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Australia election 2013: Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott hold first debate

Diane A. Wade
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Australia election 2013: Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott hold first debate

Australia’s Labor PM Kevin Rudd and opposition leader Tony Abbott are due to meet in the first televised debate of the election campaign.

The candidates will face an hour of questioning from a panel of journalists in the capital, Canberra.

Correspondents say the economy and the issue of asylum seekers are likely to dominate the debate.

Current opinion polls put Tony Abbott and his Liberal-National coalition in the lead for the September 7 election.

However, Kevin Rudd’s Labor Party has significantly narrowed its lead since he ousted his predecessor, Julia Gillard, in June.

Kevin Rudd told reporters that Tony Abbott’s poll lead meant the pressure would be on the opposition leader in the debate to justify his budget plans.

Australia's Labor PM Kevin Rudd and opposition leader Tony Abbott are due to meet in the first televised debate of the election campaign
Australia’s Labor PM Kevin Rudd and opposition leader Tony Abbott are due to meet in the first televised debate of the election campaign

“Based on today’s polls if there was an election yesterday Mr. Abbott would be prime minister today and therefore he can’t be evasive tonight about where his A$70 billion ($65 billion) in cuts in health, education and jobs will fall,” said.

Tony Abbott said it would be clear to Australians well before polling day “exactly what we are spending and exactly what we are saving”, AFP reports.

Sunday’s debate, which begins at 18:30 local time, is the first of three such possible meetings before polling day.

Labor last week announced an A$200 million package to assist the car industry.

Tony Abbott, meanwhile, pledged to repeal Australia’s carbon tax at his first campaign event in Brisbane.

Both candidates have also already been campaigning on the heated topic of immigration, and how to stop illegal migrants reaching Australian shores.

Labor has been hit by the loss of two candidates in the past week. Kevin Rudd demanded that Geoff Lake, candidate for the safe seat of Hotham in Victoria, withdraw after it emerged he had abused a woman with a disability during a council meeting a decade ago.

Meanwhile the Labor candidate for the Queensland seat of Kennedy, Ken Robertson, stood down from the race after calling Tony Abbott a racist and “very bigoted” in an interview.

Ken Robertson said he was withdrawing “in the interests of ensuring that this matter does not distract from Labor’s campaign for a fairer Australia”.

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Mali begins voting in presidential election run-off

Diane A. Wade
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Mali begins voting in presidential election run-off

Mali is set to begin voting in a presidential election run-off.

Many expect Former PM Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who won 40% of the vote in the first round, to defeat ex-Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse.

The election follows more than a year of turmoil which included a coup and a French-led military intervention to oust Islamist rebels from the north.

The victor will oversee more than $4 billion in foreign aid promised to rebuild the West African state.

A 12,600-strong United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Mali (Minusma) is currently deploying, as France begins to withdraw its 3,000 troops.

The UN has stressed the importance of the election to the restoration of constitutional order and the start of national dialogue and reconciliation.

A record 49% of the 6.8 million registered voters cast a ballot in first round on 28 July.

Mali presidential candidates Soumaila Cissé and Ibrahim Boubacar Keita
Mali presidential candidates Soumaila Cissé and Ibrahim Boubacar Keita

Soumaila Cisse, who was second among the 27 candidates with 19.7% of the vote, complained that there was widespread fraud, with more than 400,000 ballots declared spoiled.

However, Mali’s Constitutional Court rejected the allegations and the head of the EU election observer mission, Louis Michel, praised the electoral process for its transparency.

Ahead of Sunday’s second round, for which some 21,000 polling stations are due to open across Mali at 08:00 GMT, Louis Michel said he had been “positively surprised” by preparations.

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita – who is popularly known by his initials, “IBK” – has urged voters to give him what he called a “clear and clean” majority in the run-off.

“My first priority would be the reconciliation of the country. After the trauma that it has suffered, a new start is needed,” he told reporters on Saturday.

But IBK also said he would be pursuing “a real peace… not a false one”.

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 68, has the support of influential moderate Islamic leaders, and 22 of the 25 losing first-round candidates have given him their backing.

Soumaila Cisse, 63, has run on pledges to improve education, create jobs and reform the army. He has been more openly critical of the leaders of last year’s military coup than Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

“I am confident, because it is not about adding to the votes from the first round, there will be new votes, it is a new election,” he told the AFP news agency on Saturday.

“Everything restarts from zero.”

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Charles Saatchi threatens to commit suicide to win back Nigella Lawson

Lisa.Felice
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Charles Saatchi threatens to commit suicide to win back Nigella Lawson

Recent reports claim that Charles Saatchi threatened to commit suicide in a bid to win back Nigella Lawson after the first stages of their divorce.

According to The Mail on Sunday, in a series of text messages and phone calls, Charles Saatchi warned he would take his own life and begged his wife to contact him. The “harassing” messages show the depths of despair – some friends  say madness – into which Charles Saatchi has sunk.

It appears that he has accused Nigella Lawson of potentially criminal behaviour and allowed his young daughter to make statements alleging illegality by her stepmother.

The revelations come as Nigella Lawson prepares to step up her cookery career, with plans for endorsements, another book and a new TV series to be filmed in Los Angeles in September. She has not seen her estranged husband since photographs of him grasping her by the throat were published in a Sunday newspaper eight weeks ago.
Nigella Lawson has also refused to answer any of the messages Charles Saatchi has been leaving on a daily basis.

Charles Saatchi threatened to commit suicide in a bid to win back Nigella Lawson after the first stages of their divorce
Charles Saatchi threatened to commit suicide in a bid to win back Nigella Lawson after the first stages of their divorce

However, Nigella Lawson finally relented after Charles Saatchi, 70, said he would kill himself. Such was his despair, his 18-year-old daughter Phoebe also texted her former stepmother to say she was worried about her father’s state of mind.

Friends revealed details of his desperate behaviour after being “appalled” that he allowed his daughter to attack Nigella Lawson by claiming her stepmother had abandoned her.

The couple spoke twice on the phone in the days after their decree nisi was granted on July 31. It is understood that the threats of suicide were made in at least one “ranting” phone call.

According to a friend of Nigella Lawson, she felt she was left with little choice but to contact him.

The friend said: “Charles has been texting and phoning Nigella endlessly. One minute he’s pleading, the next bullying. Her silence has been driving him crazy. When she didn’t reply, he used Phoebe to get Nigella to talk to him, to tell her she was worried about his state of mind. He’s not above using Phoebe as a bargaining chip. In the end, after the threats, Nigella called him. The first conversation was quite sweet.

