a majority and are asking for Lib Dem support to form a government.
Gordon Brown and Mr Clegg spoke on the phone on Friday, the BBC has learned.
But there are conflicting reports about the conversation, with one senior Lib Dem source saying Mr Brown had ranted at Mr Clegg and another telling the BBC it had been a perfectly amicable conversation.
Lib Dem talks
Downing Street sources said the call had been the appropriate constitutional approach, lasted less than 40 minutes and concentrated on "process". Mr Brown, who remains prime minister, has publicly invited the Lib Dems to talk to Labour, if talks with the Conservatives fail.
All three party leaders are attending the VE Day ceremony in Whitehall.
The BBC understands some Labour members are already talking to their Lib Dem counterparts to try to persuade them that a deal with the Tories would be a disaster.
Mr Clegg met his frontbench MPs at 1030 BST and will meet his wider parliamentary party and his party's governing body, the federal executive, later to discuss Mr Cameron's proposals in the wake of the first general election to deliver a hung parliament since 1974.
He will need the support of a majority of MPs and the executive to enter into any deal.
The Lib Dem leader is likely to face opposition from some within his own party to doing a deal with the Conservatives - and Mr Cameron will face a battle from some Conservatives if he allows senior Lib Dems to serve in a Conservative-led cabinet or bows to demands for change the voting system.
'Stable government'
As he entered the talks Mr Clegg said the election result meant politicians had to talk to each other as "people deserve good, stable government".
He said the Lib Dems would enter into talks with other parties in a "constructive spirit" over the "coming hours and days" - implying that a deal is unlikely on Saturday.
He did not take any questions, but said the party would press its case for its four priorities - tax reform to make the system fairer, a "new approach" to education to give a "fair start" to all children and to the economy and "fundamental political reform to our political system".
Electoral reform is likely to be a key battleground - the Lib Dems have long campaigned for the first-past-the-post system to be replaced with a form of proportional representation. The Conservatives oppose changing the voting system.
'No small victory'
Labour minister Ben Bradshaw told the BBC it was "not credible" that the Lib Dems would do a deal with the Conservatives without the promise of electoral reform.
He said Gordon Brown could remain prime minister in a "progressive" coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats, if their talks with the Tories failed.
He added: "I think the fact that we have deprived the Conservatives of a majority is no small victory for Gordon Brown."
Mr Cameron offered an "all party committee of inquiry on political and electoral reform" but has not offered a referendum on changing the voting system - something Mr Brown has pledged if Labour remain in power.
Senior Conservative Liam Fox told the BBC: "It would seem to me very strange in an election that was dominated by the economy...if the government of the UK was held to ransom over an issue that the voters did not see as their priority."
He admitted politicians were "constrained" by the range of views within the party but said the question was whether the parties would focus on their similarities to provide a "stable government for the country" or whether "elements within the parties" would be allowed to focus on their differences.
He said that was not "a free-for-all for politicians cobbling deals after the election".
The Tories secured 306 of the 649 constituencies contested on 6 May. It leaves the party just short of the 326 MPs needed for an outright majority, with the Thirsk and Malton seat - where the election was postponed after the death of a candidate - still to vote.
Labour finished with 258 MPs, down 91, the Lib Dems 57, down five, and other parties 28. The Conservatives got 36.1% of votes (up 3.8%), Labour 29.1% (down 6.2%) and the Lib Dems 23% (up 1%).
Past practice under Britain's unwritten constitution involves the sitting prime minister in a hung Parliament having the right to make the first attempt at forming a ruling coalition.
But Mr Clegg - whose party did worse than in 2005 despite favourable opinion polls - said that he believed the Tories had gained the "first right" to attempt to form a government.

UK goes to the ballot

2010-05-06T02:53:00.000-07:00

A combination of three photographs taken at different events during the 2010 general election campaign, shows (L-R) Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown; Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron, in this image produced in London on May 5, 2010. Party leaders criss-crossed the country making a final push for votes in the last day of campaigning before Thursday's parliamentary election, as two polls pointed to an inconclusive result. Photo/REUTERS

LONDON, Wednesday

Britain’s party leaders criss-crossed the country making a final push for votes in the last day of campaigning before Thursday’s parliamentary election, as two polls pointed to an inconclusive result.

