Musicians rev up for Nelson Mandela concert
Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, and South African musicians are set to perform. Se the photos and more at BET.com/News.

Zimbabweans head to the polls today to vote in run-off election
Voters in Zimbabwe head to the polls today to vote in the country’s presidential run-off election. Following what he claimed were violent attacks against his supporters in the weeks leading up to the election, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai dropped out of the election Sunday. But the government says it’s too late to take his name off the ballot. Tsvangirai spoke out against today’s election, which he had previously said could not be free and fair. “Today is not an election. Today is a shameful humiliation, another tragic day in our nation’s history. Today’s results will be meaningless because they do not reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe,” he said, reports CNN. International leaders and the United Nations also have spoken out against the run-off election, which has been deemed unfair by many from the start. Some nations have called for the government to delay the poll. According to Tsvangirai’s party, Movement for Democratic Change, 86 of his supporters have been killed, 10,000 wounded and 200,000 made homeless in the weeks leading up to the run-off. But Mugabe’s party, Zanu-PF, accuses the MDC of exaggerating the violence. An aide to longtime leader and presidential candidate Robert Mugabe believes Mugabe will win re-election, and also hinted at a willingness to share power with Tsvangirai and his party. “When the process is done (Friday), as a country, we (will) have a win that I think should include all the other players,” a spokesman for Zanu-PF told CNN. “This is the reason why my president says, ‘Look, Zimbabwe is too big a cake to eat for Zanu-PF; bring everyone in.’ As a country… we can mend bridges.” In related news, MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti, who was arrested earlier this month on charges of treason (which could result in him being executed if he is convicted), was released on bail Thursday.

South African police exchange bullets
In South Africa, national police officers and local police officers exchanged bullets as the national officers attempted to break up a strike held by local forces. Metro officers were striking because of issues with pay and nepotism, but since they were blocking and disrupting traffic, national officers had to get involved. That’s when things turned even uglier. According to the South African Police Service Superintendent Eugene Opperman, the national officers fired rubber bullets to disperse the protest, but “they fired back with live bullets…we only used rubber bullets all through,” he said. But officials on the other side deny the allegation. “If our members had fired live bullets at the SAPs, there would have been a bloodbath,” Vincent Vena, a member of the South African Municipal Workers Union, said in response. The incident left seven metro officers injured, they said.