“It was a case of, <<please come back>>. Nigella was sympathetic. She was going out somewhere and said I hope you don’t [do anything silly].

“The second conversation was more difficult but she held firm.”

A friend of Charles Saatchi also confirmed that he had contemplated suicide in recent weeks as he struggled to come to terms with losing his wife and his reputation.

It is said that one of the hardest things for Charles Saatchi has been Nigella Lawson’s refusal to defend him against allegations of being a wife-beater – allegations Saatchi insists they both know aren’t true.

The suicide threats come amid deepening concerns for the former advertising tycoon who has been acting increasingly strangely of late.

Yesterday he allowed his teenage daughter to issue a statement to a newspaper denouncing Nigella Lawson.

Phoebe, his daughter by his second wife Kay Hartenstein, accused her stepmother Nigella Lawson of abandoning her and said: “She has behaved in a very cold-hearted way.”

Rolf Harris replaced by Ben Fogle on Animal Clinic

Sonia Pantiss
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Rolf Harris replaced by Ben Fogle on Animal Clinic

Rolf Harris has been replaced by Ben Fogle as host of Channel 5’s vet school series Animal Clinic.

Re-titled Ben Fogle’s Animal Clinic, the show will continue to follow the University of Liverpool’s vets at their three animal hospitals.

Extended from six to eight episodes, the series will air this autumn.

The news comes within days of Rolf Harris’s second arrest over additional offences as part of Operation Yewtree.

His arrests were not connected to the investigation into BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, and the presenter was bailed until August.

Rolf Harris has been replaced by Ben Fogle as host of Channel 5’s vet school series Animal Clinic
Rolf Harris has been replaced by Ben Fogle as host of Channel 5’s vet school series Animal Clinic

Rolf Harris presented BBC series Animal Hospital for a decade until 2004 before he was picked up by Channel 5 for its own animal series.

Rolf’s Animal Clinic performed well for the channel, with an audience averaging 1.6 million over its run.

The show was in a repeat run when he was publicly named as a Yewtree suspect in April.

The show was subsequently pulled from schedules and it was uncertain whether it would return.

“We are delighted to have Ben on board. His background and love of animals make him the natural choice to present the second series,” commissioning editor Ian Dunkley said.

Ben Fogle previously hosted BBC series Animal Park, set at Longleat Safari Park, for nine years.

His father is the veterinary surgeon and prolific pet care author, Bruce Fogle.

Among the cases covered on the new series include a Bearded Collie with a tumour-like mass on her heart, exotic species at Chester Zoo and the vets who act as emergency midwives during lambing season.

Eydie Gorme dies in Las Vegas at 84

Sonia Pantiss
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Eydie Gorme dies in Las Vegas at 84

Eydie Gorme, who had a hit in 1963 with Blame It On The Bossa Nova, has died in Las Vegas at the age of 84, her publicist has said.

Eydie Gorme was a popular nightclub and TV singer, both with her husband Steve Lawrence and as a solo act.

In 1953, she joined what became the Tonight Show on the NBC television network. Eydie Gorme and Steve Lawrence also recorded Spanish-language songs which became hits in Latin America.

Eydie Gorme has died in Las Vegas at the age of 84
Eydie Gorme has died in Las Vegas at the age of 84

Eydie Gorme died after a brief illness.

Steve Lawrence was at her bedside, along with their son, when she died on Saturday afternoon, her publicist Howard Bragman said.

Eydie Gorme, who was born to Spanish-speaking Jewish parents in New York in 1928, grew up speaking both English and Spanish.

She met Steve Lawrence in 1953 on the set of a New York local TV programme hosted by Steve Allen which became the Tonight Show the next year. The couple married in 1957.

Eydie Gorme’s biggest solo hit was Blame It On The Bossa Nova. She also scored another success on her own in 1964 with the Spanish-language song, Amor, recorded with the Mexican band Trio Los Panchos.

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Perseid Meteor Shower 2013

James J. Williams
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Perseid Meteor Shower 2013

In 2013, the Perseid meteors will streak across the short summer nights – August 10-13 – from late night until dawn, with little to no interference from the waxing crescent moon.

Plus the moon will be near the planet Saturn in the evening hours, giving a colorful prelude to late-night Perseid show.

Best mornings to look: August 11, 12 and 13.

The Perseid meteor shower is perhaps the most beloved meteor shower of the year for the Northern Hemisphere
The Perseid meteor shower is perhaps the most beloved meteor shower of the year for the Northern Hemisphere

The Perseid meteor shower is perhaps the most beloved meteor shower of the year for the Northern Hemisphere.

The shower builds gradually to a peak, often produces 50 to 100 meteors per hour in a dark sky at the peak, and, in the Northern Hemisphere, this shower comes when the weather is warm.

The Perseids tend to strengthen in number as late night deepens into midnight, and typically produce the most meteors in the wee hours before dawn. They radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus the Hero, but, as with all meteor shower radiant points, you don’t need to know Perseus to watch the shower; instead, the meteors appear in all parts of the sky.

They are typically fast and bright meteors. They frequently leave persistent trains. Every year, you can look for the Perseids around August 10-13. They combine with the Delta Aquarid shower to produce the year’s most dazzling display of shooting stars.

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Matthew Perry reveals more weight gain as he boards a plane in Los Angeles

Lisa.Felice
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Matthew Perry reveals more weight gain as he boards a plane in Los Angeles

Matthew Perry’s fuller face revealed that he has gained even more weight in the past month as he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday.

Matthew Perry, 43, has won his hard-fought battle with drugs but now seems to be fighting with the scale as his weight yet again fluctuates.

Matthew Perry’s fuller face revealed that he has gained even more weight in the past month
Matthew Perry’s fuller face revealed that he has gained even more weight in the past month

He appeared somewhat bedraggled as he walked though the sprawling airport with a scruffy shirt covering his black T-shirt, a green bag flung over his shoulder and a baseball cap on his head.

Matthew Perry also wore a rare pair of studious glasses and a thick coat despite the sunny California weather outside.

After winning the hearts of millions of Friends viewers as Chandler Bing in the 1990s, Matthew Perry was last seen in Go On, a comedy drama that aired in the US on NBC last year but was canceled after one season.

