Zimbabwe Attacks Rising as Mbeke Arrives  

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• Tsvangirai Agrees to Zimbabwe Runoff

  May 10, 08 7:18 AM CDT
  Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has decided to take part in a runoff presidential vote, the BBC reports, despite fears that violence and voter intimidation will skew results. The candidate has called a runoff unnecessary, insisting he received over half the original vote, but today he said his supporters would feel “betrayed” if he did not run in a second round. Official results gave him 47.9% of the vote to President Robert Mugabe’s 43.2%. More »

• Oil Driving 'Democratic Recession'

  May 7, 08 11:25 AM CDT
  A "democratic recession" is threatening to roll back freedom around the globe, Thomas Friedman writes today in the New York Times. The high price of oil—which facilitates authoritarian rule—combined with the loss of US ability to effectively promote democracy means dictators have freer reign and freedom suffers, Friedman writes. More »

• Official Results Finally Out in Zimbabwe

  May 2, 08 10:10 AM CDT
  Zimbabwe’s official election results are finally out, Reuters reports, and as expected, they call for a runoff between opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the vote, the election commission found, beating Mugabe’s 43.2% but not hitting the 50% necessary to avoid a runoff. “This whole thing is a scandal, scandalous daylight robbery and everyone knows that,” an opposition spokesman said. More »

• Without Runoff, Mugabe Will Win 'by Default'

  May 1, 08 8:06 AM CDT
  The head of Zimbabwe's electoral commission tells CNN that Robert Mugabe will win re-election by default if Morgan Tsvangirai goes through with a threat to boycott a runoff.
  Tsvangirai's party claims a 50.3% victory, making a runoff unnecessary; Mugabe's party argues he has only a 47%-43% margin. The commission head, George Chiweshe, said results of the March presidential race will be submitted to both parties today. More »

• S. Africa Blocks Sending UN Envoy to Zimbabwe

  Apr 30, 08 9:19 AM CDT
  A closed-door session of the Security Council failed to make progress on Zimbabwe after South Africa led a successful effort to block a plan to send a UN envoy to Harare. The US, Britain, and France pushed for dispatching an observer—and for a moratorium on arms sales. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, meanwhile, blasted Zimbabwe's failure to announce election results. More »