One poll indicated that Labour, in power since 1997 but battered by recession and public anger over a scandal over MPs’ expenses that has tainted all the main parties, could still win the greatest number of seats in parliament.

Still undecided

Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron campaigned through the night and Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an early visit on Wednesday morning to market workers in northern England to court the one third of voters said still to be undecided.

A YouGov poll for the Sun newspaper suggested the centre-right Conservatives’ support was unchanged on 35 per cent, while centre-left Labour rose to 30 per cent. The Liberal Democrats, who had enjoyed a strong rise in recent weeks, fell four points to 24 per cent.

A ComRes poll for the Independent newspaper put support for the parties unchanged, with the Conservatives 8 points ahead of Labour, making David Cameron’s party the largest in a 650-seat parliament, but denying him outright control.

Both polls suggest a “hung parliament”, in which the centrist Liberal Democrats could hold the balance of power. Britain has not had an inconclusive election result of this kind since 1974 and is unused to the kind of coalition-building familiar to many European countries.

Two senior Liberal Democrats said they would work constructively with whoever voters decided should lead the country but reiterated that they could not support a party that won the most seats despite coming third in votes.

However, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg dismissed suggestion he could be kingmaker come Friday. “There are 45 million people in this country who are entitled to vote, 45 million kingmakers,” he told supporters.

Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which is expected to win at least nine seats, is willing to enter a formal coalition with the Conservatives if they fail to win an overall majority, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

US reviews Harare sanctions

2010-05-06T02:47:00.000-07:00

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (C) with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai (L) after signing a power-sharing deal at Rainbow Towers hotel in Harare. A Bill seeks among other things to a create a statement of US policy towards Zimbabwe, provide for technical assistance to the unity government, support land reforms and take action to stop illegal diamond deals. Photo/FILE

The United States is reviewing the decade old sanctions against Zimbabwe. But the measures are unlikely to end the travel restrictions and asset freeze imposed on President Robert Mugabe and his inner circle for alleged human rights violations.

A bill that seeks to amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) of 2001, which introduced wide ranging sanctions on the southern African country, was introduced in the US Senate on Tuesday.

Sponsored by Senator Feingold along with Republican Senator Johny Isakson and fellow Democrat Senator John Kerry, the proposed Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act will seek to direct new US policy towards Zimbabwe.

The Bill seeks among other things to a create a statement of US policy towards Zimbabwe, provide for technical assistance to the unity government, support land reforms and take action to stop illegal diamond deals.

The US and its European Union counterparts have maintained sanctions on Zimbabwe despite the formation of the unity government between Mr Mugabe and his former arch rival and now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

“The bill states that the US should continue to provide humanitarian assistance, promote trade between US companies and Zimbabwe push for the implementation of the power sharing agreement,” said a summary of the debate on the bill.

ZDERA is being amended to reward the transitional government and allows for debt relief and multilateral financing.

However, the senators also want US president Barack Obama to be able to push for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the Kimberley Process.

IIEC extends Kenya voter registration

2010-05-06T02:42:00.000-07:00

interim Independent Electoral Commission of Kenya chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan during a press conference May 5, 2010 where he announced the deadline for voter registration has been extended to Sunday. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI

Voter registration has been extended by four days giving a chance to millions of people who missed Wednesday’s deadline.

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission said the extension had been requested by organisations such as the Federation of Women Lawyers- Kenya chapter.

“All our staff have been asked to open the centres tomorrow (Thursday). Our programme is congested and we will not extend the deadline again,” said chairman Issack Hassan at a press conference on Wednesday night.

The registration will now end on May 9, 2010.

A meeting between Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo, Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Attorney General Amos Wako agreed to give the process more funds.

The commission is on Thursday morning expected to send a team to Treasury for the release of the extra funds.

It costs Sh52 million a day to register voters countrywide and the total cost of the extension will be Sh208 million.

Mr Hassan said about 1.5 million extra voters are expected to enter the voters’ roll in the four extra days.

The chairman said the commission will now spend longer compiling the final register because of the time it takes scanning the information from the forms before transferring it to computers for compilation.

