ZIMBABWE

The ten most “prosperous” nations on earth, according to Legatum’s system, are dominated by Europe. The top ten in order are Norway, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden. Canada, Switzerland, Netherlands and the United States.

Hong Kong beat rivals Singapore and Australia to be rated the world’s freest economy for a straight seventeenth consecutive year, according to a ranking by US-based Heritage Foundation.

Hong Kong was rated the world's freest economy for a 17th straight year in a ranking by the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation, above rivals Singapore and Australia for the title.

Queues stretched for kilometres at immigration offices in South Africa on Friday as thousands of Zimbabweans tried to meet a year-end deadline to file papers for legalising their stay in the country.

Cyber activists say they have brought down Zimbabwean government websites after the president's wife sued a newspaper for publishing a WikiLeaks cable linking her with illicit diamond trading.

Despite mounting international pressure, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe would run in the country’s polls likely to be scheduled for June next year. Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) unanimously endorsed him as a candidate for the elections on Saturday. The party cadres, along with their leader, also pledged for a ‘harmonious’ ballot in 2011.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Saturday threatened to act against companies from Western countries that have imposed sanctions on his party over suspected election fraud and rights abuses.

Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, has threatened to nationalize all British and American companies operating in his country unless Western sanctions are eliminated.

Burning tyres, rebel checkpoints, an angry mob and a placard that reads, Gbagbo thief... The West African state of Ivory Coast seems to be rapidly descending into a state of crisis. Acknowledged as the most expensive polls in Africa, the recent run-off was aimed at unifying the country which suffered bitter divisions and wrath of an armed uprising in 2002. But instead, they bared the discrepancy within the nation's population.

A day after both candidates claimed Presidency in Ivory Coast, African Union said it would dispatch former South African premier Thabo Mbeki for mediations. Local media has reported of at least a dozen people killed in post-election violence in the former capital of Abijdan.

South African president Jacob Zuma set off to Harare on Friday expecting to even out the disputes of Zimbabwe's power-sharing government which is almost on the verge of collapse. The Zimbabwe standoff worsened as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai filed a lawsuit against ruling president Robert Mugabe accusing him of violating the global political agreement (GPA) signed between them.

African nations whose populations have been devastated by AIDS have made big strides in fighting HIV, with new infections down 25 percent since 2001 in some of the worst hit places, a U.N. report said on Friday.

Platinum miners are on a song this year with their profits scaling new heights. This week, Impala Platinum announced that production of platinum, palladium, rhodium and other associated metals rose from 3.43 million ounces to 3.69 million ounces this year.

England number three Jonathan Trott finally succumbed for 184 on Saturday after he and Stuart Broad had broken the world eighth wicket partnership record on the third day of the fourth test against Pakistan at Lord's.

Gold edged up in early European trade on Thursday underpinned by it safe-haven appeal due to increasing uncertainty about the health of the global economy, but a stronger dollar was likely to cap gains.

More trouble has come to Zimbabwe's Mugabe family with first lady Grace Mugabe figuring as one of the biggest beneficiaries from the diamonds from the controversial Chiadzwa fields after it emerged she is a shareholder in Mbada Diamonds.

With the diamond flow becoming tight in global markets, Surat's diamond polishing units are now awaiting roughs from Zimbabwe, which recently got a reprieve from the KP scheme, which allowed the country to sell a portion of its diamond stocks.

In a decision which will have a huge impact on the diamond sector across the globe, Zimbabwe announced that it will immediately auction a stockpile of more than 4.5 million carats of diamonds that it has been sitting on during the past nine months due to an international ban on trade in gems from the country's controversial Marange fields.

The recent decision of KP scheme to partially allow Zimbabwe to sell its diamonds has come as a respite for Surat, the biggest diamond processing centre in the world. In fact, now diamantaires in Surat can officially import rough diamonds from the troubled Marange diamond mines in Zimbabwe with the Kimberley Process allowing supervised exports of diamonds from Zimbabwe.

All diamond producing African antions are now rallying behind Zimbabwe threatening to leave the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme if Zimbabwe was not allowed to market its diamonds freely. African countries, led by diamond rich Namibia, has already conveyed this decision to the KP.

All miners in the world are now eyeing Zimbabwe. Reason: The country is witnessing major changes in the mining sector and Zimbabwe is one of the biggest sources of platinum group metals. Zimbabwe is witnessing a revival in its mining sector, with major companies committing to a number of significant platinum projects. And, if Zimbabwe decides to tap its mining resources properly, the country will be on way to high growth.