African leaders will meet in Zimbabwe on Saturday for a scheduled summit of the 16-nation Southern African Development Community.

Zimbabwe introduced the world's newest currency in April with public rallies and commercial jingles.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has granted clemency to more than 4,000 prisoners in an independence day amnesty.

Zimbabwe’s president has declared a state of disaster over a devastating El Nino drought sweeping across much of southern Africa.

The United States has sanctioned Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the First Lady and other government officials for their alleged involvement in corruption and human rights abuses.

An official says that a bomb scare has shut down Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls Airport that forced the country’s president to cancel a planned address at a conference on renewable energy.

Zimbabwe’s Cabinet has agreed to back a move in Parliament to abolish the death penalty.

A Zimbabwean opposition figure who has spent close to 600 days in pretrial detention has been convicted of inciting public violence.

Lawyers for an opposition party councilor in Zimbabwe say he and a relative were abducted, beaten and whipped by unknown men amid a post-election crackdown on criticism of recently reelected President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his ruling ZANU-PF party.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa says last month's elections are a sign of the country’s “mature democracy.”.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has demanded fresh elections supervised by neighboring countries.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader has alleged “blatant and gigantic fraud” after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner of another troubled election in the southern African nation.

Authorities in Zimbabwe say President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been re-elected for a second and final term.

Zimbabweans are waiting anxiously for the outcome of general elections as dozens of armed police with water cannons guard the national results center, the scene of deadly violence after the previous vote five years ago.

Zimbabwe police have arrested 41 workers for poll monitoring groups and accused them of attempting to distort the results of the country's widely delayed presidential election to favor the opposition.

Delays of up to 10 hours in mostly opposition strongholds have forced electoral officials to extend voting till Thursday in Zimbabwe as President Emmerson Mnangagwa seeks a second and final term.

A general election Wednesday in Zimbabwe is crucial to determining the future of a southern African nation endowed with vast mineral resources and rich agricultural land.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is a former guerrilla fighter and bodyguard who responded to being fired as vice president by unseating long-ruling autocrat Robert Mugabe in a coup.

Ahead of national elections next week, some people in Zimbabwe's rural areas say they are facing intimidation from supporters of the long-ruling ZANU-PF party and a biased state-run media that restricts their options.

Zimbabwe's president has urged thousands of his supporters at a rally to deliver a “thunderous victory” in this month’s national election and proclaimed that “no one will stop us from ruling this country.”.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader has accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of violating the law and tearing apart independent institutions to cling to power.

The mother of a 15-year-old Zimbabwean rape victim has gone to the country's High Court to challenge the early release of the man convicted of attacking her daughter when she was a preteen.

Opposition party supporters in Zimbabwe have been chanting and singing freedom songs outside a courthouse Sunday following a decision to ban them from holding a rally six weeks before national elections.

Zimbabwe’s president recently announced that national elections will take place on Aug. 23.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced that national elections will take place on Aug. 23.

Zimbabwe has begun releasing more than 4,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty.

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.

Zimbabwe has brought in a law that bans health workers such as nurses and doctors from prolonged strikes, imposing punishments of up to six months in jail for defiant workers or union leaders.

The Biden administration is slapping corruption sanctions on the son of Zimbabwe's president as the U.S. prepares to host a major summit of African leaders in Washington.

President Joe Biden is set to play host to dozens of African leaders in Washington this week as the White House looks to narrow a gaping trust gap with Africa.

Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa has delivered a State of the Nation address at the country's new multimillion-dollar parliament building.

Zimbabwe says it's on the brink of its biggest wheat harvest in history, thanks in large part to efforts to overcome food supply problems caused by the war in Ukraine.

World-renowned author Tsitsi Dangarembga has been found guilty of promoting public violence in her home country of Zimbabwe for participating in a largely peaceful anti-government protest in 2020.

Zimbabwe’s general election is several months away but many opposition figures say they are already battling government repression similar to the iron-fisted rule of Robert Mugabe, the former president who died in 2019.

Rising prices and a fast depreciating currency have pushed many in Zimbabwe to the brink, reminding people of when the southern African country faced world-record inflation of 5 billion% in 2008.

