Zimbabwe Loyalists Threaten Fast Food Chain

An update on a story we aired last week about a TV commercial for Nando’s chicken. The ad featured a lookalike of Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe. Nando’s has pulled the ad because of threats to its staff by Mugabe loyalists.

How ‘Dictators’ Sell Fast Food In South Africa

A new tv ad from the South Africa-based chicken restaurant chain, Nando’s, is prompting laughs and raising some eye brows. The ad features look-a-likes for a slew of tyrants from Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe to the late Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.

Circumcising more than One Million Men in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is planning to circumcise more than a million men in seven years in a effort to reduce the spread of HIV.

The Fear by Peter Godwin

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This is the long version of Marco’s interview with Peter Godwin, author of The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe. Godwin is a journalist and writer who grew up in Zimbabwe when it was still Rhodesia. He returned once more in 2008 expecting to celebrate the end of Mugabe’s rule. Instead he witnessed an orchestrated campaign of terror that allowed Mugabe to cling to power. The Fear is Godwin’s account of that time. It is both a catalogue of human rights abuses and a lyrical, angry, deeply personal narrative about going home to a shattered dream. Download MP3

Understanding dictators

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Peter Godwin, author of “The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe,” about what drives dictators like Mugabe and keeps them in power. Download MP3

Zimbabweans forced out of South Africa

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Hundreds of thousands of migrants from Zimbabwe have resettled in neighboring South Africa during the past four years, fleeing a collapsed economy and political violence in their home country. But many of them could face deportation back to Zimbabwe unless they apply for a visa by close of business tomorrow. Anders Kelto reports from Bellville, South Africa. Download MP3

Slideshow: Zimbabwean immigrants on a deadline

Zimbabwe’s first lady sues newspaper

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The wife of the president of Zimbabwe is suing a newspaper for saying she was involved in illegal diamond deals. The paper based the story on one of the US diplomatic cables made public by Wikileaks. The case comes as Zimbabwe lurches into another political transition. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Andrew Meldrum, a journalist with globalpost.com, who’s covered Zimbabwe for years. Download MP3

The world’s poorest countries

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Today’s Geo Quiz is about money. We Americans aren’t feeling very wealthy right now. We’re still recovering from that recession but most of us are a lot wealthier still than most of the world’s 6.8 billion people. Most of them are poor. We just want to know which are the 5 poorest countries of the world? Download MP3

Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi

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Mannasseh Phiri is a part-time DJ in Zambia. His selections for us today is a recent CD by Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi. The album is called ‘Dairai.’ Download MP3

Nigerian Cartoonist Tayo Fatunla

Here’s a concept: political cartoons about Africa….by an African political cartoonist. Nigerian Tayo Fatunla has been making visual comments — sometimes funny, sometimes quite somber — on the politics of his home country, Nigeria, and the rest of Africa, for decades. Tayo Fatunla joins The World’s Carol Hills in this narrated cartoon slideshow featuring a selection of the Nigerian cartoonist’s work from the past decade.
Watch the slideshow

Freshlyground

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In the Global Hit, Marco Werman tells us about news from South Africa that pop band Freshlyground has had their work visas for neighboring Zimbabwe revoked. The band was supposed to perform in Zimbabwe, but the release of a song and video called “Chicken to Change,” skewering Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s 30 years in power, seems to have angered officials there. Download MP3

• ‘Chicken to Change’ video
• Freshlyground homepage
• Global Hit on Facebook

The Economics of Africa

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The World Cup has begun, so in honor of the games, we bring you the All-Africa Global Economy Podcast. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on stadiums and infrastructure improvements in South Africa. Who has benefited? Also, a look at the economy of Zimbabwe. And some upbeat economic news from Africa: The continent proved resilient in the face of the global economic crisis. Download MP3

Racial tensions in Zimbabwe’s farmland

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A decade after the first violent clashes that forced thousands of Zimbabwe’s white farmers out of the country, there’s a new twist in the tale. Some of them are quietly returning to farm again – attracting anger and controversy from whites and blacks alike. Laura Lynch reports from just outside the capital Harare. (Photo: Laura Lynch) Download MP3

• Photo gallery
• BBC Zimbabwe coverage
• Laura’s coverage from Southern Africa

The price of digging for diamonds

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Zimbabwe’s government says the country’s economy may grow 7% this year. Most of that comes from foreign investment and some aid. The African country is also hoping to raise money through diamond sales. Yesterday, we brought you the story of Zimbabwe’s diamonds fields. Today in part 2 of her report, Laura Lynch looks at claims that the diamond fields have also become killing fields. Download MP3

• Part One: Zimbabwe’s ‘blood diamonds’
• Photo gallery
• Laura’s coverage from Southern Africa

Zimbabwe’s ‘blood diamonds’

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The discovery of diamonds in Zimbabwe has led to more misery in a country that’s already seen a lot of hardship. And despite claims to the contrary, Zimbabwe’s government insists the diamonds are ethical. But on a recent trip to the country, Laura Lynch found disturbing evidence that the gems are destroying the lives of many. Download MP3

• BBC Zimbabwe coverage
• Picture still gloomy in Zimbabwe
• Laura’s coverage from Southern Africa