Queues at registration centres lengthened on Wednesday as the commission announced that it had surpassed its 10 million target.

By last Friday, 10,036,415 voters had enrolled, an increase of two million in a week.

Bank rate cuts spur price wars

2010-05-05T01:53:00.000-07:00

CBK has made six rate cuts since December 2008. Photo/FILE

In what is the biggest win for Central Bank of Kenya in its push to have banks cut their lending rates, the country’s largest lenders have entered into a price war on unsecured loans

Now ICC probe team starts work

2010-05-05T01:47:00.000-07:00

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is expected to fly into the country on Saturday. PHOTO/ REUTERS

An advance team from The Hague arrives on Wednesday morning to set the stage for investigations into post-election violence.

Officers from the Outreach Unit of the International Criminal Court, who are based in Uganda, arrived yesterday to prepare for meetings with groups that will play a role in the investigations.

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is expected to fly into the country on Saturday.

The advance team will, among other things, make appointments with key government officials, including President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The schedule will include one public meeting, travels to the post-election violence hotspots of Eldoret, Naivasha, and selected estates in Nairobi and Kisumu.

In a letter informing the government about his seven-day visit, Mr Moreno-Ocampo said he would visit areas that were most hit by the chaos.

At least 1,133 people were killed and another 650,000 displaced from their homes during the violence.

“I will like to travel throughout Kenya to meet communities in the most affected areas, particularly in the Rift Valley,” he said in the letter dated April 19, 2010.

A public meeting where the ICC prosecutor will explain the reason for his visit and how justice will be delivered is said to have been arranged.

But the dates and venue have not been announced.

The team will on Thursday evening host an awareness conference in Nairobi for all players in the investigations, including civil society and the media.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo, who expects to collect evidence to nail six key suspects, has presented 20 names of the perpetrators to the ICC judges.

On Wednesday, the Outreach Unit will hold a five-hour breakfast consultative meeting at the Stanley Hotel to explain how the Pre-Trial Chamber granted permission for investigations and the way they will be conducted.

Presentations

Among those who will make presentations will be Uganda’s outreach coordinator Maria Kamara and Ms Jelena Vukasinovic, an associate legal outreach officer of the ICC.

UK candidates in final push for votes

2010-05-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, accompanied by his wife Sarah (L), speaks to students at Warwickshire College, in Leamington Spa, central England May 4, 2010. Britain's political leaders planned to campaign through the night on Tuesday in a final push for votes, two days before a parliamentary election that opinion polls suggest will be the closest in nearly 20 years. Brown's ruling Labour Party, in power since 1997, trails the opposition Conservatives by seven and 11 percent before the May 6 vote in the two latest opinion polls. REUTERS

Britain’s political leaders planned to campaign through the night on Tuesday in a final push for votes, two days before a parliamentary election that opinion polls suggest will be the closest in nearly 20 years.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party, in power since 1997, trails the opposition Conservatives by seven or eight points before the May 6 vote, according to the latest polls.

Slim majority

That could give David Cameron’s centre-right party a slim majority in parliament or leave him just short of taking overall control of the lower house, depending on how the votes are spread across Britain’s 650 electoral districts.

Cameron, keen to end his party’s 13 years in opposition and secure a solid majority, will campaign overnight on Tuesday, seeking support from the third of voters said to still be undecided.

Brown, expected to match Cameron’s unprecedented campaign marathon, said he would “take full responsibility” if Labour loses on Thursday, but stressed his centre-left party was still in the race.

“I still think there are thousands of people who have still to make up their minds,” Brown told a breakfast television programme.

His attempt to win a fourth consecutive election for Labour was undermined by one of his candidates who described him in a local newspaper interview as “the worst prime minister ever”.

Manish Sood, standing for election in Norfolk, eastern England, told Sky News he stood by his comments: “All the policies he is bringing in are a total disaster.”

The Financial Times newspaper gave Cameron a boost, switching its support from Labour to the Conservatives.

It said Cameron’s party will be better at tackling Britain’s record budget deficit and the recovery from the worst recession since World War Two.

“We are taking absolutely nothing for granted,” George Osborne, the Conservatives’ finance spokesman and election co-ordinator said in a message to supporters. “I want us to fight to persuade every single voter that is still undecided.”

