Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, has said that the elections in Zimbabwe should be postponed due to the fact that Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, has said that he will pull out of the race to become the president of Zimbabwe.

Ban released a statement highlighting his concerns. “The Secretary-General deeply regrets that, despite the repeated appeals of the international community, the Government of Zimbabwe has failed to put in place the conditions necessary for free and fair run-off elections,” he said.

“The circumstances that led to the withdrawal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai today from the presidential elections represents a deeply distressing development that does not bode well for the future of democracy in Zimbabwe. The campaign of violence and intimidation that has marred this election has done a great disservice to the people of the country and must end immediately,” continued the Secretary general.

He finished by saying that “the Secretary-General has discussed the situation with various leaders, including those of the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He strongly supports the statement of the Chairman of SADC that conditions do not exist for a run-off election to be held at this time and that they should be postponed.”

This move by Ban Ki-moon comes after Morgan Tsvangirai called for the international community to intervene to improve the situation in Zimbabwe.

source: wikinews.org

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa won the FIA Formula One 2008 Grand Prix de France at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France.

Though his teammate Kimi Räikkönen started from pole, Massa was able to get closer and overtake after a problem with exhaust lines onboard Räikkönen’s car started.

Jarno Trulli done his best to withstand Heikki Kovalainen from McLaren Mercedes pushing hard on him. Trulli made the first podium finish for Toyota team. This achievement was dedicated to the memory of Ove Andersson, team founder died in a rally crash recently.

BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica, the previous GP winner, finished only 5th this time.

4 Renault-engined cars occupied the placeholders from 6 to 9th of the final protocol. Mark Webber gained 3 points for Red Bull. Fernando Alonso dropped to 8th place from the 3rd upon the start. His teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. passed Alonso on the closing laps of the race after a slight driving error by the Spaniard.

Lewis Hamilton qualified third but was penalized 10 places down the grid after his collision in the previous race. Soon after the start he made an error attacking Sebastian Vettel cutting the Nurburgring chicane and was penalized again by a drive-through penalty. He finished 10th.

source: wikinews.org