New Law Compels Zimbabwe Banks To Accept Cattles, Goat And Sheep As Collateral.

Commercial banks in Zimbabwe will soon be compelled to accept livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep as collateral for cash loans to informal businesses under a new law presented to parliament Tuesday.

Under the Movable Property Security Interests Bill tabled for debate by Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa in the House of Assembly, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe will compile and administer a collateral-security register in which small-business operators and individuals can

Syrians protest U.S. airstrikes and more: April 11 in photos

Hundreds of Syrian students gathered outside the United Nations headquarters in Damascus to protest last week’s American missile strike on a government air base; Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, spews

Britain urges Putin to end support for 'toxic' Assad

Children receive treatment in the town of Maaret al-Noman, following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhun, a nearby rebel-held town in Syria's north-western Idlib province, on April 4, 2017

London (AFP) - Russia should end its support for "toxic" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Monday ahead of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Italy.

"It's time for (Russian President) Vladimir Putin to face the truth about the tyrant he is propping up," Johnson said, according to a foreign ministry spokeswoman.

"We need to make it clear to Putin that the time to back Assad has gone," he said, warning that Putin was "damaging Russia" by supporting Assad.

"He must understand that Assad is now toxic in every sense. He is poisoning the innocent people of Syria with weapons that were banned 100 years ago -- and he is poisoning the reputation of Russia," he said.

Johnson on Saturday cancelled a scheduled visit to Moscow over its support for the Syrian regime.

The move came after a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Seikhun last week in which at least 87 people were killed.

Trump declares that North Korea is ‘looking for trouble’ as tensions rise

President Trump suggested on Tuesday that he could sweeten the terms of a trade agreement with China if Beijing assists in solving the North Korea “problem” — but that the United States is prepared to move forward in the western Pacific without Chinese help.

“I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!” Trump tweeted early Tuesday, three days after hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

“North Korea is looking for trouble,” Trump wrote. “If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”

Over the weekend, Trump deployed a U.S. Navy strike group to the Korean Peninsula as “a show of

Tillerson: Syria strike a message to others, including North Korea

Tillerson

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. military strikes against Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons are a warning to other nations, including North Korea, that "a response is likely" if they pose a danger, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday.

As a U.S. Navy strike group headed toward the Korean Peninsula, Tillerson said China agrees that action is necessary to address North Korea's nuclear arsenal, following last week's meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Asked if Friday's strikes against Syria were a message to North Korea, Tillerson told ABC's This Week: "The message that any nation can take is, 'If you violate international norms, if you violate international agreements, if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point a response

Fidel Castro’s ashes reunited with ‘Che’ Guevara

Fidel Castro’s ashes were taken Thursday to a symbolic reunion with his fallen comrade-in-arms Ernesto “Che” Guevara in Santa Clara, the first stop in the late Cold War titan’s last trip across Cuba.
After two days of tributes in Havana, hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Cubans lined the streets to bid farewell as a military jeep began a four-day journey on Wednesday morning with the cedar urn in tow.
Crowds chanted “I am Fidel!” as the convoy started retracing the victory tour that Castro’s guerrilla took in 1959 to celebrate their defeat of US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.
The flag-covered urn, which rested under a glass case on a small olive-green trailer, arrived in Santa Clara after midnight and entered a complex with a mausoleum and museum dedicated to Guevara.
“It’s a historic meeting, two comandantes who change the history of Cuba and humanity,” said Agnier Sanchez, a 33-year-old medical imaging technician.
A somber guitar, song and dance show played across a giant statue of Guevara as the “caravan of freedom” paused a third of the way into its 950-kilometer (590-mile) trek across the island.

Cancer infection to double in Africa in 20 years if not checked – Expert

A radiologist at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Prof. Ifeoma Okoye, has said Africa’s cancer mortality will double in the next 20 years if not tackled.
Speaking in Enugu on Wednesday during the Physicians’ Week organised by the Nigeria Medical Association, Enugu branch, Okoye noted that if cancer infections continued to rise without adequate modalities to control it, the country’s gross domestic product would be affected.
Okoye said: “This is because if those in productive age bracket are infected with cancer, their level of growth and productivity will be affected and this will in turn affect their individuality, community and the government.”
She regretted that many chronic diseases were not adequately addressed in the country, especially in the rural areas as many people living with cancer did not have access to primary health care.
Okoye said that the UN Cancer Control Programme was not implemented in the country and urged the governments to invest in health care to develop its own cancer plan.
The professor of radiation medicine said that tobacco intake, excessive alcohol, environmental factors and

Trump could ‘inspire a ‘disaster movie’ – Spain’s Almodovar

(L-R) Actress Rossy de Palma, director Pedro Almodovar, and actress Marina Ambramovic attend the Pedro Almodovar Retrospective Opening Night at the Museum of Modern Art on November 29, 2016 in New York City. Jason Carter Rinaldi/Getty Images/AFP

Donald Trump would be the perfect protagonist for a disaster film, said Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, as a retrospective of his movies got underway in New York.
“I think that Trump is going to provide a lot of creative inspiration, especially for comedians,” said Almodovar at an event late Tuesday marking the launch of the film series at Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art.
The MoMA exhibition, encompassing every movie made by Almodovar, coincides with the release of “Julieta,” his 20th feature-length film, which was also previewed at MoMA Tuesday. The movie opens in US theaters on December 21.
Almodovar, Spain’s most celebrated living movie director, made it clear that he is no fan of the US president-elect but said Trump’s larger-than-life persona is the stuff of filmmaking lore.
“He seriously would inspire a disaster movie,” Almodovar said.
“This kind of personality type have no parallel in real life. He’s like a great fictional character,” the director said.