Free Republic

(edit)Hong Kong-based British photographer Richard Jones encountered the 43-year-old wife of Robert Mugabe as she walked down a street near her luxury hotel in the heart of the city to go shopping.She punched him in the face when he tried to take pictures of her on January 15, leaving Mr Jones with bruises and cuts where her diamond-encrusted ring had smashed into his face. Mr Jones told AFP: "I think it's a disgrace for the Hong Kong government to allow a person to walk on a street in Hong Kong, punch a member of the media, and walk free from...

Excerpt - Loud jeers and howls accompanied President Robert Mugabe's address to Zimbabwe's newly convened parliament, leaving ruling party members fuming. Such uncouth behaviour from the opposition, one Zanu-PF insider said, was uncalled for. But after gaining control of parliament, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) clearly wanted to make its mark. The opening of parliament had started with the usual pomp and ceremony. ~ snip ~

HARARE - Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) has started recruiting youths for training in sophisticated murder and torture techniques for a massive campaign of violence against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) soon after the World Cup, a report said. Investigations by The Zimbabwean have revealed that the vicious campaign of terror is expected to roll into motion in July, soon after the soccer World Cup ends in South Africa and the media spotlight shifts elsewhere. High-level sources within both Zanu (PF) and MDC-T as well as the security services said the purpose of this horrific plan, if it succeeds, was...

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Supporters of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe used axes, clubs and stones to attack a meeting of opposition politicians Thursday, injuring several people, opposition party officials said. Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change, took shelter in his armor-protected car and was not injured, they said. The violence erupted in Mvurwi, about 60 miles north of Harare, the capital, as about 400 opposition leaders and supporters discussed preparations for parliamentary elections next March. Witnesses said about 200 ruling party ZANU-PF militants attacked the meeting. "It is an exaggeration to say it was an assassination attempt...

The vice president then began singing the praises of Kaunda, a brutal socialist dictator allied with the Soviet Union, who had banned opposing political parties and ran as the only candidate for president until he was finally ousted, and praised Zambia’s “democracy”. Kaunda, whom Kamala fondly recalled meeting with JFK and MLK “to discuss peaceful forms of protest” had demanded nuclear weapons from LBJ. Hichilema, who had narrowly survived being arrested by a previous regime, had nothing to say about Kamala’s fond memories of Zambian democracy. Or the “peaceful forms of protest” carried on with nuclear missiles and terrorism. But...

Another connection that bridges this historical cooperation between the far right and far left into the modern age of terrorism is that between Carlos the Jackal and the Swiss Nazi Francois Genoud. Genoud's life, in fact, spans the history of this collaboration. Francois Genoud was an early admirer and proponent of Adolf Hitler's, and a founder of the National Front, a Swiss Nazi party. Genoud met and befriended Haj Amin al-Husseini and worked with him to recruit Arabs into the service of the Nazis. He also set up the Banque Commerciale Arabe in Geneva with Syrian money and ran the...

Pro-China WHO boss Tedros is key figure in Tigray Peoples Liberation Front. “Scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra, a town in the South West Zone of Ethiopia’s Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,” Amnesty International is confirming. The human rights organization verified “photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.” Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s director for east and southern Africa, “confirmed the massacre of a very large number of civilians, who appear to have been day laborers in no way involved in the...

Two major Saudi oil facilities hit by explosions and set ablaze early Saturday morning in what Iranian backed Houthi rebels are calling an attack launched by 10 drones. Reuters and Wall Street Journal are reporting with sources saying that Saudi Arabia's oil output has been reduced by half. The Houthis have been launching attacks on Saudi Arabia, which has been leading a military coalition fighting on the side of Yemen's government against the Houthi's with support from the United States and United Kingdom.... The Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif says...... After leaving his job as National Security Adviser John Bolton...

Robert Mugabe, the longtime leader of Zimbabwe who was forced to resign in 2017 after a military takeover, has died. His successor Emmerson Mnangagwa confirmed Mugabe’s death in a tweet Friday, mourning him as an “icon of liberation.” Mugabe was a former guerrilla chief who took power after the end of white minority rule in 1980 and presided over a country whose early promise was eroded by economic turmoil and human rights violations.

