Reporters from the Zimbabwean newspaper Newsday found them uprooting lemon trees, digging shafts and loading gold ore into lorries.

After unsuccessfully confronting them on Thursday, Mrs Mugabe reported the matter to the police.

The farm is in Mazowe, where she had forcefully evicted villagers in 2015 – while her husband was still in power.

Mrs Mugabe said in a statement to the police obtained by the New Zimbabwe website that she was touring the farm when she was “shocked to find approximately 400 men illegally panning for gold”.

When she confronted them at the farm, some 40km (25 miles) north of Harare, she said they “started to shout obscenities at me and continued with their unlawful activities”.

Newsday reports that one worker shouted at her:

“You no longer have any power to remove us. This is the new dispensation, we do what we want”.

Last year Mrs Mugabe was widely reported to be preparing to replace her aging husband as president of Zimbabwe.

But the rumours were not welcomed by parts of the ruling party and he was ousted from office in November, to be replaced by his long-time ally Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The life of Grace Mugabe

Began affair with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 41 years her senior, while working as a typist in state house

Mr Mugabe was still married to his first wife, Sally, who was terminally ill at the time

Married Mr Mugabe, her second husband, in 1996 in an extravagant ceremony

They have three children – Bona, Robert and Chatunga

Nicknamed “Gucci Grace” by her critics who accuse her of lavish spending

Named head of Zanu-PF women’s league in 2014

Rumoured to be lining herself up to take over from her husband as president of Zimbabwe

Those rumours were followed by Mr Mugabe being ousted from power after 37 years.

–

Source: BBC

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Anti-Corruption Commission spokeswoman Phyllis Chikundura says Levi Nyagura of the University of Zimbabwe was arrested Friday. He appears in court Saturday on abuse of office charges.

Mugabe, whose husband resigned in November under pressure from the military, received a doctorate in 2014 amid allegations she did not study for it. Former president Robert Mugabe was university chancellor.

Chikundura says the university should provide the “paper trail” showing Grace Mugabe’s registration and academic progression.

Sociology department lecturers say they have no records of Mugabe’s work.

Fears that the unpopular Mugabe was positioning herself to succeed her 93-year-old husband as president led the military to step in last year.

–

Source: Associated Press

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The opposition National People’s Party said Mrs Mujuru and several others were assaulted with rocks while campaigning in a suburb of the capital, Harare.

At least eight people are injured, a party spokesman told the BBC, but Mrs Mujuru’s injuries are not serious.

Her party alleges the attack was politically motivated, and carried out by members of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Zimbabwe has undergone rapid political change in the past year, with the departure of former president Robert Mugabe in November, after 37 years in power.

Its new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has promised that elections scheduled for later this year will be fair and free from violence.

Mrs Mujuru was once President Mugabe’s heir apparent, serving as vice-president for a decade before she was ousted in 2014, in a move led by Mr Mugabe’s wife Grace.

Mrs Mugabe claimed the vice-president was “corrupt, an extortionist, incompetent, a gossiper, a liar and ungrateful”. Mrs Mujuru was expelled from Zanu-PF, and became president of the National People’s Party.

Her “rainbow coalition” urged the public to vote against the Mugabes’ continued reign.

It was because of fears that Grace Mugabe was positioning herself to succeed her 93-year-old husband that led to his ultimate fall from power.

Mrs Mujuru is now challenging Zanu-PF for the presidency.

Mr Mnangagwa, meanwhile, is also a former vice-president of Robert Mugabe, having succeeded Mrs Mujuru in the role.

He is serving the remainder of Mr Mugabe’s term ahead of the scheduled mid-year elections.

–

Source: BBC

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President Robert Mugabe is said to be confined to his home in Harare but unconfirmed reports says his wife Grace, who was bidding to succeed him as president, has fled to Namibia.

The military’s action followed the sacking of Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a fierce rival of Mrs Mugabe.

His whereabouts are also unclear.

President Mugabe, 93, has been in control of Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.

But the power struggle over who might succeed him, between Mrs Mugabe and Mr Mnangagwa, has split the ruling Zanu-PF party in recent months.

Evidence that Mrs Mugabe’s circle was being pressured by the military came on Wednesday when one of her key allies made a public apology for criticising the head of the army a day earlier.

Regional bloc the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is due to hold emergency talks in Botswana on Thursday to discuss the crisis.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Tendai Biti told the BBC he wanted to see a transitional authority in place.

