Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said Monday its leader Morgan Tsvangirai would not travel to Swaziland for a regional security meeting on the impasse in Zimbabwe and demanded instead a full regional crisis summit on the issue.

Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe were expected in Swaziland on Monday to explain the breakdown in their talks on the formation of a unity government to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) troika on security, chaired by Swazi King Mswati III.

Angola and Tanzania are the other members of the troika.

Johannesburg/Harare - Talks between President Robert Mugabe and pro-democracy leader Morgan Tsvangirai over the share of government ministries between them were due to resume Friday for the fourth successive day, with no sign the deadlock could be resolved.

Even the usually optimistic Herald, the daily propaganda newspaper of Mugabe's ZANU(PF) party, said in a headline, "Cabinet talks hit brick wall" after Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, leader of a lesser faction of the MDC, disbanded late Thursday after eight hours of fruitless debate.

Johannesburg- Cape Town's Mayor Helen Zille said Tuesday being named the world's best mayor was an incentive to keep working towards democracy in South Africa, which has been rocked by political turmoil over the past year.

Zille, who is leader of the country's main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party as well as mayor of the country's oldest city, said winning the 2008 World Mayor award on Monday was a "great honour."

Johannesburg  - The 2010 World Cup organization fell victim Monday to former South African president Thabo Mbeki's ouster by his party with the announcement that Mbeki-loyal members of the board of the World Cup local organizing committee (LOC) have been axed.

Former local government minister Sydney Mufamadi, former deputy finance minister Jabu Moleketi and former minister in the presidency, Essop Pahad, have been replaced as government's representatives on the board, the government of new President Kgalema Motlanthe announced in a statement.

Nairobi/Johannesburg  - While markets in the United States, Europe and Asia were receiving their worst battering in decades last week, Africa's economy, which has been relatively unscathed by the global financial meltdown, came in for some rare praise.

British liberal weekly, the Economist, which once described Africa as "the hopeless continent," was suddenly "cheerfully positive" at developments in Africa.

Johannesburg/Harare- Former South African president Thabo Mbeki was due to return to Zimbabwe Monday to try to salvage the power-sharing deal he clinched a month ago between die-hard President Robert Mugabe and his arch-rival Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mbeki's spokesman told SAPA news agency he would travel to Zimbabwe Monday afternoon at the behest of "all the parties in Zimbabwe plus SADC (the Southern African Development Community, which deployed him as Zimbabwean mediator last year)."