Three people have appeared in court in Zimbabwe, accused of stealing a suitcase containing $150,000 (£117,600) of cash from the country's ousted president, Robert Mugabe.Three people have appeared in court in Zimbabwe, accused of stealing a suitcase containing $150,000 (£117,600) of cash from the country's ousted president, Robert Mugabe.

...Mnangagwa struck a conciliatory tone in the months leading up to the election. Declaring that Zimbabwe was “open for business,” he amended a law requiring local ownership of diamond and platinum mines. He signaled his intent to end farm seizures and vowed to sell off failing state enterprises. He even wrote a New York Times op-ed calling for democracy and equal rights for all citizens. But Mnangagwa is tied to numerous human rights abuses, including overseeing a series of government-ordered massacres between 1982 and 1986 known as the “Gukurahundi.” An estimated 20,000 civilians from Zimbabwe’s Ndebele ethnic group were killed....

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for calm after intense violence between protesters and military troops left at least three people dead. The president said he has opened lines of communication with MDC opposition leader Nelson Chamisa to discuss how to "immediately diffuse the situation" and "protect the peace we hold dear". In a series of tweets, he added that an independent investigation into the deadly clashes in Harare that led to troops firing live rounds and beating protesters would be launched. Violence broke out in the Zimbabwean capital after soldiers moved into Harare on Wednesday as protests escalated amid...

A white Zimbabwean farmer previously kicked off his land by the former Robert Mugabe regime received a hero’s welcome from his community Thursday following the new government’s return of his land, the Associated Press reported. Guided by military escort, Robert Smart became the first white farmer who came back to the land he once owned before it was seized nearly two decades ago by Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. In 2000, Mugabe ordered land seizures and evictions of white farmers and their families. According to the Telegraph, of the estimated 4,500 white farmers prior the seizures, only several hundred remain. Zimbabwe’s...

By Norimitsu Onishi and Jeffrey Moyo Nov. 21, 2017 HARARE, Zimbabwe — Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, resigned as president on Tuesday shortly after lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against him, according to the speaker of Parliament. The speaker of Parliament read out a letter in which Mr. Mugabe said he was stepping down “with immediate effect” for “the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and the need for a peaceful transfer of power.” Parliament erupted into cheers and jubilant residents poured into the streets of Harare, the capital. It seemed to be an abrupt capitulation...

The Trump administration plans to allow hunters to import trophies of elephants they killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia back to the United States, reversing a ban put in place by the Obama administration in 2014, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official confirmed to ABC News today. Even though elephants are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, a provision in the act allows the government to give permits to import these trophies if there is evidence that the hunting actually benefits conservation for that species. The official said they have new information from officials in Zimbabwe and Zambia...

The general behind Zimbabwe’s coup may have sought Chinese approval days before the army launched its takeover of Robert Mugabe’s government, it emerged on Wednesday. Mr. Mugabe remained under house arrest, still president of Zimbabwe if in name alone, a prisoner of once slavishly loyal generals who now hold the country’s fate in their hands. As the former British colony faced a deeply uncertain future under military tutelage, a trip to Beijing by General Constantine Chiwenga, the head of the armed forces, last week has reignited concerns about rising Chinese influence in Africa. The general held high-level meetings with officials...

GOOD MORNING/AFTERNOON Fellow Zimbabweans, following the address we made on 13 November 2017 which we believe our main broadcaster, ZBC and The Herald were directed not to publicise, the situation in our country has moved to another level. Firstly, we wish to assure the nation that His Excellency, The President, of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cde R.G Mugabe and his fa,ily are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed. We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and...

Zimbabwe's military has read out a statement on the country's national broadcaster, ZBC, saying it has taken action to "target criminals". However, it said this was not "a military takeover of government" and President Robert Mugabe was safe. Heavy gunfire and artillery were heard in northern suburbs of the capital, Harare, early on Wednesday. Zimbabwe's envoy to South Africa, Isaac Moyo, earlier dismissed talk of a coup, saying the government was "intact". A statement read out by the military on TV said the army wanted to deal with people who "were committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering...

- Four tanks were seen heading toward the Zimbabwe capital Harare on Tuesday, witnesses said, a day after the head of the armed forces said he was prepared to “step in” to end a purge of supporters of ousted vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Zimbabwe’s army said it detained longtime President Robert Mugabe and seized control of state broadcasters in an apparent coup in the southern African nation. Military vehicles rolled into the streets of the capital, Harare, late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.