Harare

Farmers and vegetable vendors in the Zimbabwean capital Harare are locked in a bitter turf war after the authorities closed down the city’s main outdoor market to stop the spread of cholera, local reports said on Monday. Thousands of small-scale farmers were left stranded earlier this month after they arrived at the popular Mbare Msika market to sell their fresh produce.

Ore deliveries to Zimbabwe’s gold processors dipped by 40% last year because of rampant smuggling of the precious metal, the Southern African country’s Chamber of Mines said on Monday. Gold deliveries dropped to 13 000kg between January and November last year from 21 300kg in 2004.

Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces are being asked to raise one billion Zimbabwean dollars ( 000) each to celebrate President Robert Mugabe’s 82nd birthday next month, a state-controlled newspaper reported on Friday. The long-time Zimbabwean leader’s official birthday celebrations are to be held in the eastern Manicaland province, the Manica Post reported.

Ten HIV-infected demonstrators and a tuberculosis sufferer were refused food and medicine while in police cells, human rights groups said on Thursday in a report that accuses Zimbabwe of failing to meet minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners.

Police have called off a search for the bodies of as many as 60 Zimbabweans believed to have drowned last week when they tried to sneak across the Limpopo River into South Africa, state radio reported on Thursday. The search was called off late on Wednesday ”after a two-day fruitless search”, the radio report said.

The Qatar-based Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera is to set up a news bureau in Zimbabwe, state radio reported on Thursday. It said officials of al-Jazeera met with Zimbabwe Information Minister Tichaona Jakonya in Harare and said they would report objectively on the Southern African country.

Zimbabwe was withdrawn from Test cricket for this year by its government-appointed interim committee on Wednesday. ”The decision to suspend its participation in Test matches was reached by ZC [Zimbabwe Cricket] after consideration of the recent performances by the national and A teams,” ZC said.

The Zimbabwe government has dismissed press reports that British property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten lent President Robert Mugabe -million last year, the state-controlled Herald reported on Friday. Van Hoogstraten was quoted in the Sunday Times of London as saying he lent Mugabe the money in November.

Human rights lawyers in Zimbabwe on Thursday slammed the authorities’ closure of a popular Harare fruit and vegetable market on public health grounds, saying informal vendors were being victimised. Earlier this week, Harare’s state-appointed commission announced the closure of Mbare Musika market amid reports of increasing cases of cholera in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe’s struggling farmers have lost close to 1 000ha of grain crops to an outbreak of the devastating army worm pest, the private Daily Mirror reported on Thursday. The outbreak of army worm — a caterpillar that eats crops — was top of Zimbabwe’s state-run radio bulletins earlier this week in a sign of just how seriously the authorities take the threat.

A Zimbabwean judge who had ruled in favour of President Robert Mugabe’s opponents has been found guilty of corruption, local reports said on Wednesday. High Court Judge Benjamin Paradza was arrested in February 2003 for allegedly trying to persuade a fellow judge to release the passport of a white business associate who was awaiting trial on murder charges.

Zimbabwe’s annual inflation reached 585,8% in December, closing in on the record high levels reached in 2004, the government statistical agency said on Tuesday. The latest figures fly in the face of Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono’s projections of inflation levels reaching between 280% and 300% by December 2005.

Zimbabwe Judge President Paddington Garwe has defended the performance of the country’s judiciary, rejecting charges that it lacks independence and is subservient to President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party. Garwe challenged critics of the bench to come out in the open and point out their specific grievances to judicial authorities.

Zimbabwean authoritites will relocate 700 families from villages in the southern districts of Chiredzi to make way for a transfrontier game reserve, an official said on Monday. ”The 700 families will be relocated if all goes well at the end of this month,” said national parks spokesperson Edward Mbewe.

Zimbabwe cricketers called off their strike on Saturday and gave the game’s rulers three weeks to find a solution to the impasse that once again threatens the strife-torn country’s Test status. Following a meeting with their representative, Clive Field, the 37 players involved agreed to shelve their three-month stoppage until January 31.

Zimbabwe cricket chief Peter Chingoka received government backing in his job on Friday as the devastating rift between players and the game’s rulers threatened to lead to the loss of Test status. Striking members of the national team said they will not tour the West Indies in May if the controversial Chingoka remains in power.

The Zimbabwe government has denied receiving strong criticism from the African Union’s Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights of its human rights record, including a mass eviction campaign it conducted in urban slums, the state-run Herald newspaper said on Friday.

Zimbabwe’s ability to fulfil its Test programme against the West Indies looks increasingly in doubt because of an ongoing strike by players demanding the dismissal of the country’s two leading cricket officials. The 37 striking cricketers are holding out for the removal of Zimbabwe Cricket chairperson Peter Chingoka and managing director Osias Bvute, who are accused of dubious financial dealings.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is due in Zimbabwe in March to see for himself the effects of the government’s controversial shack clearance campaign. President Robert Mugabe agreed to the visit after discussion’s with a top UN official at the Franco-African summit held in Mali in December.

Municipal headquarters in the Zimbabwean capital Harare have been without power for the past five days, reflecting the poor state of basic infrastructures in the country, according to local reports on Thursday. The power cut has severely curtailed activities at the imposing Town House building in the centre of the city, the state-controlled Herald newspaper said.

Doctors in Zimbabwe have hiked their fees by a staggering 100%, putting them well out of the reach of many, the state radio station reported on Wednesday. It will now cost around three million Zimbabwean dollars () to visit a general practitioner, the report said. Most Zimbabweans earn less than five million Zimbabwean dollars a month and some teachers earn only three million.

A cholera outbreak has killed at least seven people in south-eastern Zimbabwe in the past week, the health ministry reported on Tuesday. Health authorities blamed torrential seasonal rains that have swept contaminated water from sewers and drains into drinking sources.

The Zimbabwe government has decided to extend the life of its temporary bank notes by another six months as the government works on introducing a new currency, state radio reported on Saturday.

The Zimbabwe government has officially suspended the opposition mayor of the town of Chitungwiza for alleged misconduct, the mayor said on Friday. Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) mayor Misheck Shoko confirmed receiving a suspension letter on Thursday afternoon.

Sculptor Frank Bute camps in the gully of a foul-smelling stream beside a golf course in Harare, Zimbabwe. His market stall was demolished in a clampdown against traders earlier this year, and he and the other 700 000 people who lost their homes or livelihoods face a bleak Christmas.

Water delivered to Zimbabwe’s capital contains high levels of bacteria, acid and sedimentary impurities, a state daily reported on Thursday, saying it falls short of local and world health standards. ”Toxin-producing blue-green algae are consistently present in the drinking water,” the Herald said.