Angolan authorities could be planning to forcibly evict thousands of squatters living in the capital Luanda in a Mugabe-style slum clearance over the Christmas holiday, aid agency Christian Aid has warned.

Zimbabweans’ three-day wait for a chance to vote in the most bitterly contested elections in their nation’s history ended with police wielding clubs and firing tear gas.

Zimbabwe’s tainted presidential election went into a court-ordered third day but tonight it seemed that by hook, or more likely by crook, President Robert Mugabe will cling on to power.

Zimbabwe’s presidential elections slid into chaos today as the government appeared to defy an order extending voting, two senior opposition officials were arrested, and state-run media accused Britain and America of preparing ‘‘a major military offensive’’.