Troops Run Amok in Zimbabwe Capital

Zimbabwe nears total collapse as health sector shuts down

(NEWSER) - Robert Mugabe says that the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has ended, but health experts say that 60,000 people could succumb to the disease, and half of the country's population is at risk. Zimbabwe's socioeconomic collapse has frighteningly accelerated, writes Celia Dugger in Harare, and daily life has become impossible. "Much like the organs of a severely dehydrated cholera victim," writes the New York Times reporter, "Zimbabwe's most fundamental public services are shutting down." More»

Humanitarian crisis getting worse because of stubborn Mugabe

(NEWSER) - Jimmy Carter and his group of international peacemakers have been barred from entering Zimbabwe, but reports of conditions there are “horrifying,” the former president tells NPR. Mugabe’s “campaign of oppression” has frustrated attempts to deal with a spreading cholera outbreak. “Mugabe had made every effort, successfully, to conceal the fact that there’s an absolute, total humanitarian crisis in his country,” Carter says. More»

Both sides claim 'memo' is part of dangerous power play

(NEWSER) - The Zimbabwe opposition denied responsibility yesterday for a "hit list" that is circulating in Harare, saying President Robert Mugabe created it to incite panic. The memo, which lists officials to be purged, cropped up as opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was assuring military and intelligence leaders that his transition into the presidential office would not include retribution. More»

But he's not pulling out of the coalition just yet

(NEWSER) - Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai’s party will boycott Cabinet meetings and cut off communication with president Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, theoretically its partner in government. The move accompanies growing anger among members of Tsvangirai’s MDC over Mugabe’s strong-arm tactics and the jailing of a Cabinet minister-designate, the New York Times reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton ended her African tour today on a note of optimism colored by disdain, the New York Times reports. The secretary of state visited seven nations over 11 days and made her final remarks on the Cape Verde islands off the coast. “I leave Africa after this remarkable trip even more committed,” Clinton said. She commented on the “joy and energy Africans have,” as well as on having “seen the worst humanity can do to itself.” More»