JAPAN: A Japanese navy ship intercepted a medium-ranged ballistic missile in a test off the coast of Hawaii. Japan has been investing in U.S.-developed ballistic missile defense systems since North Korea test fired a long ranged ballistic missile over northern Japan in 1998.

MALAYSIA: Malaysia’s Islamic party has called Muslim men in the country to marry single mothers as their additional wives instead of “young, virgin girls.” Men in Malaysia are allowed to marry up to four women under the approval of the Islamic courts. Government officials said this will “ease the burden” on the single mothers as they need support to take care of their kids.

INDONESIA: Authorities in Indonesia said they might expel the 78 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers if they fail to cooperate with them over identity checks. The ethnic Tamil refugees were intercepted in international waters near Indonesia 11 days ago while trying to reach Australia.

ZIMBABWE: Al Jazeera English is reporting that  UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak was denied entry to Zimbabwe.

SUDAN: African Union leaders are discussing various proposals to resolve the ongoing crisis in Darfur, reports Al-Arabiya.

IRAN: Iran’s Islamic Students News Agency is reporting that Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh has delivered his country’s response to the IAEA. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said  the West is moving from confrontation to cooperation on the issue, and the United Nations watchdog agency says it is hopeful an agreement can be reached.

According to the Middle East online news site, more than 60 Iraqi security force members have been arrested following the two bombings in Baghdad that killed more than 150 people. The New York Times is reporting on corruption on Iraq.

PAKISTAN: Pakistan Dawn TV reported on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s town hall meeting where she told a Pakistani audience that Pakistan was not alone in its fight against militants and reiterated strong U.S. support for its ally.

ISRAEL: In Israel today, Haaretz is covering that country’s observation of the 14th year anniversary — according to the Jewish calendar — of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

PALESTINE: Palestinian Ma’an news agency said that Hamas’s Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh has told an American delegates on a medical mission in Gaza that he welcomes the U.S. change of language on the Middle East conflict.

Somalia, Zimbabwe and Sudan topped the list of failed states this year — rankings based on human rights, governance, economic activity and other indicators.

Also among the top 10 are Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Poverty is endemic in many failed or failing states; in others, the government has lost legitimacy and control. As economic pressures increase with the global financial crisis, and environmental pressures contribute to water and food shortages, even more countries are at risk of failure.

But these dire conditions have implications far beyond individual borders, as failed states — with their high rates of poverty and violence — may serve as breeding grounds for terrorists with global ambitions.

Displaced persons in Yemen, which may be on the verge of becoming a failed state. Photo: IRIN

Worldfocus.org’s weekly radio show explores what it means for a state to fail, from the impact on daily life to widespread geopolitical ripple effects.

Thank you for your questions. Worldfocus anchor Martin Savidge hosts a panel of guests:

Pauline Baker is the president of The Fund for Peace, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing war and alleviating the conditions that cause conflict. She has also served as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and is a professorial lecturer at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Christopher Boucek is a research associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on regional security challenges. Before joining the Carnegie Endowment, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University and lecturer in Politics at the Woodrow Wilson School. Boucek has written widely on the Middle East, Central Asia, and terrorism.

Georgette Gagnon is the director of the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch and led a research mission to Darfur in 2004. She previously investigated human rights violations in Rwanda and directed the Human Rights Department at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The film, ”Hell Hole,” was released by South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and shows starving and malnourished prisoners. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamas recently told parliament that “economic hardships are hitting hardest inside prisons.”

Watch excerpts from the documentary from the Associated Press’ YouTube page:

Blogger Denford Magora in Harare describes the Chikurubi Prison:

The prison is notorious for its conditions, made worse now by the shortage of water, food and medication. The prison hospital, where attempts to treat them have been made before, lacks even the most basic medical facilities and supplies. It apparently does not even have bandages.

[…]Zimbabwe’s prisons are known for inflicting a punishment known as kafiramberi on their inmates. The word, loosely translated, means “Die Forward”. This is a reference to the fact that well-known prisoners and those considered “dangerous” are only ever released when they are almost dead and all invariably die within weeks or a couple of months of being released.