Third party

Two of Brown’s senior ministers appeared to appeal to centre-left Labour supporters in some close-fought electoral districts to consider voting for the third party, the Liberal Democrats.

Zimbabwe slowly returning to normalcy

2010-05-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe welcomes his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Harare International Airport, on April 22. Ahmadinejad was in Zimbabwe for a two-day visit condemned by Mugabe’s opponents as a meeting of despots which could further isolate Harare. Photo/REUTERS

The hordes of black-market currency traders in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare have gone out of business.

Just over a year ago, Zimbabwe had the world’s worst modern-day hyperinflation and the national currency was worthless.

Streets in central Harare were lined with black-market traders exchanging huge wads of Zimbabwean dollars for US dollars or South Africa rand.

One trader, who did so well illegally dealing in foreign exchange he could afford to take a second wife, has taken up his old job as a taxi driver.

“Life has become so difficult and there is no meaningful business to sustain my life. In the past, no matter how difficult it was, you could always get some money, but not now. Raising a dollar has become hard labour,” said Derick Chiwapura who traded foreign exchange at a Harare shopping mall.

Today, shops in the capital are fully stocked with goods which anyone can buy as long as they pay in US dollars. Zimbabwe’s government allowed the use of multiple currencies in early 2009, effectively making the dollar the official currency.

Harare’s streets are markedly cleaner than they were six months ago, grocery shops have sprung up all over the capital – offering goods at prices comparable to neighbouring South Africa – and there are more new vehicles on the roads.

But much-needed investment from abroad remains absent and the country’s stock exchange has seen foreign investors retreat after the introduction of regulations calling for foreign-owned companies to transfer a majority stake to Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe moved to implement the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act that requires foreign firms to sell a 51 per cent stake to local blacks at the end of January.

Faster political reform

“The foreigners are sniffing around. You can see that from the full hotels but nothing will happen until the economy picks up,” said one banker in Harare.

Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government, set up by President Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, now the country’s prime minister, has estimated around $10 billion is needed to repair the economy.

Foreign investors are also reluctant to pledge funds without faster political reform. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and Tsvangirai’s MDC continue to bicker over the pace of reforms and appointments of senior state officials.

Bankers and the country’s stock exchange say the economy can only recover if there is significant foreign investment but the controversial empowerment regulations have spooked investors. (Reuters)

AG given go-ahead to publish draft

2010-05-05T01:30:00.000-07:00

Attorney General Amos Wako was on Tuesday given the go-ahead to publish the draft constitution after scrutiny by a parliamentary committee confirmed that no major changes had been made to the document endorsed by MPs.

After nearly five hours of sifting through the document clause by clause, members of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) expressed satisfaction that no changes had been made to the document.

Speaking to the Nation after his team went through the document with the AG, PSC chairman Mohammed Abdikadir confirmed that no fundamental changes had been made to the document.

“We have gone through it and there are no changes, save for editorial ones like commas,” said Mr Abdikadir.

PSC’s move could be traced to a 1992 experience when it took Lands minister James Orengo, then a multi-party crusader, to rush to court to reverse a move by Mr Wako that would have affected the date of a general election.

After the AG publishes the proposed constitution, Kenyans will be subjected to 30 days of voter education to enable them understand its contents before casting their vote during the referendum expected within 90 days.

Churches and some politicians have been pushing for changes to be made to contentious clauses, mainly touching on kadhi courts and the right to life, before the draft goes to the referendum.

End pregnancy

The Church objects to the section of Article 26 which empowers doctors to end a pregnancy if it endangers the woman’s life or she needs emergency treatment.

Christian leaders are also opposed to the retention of kadhi courts in the new constitution under Article 169 and 170, which limit their authority to disputes over personal status, marriage, divorce or inheritance, where all the parties are Muslims and agree to take the case to a Kadhi.

Memoranda circulated at the session from the Kenya Episcopal Conference and the Catholics for Peace and Justice calling for the alteration of clause 26 to remove any references to abortion and to recognise that life begins at conception were overlooked.

“They were the same ones that were circulated at Naivasha. We did not consider them because it was too late to alter the document,” said one PSC member who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak on the committee’s behalf.