A compelling art exhibit, “The Stars Are Bright,” has opened at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe of paintings done in the 1940s and 1950s by young Black students at Cyrene Mission School, the first to teach art to Black students in what was then white minority-ruled Rhodesia.

A history-making team of Zimbabwean high school students that became world and European moot court competition champions has been widely praised in a country where the education system is beset by poor funding, lack of materials and teachers’ strikes.

Striking nurses and other health workers have brought Zimbabwe’s government hospitals to a near standstill, straining a once vibrant public health system now plagued by a lack of medicines and basic supplies such as gloves.

Zimbabwe has launched a new COVID-19 vaccination campaign that includes jabbing children aged 12 and above to rescue a drive faltering due to vaccine hesitancy and complacency.

Police say one person has died and several others were injured at an opposition party rally in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe’s leading opposition figure Nelson Chamisa drew thousands of cheering supporters on Sunday to his first political rally since forming a new party weeks ago, as the country gears for elections that have been postponed due to COVID-19.

Victoria state in Australia is lifting its pandemic lockdown beginning Tuesday, except in the city of Melbourne.

Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls usually teems with tourists who come to marvel at the roaring Zambezi River as it tumbles to the gorge below and sends up a mist that is visible from miles away.

African leaders have gathered with ordinary Zambians to attend a memorial service Friday for Kenneth Kaunda, the nation’s founding president and champion of African nationalism.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says her state could be seeing a drop in infections after leading the nation’s COVID-19 daily case rate for weeks.

Prosecutors have charged a Minnesota man with felony assault and allege that he attacked a home improvement store employee and a police officer after the store worker told him to wear a mask.

Zimbabwe has begun releasing about 3,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty aimed at easing congestion to reduce the threat of COVID-19 in the country’s overcrowded jails.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, centre, receives his shot of the Chinese Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Victoria Falls, Wednesday March 24, 2021. Mnangagwa got his jab in the resort town of Victoria Falls, in a bid to promote tourism and launch the second phase of the countrys vaccination drive. (AP Photo/STR)HARARE – Zimbabwe’s president has received his first shot of the Chinese Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, a move the government hopes will encourage more people to seek the Chinese vaccines, which are the only ones currently available in the country. President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday got a jab in Victoria Falls, in western Zimbabwe, to promote tourism and launch the second phase of the country's vaccination drive. Zimbabwe purchased 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine which arrived from China earlier this month.

Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan, center, arrives to pay her respects as the body of former president John Magufuli lies in state at Uhuru stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Saturday, March 20, 2021. Ten of thousands of Tanzanians came out to view Magufuli's body at Uhuru Stadium in the country's largest city, Dar es Salaam, over the weekend. Suzan Mtua, 30, died with four school-age children from the same family when there was a stampede of people wanting to view the body Sunday, Heri Mtua, a family spokesman, said. “The children had demanded they also attend the funeral of President Magufuli,” he said. President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who was Magufuli's vice president and succeeded him, was joined by nine African heads of state on Monday for Magufuli's state funeral.

This 2018 photo provided by the Maryknoll Sisters shows Sister Janice McLaughlin with children in Zimbabwe. McLaughlin, a nun who was jailed and later deported by white minority-ruled Rhodesia, later Zimbabwe, for exposing human rights abuses, died on March 7, 2021, in Maryknoll, N.Y. She was 79. (Maryknoll Sisters via AP)JOHANNESBURG – Sister Janice McLaughlin, a Maryknoll Sisters nun who was jailed and later deported by white minority-ruled Rhodesia for exposing human rights abuses, has died. Many more people saw my exposes as a result.”AdFollowing her deportation McLaughlin worked for the Washington Office on Africa, a church-based lobby group, educating the U.S. public and Congress about African affairs. After Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, McLaughlin worked with the government to establish nine schools for former refugees and war veterans.

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.

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. Chinono posted on his Twitter account that police had picked him from his house and said they were charging him with communicating falsehoods. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)HARARE – Zimbabwe’s High Court on Wednesday freed on bail journalist Hopewell Chin’ono who had spent nearly three weeks in prison — his third detention in five months. Chin’ono is one of Zimbabwe's most prominent critics of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, accusing it of corruption and human rights abuses.