Chris Brown collapses at Record Plant studios

Lisa.Felice
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Chris Brown collapses at Record Plant studios

Chris Brown collapsed at Record Plant recording studios in Hollywood on Friday and the seizure has been blamed on his intense fatigue and anxiety related to his recent hit and run legal troubles.

A spokesperson for Chris Brown, 24, told UsWeekly: “While in the studio working early this morning, Chris suffered a nonepileptic seizure (NES). He was not hospitalized.”

“His doctor tended to him this afternoon and attributes the NES to intense fatigue and extreme emotional stress, both due to the continued onslaught of unfounded legal matters and the nonstop negativity.”

Chris Brown was previously reported to have refused medical treatment at the scene following the seizure and was fully responsive.

Chris Brown collapsed at Record Plant recording studios in Hollywood
Chris Brown collapsed at Record Plant recording studios in Hollywood

The incident came shortly after Chris Brown, who spent 45 minutes in jail on Monday after his probation, stemming from his assault on ex-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, was revoked due to an alleged hit and run accident in Los Angeles in May, claimed he was “tired of being famous”.

The LA Fire Department had been called to the scene early in the morning on Friday after receiving a 911 call, according to TMZ.

But when paramedics arrived at Record Plant recording studios, Chris Brown is said to have refused treatment and declined to be taken to the hospital.

The call was allegedly made at 1:09 a.m. from the Hollywood studio.

It is not yet confirmed whether Chris Brown did indeed have a seizure, but according to TMZ the singer did suffer seizures as a child.

Earlier in the day, Chris Brown was seen spraypainting a wall outside a tattoo parlor.

Red-headed men are 54% less likely to develop prostate cancer

Kathryn R. Bown
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Red-headed men are 54% less likely to develop prostate cancer

A new research found that naturally red-headed men are 54% less likely to develop prostate cancer as those with blond, brown or black hair.

Why hair color should be such a powerful influence on cancer risk is not clear.

Scientists behind the findings, published online in the British Journal of Cancer, think it might be to do with the way genes that dictate hair pigmentation also influence tumor development.

Britain has some of the largest numbers of ginger-haired people per head of population. Globally, the figure is 1-2%, but  it is 13% in Scotland, 10% in Ireland and 6% in England.

Previous studies have hinted that having red hair affects health in other ways.

Red-headed men are 54 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer
Red-headed men are 54 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer

Scientists at Louisville University in Kentucky, found ginger-haired people feel pain and the cold more than everybody else because their pain threshold may be partly dictated by the same gene that sets their hair color – MC1R.

Red-heads, being fair skinned, are also known to be more at risk of skin cancer.

Researchers from Finland’s National Institute for Health and Medicine, in Helsinki, and the US National Cancer Institute, based in Maryland, wanted to see if the same genetic factors also influenced a man’s chances of prostate cancer.

The researchers looked at 20,000 men aged 50 to 69 who were recruited to a long-term health study in the late 1980s.

Among the data collected were records of what color their hair was aged 20.

Researchers found that 1,982 men went on to develop prostate cancer.

Researchers stressed that only 1% of the men studied had red hair, compared to more than 40% with light brown hair.

Scientists think it is possible that the MC1R gene may help to control the way some cells divide and grow

Ella Mae: Toddler sings Elvis Presley’s An American Trilogy

Nancy Clayson
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Ella Mae: Toddler sings Elvis Presley’s An American Trilogy

Twenty-month-old Ella Mae was recently recorded singing Elvis Presley’s version of An American Trilogy in her car seat while out for a drive with dad.

To capture the performance, Ella Mae’s dad strapped a camera to the back seat and focused it on the toddler’s rear-facing car seat.

Twenty-month-old Ella Mae was recorded singing Elvis Presley's version of An American Trilogy in her car seat while out for a drive with dad
Twenty-month-old Ella Mae was recorded singing Elvis Presley’s version of An American Trilogy in her car seat while out for a drive with dad

During the stirring performance, Ella Mae emotes heartbreak for someone whose probably only ever experienced the pain of being force-fed pureed green beans.

Ella Mae’s rendition is so cute, it almost distracts from the song’s grim subject matter.

The emotional climax of the song includes the lyrics: “So hush little baby, don’t you cry. You know daddy’s bound to die.”

But the toddler only seems to understand the word “daddy” and shouts a happy call to the driver’s seat.
Besides An American Trilogy, Ella Mae has a few other favorite songs to listen to in the car.

Her dad writes on YouTube that she enjoys singing along to other Elvis Presley songs like Suspicious Minds, The Beatles’ Twist and Shout, and more contemporary hits like The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars.

Ella Mae’s dad hopes to make another video of her singing, but says the easily-distracted toddler can be hard to film.

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Michael Girgenti files paternity suit against Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick

Lisa.Felice
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Michael Girgenti files paternity suit against Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick

Model Michael Girgenti has filed a paternity suit against Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick.

Looking understandably miserable, Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick were seen walking together to the new Mr. Chow restaurant in Malibu, with Scott walking one step ahead of his partner.

It was revealed yesterday that Kourtney Kourtney is facing a lawsuit from Michael Girgenti, who claims he is Mason’s biological father.

Michael Girgenti alleges he had a relationship with Kourtney Kardashian after they met on a photoshoot in August 2008 and has filed paperwork at Los Angeles County Superior Court in a bid to get joint custody of her three-year-old child, Mason.

According to gossip website TMZ.com, Michael Girgenti wants the judge to order DNA tests for Kourtney Kardashian, Mason and her long-term boyfriend Scott Disick, who is father to her daughter Penelope, 13 months.

A hearing has been set for next month.

Model Michael Girgenti has filed a paternity suit against Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick
Model Michael Girgenti has filed a paternity suit against Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick

The lawsuit documents the alleged relationship between Kourtney Kardashian and Michael Girgenti, which he claims heated up in March 2009, when she told him her relationship with Scott Disick was “on the outs” and “she wanted to hang”.

Kourtney Kardashian, who in March was said to be “furious” over Michael Girgenti’s claims has yet to comment personally on the fresh allegations.

However, her lawyer told TMZ.com on Friday that Girgenti’s allegations are “absurd”.

“This individual has been selling false and fabricated stories to the tabloids for years about Kourtney Kardashian and her son, Mason.  Scott Disick is Mason’s father,” Todd Wilson told the website.

“We have not seen the reported court filing, but we are informed that this individual has been seeking to get paid to publish his ridiculous pleading. 

“His claims are absurd and this is simply another shameful attempt to gain publicity and profit from fictional stories about my client.”

