Zimbabwe announces poll run-off

By Nelson Banya

HARARE - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat President Robert Mugabe in the presidential election but faces a run-off vote after failing to win an outright majority, the electoral body said on Friday.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change called the announcement of the long-delayed result "scandalous daylight robbery". It says Tsvangirai won more than 50 percent at the March 29 election and Mugabe's 28-year rule is over.

But the MDC has few options. If Tsvangirai refuses to take part in a second round of votes, then Mugabe would automatically keep his hold on power according to electoral law.

An aide to Mugabe said the president accepted the result of the first round and would contest the run-off.

MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti told a news conference in neighbouring South Africa that the results clearly showed that Tsvangirai should be declared president. He said the party would decide at the weekend whether to contest a run-off.

"According to the law, the person receiving the highest number of votes is the president of the republic of Zimbabwe with effect from the day of such declaration," he said.

"Even on their own announcement, we have won this election and therefore Morgan Tsvangirai is to be declared the president of the republic of Zimbabwe."

Chief Elections Officer Lovemore Sekeramayi said Tsvangirai won 47.9 percent with Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain, on 43.2 percent. Independent Simba Makoni, a ruling party defector, took 8.3 percent.

"Since no candidate has received the majority of the total votes cast ... a second election shall be held on a date to be announced by the commission," Sekeramayi said.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will set the date of the runoff. By law, a second round should be held within 21 days of the result, but the ZEC has the power to extend it. Political observers say it is likely to extend the period to within about 40 days.

The United States and former colonial power Britain questioned the credibility of the official results more than one month after the election and voiced concern over how fair a run-off could be.

The European Commission also called on Friday for Zimbabwe to allow international monitors to ensure a free and fair presidential run-off after the electoral body there said no clear winner emerged from the first round.

Opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the verification of the votes had not been done properly.

"This whole thing is a scandal, scandalous daylight robbery and everyone knows that," he told Reuters. "We won this election outright, and yet what we are being given here as the outcome are some fudged figures meant to save Mugabe and ZANU-PF."

He said the party executive would decide the next move. Initial MDC estimates had given Tsvangirai 50.3 percent of the vote although independent and ruling ZANU-PF party projections had suggested he was unlikely to win an outright majority.

Man denies Ipswich prostitute murders

By Michael Holden

A forklift truck driver accused of murdering five women in Suffolk will go on trial next year after he denied the charges in court on Tuesday.

Steve Wright, 49, was arrested following one of Britain's biggest manhunts after five prostitutes were murdered in the space of 11 days in December last year.

The naked bodies of Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls were found dumped at rural locations around Ipswich.

In a hearing at Ipswich Crown Court, Wright was asked how he pleaded to the charge of murder in the case of each of the five women. He replied each time in a clear firm voice: "Not guilty".

The judge, David Calvert-Smith, said the case would continue to be heard in Ipswich. The trial is scheduled to start on January 14 next year and is due to last up to eight weeks.

Wright is being held at Belmarsh high security prison in east London.

Detectives launched their murder investigation on December 2 when 25-year-old Adams' body was found in a stream. The body of 19-year-old Nicol -- last seen on October 30 and the first to be reported missing -- was discovered in the same stream on December 8.

The other three bodies were found over the next four days amid a media frenzy.

The local police chief said the murders of five separate women in such a short span of time was unprecedented in British criminal history.

Study: Britain has worst drug abuse problem in Europe

Yahoo News (AFP)

Britain has the worst level of drug abuse in Europe, and the second highest level of drug-related deaths, a report said Wednesday.

The value of trade in illegal drugs is estimated at five billion pounds a year, according to the study by Professor Peter Reuter of Maryland University in the US and Alex Stevens of Kent University in Britain.

The study showed that around a quarter of 26 to 30 year-olds have tried "class A" banned drug such as heroin or cocaine at least once, and around 45 percent of young people have used cannabis.

Overall, Britain has the highest number of addicts with 0.85 percent of the population -- more than twice that of European countries such as France and Sweden (0.4 percent) or Germany and the Netherlands (0.3 percent).

The lowest rates of drug abuse are in Poland and Germany, said the study.

In terms of deaths linked to drug abuse, Britain comes second only to Denmark -- although both are well behind the United States and Australia. France has the lowest number of acute drug-related deaths.

Drugs are cited in the deaths of 34 people per million of Britain's adult population.

The British government has underlined its commitment to fighting drug abuse.

"We are determined to continue tackling drug misuse through enforcement, education, early intervention and treatment," Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said.

He said Britain was spending "unparalleled sums" on drugs strategy "which has been vindicated by record numbers of people in drug treatment and significant falls in drugs misuse and drug related crime.

"We are proud of our record and intend to build on our success," he said.

However, the new report was scathing about efforts to cut drug abuse through education.

"There is little international or UK evidence to suggest that drug education and prevention have had any significant impact on drug use," it said.

Its authors urged the government to focus efforts more on developing treatment and harm reduction programmes, which it said had been shown to reduce levels of crime, ill-health and death linked to drugs.