Opposition official’s trial on hold in Zimbabwe

A Zimbabwean court postponed the trial of key opposition figure Roy Bennett on Saturday to allow his lawyers time to prepare their case. Bennett, the Movement for Democratic Change’s nominee for the deputy agriculture minister post, faces charges of possessing weapons for sabotage, banditry and terrorism

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Tsvangirai’s party boycotting Zimbabwe government

Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change — the party of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai — is boycotting the country’s unity government, the party’s leader said Friday. “This is a constitutional crisis,” said Tsvangirai as he railed against President Robert Mugabe’s party.

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Desperation stalks Zimbabwe’s white farmers

A desperate Zimbabwean farmer fighting to hold onto his land — a year after the country’s political rivals pledged to govern jointly — fears he will eventually lose to politics and violence. The power-sharing agreement included an undertaking by both parties to ensure property rights are upheld but farm attacks and invasions continue unabated in Zimbabwe

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Mugabe condemns ‘bloody whites,’ meets with EU delegation

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has condemned “bloody whites” for meddling in his country’s affairs and attacked the West for trying to impose its rule on the southern African nation. Mugabe’s comments on Friday came a day before he met a delegation of European Union representatives who are in the country to ease relations and push progress on Zimbabwe’s political reforms

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U.S. pledges $73 million in aid to Zimbabwe

The United States will provide $73 million in aid to Zimbabwe, President Obama announced Friday after meeting with Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House. “I obviously have extraordinary admiration for the courage and tenacity that the prime minister has shown in navigating through some very difficult political times in Zimbabwe,” Obama said. “There was a time when Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa, and [it] continues to have enormous potential.

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Thousands attend funeral for Zimbabwe prime minister’s wife

Thousands of people gathered Wednesday for the funeral of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s wife, who was killed last week in a car wreck. Susan Tsvangirai was buried in her rural village of Buhera, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of the capital, Harare. The funeral followed two memorial services on Tuesday: one at a church, where President Robert Mugabe addressed mourners, and the other at a stadium

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Mugabe hosts lavish party despite national crisis

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was celebrating his 85th birthday with a lavish all-day party Saturday despite the fact that the country is gripped by an economic and health crisis. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party said it raised at least $250,000 to hold the party in Mugabe’s hometown of Chinhoyi, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) outside of the capital, Harare. Critics of the president say the country is desperate for that amount of money to be spent instead on its citizens, who are suffering from a cholera outbreak, food shortages, and spiraling hyperinflation.

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