Kourtney Kardashian was seen outside her lawyer’s office on Wednesday, no doubt seeking advice over the embarrassing and upsetting lawsuit.

Michael Girgenti claims they had a relationship and as soon as she had given birth to Mason – born on 14 December 2009 – he tried contacting her.

The allegations first came to light in March earlier this year when Michael Girgenti told In Touch magazine: “After [Mason] was born, and I saw photos of him, I began to wonder.

“I would definitely want to acknowledge Mason if he’s my kid – he deserves to know his real father.”

A legal representative for the Kourtney Kardashian previously branded the Chicago native’s allegations “preposterous and an outrageous lie”.

Duck Dynasty Season 4: Phil Robertson is not leaving the show

Sonia Pantiss
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Duck Dynasty Season 4: Phil Robertson is not leaving the show

Duck Dynasty fans were likely stunned when rumors started circulating that one of the show’s stars and the family’s patriarch, Phil Robertson, could be leaving the show.

In an interview with Parade magazine for its July 28 issue, Phil Robertson was asked how much longer he plans on being on the show.

His response was: “Not long. But I think it’ll go on without me.”

However, according to TheBlaze, Alan Robertson, Phil’s oldest son who will be joining the family for Season 4, said: “There is no set time for Dad to leave.”

“He just meant that he can’t see himself doing the show for as long as all of us <<young bucks>> [Phil Robertson’s affectionate term for his boys].”

Duck Dynasty Season 4 will premiere on August 14
Duck Dynasty Season 4 will premiere on August 14

“There are no plans for anyone to leave Duck Dynasty anytime soon,” Alan Robertson, who’s also a pastor, added.

“We do appreciate the love for the Robertson family out there and are looking forward to a great upcoming season and [those] beyond that will include Mom and Dad.”

As for Alan Robertson, he recently told the New York Post he’s excited to join the show because of what it means for spreading his faith.

“What I do for our church – you see, it’s a pretty good-sized church – impacts a lot of people, but because of my association with the show, I’ll get to minister to a lot more people,” he said.

“Any person that’s an evangelist, that’s what you want to do, so I had to give this up for something possibly bigger.”

Alan Robertson reiterated that the family has been upfront with the network about their beliefs from the beginning – and the network was okay with it.

“From Day 1, Dad held up his Bible and said, <<This is part of our lives, is this going to be in?>> ” Alan Robertson told the Post.

“And they were like, <<That’s in, that’s part of who you are>>.”

Duck Dynasty Season 4 will premiere on August 14.

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Malaria vaccine shows promising results in early stage clinical trials

Kathryn R. Bown
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Malaria vaccine shows promising results in early stage clinical trials

US researchers say a malaria vaccine has shown promising results in early stage clinical trials.

Researchers found the vaccine protected 12 out of 15 patients from the disease, when given in high doses.

The method is unusual because it involves injecting live but weakened malaria-causing parasites directly into patients to trigger immunity.

The research is published in the journal Science.

Lead author Dr. Robert Seder, from the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health, in Maryland, said: “We were excited and thrilled by the result, but it is important that we repeat it, extend it and do it in larger numbers.”

It has been known for several decades that exposure to mosquitoes treated with radiation can protect against malaria.

The new vaccine involves injecting live but weakened malaria-causing parasites directly into patients to trigger immunity
The new vaccine involves injecting live but weakened malaria-causing parasites directly into patients to trigger immunity

However, studies have shown that it takes more than 1,000 bites from the insects over time to build up a high level of immunity, making it an impractical method of widespread protection.

Instead, a biotech company called Sanaria has taken lab-grown mosquitoes, irradiated them and then extracted the malaria-causing parasite (Plasmodium falciparum), all under sterile conditions.

These living but weakened parasites are then counted and placed in vials, where they can then be injected directly into a patient’s bloodstream. This vaccine candidate is called PfSPZ.

To carry out the Phase-1 clinical trial, the researchers looked at a group of 57 volunteers, none of whom had had malaria before.

Of these, 40 received different doses of the vaccine, while 17 did not. They were then all exposed to the malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

The researchers found that for the participants not given any vaccine, and those given low doses, almost all became infected with malaria.

However for the small group given the highest dosage, only three of the 15 patients became infected after exposure to malaria.

Dr. Robert Seder said: “Based on the history, we knew dose was important because you needed 1,000 mosquito bites to get protection – this validates that.

“It allows us in future studies to increase the dose and alter the schedule of the vaccine to further optimize it. The next critical questions will be whether the vaccine is durable over a long period of time and can the vaccine protect against other strains of malaria.”

He added that the fact that the vaccine had to be injected into the bloodstream rather than into or under the skin made delivery more difficult.

There are currently about 20 malaria vaccine candidates in clinical trials.

The most advanced is called RTS,S/AS01, which has been developed by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, and is in a Phase-3 clinical trial involving 15,000 children in Africa.

According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization, there were an estimated 219 million cases of malaria in 2010 and an estimated 660,000 deaths.

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Rokatenda volcano eruption kills five people in Indonesia

Diane A. Wade
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Rokatenda volcano eruption kills five people in Indonesia

Five people have been killed after Rokatenda volcano erupted on tiny island of Palue in Indonesia, officials have said.

Mount Rokatenda, on the island of Palue some 1,250 miles east of Jakarta, spewed ash and rocks hundreds of metres into the air.

Five people have been killed after Rokatenda volcano erupted on tiny island of Palue in Indonesia
Five people have been killed after Rokatenda volcano erupted on tiny island of Palue in Indonesia

Disaster officials said hot ash covered a nearby beach, leaving three adults and two children dead.

The volcano had been rumbling since late last year, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people.

A spokesman from Indonesia’s volcanology agency said it was not clear what the victims had been doing inside an exclusion zone.

Palue is about 2.5 miles wide, and lies a short distance off the north coast of Flores, the main island in Nusa Tenggara province.

Much of the Indonesian archipelago lays on the Pacific “ring of fire”, an area prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

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Simon Cowell tops Forbes’ highest-earning TV personalities list in 2012 with $95 million

Lisa.Felice
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Simon Cowell tops Forbes magazine’s list of highest-earning TV personalities in 2012-13 after raking $95 million in just 12 months.

Simon Cowell, 53, was tied with radio and television presenter Howard Stern, who is also host on America’s Got Talent, reported the New York Post.

