Zimbabwe election news

Hebson Makuvise, London MDC representative, joins Sir David to discuss the Zimbabwe elections

Zimbabwe went to the polls on March 29 to vote in a new president, but still no results have been released.

The opposition party says it won the election “hands down” and has gone to the high court to try to force the publication of the results.

Meanwhile regional leaders are gathering in Zambia for an emergency summit; where both Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, and the opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai are set to attend.

Sir David is joined by the MDC’s representative in London, Hebson Makuvise, and the Zimbabwean analyst and controversial commentator, George Shire.
 

Don McKinnon discusses if the Beijing Olympics should be boycotted

For eight years Don McKinnon served as secretary general of the Commonwealth, an association of 53 countries and almost a third of the world’s population.

It was during his time there that Zimbabwe was suspended and finally left the Commonwealth in 2003.

The former foreign minister of New Zealand talks to Sir David about the current crisis in Zimbabwe, and what the international community should be doing about it.

He also discusses the political outlook in Kenya, Cyprus, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and finally whether the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony should be boycotted.

Watch the interview with Hebson Makuvise, George Shire and Don McKinnon on YouTube

Egypt: Saad Eddin Ibrahim

Saad Eddin Ibrahim joins Sir David to talk about the Egyptian local elections

Egyptian political exile, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, discusses Egypt’s local elections and the recent rioting over food, wages and political repression.

In Egypt’s local elections only one in three council seats were contested after more than 800 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested.

Sociology professor, Saad Eddin Ibrahim is a leading human rights advocate and founder of the Ibn Khaldun Centre, an independent think-tank.

He was jailed in 2000, for “tarnishing Egypt’s image,”  and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Watch the interview with Saad Eddin Ibrahim on YouTube

Maasai Runners

Maasai runners will join the London Marathon to raise money for their village

The London Marathon is one of the world’s most famous sporting events, with competitors from more than 50 countries taking part.

Among those are six Maasai warriors, who have left Tanzania for the first time in order to raise money for clean drinking water in their village, Eluai.

The Maasai are one of the last distinct tribes in Africa to retain their cultural identity.

There are currently between 500,000 and a million Maasai in Africa, who mostly live in Northern Tanzania and southern Kenya.

Isaya, the Maasai’s leader, tells Sir David about why the group decided to run and what they hope to achieve in this year’s event.

To donate go to: www.maasaimarathon.org

Watch the interview with the Maasai Runners on YouTube

General Sir Mike Jackson discusses the current events in Iraq with Sir David

On Thursday, George Bush, the US president, endorsed the call from his top commander in Iraq for an indefinite halt to American troop withdrawals.

In his testimony to Congress on Wednesday, General David Petraeus described the recent security gains in Iraq as “fragile and reversible” and recommended a “pause” in the withdrawal.
 

General Sir Mike Jackson served as head of the British army during the first three years of the war in Iraq.
 
He gives Sir David the military perspective of events in Iraq.

Filmmakers Molly Bingham and Steve Connors talk about their film Meeting Resistance

Sir David talks to journalists Steve Connors and Molly Bingham about their film Meeting Resistance.

They spent ten months in the Adhimiya district of Baghdad.

The two filmmakers talked to fighters in the Iraqi resistance and heard what it was that made them fight.

The result of their hard work is an award-winning documentary.

Watch the interview with General Sir Mike Jackson and Filmmakers Molly Bingham and Steve Connors on YouTube