“It is urgent that we go back to democracy. It is urgent that we go back to legitimacy but we need a transitional period and I think, I hope, that dialogue can now be opened between the army and Zimbabweans, [that] dialogue can be opened between the army and regional bodies such as the SADC and, indeed, the African Union,” he said.

There have been no reports of unrest in Zimbabwe. Correspondents say many people have accepted that President Mugabe is being eased from office. Streets in Harare are said to be quieter than usual but people are going about their business.

On Wednesday, troops and armoured vehicles encircled parliament and other key buildings.

Hours earlier, soldiers took over the headquarters of national broadcaster ZBC and issued a statement saying that the military was targeting “criminals” around President Mugabe.

On national TV, Maj Gen Sibusiso Moyo denied there had been a coup, saying: “This is not a military takeover of government.”

He said Mr Mugabe and his family were “safe and sound and their security is guaranteed”.

“As soon as we have accomplished our mission we expect that the situation will return to normalcy,” he added.

But despite the reassurances, key regional bloc the African Union (AU) said the takeover of power and the detention of President Mugabe “seemed like a coup”.

South African President Jacob Zuma has reportedly dispatched senior ministers to Zimbabwe to meet President Mugabe and military leaders.

Mr Mnangagwa was removed from the vice presidency earlier this month following a call for his dismissal from Mrs Mugabe.

Tensions were raised further on Monday when army chief Gen Constantino Chiwenga said the army was prepared to act to end purges within Zanu-PF.

Gen Chiwenga is a close ally of Mr Mnangagwa and both are veterans of the 1970s war which ended white minority rule.

A strong supporter of Mrs Mugabe, Zanu-PF youth wing leader, Kudzai Chipanga, responded by saying the military should “stay in the barracks”.

But following the military intervention he issued an apology to Gen Chiwenga and other top military officials, reportedly saying “we are still young and make mistakes”.

–

Source: BBC

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They were arrested after a rally in Bulawayo where Mrs Mugabe spoke last Saturday, the state-owned Herald newspaper reports.

They have now been released on bail and have not yet commented on the charges.

The booing came amid a bitter battle between rival factions of the governing Zanu-PF party to succeed President Robert Mugabe, aged 93.

Mrs Mugabe leads one faction, while former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa leads the other. He was sacked two days after the heckling and has since fled to neighbouring South Africa.

The four accused are said to be supporters of Mr Mnangagwa.

Meanwhile, an American satirist arrested last week for allegedly referring to President Mugabe as “a goblin” has been freed on bail due to what the judge called “an absence of facts”.

The three men and one woman have been freed on bail of $50 (£38) each and banned from attending a forthcoming presidential rally in the capital Harare.

Prosecutor Jerry Mutsindikwa told a magistrate court that “the quartet, with others, allegedly sang the song ‘into oyenzayo siyayizonda'” – the lyrics of which say “we hate what you are doing” in Ndebele – while Mrs Mugabe addressed the rally, the Herald reports.

Mrs Mugabe had been pushing for the removal of Mr Mnangagwa, referring to him as a snake that “must be hit on the head.”

He has been a close ally of the president for 40 years, dating back to the 1970s war of independence in which Mr Mugabe rose to prominence and his removal makes Mrs Mugabe the favourite to succeed her husband.

She is now expected to be appointed vice-president at a special Zanu-PF congress next month.

–

Source: BBC

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She says allies of Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa are threatening the lives of those who don’t support him to replace President Robert Mugabe, 93.

Mrs Mugabe herself and Mr Mnangagwa are the front-runners and their rivalry has split the governing Zanu-PF.

The row comes after Mr Mnangagwa claimed that he was poisoned in August.

His supporters have suggested that rivals within Zanu-PF were responsible, although Mr Mnangagwa has distanced himself from such claims.

He has told state media that he remains loyal to President Mugabe.

An angry Grace Mugabe departed from a prepared speech at an event in Harare to attack Mr Mnangagwa.

“We are being threatened night and day that if a particular person does not become president we will be killed,” she said.

“We will not bow to that pressure. They say there will be a coup, but no-one will recognise you. The African Union will not recognise you, the SADC [Southern African Development Community] will not.”

Mr Mnangagwa fell ill at a political rally led by President Mugabe in August and had to be airlifted to South Africa for treatment.

His supporters suggested a rival group within Zanu-PF had poisoned him and appeared to blame ice cream from Mrs Mugabe’s dairy firm.

