Harare stands to benefit a great deal from increasing engagement with Brasilia in energy, mining, agriculture, or poverty alleviation policies. Zimbabwe must now engage the government of Brazil and expand mutually beneficial areas of political, economic and social cooperation between the two nations

We are concerned that the state continues to vilify our kind and actively violates and harasses our kin. As a result our community lives in fear of violence and abuse

The lawyer submitted more than adequate evidence to support his allegation of torture and ill-treatment, including being subjected to prolonged electric shocks in the mouth, genitals, fingers, toes and other parts of the body

This new film exposes the truth behind President Robert Mugabe’s troubles with the West. But it lacks the nuances, complexities and critical questions (other than ‘the land question’) that are key to understanding Mugabe’s legacy

The underlying cause of the Zimbabwean crisis lies in the State’s failure to initiate and sustain a growth process that is robust and inclusive.

A new report has found that despite government denials, the illicit trade of Marange diamonds is alive and well, with the full knowledge and complicity of top state officials.

Zimbabwe's newspapers are filled with public notices for auctions as many other individuals and companies lose their property to banks and money-lenders after falling behind on loan repayments. The country's financial sector has enjoyed three years of economic growth following the adoption of multiple currencies in early 2009 and an end to a tumultuous trading period characterized by record inflation, bank closures and failures. Buoyed by phenomenal growth in deposits and a steady currency, many banks have introduced personal bank loans to attract new clients.

Studies have revealed that residents of Zimbabwe's capital Harare literally drink their waste. A government owned newspaper at the weekend described pollution levels at Harare's water source – Lake Chivero – as comparable to a 'sewage pond'. It said recent tests on water samples detected about 2mg/l (two milligrammes in every litre of water) of phosphates or human and animal waste, exceeding the 0,5mg/l recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The third investigation by Partnership Africa Canada into illicit activity in Zimbabwe’s diamond sector, this report focusses on ongoing trade irregularities, the lack of transparency of diamond revenues, and examines ways ZANU officials and the global diamond industry have colluded to pull off the biggest plunder of diamonds since Cecil Rhodes.

On Monday 12 November police in Bulawayo arrested 79 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) for staging a peaceful demonstration against the water crisis in the city. All the activists were released after police realized the holding cells at police stations were without running water, a scenario that could have made the situation even worse.

Bulawayo Magistrate Learnmore Mapiye on Thursday 08 November 2012 ended the four-day detention ordeal for three Counselling Services Unit (CSU) representatives who were finally charged with causing malicious damage to property, in contravention of Section 140 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, four days after their arrest. According to State prosecutor Marlvin Nzombe, the three CSU representatives together with some unidentified individuals smeared some MDC graffiti on an information centre located in Mpopoma high density suburb in Bulawayo 07 October 2012.

Zimbabweans providing cheap labour in the fast-growing Chinese mines bear the brunt of extremely harsh conditions and low wages, a Johannesburg-based advocacy group, Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW) reveals in its research, the first such report detailing China's labour practices in the country. Hard labour, exposure to risky conditions, violation of labour laws, long working hours, non payment of overtime, disregard of public holidays and use of Chinese language in corporate literature were among extreme conditions faced by workers at most Chinese interests in Zimbabwe, the report said.

In Zimbabwe, HIV positive mothers and soon-to-be mothers used to be sterilised. The procedure was seen as the only way of preventing the transmission of HIV to their unborn or newborn babies. Now the tide has turned. Medical advances mean HIV mothers have a much better chance of having healthy babies. And some women are now seeking compensation from the government.

The brutal assault on an MDC-T official and his wife, which happened in Kadoma, has fuelled anger among Zimbabweans and sparked fears that political violence is intensifying ahead of elections due next year. The attack has also focused attention on Robert Mugabe, who on several occasions recently said publicly that he wants peace and tolerance between party supporters. Critics are now questioning the ZANU PF leader’s sincerity.

Villagers in Gokwe, Mashonaland West, have reported that uniformed soldiers are forcing them to attend political rallies, where they are being warned that more soldiers with guns will be deployed to punish them if they do not support ZANU PF policies on the constitution and in elections due next year. The report comes just a day after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, told reporters that Robert Mugabe met with Tsvangirai on Monday and agreed to call a meeting with the country's army generals, to discuss the issue of political violence and elections.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has eased technical assistance restrictions on Zimbabwe in a move seen as moving towards normalising relations with the southern African nation. This will see Zimbabwe getting technical advice to design its economic programmes and the IMF will monitor the implementation of specific projects.

Civil war has broken out in the former ruling ZANU PF over interviews given by senior party figures saying that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will not be allowed to take over power should he win next year’s presidential elections. Recent statements by party heavyweights Patrick Chinamasa and Rugare Gumbo, that the army will stage a coup in the event of an MDC-T victory, have sharply exposed the deep splits within the party.

Zimbabwe’s three governing parties failed to find common ground on presidential powers and proposed security reforms in the new constitution at a crucial conference to review the charter that ended on Tuesday 23 October. President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party wants an overhaul of the draft constitution produced by an inter-party parliamentary committee claiming Zimbabweans favoured an all powerful Head of State and government. After two days of deliberations, Zanu-PF and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations in the inclusive government failed to narrow their differences.

The 2nd All Stakeholders Conference got off to a dramatic and chaotic start in Harare on Monday, with the MDC-N leader Welshman Ncube walking out of the event, to protest the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara. At the heart of his protest is the fact SADC leaders resolved at the last summit in Maputo that Ncube would be the third principal allowed to participate in GPA negotiations. But ZANU PF went against SADC and insisted Mutambara would remain the third principal to participate in government business.

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by a recent wave of arrests of journalists in Zimbabwe and urges the authorities to stop trying to intimidate independent privately-owned media and to take measures against those responsible for physical attacks on reporters. 'This sudden wave of lawsuits and incidents involving the police does not bode well for the coming months,' Reporters Without Borders said. 'Journalists must be guaranteed the freedom to cover political stories without fear of abusive criminal prosecutions. We are very worried about the judicial harassment of independent journalists and media in the past few weeks.'