Zimbabwe Gives Up Its Currency
To help citizens overcome the nation’s staggering inflation rate, Zimbabwe’s government has decided to do away with its currency and allow people to use money from other countries. The move, announced Thursday by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, comes as city workers, doctors and teachers have gone on strike demanding payment in either South African rand or U.S. dollars, reports The Associated Press. But, under this plan, civil servants will still be paid in Zimbabwean money, although their pay will be increased to be on par with inflation. In addition, they’ll receive an allowance each month in foreign money, reports the AP.  The nation is also reeling from a cholera epidemic that has claimed more than 3,000 lives since last August. “This cholera is a crisis which needed not to have happened if the government is taking care of its people,” said U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee after visiting clinics in the nation. “It is a shame that this disease is killing people while government folds its hands.” McGee, along with many in the international community, has been highly critical of longtime leader Robert Mugabe. Many blame him for the nation’s economic meltdown, which has led to an estimated 80 percent of the population needing food aid. Since they started talks in September, Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have been unable to come to terms with a power-sharing agreement.

Caribbean Officials Meet in Haiti
Foreign affairs ministers from across the Caribbean are meeting in Haiti this week for a summit on tourism and the environment, reports Caribbean Net.  Representatives from all of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) nations arrived at the nation Wednesday and will wrap up the summit today. In addition to finding a way to increase tourism all over the region, natural disasters and climate change was also on the agenda for the meeting. Alrich Nicholas, Haiti’s Foreign Affairs minister, hopes that the meeting will help upgrade the way Haiti is looked at worldwide. The country is one of the poorest in the world, with more than 60 percent of the population living below the poverty line. The nation also has lost more than 95 percent of its trees due to systematic deforestation.

Still no Power-sharing Deal in Zimbabwe
After a meeting on Monday, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai were unable to reach a power-sharing agreement, reports CNN. Both sides blamed each other for the failed talks. “The talks did not go very well,” said Mugabe after the 12-hour-long meeting. “MDC have a proposal which is in conflict with the SADC, and we opposed it and then the talks broke down.” After exiting the meeting, Tsvangirai told reporters, “For us as the MDC this is probably the darkest day of our lives. I am sure the whole nation is waiting anxiously for the resolution of this crisis. We are committed to this deal but subject to (ruling party) Zanu-PF conceding on these issues.” A power-sharing deal was actually signed back in September, but since then, both sides have not been able to agree on how to split key cabinet positions. Prior to Monday’s meeting, Mugabe said it would be the last one and that he’d form a government without the opposition. But on Monday Mugabe said, “We will continue with discussions here at home. We shall continue to exchange ideas and see where the differences are with the SADC proposal.” South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, who helped mediate the talks, called for a summit Jan. 26 in either his country or Botswana, and both sides are expected to attend.

Jamaican Child-killer to be Hanged
A Jamaican court has sentenced a convicted child-killer to be hanged, reports the BBC. Jeffrey Perry was convicted of killing a 15-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a 4-year-old girl; all of his alleged victims were his cousins. This is the first time someone has been sentenced to hang since the nation’s lawmakers voted to get the death penalty back in December. Perry’s execution date has not been set. The last hanging in Jamaica was in 1988.
 

Citizens of Tobago Head to the Polls
Tobago, part of the Caribbean’s Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is set to hold elections Monday. The vote will determine if the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) would win a third consecutive term. The party is up against the new Tobago Organization of the People (TOP), a group led by minority leader Ashworth Jack. Both sides believe they’ll win and bring positive changes to Tobago. The PNM promises to encourage economic diversification, and the TOP hopes to reduce wasteful spending. About 45,000 voters are expected to come out to the polls.
Opposition Won’t Back Down From Mugabe
Zimbabwe opposition leaders will meet with longtime leader Robert Mugabe in an attempt to finalize plans for a unified government, reports CNN. The opposition won’t settle for anything but equal power, with the ability to help citizens of the struggling nation. “We cannot go into position of authority without the attendant and consequent power to enable us to deliver on change, food and jobs…. We cannot commit political suicide by entering into a government limping and in pain. It’s like swallowing poison and we become the victims,” opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa told CNN. Mugabe has said publically that Monday’s meeting will be the last one, and that he would form a government without the opposition if the meeting didn’t produce an agreement. The two sides, Mugabe and Movement of Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, actually signed a power-sharing deal last September (following two elections, and accusations of government-sponsored violence and political intimidation) but have since been unable to come to agreement with specifics about cabinet appointments. Back then, the talks were mediated by former South African President Thabo Mbeki. He along with current President Kgalema Motlanthe and Mozambique leader Armando Guebuza will also attend Monday’s meeting to aid the negotiations

