"The Daily News" editor Nqobile Nyathi was arrested and charged under the Public Order and Security Act for allegedly publishing advertisements insulting the president. Nyathi confirmed that she had been summoned to Harare Central Police Station.

South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday he is committed to a peaceful resolution of Zimbabwe's political crisis, but won't pressure the country's embattled leader to hold elections.
Related Link:
* For how long will Zimbabwe's neighbours accept that a leader can beat when he cannot persuade? asks this article in the Zimbabwe Independent.
http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/1208.cfm

Thousands of children in Zimbabwe, who were not covered in last year's measles immunisation campaign, are expected to benefit from a follow-up programme set to kick off on 21 July 2003, said the UN Children's Fund.

The development NGO Save the Children is to hand over refurbished classrooms to communities in Zimbabwe's Midlands province this week as part of its emergency education programme. Some 10 schools were damaged when a severe hailstorm hit Mberengwa district in Midlands province in September 2002. The roofs and windows of classrooms and dormitories were destroyed, seriously affecting the learning environment of the pupils, the NGO said in a statement.

A leading pro-democracy activist who has been invited to address an international conference in London has been refused a visa by the UK High Commission in Harare. John Bomba has been a key student leader in Zimbabwe's volatile political scene for the last four years, and has drawn the attention of many of the most prominent figures in the country's turbulent opposition politics.

The Media Monitoring Project has noted with concern the recent suspension of the publication of The Daily Mirror, which its publisher, Ibbo Mandaza, attributed to the “dire economic situation”. "Its contribution in the provision of information to the public and media diversity in the country cannot be understated. It is through a diverse media that the public gets a platform to express themselves and access information of their choice, as should be the case in a democratic society. Therefore, the closure of the publication is indeed a blow to the country’s democratic struggles," said the Media Monitoring Project.

Household food stocks have shown marginal improvements in Zimbabwe, but the majority of households still have less than one months supply, with half estimated to have no food in stock. Thirteen districts still reported households consuming unusual foods or `famine' foods, says the NGO Food Security Network in a May report, drawn from 145 monitoring reports from 58 districts from all provinces of Zimbabwe. Food insecurity in May was attributed to poor harvests, inability to afford food, seizure of maize grain by police at roadblocks, political bias and difficulties for particular groups in accessing food.

South Africa will maintain its policies on Zimbabwe despite a strong appeal by US Secretary of State Colin Powell for President Thabo Mbeki's government to play a "stronger and more sustained role" to achieve change in Zimbabwe.

Key evidence produced in the treason trial of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was "inaudible," a government recording expert told the court Wednesday. Constantine Musango, a court official tasked with making transcripts of recorded evidence, was appearing as a state witness in the ongoing treason trial of Tsvangirai and two other senior Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials accused of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe.
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* WITNESS SAID TAPE NOT DOCTORED
http://zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=7082

Migration studies in southern Africa have looked in detail at the history and politics of movements of people to frontier zones. But have they paid enough attention to the impact on indigenous inhabitants? Are migrants really the agents of modernity they are often depicted to be?

Several people were unable to get treatment at hospitals around the country Wednesday as a doctors' strike that began in Bulawayo on Monday spread to other parts of Zimbabwe.

“I was sleeping at my home when at approximately 3am today, Wednesday 4th June, 2003, between 10 and 20 soldiers banged on my front door. I opened it and they wanted to know what party I belonged to. My brother J. and I were asked so many questions and were then told to lie on our stomachs and they beat us with batons." This is one story contained in a report from the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights that documents case summaries, with histories, and examination findings of incidents of violence inflicted during the week of the National Mass Action that took place between June 2-9.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has documented 266 cases of torture in Zimbabwe between 1 January and 31 May 2003. In the same period there had been 442 unlawful arrests, 135 unlawful detentions, 265 cases of violation of freedom of expression, 241 cases of political discrimination and 180 assaults. These are the latest figures contained in a report from the Forum on political violence for the month of May.

This petition urges President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to resign with immediate effect.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Women’s Assembly has called on the silent partners of Africa’s leaders to be quiet no more and to speak out against human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Lucia Matibenga, chairperson of the MDC Women’s Assembly, said: “We call on Africa’s first ladies to speak to their husbands, and ask why are they watching the Zimbabwean crisis.”

Zimbabwe's opposition has described the hanging of four convicted murderers as a show of "brute force" at a time when its leader faces treason charges that could lead to a death sentence.

The treason trial of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, accused of plotting to eliminate President Robert Mugabe ahead of presidential elections last year, resumed on Tuesday. The trial, which resumed after a three week break, concerns the first charges of treason brought against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader and two key members of his party, Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela. Tsvangirai has also been charged with treason - punishable by death in Zimbabwe - in connection with anti-government protests organised by his party two weeks ago.
Related Link:
* Youths plan protests for Tsvangirai's release
http://allafrica.com/stories/200306180683.html

The Media Monitoring Project has deplored the assault and harassment of journalists from the private media by ZANU-PF youths and state security agents during the MDC’s week-long mass action. "Such attacks terrorize those going about their lawful business and stifle the free flow of information and therefore undermine the foundations of democratic society," said the project in a weekly update on the situation in Zimbabwe.

The state has withdrawn charges against Norna Edwards, editor of "The Mirror", a weekly newspaper in the town of Masvingo, 293 kilometres south of the capital, Harare. Edwards and reporter Kennedy Murwira were facing charges of contravening Section 80 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

Reporters Without Borders has deplored the arrest and beating by government supporters of radio journalists Shorai Katiwa and Martin Chimenya and called on the government to ensure the media could operate freely in Zimbabwe. The two reporters, of the pirate radio station Voice of the People (VOP), were seized on 2 June by war veterans and young supporters of President Robert Mugabe's African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) who interrogated them, took away their mobile phones and tape-recorders and beat them after accusing them of belonging to the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).