The X Factor now airs in 41 countries around the world, and Got Talent has become the biggest selling franchise, spreading to Afghanistan and Vietnam.

Simon Cowell recently hit the headlines when it was announced that he is to have a baby with married socialite Lauren Silverman.

Simon Cowell tops Forbes magazine’s list of highest-earning TV personalities in 2012-13 after raking $95 million in just 12 months
Simon Cowell tops Forbes magazine’s list of highest-earning TV personalities in 2012-13 after raking $95 million in just 12 months

Lauren Silverman, 36, who is 11 weeks’ pregnant with the pop mogul’s child, has made it clear to friends that it is her intention to marry Simon Cowell as soon as her divorce comes through.

Her brother-in-law, Alexander Silverman, insisted that news of her pregnancy constituted a breach of trust by Simon Cowell, as he had been close friends with both Lauren and millionaire husband Andrew.

Simon Cowell, who is worth an estimated $305 million, insisted he will do everything he can to support and provide for his child after the news broke that Lauren Silverman is expecting.

Also on the Forbes list was Oprah Winfrey who made $77 million, down from her $165 million in 2011/12.

The Apprentice host Donald Trump also appeared, raking in $63 million in just one year.

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest ($61 million), Ellen DeGeneres ($56 million) and Judge Judy Sheindlin ($47 million) also made the list of top TV earners.

Phil McGraw came fifth as he managed to make $72 million from his Dr Phil daytime television.

Simon Cowell and Lauren Silverman are moving together in New York

Lisa.Felice
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New reports claim Simon Cowell is finalizing a deal to rent Lauren Silverman a luxury apartment as she works out her divorce.

Simon Cowell – who is standing by New York socialite Lauren Silverman and their child – will pay $20,000-a-month for the sprawling three-bed property in NYC.

The music mogul and his pregnant lover are also now discussing which of Simon Cowell’s many properties they will also share – as he already owns multi-million dollar homes in Beverly Hills and London.

Simon Cowell is finalizing a deal to rent Lauren Silverman a luxury apartment as she works out her divorce
Simon Cowell is finalizing a deal to rent Lauren Silverman a luxury apartment as she works out her divorce

Simon Cowell, 53, and Lauren Silverman, 36, are officially a couple, according to friends, and he is keen that she finalizes her divorce from property millionaire Andrew Silverman as quickly and peacefully as possible. Moving in together will mark the first building block for their future.

It was reported this week by the Mirror that Lauren Silverman will move into Simon Cowell’s $15million mansion on the Trousdale estate in Beverly Hills. Simon Cowell has also spent years renovating his other $22 million Beverly Hills mansion and owns an $11.6 million house in West London’s wealthy Holland Park.

A deal is nearly agreed on the rental property – which remains on the market. Lauren Silverman will need a New York base as it’s likely she will share custody of her seven-year-old son Adam with her soon-to-be ex husband Andrew Silverman.

And Simon Cowell can most certainly afford it as today Forbes magazine listed him as the highest-paid TV personality of the year – tied with Howard Stern.

Simon Cowell is said to be worth $200 million and made $95 million in the past year alone – mainly due to his ownership stakes in The X Factor, now shown in 41 countries as well as the Got Talent format, which is the biggest-selling TV franchise in the world.

Lauren Silverman is said to be 11 weeks pregnant.

Matt Damon disappointed by Barack Obama

Diane A. Wade
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Matt Damon disappointed by Barack Obama

Movie star Matt Damon says he no longer has a crush on President Barack Obama.

“He broke up with me,” Matt Damon said in an interview published online Thursday.

Matt Damon told BET that he and the president “no longer see eye-to-eye”.

“There are a lot of things that I really question, specifically about the Obama administration’s national security posture.”

“The legality of the drone strikes,” Matt Damon said, “and these NSA revelations are – like, you know – Jimmy Carter came out and said we don’t live in a democracy. That’s a little intense when an ex-president says that. So you know, he’s got some explaining to do, particularly for a constitutional law professor.”

Barack Obama has come under fire for presiding over an NSA with a mandate for domestic spying. The agency’s biggest secrets are now exposed publicly since contractor Edward Snowden leaked them to the press and fled to Russia.

And the president has faced growing outrage from Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and other libertarian-minded Republicans, following his Department of Justice’s longtime refusal to guarantee that it won’t use drones to surveil Americans – an assurance it gave only in the face of an embarrassing Senate filibuster.

Matt Damon no longer has a crush on President Barack Obama
Matt Damon no longer has a crush on President Barack Obama

The White House continues to use unmanned drones as first-strike weapons against terrorism targets overseas.

Matt Damon campaigned aggressively for then-Senator Obama during the 2008 election season. Nine days before the 2008 election, Matt Damon told a room full of volunteers in Florida that they should work hard to “make sure Barack wins”.

But in the president’s second term, the bloom is clearly off the rose.

Matt Damon told reporters in August 2011 that he was “really dissatisfied” with Barack Obama “doubling down” on George W. Bush’s “bad ideas” for education.

Three months later in an interview with Elle magazine Matt Damon said: “I’ve talked to a lot of people who worked for Obama at the grassroots level. One of them said to me, <<Never again. I will never be fooled again by a politician>>.”

“You know, a one-term president with some balls who actually got stuff done would have been, in the long run of the country, much better.”

Matt Damon’s criticism of Barack Obama began in late 2010, and by April 2011 the president was ready to fire back, albeit in good fun.

“It’s fair to say that when it comes to my presidency, the honeymoon is over,” Barack Obama said at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

“Matt Damon said he was disappointed in my performance. Well Matt, I just saw The Adjustment Bureau so right back atcha buddy.”

Matt Damon has come under fire this week following revelations that despite his long-term advocacy for improving public education, he sends his own children to a private school.

“I pay for a private education and I’m trying to get the one that most matches the public education that I had,” he told The Guardian, “but that kind of progressive education no longer exists in the public system. It’s unfair.”

During a 2011 rally in Washington D.C., Matt Damon told a crowd of teachers that he would not trade his own public school education “for anything”.

Matt Damon’s upcoming film Elysium, which opens Friday, has been panned by conservatives for arguing for a socialist utopia as an alternative to a future world of haves and have-nots.

The Occupy Wall Street-inspired plot line involves a wealthy elite class that has abandoned an overcrowded Earth for a luxury space station, leaving the rest of humanity in crime-ridden and poverty-stricken squalor.