Cholera Deaths Skyrocket in Zimbabwe. At the end of last week, the death toll from Zimbabwe’s cholera epidemic was 1,564, up from 484 earlier this month. Just since August, there have been 29,131 suspected cases of the waterborne illness. The surge of cholera is due to the nation’s crumbling health, sanitation and water services, reports the BBC.  It could take six months to take control of the outbreak, according to the United Nations. “The overall case fatality rate has risen to 5.7 percent – far above the 1 percent that is normal in large outbreaks – and in some rural areas it has reached as high as 50 percent,” the World Health Organization said in a statement. Many people don’t have any access to health care because facilities have closed. The news doesn’t get better when it comes to food aid; children’s charity, Save the Children, says about 5 million in the nation need food aid. Critics of longtime Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe blame him for the country’s problems, including having the world’s highest inflation rate. Progress on a power-sharing deal with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has slowed because of disagreements over which party will control important cabinet positions.

Guyana to Cast Ballots. A bill passed in the South American nation’s parliament Monday, paves the way for local elections in Guyana after more than 14 years. The Local Authorities (Election) Amendment Bill passed with a 29-22 vote. The law allows the minister of local government to authorize local councils to hold elections (which have been postponed 12 times now) for mayor, or any other elected position, reports the BBC.  The move was rejected by opposition members who accused the ruling Peoples Progressive Party of trying to gain influence over local government. The minister of local government, Khellawan Lall, said that some municipalities were not operating and having meetings for years because there was no majority (quorum) there to hold an election. He added that local government needed “new blood” along with a new approach to doing things, reports Caribbean Net. Lall blamed the recent problems with flooding in cities on the lack of local leadership. “Flooding was exacerbated due to neglect and inappropriate dumping of garbage,” he said, adding that officials were instead using the Council to further their own political aspirations while showing “no evidence of management of municipalities.” Elections are scheduled for every three years, under the new law.

Getting international aid for the struggling nation is a #1 priority.
It’s official: Zimbabwe leaders sign historic deal. Surrounded by cheers, Zimbabwe’s president and opposition leader inked a power-sharing deal after two disputed elections. The two leaders, President Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, agreed on a deal that would let longtime leader Mugabe retain the presidency (with lessened power) but would also allow Tsvangirai to be prime minister, reports CNN. After June’s very violent runoff election season, which he says caused him to drop out of the race for his and his supporters’ safety, Tsvangirai seemed ready to move forward with the brand-new government. “Divisions, polarizations and hatred belong to the past. Let us not be divided by our past, but united by our hope for the future,” he said after signing. In what he called a “compromise,” Aruthur Mutabara, a third party leader, will become deputy prime minister. South African President Thabo Mbeki (who helped mediate the power-sharing talks) attended the signing along with leaders from the Southern Africa Development Community. Mugabe used the opportunity take a few jabs at western influences, saying that the United States and Britain need to stay out of the Zimbabwean government. “As we move forward, as long as certain salient principles are recognized, we will find room for agreement, he said.” The country is in a financial crisis, with an 11.2 million-percent inflation rate, making it hard for Zimbabweans to buy basic goods. Tsvangirai urged other countries to send aid to his nation; aid has been slowed with the post-election violence. After a new constitution is drafted in the next year and a half, they will decide whether or not to have new elections.

Black Americans heading to Africa? Get more on the trend plus pics from the documentary “Blacks Without Borders” here.

World Lens: Barack Obama’s Kenyan grandma shows her support, flood waters leave Haitians stranded and Usain Bolt is still dominating. Get these pictures and more here.

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Nigeria is hooking up HIV positive couples. One Nigerian state has decided to match up HIV positive couples in an effort to slow the spread of the disease. “Suitors who have tested positive and are willing to wed each other, can reduce the spread of the virus and also cushion the psychological trauma of isolation,” the executive secretary of the Bauchi Action Committee on AIDS, Dr. Lirwan Mohammed, told the BBC. In recent weeks, about 70 couples have been matched by the country’s Bauchi state government. The couples are (confidentially) hooked up during counseling sessions and have the freedom to accept or reject prospective mates.  Under the Islamic laws the state operates under, condom use is not encouraged. But members from UNAids not only think this is a bad idea, but also a dangerous one. “There may be a very big danger in terms of the spread of the disease,” a spokesman said. Since two people could have differing strains of HIV that could interact, they should still use condoms, he added. He also believes it would be bad for kids. “The chances are that child would become a double orphan, they would lose both parents.” At least one HIV groom is happy, though. “If we should fear God, we should stop spreading the HIV virus through indiscriminate marriage, thereby infecting innocent people,” he told the news service anonymously. An estimated 2.4 million Nigerians are living with HIV.

