Amnesty International Criticises Zimbabwe Political Arrests

The Zimbabwe authorities must stop harassing political opponents and government critics, Amnesty International said today, following the acquittal of a critic of President Robert Mugabe accused of plotting to overthrow him.




Roy Bennett, a Movement for Democratic Change official, had been charged with “conspiring to acquire arms with a view to disrupting essential services” following his arrest in February 2008. He was acquitted by a Harare court on Monday.

.

"While welcoming the acquittal of Roy Bennett, we remain concerned about persistent abuse of the law against perceived opponents of the former ZANU-PF government,” said Michelle Kagari Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Africa.



“We urge the unity government to immediately end all malicious prosecutions of people exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”



Roy Bennett was previously adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International in 2004 after he was sentenced to a 15-month jail term by a parliamentary committee.



Despite the creation of the unity government in February 2009, police continue to arbitrarily arrest and detain human rights activists, journalists and political activists aligned to the former opposition parties now sharing power in the inclusive government.



In the last three months human rights activists attempting to facilitate public debate on past human rights violations have been specifically targeted and their activities barred by police.



Between 26 and 28 April, police in Masvingo, Gweru and Chinhoyi stopped exhibitions of photographs depicting organised violence and torture that followed the March 2008 elections. The exhibitions were organised by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) to facilitate public debate as part of the national healing process.



In Masvingo, ZimRights’ regional chairperson Mr Joel Hita was arrested and detained overnight. He is still facing unspecified charges.


For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org

International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK

www.amnesty.org

And This, My Dear, Is What I Call Paradise...

In courtesy of The Shoe Girl's Blog. Go check her out if you love love shoes (like me ^__^). And what's more, she's the designer behind Betsey Johnson's shoes. Cool isn't it. Don't start counting the shoes, because I'd already counted them. Its a whooping 76 pairs (if my eyes have not deceived me)!!! And those ain't cheap high-street ones, they are like Louboutins, YSLs.... I mean, WOAH...!!!!

Almost Fainted When Taking A Lush Bath

I wanted to take a bath to cool down my temper as well as confused mood, but in the end making matters worse by soaking in hot water for 5 minutes.

And no, its not Lush's fault that I have this terrible bathing experience. Its my own stupidity.

Look at how red my thigh is... It has extended towards my entire body and I'm really suspecting that the water was 60 Degrees ++ because all of my previous baths does not result in me having this diziness and redness.

Oh well, at least now I have something else to fret about instead of focusing on my inner negative feeling. But still, I AM NOT RELAXED NOR AM I HAPPY (like I always am during normal baths)

Starting from tomorrow, my work load is going to increase at the office. Wish me luck. And I really am dreading Mondays now. Monday Blues I guess.

Outfit Of The Day

Black top: Ebay
Cardigan: Zara
Skirt: H&M
Belt: Primark
Tights: Topshop
Handbag: DKNY
Watch: Cyma

I just realized that whenever I'm taking photos of my outfits, I'll tend to not include my shoes. Maybe I don't wanna dirty the floor with my dirty shoes that's why the lack of it. And besides, there's nothing great about my shoes that I'd brought with me. I left 70% of my shoes back in the UK :(

Gotta ask the boyfriend to bring some of my shoes to me or I'll die of shoe boredom -__-'''

This Is When I've Got Too Much Free Time On My Hands

Yup, your eyes have not been deceiving you. That's definitely a pen sticking out from my hair bun. I was trying out some hair styles that doesn't involves any rubber band or pin so I came up with this. And naturally, that's because I've too much leisure time to experiment this lame thing.

Ain't bad isn't it?? And I get to tie it within 30 seconds. Fast and easy and efficient. Ok, now I have to go buy some chopstick thingy!!

New DSTV Rival, Top TV Claims Runaway Success

Massive response to ODM’s newly launched TopTV service leaves the company struggling to cope with demand

On Digital Media (ODM) launched their TopTV service on Saturday, offering consumers seven different pay-TV bouquets priced between R99 and R249 a month.

This is the first time MultiChoice and DStv have gone head-to-head in the local pay-TV market, and the response to ODM’s TopTV offerings were much better than expected.

According to TopTV they sold out all their decoders on Saturday – the first day their services became available to the public – and have ordered another 150,000 to try to keep up with demand.  ODM could not confirm when the new decoders will hit the shelves.

The TopTV call centre is also buckling under the strong demand from consumers.  TopTV spokesperson Melinda Connor has confirmed that the call centre is experiencing very high load – around 1000 calls per hour – and the 40 call centre agents can simply not keep up with the call volumes.

The company is actively looking at addressing the high demand for its services – something which is a short term hassle but bodes well for ODM in the long term.

In related news ODM has confirmed that a fourth sports channel called Top Sport which will compliment Setanta Sport, Eurosport News and Fuel TV is under development.  “This channel will cover all major sporting events,” ODM said.

Tabemono (Tah-Beh-Mo-No)

That means food in Japanese. And yup, the Japs are all about having great food and sake. There are still loads of food stuff that I didn't get to snap because I couldn't like whip out my camera when I'm eating lunch with my working colleagues, right? That woulda been awkard.

I really love the food here as you can tell. I don't mind eating out every single day (which I seldom do that in UK as I dislike starchy/carbs and oily food). And lucky for me, my dad loves the food here too. So, the father and daughter were having great time tasting every single delish that we could put into our mouths.

Apparently these finger food goes well with beer.

Takoyaki (for the bf to see and memorize what kinda food takoyaki is).

The 1st Oyakodon in Osaka. Japs like their eggs RAW!!!

Miso soup

And yup, octopus is a must have for every dishes.

Chech out the chopstick. o_O

Choux de creme (or is it the other way round?). Its like cream puffs, except 10 times better.

Sizzling fried curry noodles with pork.

Popular way of preparing fried noodles and cabbage wrap within eggs.

Salmon and scallops. And yes, they are CHEAP here!!!

At the sushi parlor. With more high class stuff. My dad had this.

As I can't read Japanese, I pratically just point whatever is on the menu and at the display cabinet.

Some cold fried chicken appetizer.

Fried beef on stick.

Yakitori

 I'm still thinking where I should go for this holiday. I know I shouldn't get cooped up in the house but I always tend to find my refuge here, alone, in this cosy little small place. But another side of me wants to bask in the warm sunshine and look around this awesome city with tons of attractions to savour.

Ahhh.... Lazy to do some cleaning. I'll just rest another day I guess...