Zimbabwe's election turmoil spurs hundreds gather outside South African Embassy

Harare, Zimbabwe

As Zimbabwe's neighbors urged it to postpone this week's presidential runoff, hundreds of beaten, newly homeless Zimbabweans amassed Wednesday outside the South African Embassy in the capital Harare in a desperate bid for help during the electoral crisis gripping the nation.

On Wednesday, officials from Swaziland, Angola and Tanzania — the so-called troika empowered to speak for the Southern African Development Community, a regional bloc of 14 nations — called on Zimbabwe to put off the voting because the current crisis would undermine its legitimacy.

Meanwhile, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II stripped Robert Mugabe, the country's president for nearly 30 years, of his honorary knighthood in response to the former colonial ruler's human-rights abuses and "disregard" for democracy.

Mugabe has insisted on holding the presidential runoff Friday, even though his sole opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, pulled out of the race Sunday because of the persistent violence and intimidation of him, his party and their supporters.

Bangkok, Thailand

Post-cyclone deaths lower than expected

Dire warnings that cyclone survivors in Myanmar might fall prey to disease and starvation failed to take into account the survival instincts of those affected, aid agencies and disaster experts say. The government's official death toll now stands at 84,537 dead, with 53,836 missing.

The resilience of the people — along with the skills of Myanmar citizens working for local and international humanitarian agencies — proved to be the most critical survival weapons and helped mitigate the limited access allowed to foreign disaster experts, they said.

U.N. agencies and private humanitarian groups agree a feared second wave of post-cyclone casualties did not take place. And barriers the junta put in the way of foreign aid appears not to have caused a measurable increase in deaths from illness and lack of food.

But almost all the casualties appear to have been caused directly by the cyclone.

Mexico City

Police raid leader to be charged

The police commander who led a botched raid on a Mexico City nightclub will be charged with 12 counts of homicide, one for each person who died in the crush at the bar's entrance, prosecutors said Wednesday.

City Attorney General Rodolfo Felix Cárdenas said his office is bringing the charges against precinct commander Guillermo Zayas for failing to halt Friday's mismanaged raid, in which one group of police tried to force youths out of the club while another blocked the exit to prevent them from leaving.

Tokyo

Marine sentenced in Japan attack

A U.S. military tribunal sentenced a Marine to 12 months in prison for his part in an assault on a woman in southwestern Japan last year, wrapping up a case that has fueled public anger over the American military presence in the country.

The court martial found Sgt. Lanaeus J. Braswell, 25, guilty of conspiracy to engage in indecent acts, sodomy, violating liberty and alcohol orders and fraternization, according to a statement by the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni in southern Japan.

Braswell was the last of four Marines sentenced in the attack on the 20-year-old woman in the city of Hiroshima in October.

Also

Greece fires: A forest fire fanned by high winds broke out Wednesday on the outskirts of Athens, causing power outages in some parts of the Greek capital, including downtown.

Seal hunt set: Seal hunters in Namibia plan to club 86,000 seals in an annual hunt set to begin next week, over the objection of animal-rights activists. The government has said the seal hunt protects its fish stocks and provides jobs and revenue from skins, fur and meat.

Seattle Times news services