Thousands of Zambians mourn late president. Thousands came out in Zambia Wednesday to pay their final respects to late President Levy Mwanwasa. After suffering a stroke in June, Mwanwasa passed away at age 59 last month in a French hospital. The ceremony brought the country to a standstill – businesses closed and millions of Zambians watched a live telecast of his funeral on state television, reports Reuters. As he was buried, Mwanawasa was honored with a 21-gun salute by five air force jets. “The flag has been lowered and a gallant fighter is gone, but Zambia must pick up the bits and pieces and forge ahead so that his legacy can live on,” Zambian pastor, Peter Ndhlovu said. Mwanawasa, respected for his strong financial reforms in his country, was a strong critic of longtime Zimbabwe leader, Robert Mugabe, whose country is in financial crisis. Mugabe, along with other African leaders (including presidents of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi) attended Mwanawasa funeral. “Mwanawasa was a very courageous leader. He was very frank and wanted to change not only his country but the entire southern African region. We will greatly miss him,” Mugabe told a Zambian radio station. Mwanwasa left behind his widow Maureen and six children. At the service, she spoke of her late husband’s willingness to take care of orphans at his church. “He was the father of all. It is the orphans he took care of that bring pain to my throat, they are orphaned again,” she said. Rupiah Banda, the country’s vice president, is currently serving as acting president.

Death toll in Somali minibus attack rises fThe death toll in Friday’s attack on two Somali minibuses by Ethiopian troops has risen to 60 after people in the neighborhood discovered 16 more bodies, reports the BBC. The attack happened near Mogadishu when Ethiopian forces were hit by a roadside bomb and retaliated by shooting, according to witnesses. “Ethiopian convoys opened fire into different areas where thousands of displaced people were living; they killed everyone on the road,” Sahra Nor Osma, a witness, told The Associated Press. Ethiopia is in the country supporting Somalia’s transitional government, and trying to rid the country of insurgents. But Mogadishu has been prone to attacks. On the same day of this attack, insurgents fired on President Abdullah Yusuf’s convoy while it was leaving the country for Ethiopia for ceasefire talks. Government troops then fired back, killing five civilians.

Still no Zimbabwe power-sharing deal after summit

This weekend’s Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit came to a close Sunday without a power-sharing deal between Zimbabwe’s president and opposition leader, reports the BBC. South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki hosted the summit (which includes 14 member nations) and is also the lead mediator of the talks between longtime Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. “It’s clearly not possible to say when negotiations will be concluded. It’s a matter of negotiating parties reconvening,” he told reporters following the summit. Other leaders at the summit were optimistic that there is a base for a deal, though. Hundreds of protesters, upset that Mugabe was even invited to the summit, protested outside of the meeting Saturday. They, along with Botswana’s President Ian Khama, who actually boycotted the meeting, don’t think Mugabe should be recognized as president of Zimbabwe after June’s runoff election, which many in the international community called a sham. Days before the runoff, Tsvangirai dropped out of the race because of violence against his supporters.

Police are wondering how he got his hands on that much money.
Nigerian official allegedly spent $4 million on a witch doctor. Nigerian police arrested a government employee for allegedly hiring a witch doctor to kill a fellow employee, reports CNN. Sam Edem, the head of the Niger Delta Development Corporation, was suspended after the local press got word that he allegedly spent $4 million on the witch doctor to hex and kill another official in his agency. Edem wanted him killed because he believed the employee had ill will against him, police say. He also wanted the witch doctor to influence a state governor to give him “juicy contracts,” said a police statement. Edem became upset when none of the things he asked the witch doctor to do actually happened, and demanded a refund which the witch doctor refused to give him. Both police and those in the federal government are trying to figure out how Edem got his hands on that much money to give to the witch doctor in the first place. He, although not available for official comment, has not denied any of the charges against him, according to the government. Since the nation’s independence from Britain in 1960, about $400 billion of the Nigerian government’s money has been stolen or wasted, according to investigators.