But on Thursday, Mrs Mugabe dismissed the suggestions.

She said: “Why would my dairy business prepare a single poisoned ice cream cup just for him? Why would I want to kill him? I am the wife of the president. Who is Mnangagwa, who is he? What do I want from him?”

Addressing reporters earlier, Mr Mnangagwa said that while doctors had confirmed that he was poisoned, it was “false and malicious” to suggest that it was at the hands of the first lady.

The tension between 93-year-old Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s possible successors is growing.

And in his characteristic fashion, President Mugabe has stayed out of the factional fights, refusing to take sides – publicly at least.
It is his wife, Grace Mugabe, who has taken the lead in voicing concerns about the vice-president.

Even though she doesn’t officially speak for the president, her candid utterances reflect the anxiety within the first family over the vice-president’s influence.

Mr Mnangagwa, who has worked with President Mugabe for more than 40 years, has been influential in previous election victories. It is inconceivable that President Mugabe would want to sack such a key figure ahead of elections next year.

But as Zimbabweans are seeing, in Zanu-PF politics anything is possible and no position is guaranteed.

Mr Mnangagwa pledged unflinching loyalty to the party and to the president.

Earlier this week, Zimbabwe’s other vice-president, Phelekezela Mphoko, publicly reprimanded Mr Mnangagwa, accusing him of trying to “destabilise” the country.

Mr Mphoko said doctors had confirmed to the president that stale food and not poison was to blame.

He said there was an agenda to “undermine the authority” of the president and fuel tensions within the party.
–

Source: BBC

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President Robert Mugabe and his wife arrived back in Harare early on Sunday.

Mrs Mugabe, 52, is accused of assaulting model Gabriella Engels a week ago at a Johannesburg hotel where her sons were staying.

She has not commented publicly on the case.

A lawyer for Ms Engels told the BBC that they were planning to challenge the immunity decision in court.

Willie Spies said he would argue that the first lady should not have been given special treatment as she had been in South Africa on private business.

The South African government’s decision came in a notice from International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, published in the Government Gazette on Sunday.

“I hereby recognise the immunities and privileges of the First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Grace Mugabe,” she said.

On Saturday, Mrs Mugabe had been due to take part in the first ladies’ programme at the Southern African Development Community heads of state summit in Pretoria, which Mr Mugabe, 93, was attending.

However, she failed to show up.

South African police had said they wanted to interview Mrs Mugabe and had set up a “red alert” at the borders to try to ensure she did not leave the country.

But Zimbabwe’s ZBC state broadcaster reported that President Mugabe and his wife “arrived on board an Air Zimbabwe flight early on Sunday morning”.

It showed pictures of her greeting officials at Harare airport.

Ms Engels’ lawyers have said their client was offered money to drop the case but she refused.

She appeared at a press conference on Thursday with a large plaster on her forehead. She has alleged that Mrs Mugabe beat her with an extension cable at the hotel where the model was staying with Mrs Mugabe’s two sons.

She told the BBC: “She hit me with the plug and the extension cord. And I just remember being curled down on the floor with blood rushing down my face and down my neck.”

The South African Broadcasting Corporation said the Mugabes were scheduled to attend a funeral for a state minister at Harare’s Heroes Acre on Sunday.

–

Source: BBC

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Grace Mugabe, 52, landed at Harare early on Sunday, Zimbabwean radio said.

She had intended to appear at a summit on Saturday but failed to show. She also applied for diplomatic immunity but it was unclear if this was granted.

Mrs Mugabe had been accused of hitting a 20-year-old woman over the head with an extension cord.

Zimbabwe’s ZBC state broadcaster said: “President Robert Mugabe, accompanied by the first lady, arrived on board an Air Zimbabwe flight early on Sunday morning.”

It showed pictures of her greeting officials at Harare airport.

Mrs Mugabe had been due to take part on Saturday in the first ladies’ programme at the Southern African Development Community heads of state summit in Pretoria, which Mr Mugabe, 93, was attending.

South African police had said they wanted to interview Mrs Mugabe and set up a “red alert” at the country’s borders to try to ensure she did not flee the country.

It remains unclear whether South Africa’s government granted Mrs Mugabe’s plea for diplomatic immunity.

She has not commented on the allegation.

Lawyers for Gabriella Engels, the woman who accused Mrs Mugabe of hitting her, say their client was offered money to drop the case but she refused.

Ms Engels appeared at a press conference on Thursday with a large plaster on her forehead.