“We’ve cleared him to go ahead and publish the proposed law on Thursday,” said Mr Abdikadir.

He said the editorial changes mainly focused on cross-referencing, where the provisions of an article refer to another article.

“The draft has changed so many times that some of the clauses were referring to non-existent chapters; so it was upon the Attorney General and his team of drafters to comb through it and correct the anomalies,” the PSC chairman said.

Accidents kill 170 in one month

2010-05-05T01:25:00.000-07:00

Three people died instantly and 12 others were seriously injured when the matatu they were travelling in collided with a truck on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway on Tuesday. Photo/ANTHONY OMUYA

Road accidents killed 170 people in the last one month.

This is is fewer than in 2008 when 224 people died. In the previous year, 266 people were killed over the same period.

Nineteen of the 170 died between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon, according to the traffic commandant Joseph ole Tito.

He blamed the accidents on interference with speed governors by public service vehicle drivers.

“Most drivers activate the speed governors and slow down when they approach traffic police roadblocks but quickly reactivate the gadgets once they drive past. However, we are enforcing stringent traffic rules popularly referred to as Michuki rules,” Mr Tito said.

“However, we are enforcing stringent traffic rules popularly referred to as Michuki rules,” Mr Tito said.

He said traffic police officers countrywide prosecuted more than 1,500 cases involving traffic violations daily. Between January and June 2009, traffic police recorded 1,963 fatal accidents on Kenyan roads compared to 1,020 in 2008 and 1,146 in 2007.

On Tuesday, one person died and others hurt when a school bus collided with a tanker in the Gilgil area on the Naivasha-Nakuru highway.

On Monday, eight people died when a matatu they were travelling on was involved in an accident near Thika Town.

Three others who were among 10 taken to a Thika hospital died later, bringing the death toll to 11.

The driver of the matatu is said to have lost control of the vehicle and veered off the road before ramming a tree by the roadside.

In another accident, a six-year-old was crashed to death by a speeding vehicle near Arasha market on the Nakuru-Nyahururu road.

Family members

Six family members - Nairobi lawyer Ken Watta, his wife Hellen Anyango, two children, sister-in-law Crispin Akinyi Otieno and Wycliff Okoyo Okwayo, son of a former Cabinet minister - died last Saturday when their car collided with a bus on the Keroka-Sotik road.

New rules heat up mobile phone wars

2010-05-05T01:23:00.000-07:00

Safaricom CEO, Michael Joseph. Photo/FILE

The gloves are off in what could be an increasingly messy fight for the mobile phone service market.

Dominant player, Safaricom, is up in arms against new rules published by the Communications Commission of Kenya that it says are meant to help its smaller rivals, Zain, Orange and Yu.

The market regulator on Tuesday came out to deny that it was siding with the smaller players.

Control charges

It pledged to implement the regulations that have been welcomed by the other three companies, but bitterly denounced by Safaricom.

The new rules will allow the CCK to control or even lower call charges set by the market leader.

Price increases or reductions can only be implemented with approval of the regulator; while even popular marketing strategies such as reduced promotional rates such as Supa Ongea and Bonga Points can only be introduced with permission and can run only for limited periods.

Safaricom is complaining that it is being specifically targeted because it is the only mobile phone provider that meets the dominance threshold defined in the regulations; and therefore, the only one open to the new controls.

CEO Michael Joseph told the Nation on Tuesday that Safaricom might go to court to block the new regulations.

“Those who have a problem with the regulations should go to the tribunal,” CCK director-general Charles Njoroge, told a press conference on Tuesday.

The battle came out into the open on Monday when Safaricom put out full-page press advertisements decrying the five new rules under the Kenya Information and Communications Regulations 2010.

Mr Joseph accused CCK of punishing success and using punitive regulations to support less innovative rival companies.

Zain, Orange and Yu countered the following day with a joint advertisement of their own in praising CCK and the government for acting against “abuse of dominance” and ensuring that “consumers are not exploited”.

The new regulations gazetted by CCK are on Dispute Resolution; Tariffs and Compliance Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement.

Others are on Interconnection and Provision of Fixed Links, Access and Facilities; and Fair Competition and Equality of Treatment.

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