Rival Zimbabwe leaders will resume talks later today. This weekend’s power-sharing negotiations between Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai ended without an agreement, reports CNN. But they are scheduled to resume the talks later today. “We have not finished. We obviously have sticking points like in any talks, but we look forward to overcome them,” Mugabe told the press after talks adjourned early on Monday. Tsvangirai did not answer any questions, instead referring reporters to the meeting’s mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki who also had no comment. In June, following violent weeks which saw people killed and beaten, longtime leader Robert Mugabe was re-elected in a runoff election that many in the international community dismissed as a sham. Tsvangirai had dropped out of the runoff days before voting, saying that he was fearful for his life and the lives of his supporters. Tsvangirai’s party, Movement of Democratic Change, says that 100 of its supporters were killed by members of the president’s political party, Zanu-PF. But just last week, in a written statement, both parties took responsibility for the violence that occurred ahead of the runoff and pleaded with their supporters to stop fighting, reports the news service. “We further reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that the law is applied fairly and justly to all persons irrespective of political affiliation, to take all necessary measures within our power to eliminate all forms of political violence,” the said statement.

All parties report progress in reaching a deal.

A negotiated political settlement that addresses the problems besetting Zimbabwe could be agreed to as soon as this week, The Standard of Kenya is reporting. The negotiators representing the three parties at the talks resume their negotiations in Pretoria, South Africa, on Sunday. Two weeks ago when the leaders of Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC signed a Memorandum of Understanding, they committed themselves to concluding the talks within two weeks. Tomorrow (Monday) marks the last day of the two-week timeline the parties set themselves to reach an agreement. But The Standard was told that while an agreement might not be reached within the next couple of days, the deal will not be too far off the deadline the parties committed themselves to as they were inching toward a final agreement. While there was some groundwork to be covered, the parties to the negotiations were in agreement that there were no insurmountable obstacles to a final settlement, according to The Standard. The optimism on a final agreement being reached this week is indicated in the statements of the three leaders and the arrival here of the chief mediator, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. After Mbeki’s visit, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told reporters that he was “fairly satisfied” with the talks, while acknowledging there were “sticking points.” Professor Arthur Mutambara, who heads the other MDC formation, has used pretty much the same language, saying his side remains committed to finding a settlement to the impasse. President Robert Mugabe spoke of the “talks progressing well” and pledged his party’s total commitment to the “speedy conclusion and successful outcome of the talks so that we can focus on the recovery of our economy.” Tsvangirai and Mutambara are in South Africa, but there was no immediate indication suggesting their presence there signaled imminent conclusion to the talks.

African media wrongly reports president’s death
After Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa suffered a stroke last week, reports of his death surfaced at a South African radio station. The station had even quoted a spokesman who claimed he was from Zambia’s High Commission, and South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki called for a moment of silence during a public ceremony, reports the BBC. The problem is Mwanawasa is not dead and Zambian leaders say they are angry that media outlets would come to such an unsubstantiated conclusion. “It’s extremely unfortunate,” said Zambia’s information minister, Mike Mulongoti. “It’s malice.” Mwanawasa, 59, is actually in intensive care at a French hospital; his vice-president says he is in stable condition. “We expect people to be sensitive to issues like that, because the death of the president of a republic is a serious matter, and in so doing they’ve caused a lot of panic and damage in the minds of the Zambian people,” Mulongoti continued. The reports were later retracted and South Africa’s ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement saying that Mbeki was remorseful for the “misunderstanding” and wished Mwanawasa a quick recovery. Mwanawasa suffered a stroke back in 2006 as well, but officials say they are optimistic about his recovery. “The doctors attending to [him] are happy with progress he has made so far and his condition remains stable,” Vice-President Rupiah Banda said in a statement.

The African nation’s election crisis was a hot topic at this year’s summit.

Following last month’s controversial presidential runoff elections in Zimbabwe, U.S. and U.K. leaders are pushing for sanctions against the nation. “I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe. I am extremely disappointed in the elections, which I labeled a sham election,” President George Bush told other world leaders at the G-8 summit in Japan, reports CNN. Longtime Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe won re-election last month in a runoff against Movement of Democratic Change opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai and many human rights groups in the nation allege that there was widespread violence against his supporters in the weeks ahead of the runoff, so much so that Tsvangirai says he had to drop out of the race out of fear for his and his supporters’ safety. Mugabe ended up being the only candidate in the election. And because many nations are refusing to recognize his government, “there is growing support for sanctions against the Mugabe regime,” said UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking at the summit. The president of Tanzania and head of the African Union, Jakaya Kikwete, has a different approach on how the situation in Zimbabwe should be rectified; he supports a coalition government. “We are saying no party can govern alone in Zimbabwe and, therefore, the parties have to work together in a government and look at the future of their country together,” he told The Associated Press.