A blogger at “This is Zimbabwe” wrote of prison conditions in 2004:

Archaeologists often say that the most telling discoveries about the past are made in sifting through the contents of the rubbish bins of ancient civilizations. With a macabre twist, the same might be said of what Zimbabwe’s mortuaries reveal today - of the sad state of society, and more particularly of the country’s prisons.

Take the Mpilo mortuary in Bulawayo for example. Those unfortunate enough to have cause to visit the place report that bodies are piled up like so much firewood. The refrigeration system having failed some time ago there is no alternative, and the resulting stench is appalling. A recent visitor to the mortuary counted in excess of fifteen bodies piled up on the floor. Judging by the identical grey blankets in which they were wrapped they were all from the prisons. A few bodies were not in fact covered at all. They lay stark naked, without a shred of dignity or decency in death. A small boy, a green bomber graduate, now working as a mortuary attendant, explained that the prisons were giving them a real problem in the number of bodies delivered which were unclaimed.

And of the situation now?

Five years on, the problem persists: a mass burial was held in Bulawayo in February this year in an effort to empty Mpilo’s mortuary, which is still unrefrigerated and still struggling to cope with the large number of dead bodies.

Incidentally, despite the new transitional government,  the repressive media environment still hasn’t been satisfactorily addressed - thank god for undercover footage that gets the truth out!

Joe Trippi, an American Democratic political consultant, blogs about Roy Bennett, the Mugabe opponent who was imprisoned:

I met Roy Bennett in 2008. I was in Africa trying to help rid Zimbabwe of Robert Mugabe. I saw first hand the risk that Roy and others were taking to promote, through democratic means, new leadership and real change in Zimbabwe […]

I was receiving updates on Roy throughout his imprisonment that began on February 13th. I knew that a prisoner died in Roy’s cell and that the body remained in the cell for days before it was removed. A week or so later I learned that another prisoner had died in the cell next to Roy’s and that the body was left in the cell for days again. And I knew that food was scarce. […] Roy Bennett’s imprisonment has ended. Now it is time tell our friends about Zimbabwe, and to urge them to tell their friends. The press and governments will get the message and the pressure will increase on Mugabe and his regime.

The “What About Africa” blog argues that the international community shares the blame for conditions in Zimbabwe:

The [documentary] seemed to be a snub on Zimbabwe, but how can we say ‘how terrible’ something is, when we have taken away all help from a country?  The world turned it’s back on Zimbabwe and in so doing, we turned our backs on the people - not the government.  Mugabe is still living in his mansion with plenty to eat and throwing lavish birthday parties for himself.  His people are the ones suffering but we implement sanctions that only hurt its’ citizens.

Zimbabwe’s prisons also made headlines when the country held the two-year-old son of imprisoned activists in jail for 76 days late last year. Global Voices provided a roundup of blogger reactions.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Sokwanele - Zimbabwe under a Creative Commons license.

The two men are supposed to share power in a new unity government that is facing the world’s highest inflation rate, hunger and a cholera epidemic that has killed 3,400 people.

Briggs Bomba grew up in Zimbabwe and is now with Africa Action, an organization that focuses on shaping U.S. political and economic policies that affect African nations. He joins Martin Savidge to discuss the likelihood that Mugabe will actually share power, possible solutions to the cholera epidemic and the role of other African countries in improving conditions in Zimbabwe.

PBS Wide Angle interviews Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan-born professor of government at Columbia University and an expert on African Studies. Mamdani explains why he believes that the new power-sharing agreement is the best way forward. He also reflects on Mugabe’s three-decade rule, failed land reforms and the subsequent collapse of Zimbabwe’s agricultural system.

The two men are supposed to share power in a new unity government that is facing the world’s highest inflation rate, hunger and a cholera epidemic that has killed 3,400 people.

Wide Angle’s web-exclusive documentary series Focal Point goes undercover with independent journalist and native Zimbabwean Robyn Kriel. Underground Zimbabwe chronicles life in Zimbabwe under Mugabe.

In the video Zimbabwe’s Life Lines, Kriel takes cameras inside empty stores and speaks with people who are trying to make a living in Zimbabwe’s thriving black market. The footage was shot a year ago and the situation has worsened significantly since.

In the video Demonstrating Under Dictatorship, Kriel also follows the non-violent street protests of the 35,000-member activist group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA).

