PM 'to tell Queen resignation date'

Tony Blair may choose Wednesday to tell the Queen that he intends to stand down as Labour leader and end a decade as her Prime Minister.
A public announcement on Mr Blair's plans to quit the Labour leadership is expected on Thursday, following his promise of a "definitive" statement on his future this week.
Mr Blair's plans for the future, and Gordon Brown's expected arrival at 10 Downing Street, are likely to dominate the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.
Both the Prime Minister and the Queen flew back to London on Tuesday night, and many at Westminster expect Mr Blair to use his regular weekly audience at Buckingham Palace to inform Her Majesty in advance of his intentions.
But his official spokesman was unable to confirm whether an audience was scheduled.
Audiences traditionally take place on Tuesdays, but can be held on a different day when that is more convenient.
The official spokesman stressed that there was no constitutional requirement for the Prime Minister to tell the Queen that he plans to step down as Labour leader, and declined to discuss whether he would do so as a matter of courtesy.
Mr Blair's expected announcement on Thursday will not trigger his immediate departure as Prime Minister, but will kick off a process expected to result in the handover of the reins of power to Mr Brown close to the start of July.
The statement will come hot on the heels of Tuesday's restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, which Mr Blair hopes will cement peace in the province as a central part of his legacy as Prime Minister.
Mr Blair returned from Belfast following the historic scenes at Stormont as the Queen was flying home from her visit to the United States.

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Labourday's..but no law no rights, no Job security..here in Maldives

The 27th New York International Orchid Show , Rockefeller Center,April 18-22, 2006.

Information provided by the Greater New York Orchid Society

2006 Attendance: 150-200,000

Major Awards: 26 major (trophy) awards, 30 American Orchid SocietyAwards, 52 plaques and about 600 ribbons to be awardedJudging: More than 60 judges from the American Orchid Society plus selected international judges. Special fragrance judgeswill be on hand for an orchid fragrance competition and display. All judging will take place

Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Special Events: April 18-22, 2007:Ikebana exhibits and floral displays 8 installations by top floral designers
Also: Daily tours led by orchid experts+ Complimentary lectures and workshops
Orchid Sales: More than 35 vendors including leading internationalcommercial orchid growers will offer between 50,000 and75,000 plants for sale. Orchid books, botanical prints,jewelry, gifts and orchid supplies will be available.
Show Personnel: Show Chairman David HorakShow Coordinator: Dawn Corbett
Show Information: Greater New York Orchid Society 212-332-6553Rockefeller Center Information 212-632-3975
For further information call the Greater New York Orchid Society at 212- 332-6577 or visit

Greater New York Orchid Society
Below are photos provided by the Greater NY Orchid Society with indications provided as to their respective photographers

Maldives opposition plan protest

The Maldives is braced for more clashes between the police and opposition activists demonstrating over a man allegedly killed in police custody.
The man's battered body was discovered in the harbour of the capital Male.
The government has denied allegations by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party that he died in police custody.
The opposition says it is losing faith in commitments made by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to loosen his nearly three-decade-long hold on power.
Severe rioting
The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) says it is determined to go ahead with a protest on Friday. read more

Politics this week

In the biggest mass shooting in America's history, a student at Virginia Tech college in Blacksburg shot and killed 32 people on campus before turning the gun on himself. Cho Seung-hui, a South Korean national who emigrated to America as a child, was already in counselling and was causing concern to his teachers. College officials were criticised for not securing the campus immediately after the first two people were shot. In the more than two hours that were allowed to elapse before he resumed his killing spree, Cho took the time to post a macabre video manifesto to the NBC network in New York. See article

George Bush attended a convocation at the college and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast. A debate about gun control was begun by some, but even the Democrats backed away from calls to introduce legislation.

