divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/2843?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Ch%26aacute%3Bvez+drive+for+indefinite+re-election+as+presidentch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Venezuela+%28News%29%2CHugo+Chavez%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CUnclassifed+Contributorsc6=Rory+Carrollc7=2008_12_01c8=1126652c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Venezuelac13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FVenezuela" width="1" height="1" //divpHugo Chaacute;vez yesterday launched a push for constitutional reform that would allow him to go on seeking indefinite re-election as Venezuela's president. After nearly a decade in power, he said he needed more than another 10 years to entrench his self-styled socialist revolution./pp"We are going to begin the national debate," he told a televised rally of supporters in the capital Caracas. "I'm ready to be with you until 2021." Under the constitution Chaacute;vez, 54, should step down when his term ends in 2013. In a referendum last year, voters narrowly rejected a proposal to abolish term limits - but a recovery in the president's popularity has emboldened him to try again./ppAnalysts said he was keen to act before tumbling oil prices forced cuts in government spending which have fuelled his image as a messiah for the poor. The move is a gamble however, because urban voters punished the president's candidates in local and regional elections last week. /ppA resurgent opposition rode discontent over crime, inflation and poor public services to win major cities and five states, including the populous and economically important Miranda, Carabobo and Zulia regions. Chaacute;vez's candidates swept 17 states and 80% of town halls. Both sides claim victory. Chaacute;vez sought to turn those gains against the opposition by claiming its governors and mayors had revealed "fascist" tendencies even before they had been sworn in. He alleged they were undermining free clinics and schools. The opposition said that was absurd, since it was elected on the promise of improving public services./ppThe president has moved to curb the loose coalition of students, old elites and "Chaacute;vista" turncoats which styles itself as a bulwark against the ambitions of a megalomaniac. The government began legal actions against incoming opposition mayors and governors, and transferred some of their powers to central government./ppA telecoms watchdog is investigating an opposition TV network, Globovision, which could result in a fine or closure. "This is another demonstration that the government wants to restrict the right to information," said Julio Borges, an opposition leader. /ppVictorious opposition candidates said they wanted to work with the president and his allies to tackle urgent social problems. Chaacute;vez rejected this offer as a ruse by anti-democratic forces bent on a US-backed coup similar to the attempt which briefly ousted him in 2002. He warned of grave consequences. "The revolution is armed, and prepared to counter those who may attack the people. We won't show them mercy." /ppEach side accuses the other of sabotage. State media said that opposition thugs burned a health clinic and harassed Cuban doctors. The opposition said outgoing "Chaacute;vista" administrations were looting office equipment such as TVs, computers and radios, and burning documents./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/venezuela"Venezuela/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/hugo-chavez"Hugo Chávez/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/c_1rzco4wp6OnLeUIk4jAiYQ0dA/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/c_1rzco4wp6OnLeUIk4jAiYQ0dA/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/11/miranda kerr single/post_image/post_image-wenn2176176.jpg" border="0"br Good news, everybody! Despite what the media has been reporting (what with its anti-single-supermodels agenda), Miranda Kerr is not—repeat, emnot/em—marrying Orlando Bloom. a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20243408,00.html"People/a reports: blockquoteA rep for Bloom's girlfriend Miranda Kerr is knocking down a report in the Australian media Sunday that the emPirates of the Caribbean/em star and the model are engaged.br "The story ... is completely false and misleading," the rep says. "Miranda herself has clearly stated she is not engaged. There is nothing else to be said."br But while they're not making marriage plans at present, Bloom, 31, and Kerr, 25, are still very much a couple, and Kerry recently spoke about someday settling down with a special someone and having kids. /blockquote Sounds like Orlando Bloom got punked pretty hard there. You just know that Miranda probably responded to his 1,000th whiny request to marry him with a, "Hmmm...maybe," then after he bragged to all his buddies and about it and leaked it to the press, she sent her publicist out there to shoot him down. She probably plays all sorts of similar pranks on him, like "Got your nose" and "Hid your medication." She just seems cool like that. div style="width: 425px; margin: 0 0 0 30px; padding: 0;"ul style="list-style-type: none; display: block; width: 425px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"li style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/11/miranda_kerr_not_engaged.php" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/11/miranda kerr single/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-wenn2176176.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/11/miranda_kerr_not_engaged.php?bfm_index=1" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/11/miranda kerr single/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-wenn2176167.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/11/miranda_kerr_not_engaged.php?bfm_index=2" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/11/miranda kerr single/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-wenn2176187.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/11/miranda_kerr_not_engaged.php?bfm_index=3" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/11/miranda kerr single/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-wenn2176227.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/li/uldiv style="clear: left;"/div/div div class="credit"Photos: WENN/div pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/UzGTcf-0yETbbIhT0vCThJM0a94/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/UzGTcf-0yETbbIhT0vCThJM0a94/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thesuperficial/SNxk/~4/h86Q5gFUyxM" height="1" width="1"/

A report in the Australian media "is completely false and misleading," Kerr's rep tells PEOPLE.img src="http://feeds.people.com/~r/people/headlines/~4/470642568" height="1" width="1"/

Author: thelafrattes Keywords: VID00019 Added: November 29, 2008