Harare

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has urged members of his ruling party not to squabble over his succession, the state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper reported. The veteran leader, in power since independence in 1980, has suggested he will retire when his six-year term ends in 2008. But state radio said last week his Zanu-PF party was considering delaying the presidential vote.

The United Nations on Thursday expressed a ”profound sense of dismay” over statements by Zimbabwean leaders, which appeared to condone police assaults on trade union officials. Mugabe was quoted by state media earlier this week as saying Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union leaders had defied authority by trying to stage a banned protest and deserved the beatings they reportedly got in police custody.

Zimbabwe’s opposition vowed on Wednesday to resist any plan by President Robert Mugabe’s party to delay a 2008 presidential poll, saying the Southern African country would be doomed by two more years under his rule. The ruling Zanu-PF said on Sunday it was considering shifting the presidential election so it can be held simultaneously with parliamentary polls in 2010.

President Robert Mugabe has backed Zimbabwean police for using brute force to pre-empt an anti-government protest by the country’s largest trade union, a state-run daily reported on Monday. ”Police were right in dealing sternly with Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions leaders during their demonstration,” the Herald quoted Mugabe as saying.

The Zimbabwean government denied entry on Friday to members of a five-strong trade union delegation from the United States, the United States embassy in Harare said. ”We strongly condemn the government of Zimbabwe’s decision today to deny entry to a delegation from the United States Coalition of Black Unionists (CBTU),” the embassy said in a statement.

Zimbabwe’s central bank has released -million for wheat imports to battle mounting bread shortages in the wake of an untenable state-imposed price ceiling, a minister said on Friday. The Southern African nation has been facing bread shortages since Monday as bakers slashed supplies to retailers.

Zimbabwe’s international satellite link has been cut off after the national telephone company failed to pay a  000 debt in a move that experts warn could spell the collapse of the internet in the country, reports said on Thursday. The managing director of the country’s sole fixed-line phone company, told the state-controlled Herald newspaper that the company had been disconnected.

The drive to oust Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe had not run out of steam despite the muzzling of protests and splits in the Movement for Democratic
Change, according to the country’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. ”Our mass democratic resistance is definitely coming,” said Tsvangirai.

Police in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, arrested three more company executives for hiking prices without government consent but a judge has said the police are being overzealous, it was reported on Tuesday. Those arrested were from fertiliser manufacturers Windmill and Zimbabwe Fertiliser Company, and Circle Cement, the state-controlled Herald reported.

The annual rate of inflation in Zimbabwe reached a new record high of 1 204,6% in August, the central statistics office announced on Friday. The announcement of the new rise came after slight falls in the rate for June and July, which had raised hopes by central bank chief Gideon Gono that a corner had been turned in the fight against the ”inflation dragon”.

Lawyers representing detained trade union and opposition activists in Zimbabwe say their clients were viciously assaulted by police while in detention this week. Armed police swooped on the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) leadership on Wednesday as they prepared to march to present a petition to the finance minister

The Zimbabwean government has secured desperately needed loans of close to half a billion United States dollars to help boost agricultural production, it was reported on Thursday. Nearly half the -million in loans secured was provided by key ally China in the form of a -million agricultural support deal, the state-controlled Herald newspaper said.

A senior Zimbabwe labour official dismissed on Tuesday government threats to crush street marches planned for Wednesday by the main trade union, saying the authorities were panicking. President Robert Mugabe’s government has been shaken by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) plans to hold the processions, said ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibebe.

President Robert Mugabe’s government said on Tuesday it was ready to talk with Zimbabwean unions over their social grievances, but renewed its vow to stop nationwide street protests planned for Wednesday. The opposition-allied Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has called for the demonstrations to protest poor wages and workers’ lack of access to antiretroviral drugs.

Zimbabwe trade unions are scaling down their threats for major anti-government protests this week, a move analysts say acknowledges that fears of a brutal state response may keep many people at home. President Robert Mugabe has warned his forces will not hesitate to shoot opponents who take to the streets.

Hopes of a bumper wheat harvest in crisis-ridden Zimbabwe have been dashed by repeated power cuts and fuel shortages, a newspaper reported on Monday as a Cabinet minister promised to step up white farm evictions. Irrigation systems have been running on reduced capacity because of the frequent cuts.

Zimbabwe’s state grain utility said on Monday it was enlisting the help of the country’s defence forces to collect grain from farmers in a bid to boost lagging deliveries. Maize is a controlled commodity in Zimbabwe and is sold only to the Grain Marketing Board, which distributes it to private firms for milling.

Zimbabwe on Saturday condemned as ”lies” an Amnesty International report that criticised the Harare government for failing to rebuild houses for thousands left homeless after a controversial slum clearance. Amnesty said on Friday that a Zimbabwe government housing construction programme meant to benefit victims of the slum demolitions was a public relations exercise to mask ”mass human rights violations”.

One of Southern Africa’s most noted conservationists, Clem Coetzee, died after suffering a heart attack at his farm in southern Zimbabwe, family members and friends said on Thursday. He was 67. Coetzee was an internationally renowned veteran game ranger who pioneered techniques to relocate elephants and a wide range of wild animals.

The number of of people infected with the virus that causes Aids is down in Zimbabwe due to increased awareness but the country still has one of the highest HIV rates in the world, state media reported on Thursday. The Herald newspaper said the survey showed a rise in condom use, a delay by young girls in starting sex and an awareness rate of HIV/Aids of up to 99,2%.

Traditional healers in Zimbabwe have been given the authority to issue their patients with sick notes allowing them time off work, it was reported on Wednesday. A senior official in the ministry of health also said that conventional doctors should be allowed to refer problem cases to traditional healers.

Zimbabwe’s police chief said his force is starved for funds and lacks basic equipment to carry out its job, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday. ”We as police are at a minimum in terms of resources,” the private Daily Mirror quoted the police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, as saying.

A Zimbabwean law student claims to have talked his way into the Guinness World Records book by giving a lecture that lasted 99 hours and 30 minutes, state radio reported on Saturday. Errol Muzawazi (22) pipped the previous record holder by one hour.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai led a march on Parliament on Friday to deliver a petition against the economic and political crisis being presided over by his arch-rival, President Robert Mugabe. Meanwhile, long and chaotic lines of cars formed at gas stations on Friday amid a clash over fuel prices.