South Africa's Tutu to retire from public duties

South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, who became a global figure for using his church pulpit to help bring down apartheid, said on Thursday he would retire from public duties later this year. "The time has now come to slow down," Tutu said in Cape Town during a nationally televised news conference.
Tutu said he would step down in October when he turns 79 so that he "could sip tea in the afternoon" with his wife, enjoy more time with his family and spend time watching cricket. The congenial Tutu, who retired more than a decade ago from his post as the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, has established a peace foundation, advised political leaders, served in a council of retired global statesmen and women and had been an active public speaker. He will continue to offer his support for his peace foundation.