Zimbabwe opposition figure fined for slain activist comments
A prominent opposition leader and lawmaker in Zimbabwe who has been detained for nearly 10 months was convicted Wednesday of obstructing the course of justice for recording a video of himself accusing ruling party supporters of killing and dismembering an activist.
Myanmar protesters defy curfew; media outlets ordered shut
It announced that the licenses of five local media outlets — Mizzima, DVB, Khit Thit Media, Myanmar Now and 7Day News — have been canceled. We call on those security forces to withdraw and allow people to go home safely,” said the U.S. Embassy's statement. On Monday night, security forces chased crowds, harassed residents watching from windows, and fired stun grenades. AdGuterres also called the occupation of a number of public hospitals in Myanmar by security forces “completely unacceptable,” the U.N. spokesman said. Security forces shot and killed two people in northern Myanmar during the day, local media reported.
Zimbabwe starts administering China's Sinopharm vaccines
Zimbabwe is starting its rollout with China's Sinopharm vaccine and Chiwenga said he took the first shot to “exhibit the government’s confidence" in the inoculation. Zimbabwe received 200,000 doses of Sinopharm on Monday as a donation from China's government, joining Egypt and Equatorial Guineas as the first few African countries to get the vaccine. Another 600,000 Sinopharm doses purchased by the Zimbabwean government are expected to arrive early next month, according to government officials. The government says it has budgeted $100 million for vaccines and local businesses have also been asked to donate to the effort. Zimbabwe has reported 35,423 COVID-19 cases, including 1,418 deaths, as of Wednesday, a significant increase from just over 10,000 cases and 277 deaths at the beginning of December.
Zimbabwe holds burial for 3 top leaders who died of COVID-19
Pallbearers stand next to coffins of three top government officials at their burial at the National Heroes acre in Harare, Wednesday, Jan, 27, 2021. Pallbearers in full COVID-19 protective gear wheeled the coffins of the two Cabinet ministers and a former head of Zimbabwe's prisons on a red carpet for burial with military honors. Zimbabwe has now lost four cabinet ministers to COVID-19. President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the coronavirus is reaping a “grim harvest” in the country while presiding last week at the burial of one of the ministers who died from COVID-19 at the same shrine. Several other prominent political and business leaders have died from the virus in recent weeks, leaving the country scratching for answers.
Zimbabwe's foreign minister dies of COVID-19 amid resurgence
FILE In this Jan, 12, 2020 file photo, Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo in Harare, Zimbabwe. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/File)HARARE – Zimbabwe’s Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo, who gained prominence in 2017 as the military general who announced the coup against then-president Robert Mugabe on television, has died from COVID-19, the government announced Wednesday. Moyo was appointed foreign affairs minister after President Emerson Mnangagwa took power with military backing. Zimbabwe is experiencing a resurgence of the disease, with record numbers of daily confirmed cases and deaths. Mnangagwa is on Thursday set to bury another Cabinet minister, Ellen Gwaradzimba, who died from COVID-19 last week.
Jailed Zimbabwean journalist urges isolation due to virus
Zimbabwean journalist Hopwell Chin'ono arrives at the magistrates courts in Harare, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. On Friday, Zimbabwe police arrested the prominent journalist for the third time in six months. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)HARARE – A jailed Zimbabwean journalist on Tuesday said authorities are putting prisoners and jail guards at risk of COVID-19 by crowding him together with them despite a court order that he should be isolated because of his prior exposure to the virus. It is the third time he has been jailed there within the past five months in connection with items he posted on Twitter. The journalist and the opposition officials were arrested after they tweeted that police had beaten an infant to death while enforcing COVID-19 lockdown rules.
New law cracks down on shell companies to combat corruption
FILE - This Thursday, June 6, 2019 file photo shows the U.S. Treasury Department building at dusk in Washington. “It required all kinds of shoe-leather investigating to identify who was really behind these shell companies,” recalled Alonso. For the first time, shell companies will be required to provide the names of their owners or face stiff penalties and jail sentences. The information will be stored in a confidential database accessible to federal law enforcement and shared with banks who are often unwitting accomplices to international corruption. Box and a registered agent who is frequently a law firm dedicated to churning out companies in bulk.
Zimbabwean activist and opposition leader dies of cancer
HARARE A young Zimbabwean thrust into anti-government activism while searching for his missing journalist brother has died of colon cancer, just as well-wishers had raised money to get him into surgery. Patson Dzamara, 34, died Wednesday, according to Nelson Chamisa, leader of the MDC Alliance opposition party leader. Dzamara embarked on street protests and broadened his activism to include demands for democratic reforms and improved public health care. Dzamara's death highlighted the challenges facing Zimbabwe's health care system. Such surgery was not possible in Zimbabwes public health system which is plagued by widespread shortages and frequent strikes by doctors and nurses.
Zimbabwe's Catholic bishops accuse government of abuses
Zimbabwe journalist Hopewell Chin'ono appears at the magistrates courts while handcuffed in Harare, Wednesday, July, 22, 2020. Chin'ono known for exposing alleged government corruption is now accused of plotting against the government. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)HARARE Zimbabwe is embroiled in an economic and political crisis marked by human rights abuses, said the country's Roman Catholic bishops, who were then criticized by the government as evil and trying to promote genocide. Fear runs down the spines of many of our people today," said the bishops' statement. Mtetwa said Chinono is surviving on biscuits and water because prison food does not fit his medical requirements.
Zimbabwe continues arrests of critics, says opposition party
Zimbabwe journalist Hopewell Chin'ono appears at the magistrates courts while handcuffed in Harare, Wednesday, July, 22, 2020. More than 60 people have been arrested so far in the continuing clampdown, said Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which is providing lawyers for the arrested people. Zimbabwes main opposition party, the MDC Alliance, says dozens of its officials have been arrested or have gone into hiding. Human rights groups accuse President Emmerson Mnangagwas administration of clamping down on dissent under the guise of enforcing anti-COVID-19 lockdown rules. The ongoing arrests are worrying, said Dewa Mavhinga, Human Rights Watch director for Southern Africa.