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/ 20 September 2007
The South African Cabinet has welcomed the recent breakthrough by the collective leadership of Zimbabwe on draft constitutional amendments. Zimbabwe’s main political parties have reportedly agreed that President Robert Mugabe should no longer be allowed to handpick members of the lower house of assembly.
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/ 20 September 2007
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown threatened on Wednesday to boycott a summit of European and African leaders if Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe is allowed to attend. He called on fellow heads of state to increase pressure on Harare before the planned December talks between the European Union and African Union.
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/ 19 September 2007
A day after Archbishop Desmond Tutu called on Britain to toughen its stance on Zimbabwe and press its neighbours, including South Africa, to intervene, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said ”quiet diplomacy” was showing results. Speaking on Wednesday, Pahad hailed the constitutional changes agreed to by all the parties in Zimbabwe as a positive development.
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/ 19 September 2007
Bread queues snaked their way outside supermarkets in the Zimbabwean capital Harare on Wednesday, where few people appeared to have heeded a call by unions for a two-day general strike. Traffic was heavy in the city centre, with minibuses heavily-loaded. Most banks, shops and stores were open for business.
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/ 18 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party reached an agreement on Tuesday with the government on the adoption of a Bill that paves the way for joint presidential and legislative elections next year. In a surprise move announced in Parliament, senior members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said they would not try to block legislation to amend the Constitution.
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/ 18 September 2007
Zimbabwe is ”closer than ever to complete collapse” under the weight of a deepening economic crisis that threatens to destabilise Southern Africa. The International Crisis Group (ICG) called on the Southern African Development Community group of nations to overcome internal divisions and focus on ways to persuade Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to step down.
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/ 17 September 2007
The humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe has become the world’s worst but is still largely ignored by the international community, a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Monday. David Coltart said the crisis in the former British colony had far outgrown the ability of any single nation to tackle.
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/ 17 September 2007
Cash-strapped Zimbabwe plans to build a Z-trillion (US,3-billion) games village in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, reports last week. The games village, to be funded by private developers, will be built on a 100ha plot near the southern city of Masvingo on the shores of scenic Lake Mutirikwi, the official Sunday Mail newspaper said.
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/ 16 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s main labour union will go ahead with a two-day strike next week despite government signals the wage freeze that triggered the protest would be relaxed, a top labour official said on Sunday. President Robert Mugabe’s government ordered a price freeze in June as part of ongoing efforts to stem rampant inflation, which is running above 7Â 600%.
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/ 16 September 2007
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is consolidating his hold on power as he ruthlessly tackles his arch-critics ahead of 2008 polls in which he is a candidate, analysts say. His latest victim is former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, one of his strongest critics, who resigned this week from his post in the aftermath of an alleged adultery scandal.
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/ 15 September 2007
The South African Presidency on Friday rejected as untrue reports that the government had been secretly working to remove Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe from power. The Presidency said in a statement it wished to ”caution the media from falling victim of those who … peddle untruths which may impact negatively on the ongoing process of dialogue”.
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/ 14 September 2007
A key European Union and Africa summit remains under a shadow cast by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, whose attendance is demanded by African leaders but could spark a boycott by Britain. The Europeans are tempted to try for a compromise ”Myanmar-style”, by proposing that Zimbabwe be represented at a lower level.
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/ 13 September 2007
President Robert Mugabe on Thursday fired a broadside at Western media for biased coverage of events in Zimbabwe, ignoring an adultery case involving his staunch opponent, former archbishop Pius Ncube. ”If one of my own ministers does mischief and takes another person’s wife, it will be carried on television and they will say this is what Mugabe’s ministers are doing,” Mugabe said.
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/ 12 September 2007
President Robert Mugabe’s government introduced a Bill to Parliament on Wednesday that would give the leader room to choose a successor if he were to retire. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa introduced the Bill in Parliament and said debate on the proposed law would start on Tuesday.
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/ 12 September 2007
Former archbishop Pius Ncube, a leading critic of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe who resigned after an adultery scandal, was forced out by the Vatican, a news report in Zimbabwe said on Wednesday. In an article headlined ”Pius forced to resign”, the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper said Ncube (60) had been pressured to leave by the Vatican.
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/ 12 September 2007
A controversial document criticising Britain over the crisis in Zimbabwe, which was leaked at a Southern African regional summit last month, came from Harare, not South Africa, a senior Zambian official said on Wednesday. Media reports said South Africa blamed Britain for the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe.