Paul Wolfowitz came under pressure to step down as head of the World Bank after it emerged he had secured favourable pay and work conditions for his girlfriend, a bank official. Mr Wolfowitz has spearheaded a controversial campaign against government corruption since taking charge of the bank. See article
The Supreme Court ruled, by five to four, that a ban on partial-birth abortions passed in 2003 by the then Republican Congress was constitutional. It is seen as a marked shift in the court's stance; for the first time it approved a restriction on abortion without regard for a woman's health. See article
The trial began of José Padilla, five years after he was arrested in connection with an alleged “dirty bomb” plot. Mr Padilla does not face any charges in relation to such a plot but is accused (with two co-defendants) of giving material support to terrorist groups. See article
New Jersey's governor remained in critical condition after a car crash. Jon Corzine was being driven to a conciliatory meeting he was to chair between the women's basketball team of Rutgers university and Don Imus, who was sacked from his popular radio show for making racist remarks about the players.
Confident Correa
Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, won his controversial referendum to set up a “constituent assembly” to rewrite the constitution with 80% of the vote. Some fear he may now use this to concentrate power in his own hands. See article
In Mexico at least 20 people were killed in what police claimed was a feud between rival drug gangs. Meanwhile, in Brazil, battles between the police and competing drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro claimed the lives of 25 people.
The realm of possibilities

The campaign for the French presidential election drew to a close before polling day on April 22nd. The eventual result seemed uncertain, though the centre-right candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, looked likely to come top in the first round. See article
AFP
Demonstrations in both Moscow and St Petersburg by Other Russia, an opposition group, were broken up violently by police, who arrested a former chess champion, Garry Kasparov, one of its leading lights. The crackdown confirms that Russia's government is in no mood to brook opposition, however small. See article
Ukraine's constitutional court began to consider whether President Viktor Yushchenko's decree dissolving parliament was constitutional. One of the judges was accused of receiving a $12m bribe. Protesters blocked the court's entrance in an effort to stop it sitting.
Leaving the country

The interim administration in Bangladesh in effect sent two of the country's former prime ministers into exile. It was announced that Khaleda Zia, prime minister until October 2006, would go to Saudi Arabia. Her rival, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, was in America, and has said she will try to defy a government order barring her from returning to Bangladesh. See article

North Korea missed the deadline—of April 14th—by when it was supposed to shut down its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. North Korea complains it still has not received roughly $25m frozen in accounts in a bank in Macau it regards as a precondition to closing the reactor. See article

The election commission in Nepal confirmed what many had feared: that it will not be ready to hold an election for a constituent assembly on June 20th as scheduled. The date was set as part of a peace agreement between mainstream political parties and Maoist rebels.
The mayor of Japan's southern city of Nagasaki was shot dead by a member of a criminal gang while campaigning for re-election.

Tensions rose in the Maldives after the death of a man the main opposition party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), alleges was killed in police custody....read more

Richard Gere kiss sparks India protests

Actor Richard Gere has sparked protests in India after kissing Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty at an Aids awareness rally in New Delhi.

NEW DELHI (AP) - Angry crowds in several Indian cities are burning effigies of Richard Gere.
It's happening after Gere swept a popular Bollywood actress into his arms and kissed her several times during an AIDS-awareness event. Photographs of Gere embracing Shilpa Shetty and kissing her on the cheek at an HIV/AIDS awareness event in New Delhi were splashed across front pages.
India is a country where sex and public displays of affection are largely taboo.
In Mumbai, members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks and set fire to glamourous shots of Shetty.
Similar protests have broken out in other cities.
The two appeared at a news conference in New Delhi on Sunday to highlight the HIV/AIDS epidemic among India's truck drivers. In front of a cheering crowd, Gere kissed the giggling Shetty on the hand, then kissed her on both cheeks before bending her in a full embrace to kiss her cheek again.
"This is a bit too much," Shetty said after the embrace.
On Monday, Shetty tried to stamp out the controversy.
"I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner," she told the Press Trust of India news agency.
"I understand people's sentiments, but I don't want a foreigner to take bad memories from here," PTI quoted her as saying.
The spokesman for Hindu nationalist party, Bharatiya Janata party, condemned the kiss.
"Such a public display is not part of Indian tradition," said Prakash Javadekar, according to PTI.
Shetty, already well-known in India, became an international star after her appearance on the British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother" - another controversial public appearance.
A fellow contestant, Jade Goody, sparked international headlines by making allegedly racist comment to Shetty. Mobs took to the streets of India to denounce Goody, and Shetty went on to win the competition.