For more on the crises in Zimbabwe, visit Wide Angle’s Underground Zimbabwe.

Morgan Tsvangirai will become prime minister of Zimbabwe’s unity government.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, said on Friday that it will accept a power-sharing plan worked out in September and join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe. The leader of that party, Morgan Tsvangirai, will become prime minister.

The move underscores a growing sense in the region that Zimbabwe needed a political solution so it could address its growing humanitarian crisis.

Blogger “Marius Bosch” writes that the agreement might improve prospects for dealing with the country’s cholera epidemic and widespread hunger.

The “Afrodissident” blog writes that the agreement will merely allow Mugabe’s party to retain a “veneer of democratic respectability” and that the Tsvangirai’s party will not have much power.

Blogger “Denford Magora” in Zimbabwe writes that Tsvangirai’s decision to join the government is merely a “face-saving” tactic, and that the opposition party has merely hopped aboard a sinking ship, as the government has no hope of repairing Zimbabwe’s infrastructure.

Zimbabwe is also trying to deal with a paralyzed economy. This week, the United Nations said unemployment has reached 94 percent. Zimbabwe announced that it will allow transactions in other currencies, as the Zimbabwean dollar has been plagued by hyperinflation.

The economic hardship touches just about every part of life in Zimbabwe, including the crumbling education system. This week was supposed to be the start of the new school year, but teachers went on strike over pay.

Blogger “Bishop Kadenge” writes that the education strikes are hurting Zimbabwean parents, who must pay extra money to get home tutors, but that Zimbabweans as a whole are coming together and working as a community.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Sokwanele - Zimbabwe under a Creative Commons license.

Some have blamed the crisis on the policies of President Robert Mugabe.

Ann Veneman, the executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), recently returned from Zimbabwe and joins Martin Savidge to discuss efforts to combat the epidemic, UNICEF’s role in Zimbabwe and the relationship between Zimbabwe’s political impasse and its deteriorating health sector.

Additional footage: UNICEF

Thado Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, is mediating Zimbabwe’s power-sharing agreement.

South African leaders are scheduled to meet next week to discuss the political situation in Zimbabwe, where rival political parties remain at a standstill despite a power-sharing agreement signed four months ago. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) complained that President Robert Mugabe was refusing to share key government posts.

Some, like Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, have called for military intervention in the country and for the forced removal of Mugabe.

Michael Keating is a senior fellow and associate director of the Center for Democracy and Development at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he is an Africa specialist. He writes at World Politics Review to argue that military intervention would further destabilize Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe: Military Intervention Would Be a Disaster

While the United States and most of the world celebrated the inauguration of Barack Obama, the people of Zimbabwe were once again being pushed to the brink. Talks between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangarai have broken down over several key issues, prompting Tsvangarai to say: “For us as the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), this is probably the darkest day of our lives, for the whole nation is waiting.”

At the heart of the dispute is control of key ministries in the power-sharing arrangement being pushed by the South African Development Community (SADC) and its chief mediator, former South African President Thado Mbeki. It appears that the SADC agreement is basically the same one that was put on the table last September, essentially undermining attempts by the Tsvangarai faction to assume some control over key ministries that the Mugabe camp refuses to cede.

In other words, Mbeki is promoting a compromise plan without a compromise. Although the plan calls for Tsvangarai to assume the post of prime minister, it also allows for Mugabe to appoint two vice-presidents from his ZANU-PF party, and it fails to specify which ministries will go to the MDC and which to ZANU-PF. MDC has made it clear that it wants — at least — Home Affairs and Finance, but Mugabe refuses to budge. So the Zimbabwean danse macabre continues.

This outcome, which spells disaster for the people of Zimbabwe, might have been avoided if Mbeki and the other SADC leaders had taken a harder line with Mugabe from the beginning. Instead, the Zimbabwean president feels he has a mandate to make whatever shoddy offer he pleases to his opponents in a take-it-or-leave-it strategy that Tsvangarai has decided is just too paltry.

Headlines dealing with Zimbabwe dwell on the collapsing economy and health-care system, and calls from international activists for military intervention are growing. But there are still people working within the broken-down Zimbabwean judicial system to address some critical legal issues, particularly around land-reform.

