ZIMBABWE

The following is the full prepared statement of President Obama's speech in Accra, Ghana on July 11, 2009 as presented by the White House, according to the Associated Press.

Zimbabwe has secured $950 million in credit from China to help rebuild its economy, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Tuesday, the biggest offer from a single country since the unity government was formed.

Britain pledged 5 million pounds to Zimbabwe Monday but made clear more reforms were needed before it would start large-scale development aid to the shattered country.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke must find a convincing way to explain why his central bank is in no hurry to raise interest rates even though the economy is stabilizing.

Zimbabwean expatriates in London jeered Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai when he urged them to return home to help rebuild the country's ruined economy after a decade of crisis.

Britain said on Friday it was too early to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe despite the creation of a new unity government in its former colony.

Germany pledged 25 million euros in aid to Zimbabwe on Monday and Chancellor Angela Merkel said Berlin could provide more support if the poverty-stricken country undertakes more democratic reforms.

President Obama pledged $73 million to Zimbabwe after meeting with the country’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House on Friday.

The Federal Reserve's myriad emergency programs for the U.S. economy threaten the central bank's independence, raising the risk of future inflation, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser said on Thursday.

Western nations and lending agencies have agreed a financing package of more than $1 billion to improve infrastructure in southern and central Africa at an investment conference meant to expand transport links and trade.

Southern African leaders were Monday expected to suspend Madagascar from the SADC regional grouping, after its president was forced from office earlier this month.

South African ruling party leader Jacob Zuma on Friday criticized Western powers for holding back aid to Zimbabwe while President Robert Mugabe was still in power.

Denmark boasts the world's most networked economy, putting it and its Nordic neighbors in a good position to rebound from the current global downturn, the World Economic Forum said on Thursday.

Zimbabwe should clear arrears and implement sound policies if it is to get badly needed IMF financial and technical help to revive the country's devastated economy, the fund said Wednesday.

Australia has pledged to provide $6.4m to Zimbabwe to help provide clean water and draw health professionals back into the system, becoming the first Western country to announce the aid.

President Robert Mugabe joined mourning for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife Tuesday and called on Zimbabweans to end violence and support his old rival in rebuilding the shattered country.

Public health experts say that authorities and Zimbabweans themselves must take care not to spread cholera as the number of reported cases continues to rise.

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday ruled out foul play as the cause of a car crash that injured him and killed his wife, easing concerns that it would increase tensions in the new government.

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife was killed and he was injured on Friday when a truck slammed into their vehicle, officials in his MDC party said.

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday made his first call for an end to international sanctions, part of his bid to start rebuilding the shattered economy.

Hollywood character, Matt Damon was moved as he listened to a pregnant Zimbabwean woman describe how she was raped and the hardships she faced crossing into South Africa.