deemed to
have profited from the fraud. Chief among them was Jeffry Picower, who was a long-term investor in Bernard Madoff's funds. Over the course of three and a half decades, he withdrew some $7bn,
substantially
more than his initial investment. His widow has now pledged to return every penny he received.
The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has said the power-sharing deal with the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has run its course. The 86-year-old president told members of his Zanu-PF party that elections should be held early next year. Correspondents say the president's comments suggest that the unity government is
virtually
dead.
The American State Department says the US is preparing a series of sanctions to be imposed on the President of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, unless he
steps down
and allows his rival Alassane Ouattara to take over. William Fitzgerald, the State Department official in charge of West African affairs, told the BBC that a travel ban and financial measures against Mr Gbagbo were being organised.
"We are going to work with a regional bank to close off the stake it has, as it were, of his money. And we are going to continue to
ratchet up
the pressure until he does give up power. It is absolutely unacceptable that Laurent Gbagbo remain in power."
Mr Fitzgerald said he knew at least one African state that had offered to resettle Mr Gbagbo, although he wouldn't say which.