Healing and Reconciliation co-Minister Moses Mzila-Ndlovu (MDC) has been arrested on allegations of failing to notify police of a meeting held on Wednesday at a primary school in Lupane. Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena confirmed Mzila-Ndlovu’s arrest. 'He has been arrested for failure to notify the police in terms of the Public Order and Security Act over a meeting they held at a primary school in Lupane on April 13,' he said.

Jennifer Madongonda, 43, shares a seven-roomed house with three other families in the low-income suburb of Budiriro, about 15km southwest of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. Seven months ago the municipality cut off water supply because they couldn’t pay the bill. Budiriro was regarded as the epicentre of the cholera epidemic that began in August 2008 and lasted for a year before it was officially declared at an end in July 2009. Chris Magadza, a researcher at the University of Zimbabwe, told participants at a recent workshop that 'clinical studies carried out on Harare's water supplies, and the results obtained, revealed that the water bodies carry a significant amount of pollutants, which pose a potential health risk'.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Thursday (14 April) condemned gay 'filth' in Europe, as he lambasted Western powers for maintaining their asset freeze and travel ban on him and his inner circle, and vowed to press ahead with the takeover of foreign firms. 'About the unnatural things happening there, where they turn man-to-man and woman-to-woman. We say, well, it's their country. If they want to call their country British Gaydom, it's up to them. That's not our culture. We condemn that filth.'

Shakespeare Mukoyi was released on free bail on Tuesday (12 April). The MDC Harare province vice chairperson was arrested and beaten by police, who crushed a prayer for peace church service on Saturday in Glen Norah. Mukoyi was brutally assaulted by police in the church building and denied access to medication after an X-ray examination which showed the need for urgent treatment. Police took him to Harare Hospital during the evening where he was attended to briefly. He was however unceremoniously seized from the hospital and re-detained at Harare Central Police Station.

Zimbabwe's government adopted new guidelines set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for treating people living with HIV almost a year ago, but funding constraints have made it difficult to implement them - until now. On 1 April 2011, Zimbabwe started phasing out the combination antiretroviral treatment (ARV) Stavudine, Lamivudine and Nevirapine as its first-line option for the national programme, replacing it with the less toxic Tenofovir-based regimens for adults and Zidovudine-based regimens for children, as recommended by the 2010 WHO guidelines.

These days there are dozens of online news websites focusing on Zimbabwe. However, many of them are produced in exile, sometimes making them vulnerable to inaccuracies. But a growing number of reputable websites are able to publish news that would otherwise be censored, providing a voice to the voiceless, writes Vladimir Mzaca on

A court has ordered militant supporters of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to stop exhuming hundreds of skeletons they say were the victims of colonial-era massacres. The judge said the exhumations violated all international protocols on investigating suspected human rights violations and amounted to 'interference or tampering with crime scenes'.

The party of Zimbabwe’s prime minister said on Thursday (07 April) that 14 people were hurt after youths attacked scores of mourners at a memorial service. The ceremony was being held to remember four party activists slain during the election violence in 2008. An independent Christian group known as Heal Zimbabwe Trust organised the ceremony. It has held services for victims of political violence across the country since the 2008 poll.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe could be plotting his own downfall by attacking regional leaders who have in the past shielded him against mounting world pressure to leave office. President Mugabe last week appeared to be taking badly a mini SADC summit that encouraged him to respect the power sharing deal. He was also told to stop politically motivated violence, end the arrest of his opponents and follow a roadmap for fresh elections backed by the regional body. The veteran ruler appeared stunned by the rebuke.

Anti-riot police on Saturday 9 April 2011 violently stormed and suppressed a church service organised to pray for peace in Glen Norah suburb of Harare, says a Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights statement. A truck load of riot police carrying tear gas rifles and truncheons descended on the Nazarene Church in Glen Norah while the service was underway, stormed the church hall during prayer, and dispersed the congregation, which included many church, civic and community leaders.

Across Zimbabwe, economic and political crisis has forced students to do without books, classroom furniture, teachers - the basics of a conducive learning environment. These learners cannot go to libraries, so the libraries have gone to them. In recent years, Zimbabwe’s rural schools have become notorious for their under-funding and dilapidation. For two decades, mobile libraries have formed a crucial part of encouraging a reading culture and promoting literacy in hard-to-reach places. The donkey-drawn libraries have helped spur Zimbabwe’s literacy levels according to Sylvester Nkomo, a headmaster stationed in Inyati, about 60 kilometers north-west of Bulawayo.

Levi Kabwato interviews Professor Lloyd Sachikonye, the author of a recently launched book, ‘When A State Turns on its People: Violence in Zimbabwe’.

High Court Judge Justice Nicholas Ndou on Thursday 31 March 2011 quashed Magistrate Gideon Ruwetsa’s ruling denying bail to Bulawayo resident Vikas Mavhudzi, who is charged with subverting a government by unconstitutional means. Ruwetsa had on Wednesday 16 March 2011 denied bail to the 39 year-old Magwegwe resident, who is facing charges of subverting a government by unconstitutional means over a comment he allegedly made on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s facebook page.

Zimbabwean MPs have re-elected a close ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as the speaker of parliament after his 2008 election was nullified. Lovemore Moyo from the MDC party took 105 votes, defeating a candidate from President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party who took 93 votes. The vote in the hung parliament was controversial following allegations of bribery and the arrest of some MDC MPs.

South Africa has angrily rejected attacks on President Jacob Zuma by Zimbabwean official media, which on Sunday labeled him duplicitous and questioned his suitability to mediate between Zimbabwe’s squabbling ruling parties. In the clearest sign yet of growing tensions between Pretoria and Harare, the Zimbabwean government mouthpiece Sunday Mail said Zuma was erratic and an undesirable facilitator in the talks between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe have issued a statement noting with 'grave concern', cases related to arbitrary detentions, harassment and intimidation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members of the organisation by law enforcement agents, family and community leaders.

Since 2000, Zimbabweans have suffered from high levels of political violence, human rights violations and intimidation. In response, a number of states and the European Union (EU) have imposed arms embargoes. In contrast, China and Russia have voiced no concerns about the situation and continue to supply arms and military equipment. Zimbabwe thus provides a useful case study that illustrates the diverging opinions among major international arms exporters regarding the circumstances that justify a restriction on the supply of arms and military equipment, says this background paper.

'Two leaders of the social justice movement Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, are being sought by police. They are at risk of arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment,' writes AIUSA, in a call for the public to write letters of appeal to Zimbabwean officials.

Reporters Without Borders has welcomed the return of the Daily News after a seven-year closure but is disturbed to learn that one of its reporters was attacked 24 March. The newspaper has been back on the newsstands since 18 March, boldly proclaiming in an editorial in its first issue its intention to denounce abuse of authority and 'bad governance'. The Daily News reporter was attacked by supporters of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai while interviewing people at the headquarters of Tsvangirai’s party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Myths about land reform in Zimbabwe abound: the process is frequently described as a total failure, favouring political elites and cronies instead of the poor, lacking investment in new settlements, creating chronic food insecurity, and leading to the collapse of the rural economy. But do these media-perpetuated ideas bear any resemblance to reality? In 'Zimbabwe Land Reform: Myths and Realities' researchers found that the international media discourse on Zimbabwe land reform had little substance: the process was not a total failure, land had not all (or even mostly) gone to political cronies, investments were being made in new settlements, significant levels of crop production were taking place, and while rural economies were changing and adapting, they were not in total collapse. The full review is available at the blog Another Countryside.