What Caught My Eye Today

Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has sought refuge at the Dutch Embassy, shortly after announcing he was withdrawing from the presidential runoff against longtime leader Robert Mugabe, citing violence against opposition supporters. Tsvangirai won the first round of the presidential election on March 29, but did not gain an outright majority against 84-year-old Mugabe. He returned to Zimbabwe a month ago to campaign despite information his party had said it received that he was the target of a state-sponsored assassination plot. Since then, his top deputy has been arrested on treason charges — which carry the death penalty — and Tsvangirai has been repeatedly detained by police. And I thought presidential elections here were a brutal affair. Good grief. While the upcoming run-off election has probably lost whatever shreds of credibility it had, it would come as no surprise if, despite all the tactics Mugabe has employed, Tsvangirai still managed to pull in a significant amount of the vote, possibly even the majority. Unfortunately, we may never know what the actual election results are. Not if Mugabe has his way.

Saudi Arabia - Facing strong U.S. pressure and global dismay over oil prices, Saudi Arabia said it will produce more crude this year if the market needs it. If? Dude, do they not get the news in that country? But the vague pledge fell far short of U.S. hopes for a specific increase and may do little to lower prices immediately. I doubt that the U.S. hopes for cheaper gas, especially in an election year, garnered much sympathy from...well pretty much anyone outside America. Saudi Arabia — the world's top crude exporter — called the gathering Sunday to send a message that it, too, is concerned by high oil prices inflicting economic pain worldwide. Instead, the meeting highlighted the sharp disagreement between producers like Saudi Arabia and consuming countries like Britain and the United States over the core factors driving steep price hikes. Honestly, does this surprise anyone? The Saudis, and any country with oil to export, have all the leverage here. Oh sure, if prices rise enough, demand might decrease, but so far, demand is still increasing, so why on Earth, would these countries turn down the opportunity to cash in on high prices. It's not like they are responsible for the huge drop in the value of the U.S. dollar.

Bolivia - More chaos in South America. Seriously, if they don't get their acts together, they may risk stealing the limelight from the Middle East debacle. Natural gas-rich Tarija became the fourth Bolivian state to declare autonomy from the government of leftist President Evo Morales when voters backed greater independence in a referendum. Autonomy backers waved the state's flag and celebrated in Tarija's capital after pollsters released results showing the "yes" vote getting about 80% support. I'd say that qualifies as a blow out. Tarija is home to 85%of Bolivia's natural gas reserves — the nation's main export. Tarija and the fellow energy-rich state of Santa Cruz want more local control over their gas revenues, which Morales' central government needs to support poorer regions in the west. Other eastern states are seeking autonomy to protect their farms and ranches from Morales' proposed land reform. Ah, so that's it. The have's don't want to share with the have-not's. Golly, that never happens. Seems to me that while the government's motives might be on the up-and-up, they didn't do a very good job of selling its profitsharing plan. Maybe, Moralies should hook up with Major League Baseball to see how they manage. Couldn't hurt, given that the alternative of staying the current course might lead to the collapse of the country.

Israel - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said there could be no Mideast peace unless Israel drops its refusal to cede sovereignty over parts of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinians, challenging one of Israel's most emotionally held positions. These guys are allies, right? Sarkozy called on Israel to stop settlement in the West Bank. "There cannot be peace without an immediate and complete halt to settlement," Sarkozy said. "There cannot be peace without recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of two states and the guarantee of free access to the holy places for all religions." Here's an idea. We round up all the world's leaders and send them to a remedial kindergarten class. Clearly, the concepts of sharing and playing nicely did not sink in.

Olympics - China should win one more medal than the United States at the Beijing Olympics—88 to 87—and top the overall table for the first time, according to a survey released by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. China was third in overall medals at Athens 2004, behind first-place United States (102) and Russia (92). China was second in gold medals behind the U.S. in 2004—32 to 36. The survey predicted Russia will drop to third place at Beijing with 79 medals overall, down 13, followed by Germany (43), Australia (41), Japan (34), France (30), Italy (29), Britain (28) and South Korea (27). The report lists significant factors behind a country’s performance at the Olympics since 1988, including population, average income level and being the host nation. India remains a “significant underperformer” and is predicted to get six medals in Beijing, compared with one silver medal at Athens. Let's not lose sight of what's important here. Everyone know that the Olympics aren't about sportsmanship, but about the amount of bling you take home. Having China outbling the U.S. at the upcoming games? Oh the shame.