UN Takes Up Zimbabwe Action Today

The UN Security Council today will address the struggle for power in Zimbabwe, one day after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai dropped out of the presidential race because of violent intimidation, the Guardian reports. The US, Britain, and France hope to convince  China and Russia to condemn Robert Mugabe's government. The EU, meanwhile, is pushing for penalties of its own, and African countries are considering how to proceed.

Mugabe “has united the world against him,” said a UK official. “He is not by any stretch of international law, or political imagination, a legitimate leader.” It's likely to be African countries—several of which have already strongly criticized the election process—that will have the strongest impact, the Guardian notes. (More UN Security Council stories.)