Corrupt contractors and militants take up to 50% of aid before it reaches the country's hungry people, says leaked documentUp to half the food aid meant to feed hundreds of thousands of hungry people in Somalia is being stolen, according to a leaked UN security council report.The report, seen by the New York Times, says the food is being diverted to corrupt contractors, radical Islamic militants and local UN workers.

Zimbabwe's president declares Conservatives are bold and know how to relate to others whereas Blair and Brown run awayIt has been a difficult few weeks for the Tories – the Ashcroft affair, talk of splits, erratic poll numbers and doubts over their economic policy. But at last they can enjoy some good news: no lesser global statesman than Robert Mugabe has offered David Cameron his endorsement."We have always related better with the British through the Conservatives than Labour," Zimbabwe's president said today.

Travel bans and asset freezes imposed on Robert Mugabe serve only to divide the already fragile power-sharing, South African president saysThe South African president, Jacob Zuma, began his three-day state visit to the UK today with a call for international sanctions on Zimbabwe to be lifted.Zuma told reporters in London that the travel bans and asset freezes imposed by the EU and the US on Robert Mugabe and his allies served only to divide the already fragile power-sharing government in Zimbabwe.Repeating calls by the Southern African Development Community for a suspension of the sanctions, Zuma said: "Our view is that the unity government should be supported so that it can get out of the difficulties that face Zimbabwe ...

Robert Mugabe is the eldest statesman on a continent where age is seldom a barrier to powerLet them eat cake. That is one of the likely headlines after an all-night birthday gala for Robert Mugabe, the autocratic president of Zimbabwe, which was due to finish in the early hours of yesterday.

Opponents condemn proposals to mark Zimbabwean president's 86th birthday as unemployment reaches nine in 10Plans to hold a lavish all-night birthday party for the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, were today condemned as insensitive to the suffering of the country's people.Mugabe's 86th birthday will be celebrated next week with an "extravagant overnight gala" starring local and international musicians, the Zimbabwe Times reported.The paper said Anywhere Mutambudzi, a retired army major who is an official with the information ministry, would organise the event – being held in Bulawayo – which would run from 6pm on 26 February until 6am the following da

MDC hopes to use global spotlight on South Africa to ensure Robert Mugabe runs a fair and non-violent pollOpponents of President Robert Mugabe have demanded early elections in Zimbabwe, timed to coincide with the World Cup being staged in neighbouring South Africa.The demand by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) came as talks to extend the lifespan of the year-old unity government ended in deadlock last week.The MDC hopes that the media focus on the region will raise the possibility of staging free and fair elections.

Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy court, clawed its way to a $2.7 billion profit in 2009. It was the automaker's first annual profit in four years.

A 41-year-old Nebraska woman is accused of having sex nightly with her teenage son when he was in seventh and eighth grades, officials said Wednesday.

Iran on Thursday executed two men accused of involvement in an armed anti-government group, as the public prosecutor announced that new death sentences have been issued.

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