TIMELINE: Aftermath of Zimbabwe's crucial elections
(Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has failed to secure control of Zimbabwe's parliament in a partial vote recount, results showed on Saturday.
Below is a chronology of key developments since presidential, parliamentary and local elections on March 29.
March 30 - The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims victory based on early results.
March 31 - Electoral commission starts announcing results of parliamentary election. Seats are split evenly between the opposition and ruling party. No presidential results emerge.
-- Observer mission from regional group SADC says elections were free and fair but expresses concerns over delay to results.
-- United States, European Union and former colonial power Britain voice concern over delay to vote counting.
April 1 - ZANU-PF projections obtained by Reuters show opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai would beat Mugabe but not with enough votes to avoid a run-off.
April 2 - MDC says it won presidential and parliamentary elections and calls on Mugabe to concede. ZANU-PF says MDC claims are "wishful" and Mugabe is going nowhere.
-- State-owned newspaper, The Herald, says Tsvangirai and Mugabe -- frontrunners in a field of candidates -- will face a run-off as neither will get 51 percent for an outright win.
-- Latest parliamentary election results show ZANU-PF with 93 seats and the MDC on 91, out of 206.
April 4 - ZANU-PF backs Mugabe to fight a run-off.
April 6 - MDC goes to court to try to force release of presidential results.
April 7 - Tsvangirai meets Jacob Zuma, head of South Africa's ruling African National Congress, after appealing for help from outside powers to end Mugabe's rule.
-- Police say they have arrested seven election officials for undercounting votes for Mugabe.
April 12 - Mugabe snubs emergency meeting of SADC.
April 13 - The MDC vow to challenge a partial recount announced the day before, designed to help Mugabe. Continued...
Taliban may wait out Washington's "endgame"
Washington's hint of an Afghanistan endgame in saying U.S. troops won't still be there in 2017 might help win over a war-weary public, but there is no guarantee a notoriously patient Taliban won't just wait the Americans out. Full Article | Full Coverage