The issue is whether the people in Mugabe’s inner circle who benefited from land confiscations will be able to hold on to all of their ill-gotten gains, since the compromise agreement says explicitly that beneficiaries can only hold one farm at a time. Many white farmers view this as an opening to use the court system to get their land — or at least portions of it — back, and to resume pursuing their livelihoods on some of Africa’s richest soil.

The simple fact that white farmers have yet to pack up and leave their native country suggests that, from their perspective, there is still hope.

International activists who have called for military intervention seem to forget the lessons of the Congo, where marauding interveners from multiple countries raped and plundered their way across the landscape, doing nothing but enriching themselves while further destabilizing a chaotic situation. To think that wouldn’t happen in Zimbabwe is naïve.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user World Economic Forum under a Creative Commons license.

Hyperinflation has plagued Zimbabwe, where $50 billion is equivalent to less than $1.25US.

The cholera crisis in Zimbabwe has now claimed more than 2,100 lives and the treatable disease has spread to neighboring countries.

Zimbabwe also has the world’s highest inflation, and released a $50 billion note on Monday that was worth only $1.25 U.S. dollars.

Shanta Devarajan is the chief economist of the Africa region at the World Bank and blogs at “Africa Can.” He shares a letter from a friend in Zimbabwe, where the lines at the bank are long and residents struggle to get clean water and power.

Letter from Zimbabwe

I received this missive from a friend:

December 11, 2008

Harare, 1.00am

It is just after midnight in Harare. I have just returned from a midnight tour of the ATMs in Harare with a cousin. There are queues of people still waiting to get their weekly cash withdrawal limit of $100,000,000,000 (US$2.50). I saw the queues this morning when I went for my first meeting at 7.45 a.m. I did not know then that I would be seeing them throughout the day. Most of the ATMs had run out of money. Rather than go home, people saved their precious place in the lines by lying down where they stood and taking a nap. Covering themselves with sacks, newspapers and whatever warming clothing they had. Those ATMs that were still paying out cash had queues of policemen and soldiers. I dared not pull out my camera then. When I did pull out my camera, it was of people too tired to care. Needless to say, picture quality from a moving car using a micro camera is not the best. This is not a normal interpretation of 24-hour banking; seven days a week.

Three hours earlier, I had gone to one of the cholera-infected areas where my aunt lives. I had not intended to stay long. It is a way out of town and I did not want her worrying about my safety getting back into the city. There was a power outage from 6 p.m. and it had taken us two hours to find a house I last visited 20 years ago as a boy. But I did ask how she was coping in Harare; and to her nephew she poured her heart out. No clean water for weeks on end, no food in the shops and constant power cuts. She drives an hour and half across the township in search of clean drinking water, which she brings back in plastic containers. When the city council water does run through the taps in the house, the water is discolored with sewer water. The shops in the neighborhood are empty of basic necessities including mealie meal. Her husband now lives at their farm in another town so that he can plant, guard and harvest the maize that they will live on next year. There are groceries in some shops in the city, but they are sold in US$ and priced beyond her means. I am glad I brought her a suitcase of groceries. Groceries that, 20 years ago, my parents once drove from Lusaka to Harare to buy when Zambia was going through similar madness in the 1980s.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user ZeroOne under a Creative Commons license.

John Atta Mills of the opposition National Democratic Congress party narrowly won a runoff election in Ghana.

Recently, Ghanaians returned to the polls for a runoff election after both major presidential candidates failed to gain a majority in last month’s vote. John Atta Mills of the opposition National Democratic Congress party narrowly defeated Nana Akufo-Addo of the ruling New Patriotic Party.

Leaders from the United Nations and several countries around the globe congratulated Ghana on the peaceful elections, the country’s second transfer of power between parties since restoring democratic elections in 1992. Some consider Ghana’s elections a model for African democracy, given election-related conflict in other African nations like Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Ayo Johnson is a journalist of African heritage working in the United Kingdom. He writes at “Africa speaks to you” about the significance of Ghana’s peaceful elections.

Ghana elections

Ghana is the blue-eyed boy of the African continent. One of Africa’s brightest-known democracies; from the famous Kwame Nkrumah for his revolutionary and progressive views and aspiration for a united Africa. To a chequered past was with that of infamous Jerry Rawlings – (NDC); who came to power repeatedly via the barrel of a gun. Rawlings finally adopted self-governing values with elections that eventually saw him crowned as president.

