Vincent Feli Boy’s Blog

A defiant President Robert Mugabe yesterday vowed he would ‘go to war’ if he lost the presidential run-off due to take place in less than two weeks. Describing the opposition as ‘traitors’, he claimed Zimbabwe would never ‘be lost’ again. Speaking at the burial of a veteran of the independence war, Mugabe said he would never accept the Movement for Democratic Change taking over. ‘It shall never happen … as long as I am alive and those who fought for the country are alive,’ he said. ‘We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war for it.’ The threat was seen as an angry response to the pressure mounting on the government from other African leaders over the regime’s harassment of the MDC leadership and supporters in the run up to the 27 June election.

Yesterday, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested again and held for three hours as he tried to campaign in the countryside. There was also a stand-off between lawyers and police in Harare’s high court before Tsvangirai’s deputy, Tendai Biti, finally appeared before a judge. Earlier, according to opposition lawyer Lewis Uriri, police had told the judge, Justice Ben Hlatshwayo, that they did not think his order to produce Biti in court was genuine. A handcuffed Biti eventually told reporters that he was ‘fine’. Police said he faced treason charges - which carries the death penalty - stemming from a document they claim was a blueprint for regime change.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actress Tatum O’Neal, the former child star who chronicled her struggles with addiction in a 2004 memoir, has been arrested on suspicion of buying drugs on the streets of New York City. A judge released her on her own recognizance on Monday after she spent the night in jail and she was ordered to return on July 28. O’Neal, 44, appeared without makeup, her hair tied into a messy bun, wearing a black tank top and black pants. She was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.

The New York Daily News reported she was caught buying crack cocaine from a homeless street vendor on Sunday night three blocks from her home. A police spokesman said she was seen buying a controlled substance from a man in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, once a crime-infested neighborhood that has become trendy. O’Neal’s publicist declined to comment and her lawyer left the courtroom without speaking to reporters.

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Ward, 57, is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco to change his plea. He is a month away from going on trial.

Ward’s attorney, Doron Weinberg, was unavailable for comment Tuesday night. The case against Ward began when he engaged in sex chats with an online dominatrix and allegedly sent her pictures of children engaged in sexual activity, according to a police report. The woman, who lives in Oakdale (Stanislaus County), became concerned after Ward allegedly sent her pictures in December 2004 showing children “engaged in or simulating sexual acts with adults or other children,” Oakdale police Officer Benjamin Savage wrote in a report. Ward sent her a photo of a naked boy sitting on a chair between a topless woman and a clothed girl, the police report said.

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Members of the police department’s bomb squad and fire officials gathered outside the recruiting station, which has occasionally been the site of anti-war demonstrations, ranging from silent vigils to loud rallies. Witnesses staying at the Marriott Marquis on 46th Street said they heard a “big bang” and could feel the building shake. A large plume of smoke was also visible after the explosion, they said.

Terry Leighton, 49, from London, England, said he was on the 21st floor of the hotel when he heard the blast and looked out a window. “I thought it could have been thunder,” he said. “I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke. So I knew it was an explosion.” Darla Teck, 25, was on the 44th floor of the hotel. “There was a big bang. I felt it,” she said.

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