Mugabe win brings strong criticism

Robert Mugabe looked Sunday to a seventh term in power in Zimbabwe after winning elections denounced by the opposition as "stolen" and criticised by Western powers.
Mugabe, 89, who has run the country since he helped end white rule in 1980, trounced his long-standing political rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, in Wednesday's election, Zimbabwean election officials said.
By the time he completes his new tenure, he will have ruled the former British colony in southern Africa for 38 years, first as prime minister and then as president.
Official results showed Mugabe won 61 percent of the presidential vote and his party got a super majority in parliament that will allow it to change the constitution. He routed Tsvangirai who trailed heavily with 34 percent.
But 61-year-old Tsvangirai, who has unsuccessfully tried to unseat Mugabe three times, condemned the vote as "fraudulent and stolen".
US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile described the election as "deeply flawed" and said the US "does not believe that the results ...today represent a credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague added his own "grave concerns" over the conduct of the vote in the former colony.
And yesterday, Australia called for Zimbabwe to go to the polls again.
Tsvangirai vowed to challenge the result in court and said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would boycott government institutions.