She told the BBC: “She hit me with the plug and the extension cord. And I just remember being curled down on the floor with blood rushing down my face and down my neck.”

The South African Broadcasting Corporation said the Mugabes were scheduled to attend a funeral for a state minister at Harare’s Heroes Acre on Sunday.

–

Source: BBC

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Mugabe, 52, allegedly attacked Gabriella Engels, 20, with an extension cord, wounding her forehead and the back of her head.

“We are dealing with the matter and will get the full report,” police minister Fikile Mbalula told the local Eyewitness News agency. “If she came here with her diplomatic passport, she’ll have diplomatic immunity. This doesn’t mean she cannot be arrested.”

Pictures on social media appear to show Engels bleeding in Capital 20 West hotel in the upmarket district of Sandton.

Mugabe allegedly arrived with bodyguards and accused Engels of living with her sons, Robert and Chatunga, both in their 20s, who are based in the city.

“We were chilling in a hotel room, and [the sons] were in the room next door. She came in and started hitting us,” Engels, a model, was quoted as saying by the TimesLIVE website.

“The front of my forehead is busted open. I’m a model and I make my money based on my looks.”

Mugabe, who is 41 years younger than her husband, Robert, has two sons and a daughter with the Zimbabwean president.

“There was a criminal case opened in Sandton at Morningside [station] yesterday, but I can not release any name. Right now we have not arrested anybody,” national police spokesman Vish Naidoo told AFP.

Foreign affairs spokesman Clayson Monyela said Mugabe’s trip was “a private visit so government cannot get involved if an alleged crime is committed”.

Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, a provincial minister in Gauteng province, told Jacaranda FM that the case should be pursued through the courts.

“We hope that it will send a strong message to all leaders who abuse their power and assault innocent people in our country,” she said.

Grace Mugabe regularly speaks at rallies in Zimbabwe and is seen as a potential successor to her increasingly frail husband.

The Zimbabwe government made no immediate comment.

–

Source: Guardian/UK

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Last season’s surprise champions weathered a first-half storm after Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty cancelled out Tiago’s opener, and their resolve was worth it as they won it in the 76th minute.

Substitute Arda Turan got their winner, but all their players were heroes as budgets were again made a mockery of as Diego Simeone’s men won across the city for the second time in two seasons.

Real’s Galacticos had no answer to Atleti’s steel and this success comes after the Red and Whites won the Super Cup against the European champions earlier this month.

The magnitude of that cannot be understood until the ins and outs of each side are considered. Real signed the likes of Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez in the summer while, Atleti, as is their way, lost their best performers in Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois.

Simeone is somehow able to refresh the quality in his side, though, and consistently finds ways to keep pace with Atleti’s fellow title contenders.

Even with their coach suspended for eight games and watching from an executive box Atleti find a way to perform and they did just that from the 10th minute onwards.

Koke’s corner from the left found Tiago at the near post and unchallenged, four yards out, he nodded in the opener.

That sparked Real into life and they dominated the rest of the half.

Ronaldo’s cross found Rodriquez, who hit the ball down into the ground and watched as it bounced over, before Karim Benzema sent an opportunistic curling effort just over.

It looked for all the world that Real had equalised in the 23rd minute as Gareth Bale cracked a brilliant free-kick over the wall but saw Miguel Moya produce an improbable stop away to his left.

The pressure did tell, though, and Real levelled in the 25th minute. Ronaldo ran at Guilherme Siqueira and confused him with stepovers. As the left-back offered him a leg, Ronaldo took it, went to ground and won a penalty which he converted away to Moya’s right.

Ronaldo dragged a shot wide straight after and should have laid on a second but after playing Benzema clean through he saw his team-mate overrun the ball and allow Moya to come out and block him off.

It was excellent keeping from Moya but nothing compared to the brilliant save he made from the France international just before the break, going down low to his right to dig out a header that was going in the bottom corner.

Level at the break, Real looked devoid of ideas in the second half and started to wane, with new signing Javier Hernandez sent on in the pursuit of goals.

It was at the other end where the net rippled, though, as Atleti got ahead again.

Turan signalled his intent with a shot across the face of goal and should actually have done better as he got to a Juanfran cross from the right but could not get it on target.

But he found his range with 14 minutes left, stroking in from 12 yards after Raul Garcia stepped over a Juanfran cross from the right.

Real had no answer and Simeone was left to celebrate wildly from his vantage point high in the stands.

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Source: Sky Sports

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