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/ 11 September 2007
Archbishop Pius Ncube, a leading critic of President Robert Mugabe, resigned on Tuesday after an adultery scandal but said he would not be silenced by the ”wicked regime”. Ncube stood down as archbishop of Bulawayo after state media in July published photographs of him in bed with a married woman.
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/ 11 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Tuesday accused President Robert Mugabe’s government of bribing traditional chiefs by giving them brand-new vehicles ahead of elections due next year. Thirty-eight chiefs were given the open-backed vans on Monday at a ceremony in the capital.
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/ 11 September 2007
The European Union (EU) should invite Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to a planned summit with Africa because barring him would jeopardise relations between Africa and Europe, the Commonwealth’s secretary general said. The EU and Africa want to hold their first summit in seven years early December in Portugal.
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/ 10 September 2007
The ruling party in Zimbabwe has agreed to enforce age limits for its powerful youth wing in what analysts say may be a move to rein in over-ambitious leaders embroiled in the Zanu-PF’s messy succession debate, it emerged on Monday. Leaders of Zanu-PF’s youth wing must now not be older than 30 years, according to a report in Herald newspaper.
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/ 8 September 2007
Britain has warned fellow European Union nations that Prime Minister Gordon Brown will not attend a planned Europe-Africa summit if Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe does, diplomatic sources said on Saturday. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband made London’s position clear on Friday during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers
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/ 7 September 2007
President Robert Mugabe’s exchange-rate devaluation and promises of tax relief were dismissed on Friday by Zimbabweans weary of an economic crisis marked by the world’s highest inflation and severe shortages. His government’s latest bid to ease the economic turmoil, announced in a supplementary budget on Thursday, highlighted the worsening plight of the Southern African nation.
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/ 7 September 2007
In a bid to ease widespread shortages of goods, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s government on Friday announced it was allowing retailers to raise prices by 20%. ”Effectively, the prices of all goods and services that have not been reviewed since June 18 2007 go up by 20%,” the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper said.
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/ 6 September 2007
Zimbabwe Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi on Thursday massively devalued the local dollar in a bid to attract scarce foreign currency to the official market. In a supplementary budget speech broadcast live on state radio, Mumbengegwi said the Zimbabwe dollar would now trade at 30Â 000 to the United States dollar, down from 250.
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/ 6 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s police formally accused the country’s main opposition leader on Thursday of ”disorderly conduct” in connection with his recent tour of stores hurt by the government’s controversial price freeze, his lawyer said. Morgan Tsvangirai was quizzed by police for nearly an hour in the capital and then released from custody, one day after being instructed to appear.
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/ 6 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s failing economy and collapsing services have provided an environment ripe for graft, with the impoverished country’s woes facilitating an ever-worsening slide towards corruption. Despite setting up a local graft-busting body in 2004, Zimbabwe appears to be losing the battle against corruption, according to a leading watchdog.
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/ 6 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s police have summoned the main opposition leader for questioning on Thursday on his tour of shops to assess the impact of President Robert Mugabe’s controversial price freeze, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Zimbabweans have struggled to buy basic goods since Mugabe’s government ordered businesses to slash their prices to mid-June levels.
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/ 5 September 2007
One of Zimbabwe’s main bakeries has warned it has enough flour to last for just two more days, reports said on Wednesday. Lobels Bread has already sent hundreds of workers on forced leave and has almost exhausted its reserve stock of flour, a company executive was quoted as saying.
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/ 4 September 2007
Officials from soccer’s governing body, Fifa, will visit Zimbabwe next week to assess capacity to host fans from the 2010 World Cup to be held in neighbouring South Africa, Zimbabwe’s tourism authority said on Tuesday. The country hopes to cash in on its proximity to South Africa — the first African country to host the event.
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/ 4 September 2007
Zimbabwe is likely to offer tax relief in a supplementary budget on Thursday but may have to print more money to keep cash-strapped government departments running ahead of elections in 2008. The Southern African country is suffering inflation of more than 7 000%, fast eroding income for workers struggling to feed their families.
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/ 3 September 2007
Zimbabwe’s government has taken over United States food giant HJ Heinz’s 49% stake in the African nation’s leading cooking oil maker for ,8-million. The transaction is the first major deal involving the takeover of a firm following President Robert Mugabe’s vow to give Zimbabweans greater control over foreign-owned assets.
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/ 2 September 2007
President Robert Mugabe’s cash-strapped government in Zimbabwe cannot afford to pay for 36Â 000 tonnes of wheat stuck at the nearest seaport of Beira in Mozambique, reports said on Sunday. Bread has been in short supply since Mugabe’s government imposed sweeping price controls on all goods and services.