Harare, Zimbabwe
After his party won a huge, if dubious, victory in parliamentary elections last week, an ebullient President Robert Mugabe joked that he might stay in office another 20 years. “Until I am old,” the 81-year-old said. The opposition was hoping that the current famine and high unemployment would send people into the streets to protest what it called a rigged election. But Mugabe, whose supporters have beaten and killed numerous opposition figures over the years, said not even peaceful marches would be allowed. “They are not peaceful people,” he said of the opposition. “Law-and-order instruments will be used to prevent any mass action.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
One great cookbook: Joshua McFadden’s ‘Six Seasons of Pasta’the week recommends The pasta you know and love. But ever so much better.
-
Scientists are worried about amoebasUnder the radar Small and very mighty
-
Buddhist monks’ US walk for peaceUnder the Radar Crowds have turned out on the roads from California to Washington and ‘millions are finding hope in their journey’
