Zimbabwe has offered to return land to foreign nationals, whose farms were seized under a controversial government programme two decades ago.

Thousands of white farmers were forced from their land, often violently, between 2000 and 2001.

The seizures were meant to redress colonial-era land grabs but contributed to the country’s economic decline and ruined relations with the West.

A separate compensation scheme has been launched for local white farmers.

They have not been offered land, but the government last month promised them $3.5bn (£2.6bn) for seized infrastructure.

The US has said compensating farmers is one of the requirements for it to lift decades of economic sanctions.

Zimbabwe on Monday said foreign citizens who had their land seized could now apply to get it back.

Hundreds of Europeans – mostly Dutch, British and German nationals – whose investments were protected under international agreements could benefit from the offer.

Read Also: Iran, major powers discuss nuclear deal

 

The farms were taken under a controversial land reform programme launched by former President Robert Mugabe.

He argued that this was to redress colonial-era land grabs, when much of the country’s best land was reserved for the white population and black farmers were forced onto marginal areas.

Under the programme, most of the country’s 4,000 white farmers – then the backbone of Zimbabwe’s agricultural economy – were forced from their land, which was handed over to about a million black Zimbabweans.

In a joint statement on Monday, the ministers of finance and agriculture said some black farmers who received land under the programme would now be moved.

To allow the former owners “to regain possession” of their land, the government will revoke offers made to black farmers currently occupying the farms and “offer them alternative land elsewhere”, the statement said.

 

 

Senior diplomats from Iran and five major powers gathered in Vienna yesterday to discuss their troubled nuclear agreement that has been facing intense pressure from the United States (U.S.).

Having left the pact in 2018, the U.S. launched a formal bid in August to revive United Nations (UN) sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The move is being opposed by Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China, which remain loyal to the agreement reached in Vienna in 2015.

The deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was aimed at preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.

“Now, the whole world is watching what the JCPOA member states will do next against the U.S. effort, and this is quite important for clarifying the future route of cooperation,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iranian state broadcaster IRIB in Vienna.

While the five powers have said they want to salvage the nuclear deal, they have also expressed concern about Iran expanding its uranium enrichment above agreed limits – a move that came in reaction to the U.S. exit from the deal.

Britain, France and Germany had also pressured Iran to finally let international nuclear inspectors visit two suspect sites after months of stalling.

Last week, Tehran took a rare conciliatory step and agreed to these inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

But, the United States (U.S.) has warned that North Korea is employing “deceptive techniques” to procure materials for its ballistic missile programmes.

The warning came in an industry advisory jointly issued by the Departments of State, Treasury and Commerce yesterday.

The 19-page document identifies key procurement entities and clandestine techniques allegedly used by North Korea’s missile programme.

It listed the entities to include the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID), Second Academy of Natural Sciences (SANS) and the Second Economic Committee (SEC).

According to the advisory, North Korea “uses an extensive overseas network of procurement agents”.

These, it said, include “officials who operate from North Korean diplomatic missions or trade offices, as well as third- country nationals and foreign companies”.

The document also contains a list of 30 items allegedly used in the country’s ballistic missile development efforts.

In a media note, the Department of State said “North Korea’s continued efforts to expand its ballistic missile capabilities pose a significant threat to both regional and global stability”.

It warned that any country aiding the communist state, even unknowingly, might be subject to U.S. and international sanctions.

The department urged the private sector to remain vigilant to efforts by the reclusive country to acquire missile-related technologies and equipment, including those specified in the advisory.

There are 8,132 people on France’s security watchlist for persons suspected of terrorist leanings, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said yesterday.

Working out which people on the list were at risk of actually attempting acts of terrorism was a “very difficult and delicate task,” Darmanin acknowledged.

France suffered a series of major Islamist attacks in 2015 and 2016, mostly claimed by the Islamic State extremist group, which cost the lives of more than 230 people.

Darmanin’s comments come two days before the trial of 14 people accused of links to the first attacks, in January 2015, in which 17 people were killed.

Read Also: 410 surrender as troops raid terrorists’ cells

 

The suspects face various charges, including terrorist conspiracy and complicity in murder, related to the attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a kosher supermarket, and police officers.

Darmanin said Islamist extremists, such as the Islamic State group, remained the main terrorist threat in France, although there were also worrying signs of far-right activity.

In recent months, he said, suspects appeared to be acting more often on their own initiative rather than in concert with Islamic State, which last year lost the last territory it controlled in Syria.

The minister said that 61 planned attacks had been foiled by French authorities since 2013, including 32 since 2017.

Authorities were preparing for the release of persons convicted of less serious terrorist offences, of whom 45 are due to be freed this year and another 63 in 2021, he said.

 

 

 

 

THE number of coronavirus cases recorded worldwide has topped 25 million, according to data compiled by United States (U.S.) researchers.

In the United States, which has the highest case tally of any country, infection numbers are nearing six million, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University updated on Sunday night.

Brazil has the second-highest number of cases, at almost 3.9 million, followed by India, which has recorded more than 3.5 million.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths, at more than 183,000, followed by Brazil with more than 120,000 and Mexico with over 64,000.

The figures from the Baltimore-based University put global deaths at more than 845,000.

The Johns Hopkins tracker website is regularly updated with incoming figures and tends to show higher numbers than those officially counted by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

However, in some cases, figures have been later corrected downwards.

Experts expect that official numbers do not reflect the full picture of the spread of the coronavirus, as it is unlikely all COVID-19 deaths and cases of infection have been recorded.

The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said yesterday that the number of positive COVID-19 cases across the African continent has risen to 1,245,230.

Read Also: Chloroquine kills Coronavirus in early stage, says NAFDAC DG

 

The centre noted that only five African countries account for about 70 per cent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, stressing that the death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic rose to 29,589 yesterday.

Some 975, 643 people who were infected with COVID-19 had recovered across the continent so far, it said.

Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, South Africa alone accounts for about 50 per cent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, followed by Egypt which has eight per cent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, the Africa CDC said.

The continental disease control and prevention agency said that South Africa had so far reported 625, 056 cases and 14,028 deaths as at Yesterday.

Egypt is the second most COVID-19 affected country with 98,727 positive cases and 5,399 COVID-19 related deaths, it was noted.

Morocco, which has so far reported 61, 399 positive cases and 1,111 deaths, comes third with about five per cent of all COVID-19 infections in the continent, while Nigeria and Ethiopia round the top five list.

According to the Africa CDC, the southern Africa region is the most affected area in terms of confirmed cases, followed by northern Africa and western Africa regions.