Mnangagwa presided at the burial of one Cabinet minister last week, shortly after the death of the foreign minister was announced. Many of the country's elites are treated at expensive private facilities or fly out of the country for health care. Zimbabwe, like many other African countries, initially recorded low numbers of COVID-19 but has recently experienced a spike in cases. Many people are not being tested, nor are they going to hospitals for help, said a doctors’ association, noting that on some days, nearly half of COVID-19 deaths happen outside hospitals. Mnangagwa on Saturday said the government health officials are still deciding which vaccine to acquire.

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 Zimbabwean court has denied bail to prominent journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, who has been in detention for almost a week on accusations of publishing a falsehood. He was arrested last week for posting that police had killed an infant while enforcing lockdown rules. Chin'ono faces a fine or up to 20 years in jail if convicted of publishing a false story.

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.

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. Chinono posted on his Twitter account that police had picked him from his house and said they were charging him with communicating falsehoods. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)NAIROBI – A prominent Zimbabwean journalist charged with communicating falsehoods has been sent to prison isolation after it emerged that he was likely exposed to people with COVID-19 prior to his arrest. Zimbabwe police on Friday arrested Hopewell Chin’ono for the third time in five months.

Zimbabwe investigative journalist Hopewell Chinono gets out of a prison van at the magistrates courts in handcuffs in Harare, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Chinono is one of Zimbabwes most prominent critics of President Emmerson Mnangagwas administration, accusing it of corruption and human rights abuses. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)HARARE – A Zimbabwean magistrate Thursday denied bail to an investigative journalist who has been in detention for more than a week for alleging corruption in the country’s prosecuting agency, sending him back to a harsh prison in which he recently spent six weeks on a separate charge. Chin'ono was denied bail on the grounds that he could commit other offenses if released. “The accused is not a good candidate for bail,” magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa said.

Zimbabwe investigative journalist Hopwell Chin'ono, appears at the magistrates courts in handcuffs in Harare, Thursday, Nov, 5, 2020. Chin'ono who is one of Zimbabwe's most prominent critics of President Emmerson Mnangagwas administration, faces contempt of court and "obstructing the course of justice" charges. In the meantime, the journalist will spend the night in prison. In court on Thursday, he questioned why the police were taking him to an anti-corruption court when he was not being charged with committing corruption. Chin’ono is one of Zimbabwe’s most prominent critics of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, accusing it of corruption and human rights abuses.

HARARE – Zimbabwe police have arrested investigative journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono on contempt of court charges, his lawyer said Tuesday. Chin’ono is being held at a police station in the capital, Harare, said Roselyn Hanzi of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, an organization representing the outspoken journalist. If convicted Chin'ono faces a fine or up to one year in prison, according to the charge, she said. Chin'ono is one of Zimbabwe's most prominent critics of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration, accusing it of corruption and human rights abuses. Journalists’ organizations, western embassies and human rights groups at that time said Chin’ono is being punished for exposing government corruption.

Zimbabwe schools have reopened in phases, but with smaller number of pupils, more teachers and other related measures to enable children to resume their education without the risk of a spike in COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)HARARE – Zimbabwe’s schools Monday reopened for pupils in two grades as part of a gradual process that will see all pupils return to class by early November. Teachers in Zimbabwe's government schools earn less than $50 a month and are demanding that they be paid at least $500 a month, he said. Primary and secondary school pupils wore masks and applied sanitizer before entering classrooms on Monday. The students in grades 7 and the final year of secondary school are to write local public examinations in order to graduate from primary and secondary school, respectively.

FILE In this Sunday Nov. 10, 2019 file photo a herd of elephants make their way through the Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, in search of water. An environmental group in Zimbabwe has applied to the country's High Court Tuesday Sept. 8, 2020, to stop a Chinese firm from mining coal in the park which hosts one of Africa's largest populations of elephants. (AP Photo/File)HARARE An environmental group in Zimbabwe has applied to the countrys High Court to stop a Chinese firm from mining coal in Hwange National Park, which hosts one of Africas largest populations of elephants. The Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association argues that the creation of a coal mine in the park by the Zimbabwe Zhongxin Mining Group Tongmao Coal Company (Pvt) Ltd would cause devastating ecological degradation and force wildlife to flee. The mine is planned to cover 105 square kilometers (40.54 square miles) in the Sinematella Camp area of Hwange park, according to court papers.