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Mona Lisa: Florence tomb opened to extract model’s DNA

Sonia Pantiss
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Mona Lisa: Florence tomb opened to extract model’s DNA

Italian scientists have opened a Florence tomb to extract DNA they hope will identify the model for Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

The tomb contains the family of Lisa Gherardini, a silk merchant’s wife who is believed to have sat for the artist.

It is hoped DNA will help to identify her from three skeletons found last year in a nearby convent.

Experts have for centuries puzzled over the woman featured in the Mona Lisa, and the reason for her cryptic smile.

To find the DNA they needed, scientists cut a round hole in the stone church floor above the family crypt of Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. The tomb lies behind the altar of the Santissima Annunziata Basilica.

Writer and researcher Silvano Vinceti plans to compare DNA from the bones with that of three women buried at the nearby convent of Saint Ursula.

Lisa Gherardini died there as a nun in 1542.

Italian scientists have opened a Florence tomb to extract DNA they hope will identify the model for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa
Italian scientists have opened a Florence tomb to extract DNA they hope will identify the model for Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa

It is hoped that some of the bones will belong to at least one of her blood relation, probably her son, Piero.

“When we find a match between mother and child – then we will have found the Mona Lisa,” said Silvano Vinceti.

He added that once a DNA match is made, an image of Lisa Gherardini’s face can be generated from the skull and compared with the painting.

Leonardo da Vinci took about 15 years to complete what has become one of the most famous paintings of all time.

One of the artist’s favourite paintings, he carried it with him until he died in 1519.

It was acquired by King Francis I, who ruled France from 1515 to 1547. The painting was put on permanent display in the Louvre in Paris at the end of the 18th century.

The piece was stolen from the museum in 1911 by a former employee who believed it belonged in Italy.

He was apprehended by police two years later, and the Mona Lisa was safely returned.

While its small size can surprise Louvre visitors, the painting is the biggest attraction in the museum.

One popular, if unlikely, theory suggests it was a self-portrait.

There are similarities between the facial features of the Mona Lisa and of the artist’s self-portrait painted many years later, with some suggesting this is the reason behind the portrait’s famed enigmatic smile.

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US diplomatic missions to reopen after al-Qaeda terror alert

Roy Siemens
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US diplomatic missions to reopen after al-Qaeda terror alert

Eighteen of the 19 US diplomatic missions recently closed due to security threats will reopen on Sunday.

The state department says its embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa will stay closed “because of ongoing concerns”.

The US closed 19 diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa last Sunday in response to what it said was a threat of a terrorist attack.

The consulate in the Pakistani city of Lahore, which closed after a separate threat, will also not reopen yet.

“We will continue to evaluate the threats to Sanaa and Lahore and make subsequent decisions about the reopening of those facilities based on that information,” said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

“We will also continue to evaluate information about these and all of our posts and to take appropriate steps to best protect the safety of our personnel, American citizens travelling overseas, and visitors to our facilities.”

On Thursday, at least 14 suspected al-Qaeda militants – reportedly including seven from Saudi Arabia – were killed in Yemen in three drone strikes, Yemeni officials said.

The number of US strikes in Yemen has been stepped up over the past month.

Eighteen of the 19 US diplomatic missions recently closed due to security threats will reopen on Sunday
Eighteen of the 19 US diplomatic missions recently closed due to security threats will reopen on Sunday

Yemen is a stronghold of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) – an al-Qaeda offshoot considered by Washington to be the most dangerous to the West.

The US statement said the Sanaa embassy would stay closed because of concerns about a “threat stream” emanating from AQAP, without providing further details.

Most US employees at the Sanaa embassy were ordered to leave the country on Tuesday.

The embassy closures, along with a US global travel alert, came after the US reportedly intercepted al-Qaeda messages.

Reports said they were between senior figures talking about a plot against an embassy.

The US closed its consulate in Lahore on Thursday and evacuated all non-essential staff following what it described as “a credible threat”.

US officials said the evacuation was undertaken as a precaution and not related to the closure of the other diplomatic missions.

Thursday’s drone attacks in Yemen targeted a group of suspected militants, killing four of them in Wadi al-Jadd in the southern province of Hadramout, said Yemeni officials.

A day earlier, Yemen said it had foiled a major al-Qaeda plot against oil pipelines and ports.

Two strikes in Marib and Hadramout provinces killed 10 suspected militants, the security officials said, while another seven people died in a drone attack on Wednesday.

While the US has acknowledged targeting militants in Yemen with drones, it does not comment publicly on its policy or the raids.

About 30 suspected militants have been killed in a series of such raids in Yemen since 28 July, news agencies report.

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Stephanie Banister withdraws her candidacy after Islam gaffe

Diane A. Wade
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Stephanie Banister withdraws her candidacy after Islam gaffe

Australian election candidate Stephanie Banister, who was widely mocked after she mistook Islam for a country in a TV interview, has withdrawn her candidacy.

Stephanie Banister, 27, was contesting a seat in Queensland for the anti-immigration One Nation Party. She had only been in politics for 48 hours.

She also confused the term “haram” (forbidden) with the Koran and suggested Jews worshipped Jesus Christ.

The interview, which aired early this week, went viral on social media.

Stephanie Banister, who was widely mocked after she mistook Islam for a country in a TV interview, has withdrawn her candidacy
Stephanie Banister, who was widely mocked after she mistook Islam for a country in a TV interview, has withdrawn her candidacy

”I don’t oppose Islam as a country, umm, but I do feel that their laws should not be welcome here in Australia,” Stephanie Banister told Seven News reporter Erin Edwards.

She announced her withdrawal from the election on Saturday.

“With the way Channel Seven edited my interview, I was left quite the fool,” Stephanie Banister said in a brief statement.

“I’d like to apologise to One Nation, to my friends and family, for any embarrassment this has brought to them.”

One newspaper headline said Stephanie Banister had managed to put Islam literally on the map.

The leader of One Nation, Jim Savage, said Stephanie Banister continued to have the “full support” of the party executive.

He said she had been under “enormous pressure”, including threats to her and her family.

Commentators compared Stephanie Banister to Sarah Palin, the gaffe-prone Republican vice-presidential candidate in the 2008 US election.

Even before this interview, Stephanie Banister was regarded as a rank outsider to win her seatey.

The mother-of-two rose to prominence when she was arrested for going into a supermarket and putting stickers saying “halal food funds terrorism” on Nestle products.

Stephanie Banister is facing charges of “contaminating or interfering with goods”.

