President Robert Mugabe lashed out at church leaders who have been among the most outspoken critics of Zimbabwe's human rights record.
Addressing the funeral of Josiah Tungamirai, Mugabe recalled on Sunday that the Cabinet minister and retired air force commander had quit a Catholic seminary to join the fight against white rule in what was then Rhodesia.
Tungamirai's goal had been "to serve others, something which is sadly missing in some churches today," Mugabe said. "Zimbabwe is no home for traitors, for political stooges, for political crooks and cowards."
Mugabe's comments came the same week an Anglican bishop who is a strong supporter of the president was brought before an ecclesiastic court on charges ranging from besmirching the church to incitement to murder.
Harare Bishop Nolbert Kunonga has not been asked to answer the accusations and faces no criminal charges. The case was left in disarray when the Malawian Supreme Court judge presiding over the ecclesiastic court walked out declaring he had never seen anything like it.
Mugabe, who lead Zimbabwe to independence in 1980, has been widely criticized for his increasingly autocratic rule.
Children's welfare groups united on Sunday to demand an end to forced evictions under a slum clearance campaign that the UN estimates has destroyed the homes or livelihoods of 700,000 people.
The groups took out a full-page add in the independent Sunday Standard newspaper to announce the formation of an alliance called the Child Protection Working Group made up of local and international aid groups, faith-based organizations and UN agencies.
The alliance said the government's Operation Murambatsvina -- Drive Out Trash -- was exposing children to "exploitation, abuse and violence."
It demanded an immediate end to the evictions and measures to protect children already affected -- risking heavy fines, seizure of assets and jail terms for defying a government ban on non-governmental groups that involve themselves in "governance issues."
Thousands of children have missed schooling, had their examinations disrupted, or been separated from their families "as a result of continual population movements," the alliance said.
"In order to meet their own and families' basic needs, children, especially adolescent girls and boys, have resorted to risky activities which put them at risk of exploitation," it said, a reference to a reported increase in prostitution and substance abuse associated with the demolitions.
The alliance demanded unrestricted access to assess the impact on children across the country so it can prepare relief plans. UN Undersecretary-General Jan Egeland on Friday accused Zimbabwe of blocking an emergency appeal for millions of dollars to help victims of forced evictions by arguing over the text of the appeal.
Zimbabwe authorities claim the evictions have stopped and rebuilding has begun. But more than 600 people were last week removed from a farm near Harare by baton-wielding paramilitaries for unspecified reasons.
The alliance said it was committed to "collaborative engagement with the government" and pledged to "support any measures implemented by the government to ensure the best interests of children."
The government did not respond on Sunday to the group's demands.
US President Donald Trump on Friday said Washington was “locked and loaded” to respond if Iran killed protesters, prompting Tehran to warn that intervention would destabilize the region. Protesters and security forces on Thursday clashed in several Iranian cities, with six people reported killed, the first deaths since the unrest escalated. Shopkeepers in Tehran on Sunday last week went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, actions that have since spread into a protest movement that has swept into other parts of the country. If Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
RSS