Airstrip One

Zim Watch

I should first point you to Christopher Montgomery's column, which is on this subject, in which he claims this column is "a compendious source of scepticism about Zimbabwe". I do not share Mr Montgomery's enthusiasm for empire, but the little Englanders and the die hards have to put forward a common front against the raging Atlantic and those beyond Calais.

The polling has entered a third day in Harare and the turnout is good, although not all polling stations are aware of this, although the government seems to have dropped their appeal against the court ordered openings.

Tsvangirai calls for restraint after the arrest of a clos ally, Welshman Ncube (great name). The MDC are also warning about poll fraud.

Courts have ordered the police to move against a Zanu camp.

An interesting story, getting little play in the west is the arrest of MDC "members" of a Zanu "millitant" (the terms come from the opposition supporting Daily News). There are MDC gangs and thugs, although they seem to be a defensive reaction - on the whole.

According to the Guardian, Mugabe is in trouble even in the countryside, although the Telegraph say they are not turning out at all.

The surprisingly peaceful elections (trust me, I'm surprised - so far) are helping the Rand.

The Zimbabwean ambassador to Nigeria has dismissed the idea that there would be any irregularity "We don't use Florida type". Ouch.