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'There was no election. There was a selection of the president.'

June 30, 2008 8:49 AM

By Jim Sciutto, ABC News Senior Foreign Correspondent

This was our second trip into Zimbabwe in two months. When we visited in early April, Tsvangirai had just won the first round of the presidential election. The country was frozen – the Zimbabwean economy is in collapse – but there was some budding hope.

This time, we found complete despair.

“Most of the people, they are not happy,” one man told us. “We can only say there was no election. There was a selection of the president.”

“Were people forced to vote?” I asked. “Yes, they were forced to vote,” he answered. “Especially in the rural areas.”

Driving on one of the main east-west highways in the country, we didn’t see a single car on the road. Part of the reason is that people can’t afford gasoline, but it’s also a measure of fear. The crackdown has driven people into their homes.

Police road-blocks marked every stretch of road. Members of the president’s ruling Zanu-PF party followed us wherever we went. We posed as tourists because we’d learned of three American journalists detained on their way out of the country.

Despite the police presence, Zimbabweans were eager to talk to us – and everyone we met expressed outrage at the election.

We visited a polling station where the official posted results showed 17 votes each for Tsvangirai and Mugabe, ludicrous in a city with tens of thousands of people. The guard at the station told us the vast majority of voters spoiled their ballots by writing an X across both names.

Then he pointed to his shoes and said, “This is all I have. In Zimbabwe we have nothing.”

The exchange rate was a telling sign of the economy’s spiraling decline. In April, I exchanged one U.S. dollar for 50 million Zimbabwean dollars. This time, one dollar is worth 10 billion Zimbabwean dollars – an inflation rate of 30,000% in two and a half months.

For more see Jim's original story

June 30, 2008 in Jim Sciutto | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Meet German Football's Biggest Fan

June 27, 2008 11:12 AM

By Christel Kucharz, ABC News Producer

Hundreds of thousands of jubilant German soccer fans took to the streets Wednesday night to celebrate Germany's thrilling 3-2 Euro 2008 semi-final win over Turkey.

The dramatic match, watched on TV by several million viewers worldwide, was dominated by the Turkish team, which played with a fearlessness of spirit and a precision in their passes that Germany rarely matched.

Indeed, many German fans were truly worried about their team's performance, seeing it outplayed for long periods during the game.

Among the fans was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who attended the match in the St. Jakob Park stadium in Basle, Switzerland.

She told reporters after the match, "I really must say I often had to catch my breath. The Turkish team played a really good match. But, of course, I'm happy to see the German team winning. "

Merkel has admitted to being one of the German team's biggest fans.

She has missed only one match of the Euro 2008 tournament, because she got stuck at a European Union summit in Brussels last week, but her aides kept her on top of the game by sending her text messages.

She first revealed she was a real soccer buff during the World Cup in Germany two years ago.

Ever since, German television often shows cutaways of her jumping up and down, applauding whenever Germany has scored.

Her aides say she regularly sends players text messages, and she's been invited to their changing room for pep talks.

Merkel reportedly chided German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger for getting suspended from the Austria game last week.

For more see Christel's original story

June 27, 2008 in Christel Kucharz | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Is This the End of the Road for Ehud Olmert?

June 26, 2008 1:06 PM

By Simon McGregor-Wood, Jerusalem Bureau Chief

The beginning of the end for Olmert?

Probably. That's a word that is used a lot these days to describe the current mess that is Israeli politics. Once events become clearer things here have a habit of changing quickly.

What seems clear is that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is entering the final chapter of his colorful political career. Probably.

After days of back room dealing and arm twisting he has been forced to agree to an internal party election to replace himself as leader of the Kadima Party and therefore also as Prime Minister. His deadline is September 25th.

He cut this bitter sweet deal with Ehud Barak, his own defence minister who also heads the Labor Party and is Olmert's main coalition partner.

Barak has demanded Olmert's resignation in light of the latest corruption allegations.

Olmert is accused of receiving illegal cash donations from an American businessman.

None of it proven in court but it is only the latest in a string of allegations that have dogged Olmert in recent years. For Barak the latest scandal is one too many. Unless Olmert agreed to take steps to replace himself, Barak threatened to quit the government forcing early elections.

No one is Israel it seems, wants an election.

So this is the compromise. No later than September 25th there will be an internal party election and Ehud Olmert will be replaced by a colleague from his own party, probably.

Early favorite to get the job is the current Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni who enjoys a close working relationship with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and heads the Israeli negotiating team in peace talks with the Palestinians.

Livni makes no secret of her desire to become Israel's second female Prime Minister.

But don't write Olmert's political obituary just yet. He is a famous survivor and he may even choose to run in the leadership election himself. The deadline is three months away and in Israeli politics that is a long time.

Some political commentators here expect Olmert to try and hold on, somehow. They think he might try and make progress in the diplomatic arena, perhaps in the fragile and still indirect peace talks with Syria.

His calculation might be that no one would get rid of a Prime Minister engaging in serious peace talks with one of the country's sworn enemies.

Whatever happens to Olmert the existing government coalition looks secure until at least next year, and that means the peace process with the Palestinians looks set to continue, probably.

Read more from Simon McGregor-Wood

June 26, 2008 in Simon McGregor-Wood | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

A Taste of Luxury in a War Zone

June 25, 2008 11:56 AM

By Simon McGregor-Wood, Jerusalem Bureau Chief

Believe it or not, there is a small and elegant boutique hotel in Gaza.

And despite all the trouble and difficulties of life in this war-torn strip of land, business is thriving. The motto of the 22-room Al Deira Hotel is your home in Gaza.

Opened in May 2000, just a few months before the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, it was an inauspicious time to open a business here. According to the larger-than-life general manager Samir Skaik, it hasn't gotten any easier.

"It's getting harder. We don't understand ourselves how we have managed to do it sometimes," Skaik said.

Years of violence and more recently the devastating Israeli economic blockade have made running a hotel, particularly one that aspires to such high standards of service and comfort, very difficult.

But for Skaik, keeping this place running is more than just work. "We try and generate the idea of being a family. We work with our hearts. We love Gaza, and we do this for Gaza," Skaik said during an office meeting over mint tea.

Now, with a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel in place, there is promise of more supplies and an easier life. In Gaza, everything has been in short supply. The Al Deira Hotel's latest challenge has been finding small bottles of mineral water to stock the minibars.

Skaik resorts to asking his friends who are still able to travel to Israel to bring back whatever they can carry. Usually that means diplomats, aid workers or journalists, like me; the people who now make up the Al Deira's loyal clientele.

Another huge problem has been Gaza's unreliable power supply. On average there are only eight to 10 hours of electricity a day. An enormous generator kicks in for the rest of the time. The hotel keeps 5,000 liters of fuel in reserve.

For more go to Simon's original story

June 25, 2008 in Simon McGregor-Wood | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)