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Apple wins patent case against Samsung at US ITC

Nancy Clayson
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Apple wins patent case against Samsung at US ITC

Giant tech Apple has won a key patent case against rival Samsung at the US International Trade Commission (US ITC).

The US ITC upheld a 2011 decision which found that Samsung had infringed Apple patents in the production of mobile phones, media players and tablets.

The commission has ordered that Samsung devices affected by the ruling are banned from the US.

But that ban is on hold while President Barack Obama reviews the decision.

The President has 60 days to assess the US ITC’s findings, although analysts say he is unlikely to overturn the commission’s decision.

“We are disappointed that the ITC has issued an exclusion order based on two of Apple’s patents,” Samsung said in a statement.

“The proper focus for the smartphone industry is not a global war in the courts, but fair competition in the marketplace.”

Apple hailed the decision, placing it in the context of the tech giants’ global patent battles.

Apple has won a key patent case against rival Samsung at the US International Trade Commission
Apple has won a key patent case against rival Samsung at the US International Trade Commission

“With today’s decision, the ITC has joined courts around the world in Japan, Korea, Germany, Netherlands and California by standing up for innovation and rejecting Samsung’s blatant copying of Apple’s products,” said the company.

The ruling applies to two patents.

The first is the so-called “Steve Jobs patent”, named after the company’s founder, which involves touch-screen technology.

The other patent is related to the audio socket on devices.

Four other patent infringements asserted by Apple were turned down by the US ITC.

Apple and Samsung have been fighting patent battles for years and across 10 countries.

The fight has escalated after Samsung overtook Apple last year to become the global leader in smartphone sales.

In Washington on Friday, a federal appeals judge heard testimony in a separate patent case between the two companies relating to a decision last year, in which Samsung was found to owe Apple $1 billion for infringing on patents.

That penalty was later struck to $450 million, but Apple appealed against the ruling. A verdict in that case has not yet been issued.

Separately, last weekend Barack Obama issued the first presidential veto in 26 years relating to a US ITC decision.

That veto overturned a ban on older models of Apple’s iPhones and iPads because of its “effect on competitive conditions in the US economy”.

Friday’s ruling is widely seen as a victory for the company.

“In a way. the noose is tightening. Apple step by step actually is gaining leverage against Samsung,” says Florian Mueller.

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Stephanie Banister’s Islam gaffe goes viral

Diane A. Wade
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Stephanie Banister’s Islam gaffe goes viral

Australian election candidate Stephanie Banister has made the wrong kind of headlines after a gaffe-strewn interview in which she mistook Islam for a country.

Stephanie Banister, 27, a candidate with the anti-immigration One Nation Party, clocked up multiple mistakes in a TV interview with Channel 7 News.

She also confused the term “haram” (forbidden) with the Koran and suggested Jews worship Jesus Christ.

The interview, which aired early this week, has gone viral on social media.

”I don’t oppose Islam as a country, umm, but I do feel that their laws should not be welcome here in Australia,” Stephanie Banister told Seven News reporter Erin Edwards.

Stephanie Banister, who is standing for the parliamentary seat of Rankin in Brisbane, also claimed that 2% of Australians ”follow haram” when presumably she meant the Islamic text, the Koran.

Haram is a Muslim term used for something that is forbidden or punishable.

Stephanie Banister has made the wrong kind of headlines after a gaffe-strewn interview in which she mistook Islam for a country
Stephanie Banister has made the wrong kind of headlines after a gaffe-strewn interview in which she mistook Islam for a country

Stephanie Banister then repeatedly used the word “haram” when she apparently meant to say “halal”.

“Halal” in fact means the opposite and is commonly used to refer to the Islamic laws on food preparation.

When subsequently asked if she opposed the Jewish laws of kosher as well, Stephanie Banister replied: “Jews aren’t under haram. They have their own religion which follows Jesus Christ.”

During the interview Stephanie Banister was also asked to name the candidates from the two mainstream parties in her seat, but came up short and admitted: “I’m still learning all of the names of people in politics.”

Some commentators in Australia are making comparisons with the former US Vice-Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin, who became infamous for her media slip-ups when running for office in 2008.

Even before this interview Stephanie Banister was regarded as a rank outsider to win her seat.

The mother-of-two rose to prominence when she was arrested for going into a supermarket and putting stickers saying “halal food funds terrorism” on Nestle products.

She was charged with “contaminating or interfering with goods”.

Stephanie Banister will be forbidden from standing in the September 7 election if she is convicted before polling day.

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Barack Obama vows greater surveillance transparency

Diane A. Wade
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0
Barack Obama vows greater surveillance transparency

President Barack Obama has vowed “appropriate reforms” to guarantee greater oversight of controversial US surveillance programmes.

At a White House news conference, Barack Obama proposed “safeguards against abuse”, including amending legislation on the collection of telephone data.

The president also urged allowing a lawyer to challenge decisions by the nation’s secretive surveillance court.

He has been defending the programmes since they were leaked in June.

Barack Obama said on Friday that the US “can and must be more transparent” about its snooping on phone and internet data.

“Given the history of abuse by governments, it’s right to ask questions about surveillance, particularly as technology is reshaping every aspect of our lives,” he told reporters.

“It’s not enough for me as president to have confidence in these programmes,” Barack Obama added.

“The American people need to have confidence as well.”

Barack Obama has vowed appropriate reforms to guarantee greater oversight of controversial US surveillance programmes
Barack Obama has vowed appropriate reforms to guarantee greater oversight of controversial US surveillance programmes

Barack Obama unveiled four steps aimed at reassuring Americans about the surveillance:

  • He said he would work with Congress to reform Section 215 of the Bush-era Patriot Act, which governs the programme that collects telephone records
  • He directed justice officials to make public the legal rationale for the government’s phone-data collection activities, under Section 215
  • He proposed allowing a lawyer to check the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which is accused of essentially rubber-stamping government requests to scour electronic records
  • He announced the formation of a group of external experts to review all US government intelligence and communications technologies

In response to a question about Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who revealed details of the secretive surveillance programmes to media, Barack Obama said: “No, I don’t think Mr. Snowden was a patriot.”

The president went on to criticize Russia, two days after he cancelled a planned summit with President Vladimir Putin next month in Moscow.

Barack Obama said there had been more anti-American rhetoric since Vladimir Putin returned to the Russian presidency, which “played into some of the old stereotypes about the Cold War contest”.

