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Security forces head off anti-government protests in Zimbabwe

HARARE (Reuters) - Streets were deserted and businesses shut in Zimbabwe’s two main cities on Friday after security forces were deployed to prevent anti-government marches called by activists over corruption and economic hardship. Protesters stayed away. Job Sikhala, an opposition lawmaker and one of the protest organisers, said the heavy security presence showed a state afraid of its citizens. He added: “Protracted demonstrations will be the way forward.” He is among more than a dozen activists who are in hiding and who police say they are seeking for promoting Friday’s protests. In Bulawayo and central Harare, the capital, businesses were shut as police and soldiers patrolled the streets. Shops also stayed shut in some Harare townships, including Mbare - a hotbed of past protests. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said the protests constitute an “insurrection” by the opposition. His ZANU-PF party this week branded the U.S. ambassador in Harare a “thug,” accusing him of...
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Trump says will ban TikTok amid pressure on Chinese owner to sell

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he would sign an executive order as soon as Saturday to ban TikTok in the United States, ratcheting up the pressure on the popular short-video app’s Chinese owner to sell it. The move would be the culmination of U.S. national security concerns over the safety of the personal data that TikTok handles. It would represent a major blow for TikTok’s owner, Beijing-based ByteDance, which became one of only a handful of truly global Chinese conglomerates thanks to app’s commercial success. Trump’s announcement followed frantic negotiations on Friday between the White House, ByteDance and potential buyers of TikTok, including Microsoft Corp. They failed to produce a deal that would result in the Chinese company shedding the app’s U.S. operations, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are expected to continue in the coming days. While Microsoft already owns professional social media network LinkedIn, i...
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Clean up 'inhumane' migrant fruit-picker camps, UN official tells Spain after fires

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MADRID (Reuters) - A UN official censured Spanish authorities for allowing seasonal strawberry pickers to live in “inhumane” and potentially deadly conditions, after three fires broke out in migrant shanty towns in Andalusia. The fires hit camps around the town of Huelva within five days last week, injuring at least four people, the southern region’s emergency situations department said on Twitter. Local governments needed to urgently improve the “deplorable conditions” endured in the strawberry townships before people died, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Olivier De Schutter, said in a statement. “This reality of fires and inhumane conditions in the shanty towns cannot be tolerated any longer.” Often dirty and dangerous, and lacking water, sanitation and electricity, such camps have been used as accommodation for Spain’s seasonal fruit-pickers for many years. “The situation is deteriorating alarmingly each day, made worse amid the COVID-19 pande...
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Senegal strengthens coronavirus testing for travellers

DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal is strengthening its coronavirus testing capacity to enable travellers to get tested before leaving the country, and testing those arriving in the West African state. Senegal, which depends on tourism for around 4% of GDP, has reported 9,422 cases since the outbreak, with 182 deaths. It lifted a ban on international flights from July 15 but said it will apply the principle of reciprocity to travellers from countries that do not allow citizens from Senegal. Around 1.7 million people holidayed in Senegal in 2019. The health ministry has accredited four testing centres in the capital Dakar, from only one at the onset of the outbreak, to test travellers. It plans to expand testing in other major towns. Papa Alassane Diaw, who manages the IRESSEF lab in Dakar, told Reuters on Friday that their two labs, one close to the airport, had the capacity to carry out 2,000 tests per day, but the labs were currently testing around 100 to 150 every day. “This cen...
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Record numbers of coronavirus cases in every global region

(Reuters) – Almost 40 countries have reported record single-day increases in coronavirus infections over the past week, around double the number that did so the previous week, according to a Reuters tally showing a pick-up in the pandemic in every region of the world.FILE PHOTO: A nurse works inside a field hospital builtÊon a soccer stadium in Machakos, as the number of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases continues to rise in Kenya, July 23, 2020. Picture taken July 23, 2020.REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo The rate of cases has been increasing not only in countries like the United States, Brazil and India, which have dominated global headlines with large outbreaks, but in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Belgium, Uzbekistan and Israel, among others.   Many countries, especially those where officials eased earlier social distancing lockdowns, are experiencing a second peak more than a month after recording their first. “We will no...
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Debt collector aids Kisumu in recovering Sh200 million

Kisumu county has collected Sh200 million in the last three months after it hired a debt collector to help recover Sh20 billion owed by several businesses. Governor Anyang Nyong’o’s administration in May sought the services of Collection Africa, a debt collection firm, to help recover the debt. The debt as accumulated since 2018, an 11 year period. Unpaid land rates form its bulk. Yesterday, County Chief Finance Officer Erick Angwenyi confirmed that the money had been remitted to the county’s coffers. ‘’We have managed to recover Sh200 million. This initiative is bearing fruit and we look forward to improving our revenue proceeds,’’ Mr Angwenyi said. This is the first time the county has hired a debt collector. The hiring comes after a recent Auditor General’s report  raised queries on the county’s declining revenue. According to the report, property owners have been defaulting on land rates and house rents. For more of this story follow this link: https://www.standar...
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Zimbabwe to arrest traders transacting in US dollars

Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has warned that traders who continue to demand payment in US dollars will face prosecution. In June, the country abandoned the use of the US dollar for its official currency the Zimbabwe dollars; reintroducing a local currency that was scrapped 10 years ago. But a shortage of local currency and its rapid decline in value has resulted in businesses - including grocers and fuel stations - demanding payments in US dollars. Zimbabwe imports most of its goods including fuel and food. Businesses have also been struggling to get allocations of the local currency from the central bank to restock. "It is taking long for Zimbabweans to adjust," Mr Ncube told state-owned Zimpapers TV. "We will be introducing penalties for those who deviate, we recognise we are in transition, we will get there." Mr Ncube acknowledged the shortage of local currency in circulation and said authorities will gradually inject more cash "i...
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