Election today in Ghana is a stark reminder of how far the nation have come since it’s independence 51 years ago. Ghana is a mature democracy having grown as a nation with decent economic growth forecasts that have cemented their position globally as a major producer of cocoa, gold and now new found wealth of high grade oil.

No wonder the John Atta-Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Nana Akufo-Addo of the ruling party New Patriotic Party (NPP) are prepared to fight tooth and nail to the bitter end; to get what must be a lucrative opportunity for high office in Ghana.

A win for John Atta-Mills of (NDC) will be dogged by counter claims and further appeals by (NPP) to the electoral commission of vote rigging and election irregularities. Both parties must use the judiciary in line with the constitution and take their grievance to the courts.

Both the (NDC) and (NPP) must respect the courts decision as final, failure to adhere could lead to increased tensions that could lead to chaos and anarchy.

To read more, see the original post.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user bbcworldservice under a Creative Commons license.

Andrew Meldrum, a senior editor at GlobalPost, reported from Zimbabwe for more than 20 years and joins Martin Savidge to discuss the state of the country’s health sector and how the U.S. can respond to the crisis.

They discuss the shoe-throwing incident in Iraq and its international importance, the worsening situation in Gaza and the potential for action in the Zimbabwe crisis.

A military commander close to Mugabe was shot on Saturday, in what the Zimbabwe government claimed was an assassination attempt.

Andrew Meldrum, a senior editor at GlobalPost, reported from Zimbabwe for more than 20 years and joins Martin Savidge to discuss the shooting incident, the future of the political situation in Zimbabwe and potential options for the Obama administration in the African nation.

Read our previous coverage of the political and health crises in Zimbabwe.

They discuss U.S. plans to move more troops into Afghanistan, Pakistani leader Asif Ali Zardari’s claims that he is taking steps against terrorism amid questions about his government’s effectiveness and Zimbabwe’s continued cholera crisis.

AUDIO: Dele Olojede, a Nigerian journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner and former foreign editor of Newsday, joins Martin Savidge from Lagos, Nigeria, to discuss Robert Mugabe’s situation, the role of other African nations in Zimbabwe and the country’s future.

The cholera crisis in Zimbabwe prompted President Robert Mugabe to give his own assessment of the outbreak, claiming there was ”no cholera.” 

The United Nations reports more than 16,000 cases of cholera and almost 800 deaths.

Mugabe also launched a counterattack against world leaders and those who say he should resign or be removed. 

Read more about the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe and calls for Mugabe to step down in our previous Blogwatches.

AUDIO: Manuel Lopez, head of a Doctors Without Borders mission in Zimbabwe, joins Martin Savidge from Harare to discuss the spread of the disease, Zimbabwe’s health sector and efforts to end the epidemic.

The situation in Zimbabwe continues to collapse, and international aid workers are struggling to provide even the most basic medical care to tens of thousands of people.

At least 775 have now died due to the country’s outbreak of cholera, and another 16,141 are infected. Some have sought treatment in neighboring countries, and the disease has spread to South Africa.

Read more about the cholera epidemic and political strife in Zimbabwe in our previous Blogwatches.

Many African countries have been slow to criticize the Zimbabwean leader, but Kenya recently called for foreign intervention.

A spokesman for Mugabe claimed that the U.S. and United Kingdom are planning to invade Zimbabwe.

Andrew Meldrum, a senior editor at GlobalPost, reported from Zimbabwe for more than 20 years and joins Martin Savidge to discuss the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe’s role in the country and international calls for the leader to step down.

Below, bloggers discuss the humanitarian and political situations in Zimbabwe.

Blogger “Sokwanele” posts images of raw sewage in the streets of Ruwa — an ominous sign for the spread of cholera as the disease spreads. For more on the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe, see our previous Blogwatch: Cholera claims more than 560 lives in Zimbabwe.

The “Kubatana” blog writes that it is the failing government who is responsible for the health crisis.

The “Foreign Policy Blog” says that international calls for Mugabe’s removal give him the excuse to play victim of Western imperialism.

