June 10, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Shannon de Ryhove.
Making headlines:

The US urges Zimbabwe to assign international monitors in the country’s elections.

Libya’s army is expected to take control of Benghazi’s militia bases.

And, South Africans pray for former President Nelson Mandela’s recovery.

The US has urged Zimbabwe to allow outside observers led by a regional consortium of African nations to monitor elections to ensure the vote is peaceful and credible.

The 15-member Southern African Development Community, which includes South Africa, had called for a summit this past weekend to help Zimbabwe raise an estimated $132-million needed for an election. The summit was, however, postponed.

The regional group, which includes South Africa, wants to avoid a rerun of a disputed poll five years ago, which sparked violence and prompted a flood of refugees into neighboring countries.

In a ruling on an application by a Zimbabwean citizen demanding that an election date be set before the current parliament expires next month,

Zimbabwe's constitutional court told President Robert Mugabe on May 31 to hold elections before the end of July.

A Libyan army spokesperson said on Sunday that Libya's army would take control of militia's bases in the eastern city of Benghazi following clashes in which 31 people were killed.

Fighting broke out on Saturday at the headquarters of the Libya Shield brigade when protesters demanded the disbanding of the militias, whose continued existence nearly two years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi is fuelling public resentment.

Order was only restored in Libya's second city after special forces seized the compound of the militia, which said it was operating with official approval.

Spokesperson for the army chief of staff Ali al-Sheikhi, told newswire Reuters that "the national army has been ordered to take control of the bases of Libya Shield, as that is what the people wanted

South Africans prayed for Nelson Mandela's recovery on Sunday as the 94-year-old former president spent a second day in hospital with a recurring lung infection.

Mandela, a global symbol of triumph over adversity and of reconciliation who became South Africa's first black leader in 1994 after the defeat of apartheid, was hospitalised early on Saturday when his already frail health worsened.

It is his fourth hospital stay since December and the government said on Saturday his condition was "serious". During previous hospital visits it had highlighted his "good spirits"

Presidency spokesperson Mac Maharaj said he would issue a statement about Mandela's health if doctors gave him any information. Maharaj had said on Saturday Mandela was breathing on his own and called that a "positive sign".

Also making headlines:

The US urges Madagascar to hold free and fair elections.

And, the European Union is expected to pledge €3.5-billion over the next seven years to help combat malnutrition in the developing world.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.