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April 1, 2008

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The longest ever Olympic torch relay began in Beijing yesterday under massive security. India's football captain, Baichung Bhutia, in solitary with Tibetan demonstrators, has declined an invitation to carry the torch.

Starting 5

>>Zimbabwe - After three days the winners of 109 of the 210 parliamentary seats have been named, and, according to the count of the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC), President Mugabe's ZANU-PF has pulled two seats ahead of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Many consider the vote to be rigged. Mugabe's security cabinet met on Sunday night to discuss how to react to the election -- impose a state of emergency, unilaterally declare victory, or rely on the ZEC to falsify the results. They reportedly chose the latter. There is a heavy police presence on the streets of Harare. The independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network has MDC standard bearer Morgan Tsvangirai besting Mugabe by almost 8 points.

>>NATO - Germany has declared that it will veto the U.S. plan to allow Georgia and the Ukraine to join NATO's membership action plan (MAP), the path to eventual entry into NATO. This is a blow to President Bush, who received a mixed reception in Kiev today as he voiced his strong support for both Georgia and the Ukraine's NATO bids. He will travel to the Romania for the opening of the NATO summit tomorrow. Russia has voiced strong opposition to the candidacy of both nations, but Germany has denied the existence of a "Russian veto." France has also announced it won't back the plan.

>>Iraq - A tenuous peace appears to be holding in Baghdad and Basra following a call on Sunday by Moqtada al-Sadr for his followers to stand down. Shops and schools have reopened. A New York Times reporter details his personal experience in Basra. Meanwhile, the deathtoll in Iraq for March was 50 percent higher than in February.

>>Somalia - Two UN Food and Agriculture Organization workers, a Kenyan and a Briton, were captured by gunmen on the road between Bu'aale and Sikow in southern Somalia.

>>Uganda - LRA leader Joseph Kony has delayed signing a peace agreement with the government of Uganda until April 10. Two different reasons have been given for the delay: 1) he just needs more time to reach the meeting place (he was walking to the Congo-Sudan border), and 2) he is sick.

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Posted by Matthew Cordell at 9:06 AM

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