The “Back Towards the Locus” blog responds to an article in the Times Online that calls on the African Union to send troops into Zimbabwe, arguing that such military action would endanger aid workers and exacerbate instability.

A family waits for cholera treatment in Zimbabwe.

On Thursday, Zimbabwe declared a national emergency due to a cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 560 lives.

The day before, police broke up a riot in the country’s capital, Harare, where doctors and nurses rallied for better pay as the epidemic worsens — along with Zimbabwe’s plummeting economy. Earlier in the week authorities cut the water supply to Harare in order to curb the spread of the disease.

Since August of this year, at least 12,546 cases of cholera have been reported, according to the United Nations.

Blogger Grace Mutandwa of the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Zimbabwe writes from Harare that without water or proper sanitation, the population is doomed, claiming that authorities are not taking the crisis seriously.

The “This is Zimbabwe” blog says that raw sewage flows in the streets of Harare — not far from the city’s marketplace — and that the medical system has collapsed, blaming the country’s leaders.

Michael Trapido of “Thought Leader” writes that President Robert Mugabe’s administration endangered not only Zimbabweans but also South Africans by attempting to conceal the epidemic.

A member of Doctors Without Borders writes from Beitbridge, Zimbabwe, about that city’s attempts to manage the quick spread of the disease despite overwhelmed and undersupplied hospitals.

Blogger “Lauben Muhumuza” from Uganda sympathizes with Zimbabweans, wondering, “Where is Africa heading?”

The epidemic has been linked to the country’s political impasse, since cholera is easily prevented or cured but the country’s health sector is flailing. For more on Zimbabwe’s political struggles, read our previous blogwatch: African countries step in to resolve Zimbabwe’s impasse.

Below, see a map courtesy of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs detailing the spread of the disease in Zimbabwe.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Sokwanele under a Creative Commons license.

Protesters marched at the Harare International Conference Centre, the venue for this week’s regional meeting.

After hours of talks, Zimbabwe’s rival political parties remain at a standstill on a power-sharing deal.

The country’s neighbors — members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) — have now decided to intervene and hold a regional summit to resolve Zimbabwe’s political impasse. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has urged decisive action at the meeting.

As Zimbabwe’s political future hangs in the balance, bloggers from the region voice their thoughts about President Robert Mugabe and the political system.

Blogger “Kwapi” writes at the “NowPublic” Web site that Zimbabwe’s leaders, as well as its complacent citizens, are to blame for a cycle of poltical dysfunction.

Blogger “Opalo” demands an ultimatum, writing from Zimbabwe that the squabbling over cabinet seats ignores the plight of rural citizens in a country whose inflation rate recently reached 231 million percent.

A citizen journalist at “OhMyNews” writes about Mugabe’s current situation and the climate of fear in Zimbabwean politics.

On Oct. 27, 47 protesters from the Restoration of Human Rights group (ROHR) were arrested in Harare, Zimbabwe, where the regional summit will take place.

The “Zimbabwe Republic Police” blog, which monitors police action in Zimbabwe, concludes the protest was peaceful and that the officers involved should themselves be arrested.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party accused the 28-year incumbent Mugabe of lacking sincerity about developing a cooperative government. Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980. The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, may boycott the forthcoming summit.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Sokwanele under a  Creative Commons license.

Worldfocus correspondent Martin Seemungal and producer Yuval Lion report on Africa’s technological advances.

And despite Africa’s limited access to the Internet, bloggers are weighing in on the role of technology around Africa.

The “Geek2Live” blog writes about efforts to speed up Africa’s connection to the World Wide Web.

The “White African” blog discusses why African technology matters, including why Africa is a great place to test technology and gain a competitive edge in world markets.

“ReadWriteWeb” recently completed a three-part series on social media in Africa: an introduction to the African web community, mobile innovations in the continent and the effect of more democratic media on Africa’s social and political landscape (including its role in Zimbabwean elections).

The “AfriGadget” blog cites examples of African ingenuity and invention, including a phone-based security system designed by an 18-year-old Kenyan. “Startup Africa” also provides resources for African entrepreneurs.

YouTube user “bahiaboy” posts a video about the Internet trading platform TradeNet, which provides African farmers with price updates and purchase offers over cell phones, with testimonies from both rural Africans and the platform’s developers.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Esthr under a Creative Commons license.