Former African leader gets $5 million. Festus Mogae, the former president of Botswana, won $5 million dollars for helping to promote good leadership in Africa.  The award was connected to the Ibrahim Prize, the single most valuable prize in the world. The prize was created by Sudanese businessman Mo Ibrahim. During a ceremony, Mogae, who stepped down in April, was praised for actively fighting the AIDS epidemic in his nation. “President Mogae’s outstanding leadership has ensured Botswana’s continued stability and prosperity in the face of an HIV/AIDS pandemic, which threatened the future of his country and people,” former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said.  ”I did not create the democracy in my country. I consolidated it and deepened it by practiced, accountable governance, respect of the rule of law, independence of the courts, respect for human rights, including women’s rights,” he told the BBC.  Botswana was the first country in sub-Saharan African to provide free anti-retroviral drugs to those affected by AIDS and HIV. In addition, Botswana’s residents have the highest average pay on the continent, and the nation is considered by many as being the least corrupt country, despite being the largest diamond producer in the world, according to Transparency International. In addition to the $5 mil, Mogae, age 69, gets $200,000 every year for the rest of his life.

Mexican prison riot leaves 21 dead. A riot in a Mexican prison left 21 dead Monday, reports CNN. The fight, which occurred in Reynosa, was between two groups of inmates and took place early in the morning. Twelve prisoners were also injured in the incident, but their condition is unknown. State authorities are still looking into the cause of the riot, but they did suspend the prison director and the guards. It took both federal and state police, as well as some army troops, to take control of the prison after the violence. The forces also had to surround the outside of the institution to control the worried and apprehensive relatives who were outside kicking the gates and demanding to be given information. No word yet on what might have started the riot. A riot at La Mesa prison in Tijuana last month killed 23 people, reports the news service. That violence was sparked by angry prisoners who said guards were not giving them food and water, a charge that prison officials deny.

Deaths at African sporting event tied to witchcraft claims. Thirteen deaths due to rioting at an eastern Congo soccer match are connected to claims of witchcraft. U.N.-sponsored station Radio Okapi reports that many of the victims, most between ages 11 and 16, suffocated after crowds ran for exits from the game in North Kivu province Sunday.   Dozens of teens marched in protest on Monday after the incident that allegedly began when one team’s goalie chanted supposed spells to try and change the game’s outcome. Fighting erupted and a police officer who tried to intervene was reportedly hit in the head with a rock. Government officials are investigating.

Larry Johnson dismisses herpes chatter. Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson dismisses rumors of his status as an STD-carrier as slander. Web chatter that followed a Balleralert.com posting of a form for herpes medication prescribed to “Johnson, Larry” led the player’s reps to state: “Mr. Johnson does not have herpes. He cares about his fans deeply and he thanks his supporters for not believing these allegations, which are untrue.” The statement also attributes the rumor to a “young lady that Mr. Johnson met during his time at his new residence in Miami Beach.” Johnson refused to let the unnamed woman extort him for money, which eventually resulted in her starting the herpes rumor, the statement claims.

The World Lens: Indian police break up fuel protests; food woes get worse in Ethiopia ; and soccer players get acrobatic. See the photos here.

Chinese in South Africa are Black?Chinese South Africans will soon be classified as Black, so they too can benefit from certain affirmative-action-like government programs. About 200,000 ethnic Chinese live in the African nation, and they claim they have long been the target of discrimination, reports the BBC. For this reason, the Chinese Association of South Africa filed suit against the government because Chinese were being classified as White. This caused them to miss out on business contracts and job promotions as part of the Broad-Based Economic Empowerment and Employment Equity Acts meant to abolish the country’s apartheid tradition. Under that act people classified as Black, Indian or of mixed race benefited. Chinese originally were placed in the mixed-race category, but today they are generally looked at and classified as being White. In court, the association brought up various incidences were Chinese people were denied opportunities because they were not cared for under the act. Years after apartheid, White South Africans still earn about 450 percent more than Blacks in the nation.

South African leader to meet with Zimbabwe president. Thabo Mbeki, South Africa ’s president, will visit Zimbabwe to meet with longtime leader Robert Mugabe, reports CNN. Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are embroiled in a fight for the presidency with run-off elections (following the disputed one in March) set to happen next week. Each side claims the other side is responsible for violence in the country; Mugabe supporters stand accused of intimidating his opponent’s supporters through beatings, kidnappings, arrests and murder, while Mugabe accuses Tsvangirai’s party (Movement for Democratic Change) of inciting violence as well. Mbeki has been tapped as a mediator with the Southern African Development Community. But the MDC believes Mbeki is biased toward Mugabe. “We don’t even know what [Mbeki]’s agenda is. We can’t attach expectations to an agenda we know nothing about,”an MDC spokesman, Ngobizitha Mlilo, told The Association Press. Tsvangirai has even asked that Mbeki step down from the position as mediator, reports the news service. Mbeki was appointed in 2007 and helped get the sides to agree to post election results outside of polling stations.