Zimbabwe's three leading figures have condemned international sanctions on the country at a World Economic Forum conference in Tanzania. In a rare show of unity, President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara appealed for investment. Only Mr Tsvangirai had been expected to represent Zimbabwe at the forum in Dar es Salaam. But President Mugabe and Mr Mutambara made a surprise appearance. Despite the history of conflict, the three men put on a civil front, though Mr Mutambara did not resist a rather barbed reference to having gone to a previous World Economic Forum from a prison cell, says the BBC's Andrew Walker, who is in Dar es Salaam.  

 

One bag of maize, two big pumpkins, some watermelons and two small shopping bags of ground nuts is the only food the Togarepi family of seven is left with after the harvest. As she looks at the barren fields outside her thatched-roof mud hut in Kwara village in southern Zimbabwe, Tamary Togarepi, 17, worries about where her family will get food, especially for her ailing mother and three-year-old nephew. "Our harvest is not even enough to last us two months. We now eat only once a day, in the evenings," says Tamary as she shows AFP her spoilt green beans. "If we see the food is running out we will skip a day and eat the next day." Humanitarian agencies say at least two million Zimbabweans currently need food aid, and the figures are set to rise as a result of drought and a decade of agricultural mismanagement. In a country where at least 85 percent of the population is unemployed, Tamary, who finished high school last year, said her family depended solely on its crops since none of her family members had paying work.

 

A stray cat paws through a heap of refuse between blocks of flats in Harare's up market Avenues area, sending rats squealing and scurrying for cover among the rubbish. Across the road, cars take turns to skirt a swelling mound of garbage nearly blocking one of the two lanes. Informal dumpsites have become a familiar sight in sections of Harare where residents are resorting to emptying bins in open spaces as the municipal authorities fail to collect refuse, causing residents to fear disease outbreaks. The ubiquitous heaps are breeding grounds for rats and mice, posing a health threat as the rodents sometimes find their way into homes. Combined Harare Residents' Association has warned of possible disease outbreak if the refuse problem is not addressed.