A magistrate has denied bail to Chin'ono saying that they are no new circumstances to warrant bail for the freelance journalist who has been in custody for over a month. Fears of COVID-19 are real because people have been testing positive for the virus in jail. It is overcrowded and the personal protective equipment is not enough, Coltart said Tuesday. Journalist organizations, western embassies and human rights groups say Chinono is being punished for exposing government corruption on Twitter. Chinono had exposed alleged corruption involving a $60 million purchase of protective equipment for health workers.

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 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 journalist Hopewell Chin'ono appears at the magistrates courts while handcuffed in Harare, Wednesday, July, 22, 2020. He told The Associated Press his lawyers would approach the courts for protection before handing himself to the police. I need the courts protection before I return home, he said. The arrests are continuing even though the protest did not take place, said Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres is following developments in Zimbabwe with concern," his office said.

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.

HARARE An internationally known Zimbabwean author and several other people have been released on bail on Saturday, after spending a night in police cells for protesting against the government. The activists included writer Tsitsi Dangarembga and Fadzayi Mahere, the spokeswoman of the main opposition MDC Alliance party. Mnangagwas government is accused of using COVID-19 as a cover to clamp down on dissent. Police and government spokespeople have dismissed the allegations, even as a prominent journalist and a politician behind the protest have spent close to two weeks in detention. In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city, the High Court on Saturday ordered the police to produce within 72 hours Tawanda Muchehiwa, the nephew of investigative journalist Mduduzi Mathuthu.

(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)HARARE Scores of people were arrested Friday in Zimbabwe as hundreds of military troops as well as police attempted to thwart an anti-government protest, with streets empty and many people hiding indoors. Organizers said demonstrators originally planned to protest alleged government corruption but instead targeted the ruling political party, using the hashtag #ZANUPFmustgo.Tensions are rising in Zimbabwe as the economy implodes. Police arrested scores of people who tried to hold low-key protests, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said. The normally teeming downtown capital, Harare, was deserted as soldiers and police patrolled and manned checkpoints. I have never seen these security people so effective, and the people so compliant, even during those days of the complete lockdown."

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. Hopwell Chin'ono appeared alongside Jacob Ngarivhume, an opposition politician who is accused of conspiring with to mobilize anti government protests planned for July 31. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)HARARE A Zimbabwean journalist known for exposing alleged government corruption and now accused of plotting against the government is appearing in court on Wednesday. Foster Dongozi, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists secretary-general, said he is being victimized for exposing corruption in government.

Zimbabwe journalist Hopewell Chino'ono, left, speaks to state media during the launch of his documentary, State of Mind, in Harare, in this Oct. 10, 2018 photo. Zimbabwe police on Monday July 20, 2020, swooped in and detained Hopewell Chino'ono, the prominent journalist and opposition leader, ahead of anti-government protests planned for the end of this month, their lawyers said. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)HARARE Zimbabwe police on Monday swooped in and detained a prominent journalist and an opposition leader ahead of anti-government protests planned for the end of this month, their lawyers said. The journalist, Hopewell Chinono, has a huge following on Twitter, where he regularly posts about alleged government corruption. The arrest of Chinono, a Harvard University Nieman Fellow, drew sharp criticism in Zimbabwe and abroad.

HARARE Zimbabwes health minister was expected to appear in court on Saturday to face allegations of illegally awarding a multi-million-dollar contract for COVID-19 testing kits, drugs and personal protective equipment to a shadowy company. The representative, Delish Nguwaya, and some top officials of the national drugs procurement agency are already facing criminal charges related to the scandal. The scandal comes as health professionals including nurses and doctors in Zimbabwe are on strike demanding to be paid their salaries in U.S. dollars. Most traders charge for their goods in U.S. dollars in the southern African country that has long faced economic collapse. The health professionals also have complained about lack of adequate protective gear as the number of coronavirus cases rises.