“I’ve encouraged Mr. Putin to think forward as opposed to backwards on those issues, with mixed success,” Barack Obama told reporters, who held the news conference just before going on holiday at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

He said that during his photocalls with Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader “has got that kind of slouch, looking like he’s the bored kid in the back of the classroom”. But he said their discussions in private had been constructive.

Barack Obama also said he would not consider it “appropriate” to boycott Russia’s Winter Olympics next year, despite calls by gay rights activists to shun the games because of a recently passed law in that country banning “homosexual propaganda”.

Earlier on Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel held talks with their Russian counterparts in Washington DC.

John Kerry conceded the US-Russia relationship had been complicated by “the occasional collision” and “challenging moments”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also acknowledged problems, but said Moscow preferred to handle their differences like “grown-ups”.

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Zimbabwe election: MDC files legal challenge to Robert Mugabe’s victory

Diane A. Wade
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Zimbabwe election: MDC files legal challenge to Robert Mugabe’s victory

Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe has filed a legal challenge to Robert Mugabe’s victory in last week’s presidential elections.

The electoral petition seeks an order for the result to be declared null and void and a new election to be called within 60 days.

The MDC’s 15 grounds include alleged bribery, abuse of “assisted voting” and manipulation of the electoral roll.

Robert Mugabe, 89, won with 61% of the presidential vote.

His Zanu-PF party gained a parliamentary majority of more than two-thirds, with 160 seats against 49 for the MDC.

The MDC is to file a complaint on the parliamentary results at a later date.

With a two-thirds majority, Zanu-PF is able to amend the constitution, potentially restoring presidential powers which were reduced earlier this year.

Lawyers for the MDC, which filed its petition with the country’s constitutional court, said they had “strong evidence of electoral irregularities”.

They said a shockingly high number of people were unable to vote at the polls, and that food and other bribes were used to persuade voters to back Robert Mugabe.

Morgan Tsvangirai has filed court challenge against Robert Mugabe poll win
Morgan Tsvangirai has filed court challenge against Robert Mugabe poll win

“The Movement of Democratic Change has filed its election petition… what we seek is that this election be declared null and void in terms of section 93 of the constitution of Zimbabwe,” said MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora.

The challenge comes a day after Zimbabwe’s electoral commission said nearly 305,000 voters had been turned away from polling stations on election day. The MDC says the true number is about 900,000.

Robert Mugabe’s margin of victory was some 940,000 votes.

A week after the election, Robert Mugabe dismissed criticism of the polls and lashed out at Western countries for their response.

Zimbabwe’s nine-member constitutional court has up to 14 days to respond to the legal challenge.

Correspondents say some of the judges are believed to be Mugabe loyalists.

The MDC says it is “aware” of this, and as a result it will make its appeal public and even produce evidence of “bribed goods”.

If the court upholds the results, Robert Mugabe must be sworn in within 48 hours of the ruling.

“We have done the best that we can under the circumstances, presented the matter before the court, and it is now up to the court to determine how strong the case is,” said MDC lawyer Chris Mhike.

African and regional monitors praised the poll for being peaceful but noted some irregularities. Western observers were not invited to witness the July 31 vote.

But a local observer group, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and its network of 7,000 observers, has said that about one million voters – mainly in urban areas – were “systematically disenfranchised” by being omitted from the voters’ roll or turned away.

The electoral roll has come in for criticism for having duplicate names and the names of dead Zimbabweans.

The MDC says 900,000 people were turned away from polling stations – mostly in the capital where the MDC’s vote is strong – and another 300,000 people were coerced through “assisted voting”.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai rejected the vote as fraudulent and said his party would boycott government institutions.

The Zanu-PF and the MDC have been in a coalition since 2009, after the last election sparked widespread violence.

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Oprah Winfrey Zurich racism row branded a misunderstanding

Sonia Pantiss
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0
Oprah Winfrey Zurich racism row branded a misunderstanding

Trudie Goetz, the owner of Zurich store where Oprah Winfrey says she encountered racism, has called the incident a “misunderstanding”.

Oprah Winfrey, one of the world’s richest women, claimed an assistant refused to serve her in an upmarket handbag shop.

She was apparently told one of the bags on display was “too expensive” for her.

Trudie Goetz told the BBC that Oprah Winfrey was “absolutely allowed” to look at the $35,000 bag, which was kept behind a screen.

“My salesperson wanted to give her the handbag in her hand. But she didn’t want to take the bag,” claimed Trudie Goetz.

The shop owner said her assistant had worked in the Trois Pommes store “for a few years and takes care of the most spoilt customers from all over the world”, adding, “she is really a correct sales person”.

Oprah Winfrey visited Zurich last month to attend Tina Turner’s wedding. Her programme The Oprah Winfrey Show is not shown in Switzerland.

Oprah Winfrey, one of the world's richest women, claimed an assistant refused to serve her in a Zurich upmarket handbag shop
Oprah Winfrey, one of the world’s richest women, claimed an assistant refused to serve her in a Zurich upmarket handbag shop

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Oprah Winfrey said: “I go into a store and I say to the woman, <<Excuse me, may I see the bag right above your head?>> and she says to me, <<No. It’s too expensive>>. “

When Oprah Winfrey insisted, the shop assistant allegedly replied: “No, no you don’t want to see that one, you want to see this one because that one will cost too much. You will not be able to afford that.”

The star said she left the shop calmly without arguing, but that the experience was proof that racism continues to be a problem.

“There’s two different ways to handle it,” Oprah Winfrey said.

“I could’ve had the whole blow-up thing… but it still exists, of course it does.”

Trudie Goetz did not call into question Oprah Winfrey’s perception of the events.

“I didn’t take care of [Oprah Winfrey]. I’m sure she felt like this – but my salesgirl promised me she took care of [her] really the best she could. So it must have been a misunderstanding,” she said.

Trudie Goetz said her assistant spoke both Italian and English, “but her English isn’t as good”.

“She tried to show Mrs. Oprah the same style in other qualities, because maybe she didn’t understand what she wanted.”

Oprah Winfrey’s claims come amid a political row over plans by some Swiss towns to ban asylum-seekers from some public places.

Human rights groups have likened the plans – which include banning asylum-seekers from swimming pools, playing fields and libraries – to apartheid.

Officials say the curbs, which will also see asylum-seekers housed in special centres, are aimed at preventing tensions with residents.

About 48,000 people are currently seeking asylum in Switzerland. It has twice as many asylum seekers as the European average.

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