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The United Nations and its relief partners must respond quickly to address the humanitarian needs of Zimbabweans and prevent the cholera epidemic from spreading, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in a telephone conversation with South African President Kgalama Motlanthe.

The regime of Robert Mugabe has belatedly declared a national emergency, over the cholera epidemic that is now threatening to engulf the whole country.

In the strongest indication yet that African leaders are finally turning their backs on Robert Mugabe and his murderous regime, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday said it was time for African governments to oust the ageing dictator.

The Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) Jestina Mukoko, is still missing, a day after she was abducted from her home in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The crackdown on the political violence monitoring group intensified on Thursday when a field officer with the ZPP, Pascal Gonzo, was arrested in Nyanga. A lawyer has been dispatched to Nyanga from Mutare to find out the reason for the arrest.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) says 45 people remain in police custody, a day after the labour union held demonstrations in various parts of the country.

At least 16 soldiers were arrested this week, with 10 of them still being detained for interrogation following Monday's rioting in central Harare.

At least 22 people were seriously injured after demonstrators clashed with police on the streets of Harare on Thursday afternoon - during a peaceful demonstration organised by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA).

The Director of Public Relations, Research and Information in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Clifford Maribe says the P3 million that Botswana is donating to Zimbabwe is solely for the people of Zimbabwe and not to be enjoyed by the Robert Mugabe administration.

The Mozambican health authorities are on "maximum alert" against the spread of the cholera epidemic currently ravaging Zimbabwe into Mozambique.

Zimbabwe's government has declared a national emergency in an attempt to deal with a cholera epidemic, but with the collapse of services like health, sanitation, refuse collection and water supply it is unclear how the country will counter the waterborne disease.

"Funerals of people dying of cholera are a common feature of our daily lives," said Tapiwa Hove, a resident Budiriro, a high-density suburb of Harare. "But it seems no one cares. Sewage is flowing all over. It's like living in hell."

Riot police have used force to break up peaceful protests by the ZCTU in Harare. They have also clamped down hard on another demonstration by doctors and nurses. Various abductions have also been reported.

States in Transition Observatory look at the Zimbabwe's botched election and the subsequent violence, and how this has specifically affected women. They underscore the fact that in times of crisis and conflict, such as those still being witnessed in Zimbabwe, it is always the women and children who are most victimized. The case of Zimbabwe shows how women suffer, both for perceived direct participation in the political process, but also by proxy, for their husbands' or family members' involvement. In Zimbabwe, as in other conflict areas, sexual violence continues to be a tool of war.

A SENIOR government official has recommended the transformation of the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) into a regulatory board overseeing the petroleum industry instead of maintaining its dual role of importing and distribution fuel while at the same time controlling competition.

OK Zimbabwe Limited could not publish inflation-adjusted financial results for the six months to September 30 because of the Central Statistical Office (CSO)'s failure to release inflation data, The Financial Gazette heard this week.

TO some extent, Zimbabwe and Somalia share a number of similarities. Both countries are characterised by conflict and hyperinflation that have spawned a serious humanitarian crisis, which is endangering lives of millions of their citizens.

THE Financial Gazette this week announced the shelving of the Top Companies Survey citing the difficult operating environment that has made the staging of this year's event impossible.

THE Jingniu Group, a Chinese company, will spend about US$400 million in the next five years in constructing a glass manufacturing factory in Kadoma, The Financial Gazette can reveal.

ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe would need at least US$2,5 million to acquire a modern billing system for its 50,000 Business Partna subscribers who were migrated to the prepaid platform last week after the old system started collapsing.

"Yes, Zambia has problems - but thank God, we're not Zimbabwe!" I've heard this remark several times recently and even repeated it myself. But I never appreciated its full meaning so much until I listened last week to several close Zimbabwean friends tell me about what they are experiencing these days in our neighbour to the south. They had come to a meeting in South Africa that I was attending, analysing the future of democracy in our region.