A year ago, Mulaleli Sibanda, living in Zimbabwe’s Beitbridge area, battered his three-year-old stepdaughter to death. He later told police that the toddler was crying and disturbing his sleep.

In another heart-rending incident, angry at his 13-year-old son for misbehaving at a family party, Solomon Musavengana, 48, beat him to death, according to police records.

The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) has reported murders of 22 children from 2019-2020 at the hands of their parents and guardians, sending alarm bells in the society.

Edious Gava, 12, a homeless child in Beitbridge said, he had to run away from his home as his father had attempted to kill him early this year.

“My father always came home drunk and used to blame me for all the wrong things. The day I fled; he had almost killed me. He kicked me with his gumboots. He was angry that I had not watered the garden at home,” Gava told Anadolu Agency.

Unable to face abuses, in some cases, children have resorted to suicide.

Gava said that his 11-year-old friend took his own life after consuming poison when he faced abuse at home.

Dumi Bhebhe, a child rights activist in Bulawayo – Zimbabwe’s second-largest city – blamed the government for the rise in child abuse cases.

“Children are flogged and killed every day in homes and they have nowhere to go. There is the government’s social welfare department. But it does not take care of the abused children because it has no resources,” said Bhebhe.

Psychological toll on children

Taking note of such abuses, Zimbabwe’s High Court in 2017 had banned corporal punishment both in schools and homes. The ruling had come after some parents complained that their children as young as six years old were beaten by teachers.

According to psychiatrist Anesu Chinoperekwei, abuses are often taking a toll on children’s psychological wellbeing.

“Coping mechanisms are acquired through life experiences and most children are still learning ways to cope with difficulties. As such, when presented with abuse and brutalization, some children may run away from home while some may develop depression and resort to suicides,” said Chinoperekwei.

She said parents need training and guidance to deal with children to avoid incidences of abuse.

According to Getrude Dadirai Gwenzi, a research associate at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, the ability of Zimbabwean families to take care of children has been compromised by a collapsing economy, compounded by COVID-19.

She said that about 4.3 million people in rural communities, including children, were facing a food shortage in 2020. The World Food Programme has also indicated that at least 60% of the population of Zimbabwe needs food aid.

Taylor Nyanhete, director of the Zimbabwe National Council for The Welfare of Children (ZNCWC), agreed that COVID-19 has further worsened the situation for children.

“During the peak of COVID-19, physical and emotional abuse took place and some children could not stand that. They either ran away from their homes or resorted to taking their own lives,” he said.

Generation gap

Claris Madhuku, director of the Platform for Youth Development, a civil society organization in Zimbabwe, said the generation gap was also contributing to abuses and aggravating the situation.

“The younger generation known as ama2000 is pitched against a generation of the above 50 years. The younger generation is rights-oriented but morally empty against a generation of conservatives and gatekeepers. The resultant effect is a psychological conflict between parents and children,” he said.

He added that those who run away from homes are emotionally weak and soon get introduced to drug abuse, thus devastating their lives forever. This makes them mentally deranged and develops a tendency to resort to suicide.

According to Childline Zimbabwe, they had received 25,000 cases of abuse of children in 2018. The sexual abuses accounted for 26%, physical abuses 20%, neglect 17%, emotional abuses 17%, and the rest 20% other forms of abuses. The Childline is a telephone hotline to address issues of child abuse, working with the Zimbabwean government to combat all forms of child abuse./aa

Turkey on Friday imposed a ban on travel from five African countries after the emergence of a new coronavirus variant.

“Travel from Botswana, Republic of South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe to our country through all our land, air, sea, and rail border crossings will not be allowed as of tonight,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

The World Health Organization has declared the new coronavirus strain from southern Africa a “variant of concern,” naming it Omicron.

The UK has also suspended flights from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, whereas EU member states have agreed to introduce rapid restrictions on all travel from these countries as well as Mozambique.​​​​​​​/agencies

The US along with six other nations on Friday voiced concern about recent reports of violence in Myanmar and called for a ban on arms sales to its military.

Those others included Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, and the UK, according to a joint statement by the US Department of State.

"We reiterate our grave concern over reports of ongoing human rights violations and abuses by the Myanmar Security Forces across the country, including credible reports of sexual violence and torture, especially in Chin State, Sagaing Region and Magwe Region," read the seven-nation statement.

The Myanmar military has burned homes, churches and an orphanage in the Thantlang village of Chin State, and humanitarian groups have been targeted, according to the statement.

"More than 40,000 people are reported to have been displaced in Chin State and 11,000 in Magwe Region as a result of recent violence," it added.

The seven nations also voiced concern about allegations of weapons stockpiling and attacks by the military against civilian population as well as about armed clashes in the Rakhine state in early November.

They urged immediate cessation of all human rights violations and abuses, and violence against civilian populations.

"To that end, we call on the international community to suspend all operational support to the military, and to cease the transfer of arms, materiel, dual-use equipment, and technical assistance to the military and its representatives.

"We encourage the international community to work together to prevent future atrocities in Myanmar, including by supporting justice and accountability for those responsible for atrocities," read the statement.

Violence escalated in Myanmar after February's military takeover. Since the Feb. 1 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's government, the Myanmar military has killed, tortured, and arbitrarily arrested civilians, according to rights groups./aa

European stock markets nosedived to close significantly lower on Friday as a new coronavirus variant sparked fears about the global economy.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, fell 17.67, or 3.67%, to close at 464.05.

London’s FTSE 100 lost 266 points, or 3.64%, to end the day at 7,044, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 660 points, or 4.15%, to finish at 15,257.

France’s CAC 40 decreased 336 points, or 4.75%, to 6,739.

Italy’s FTSE MIB 30 was the worst performer based on points, by shedding 4.6%, or 1,245 points, to end the day at 25,852.

Spain’s IBEX 35 had the worst decline in percentage, as it plummeted 438 points, or 4.96%, to close at 8,402.

Investors are worried that a new coronavirus variant known as B.1.1.529 in South Africa could prompt quarantine measures, closure of businesses, and halt economic recovery around the world once again./aa

Women and children have suffered tremendously due to the cold weather and lack of hygiene at the Belarus-Polish border on their way to Europe.

Approximately 2,000 people, including many women and children, continue their wait at the Bruzgi border point in Grodno, Belarus.

According to the Belarusian authorities, around 500 children are located in the camp and that there has been no major support for the people from international organizations so far.

The vast majority of aid is distributed through the efforts of the Belarusian government, army and people.

According to Belarusian officials, the €700,000 (about $785,400) allocated by the EU for migrants has not yet been delivered either.

Suleymaniyeli Gesav Rostem, an Iraqi woman who came to the border with her three children and husband, said they did not have enough food to feed their children.

"I want to leave this place. I have my children with me. We have not showered in 20 days and have fewer clothes with us. My child has sores on his back. He got into a fight with other children at the border," she said.

Aysan Nuri from Kirkuk said that she came to the border with her husband and two children because the living conditions in Iraq were not good.

Expressing that the system in Iraq was dreadful, Nuri said like was difficult and that her children were not able to study because the schools lacked quality.

"I came here for my children, not for myself," she said.

"I have to wash my child outside in this cold. I can't wash his clothes. If my children are hungry, I have to wait until the food comes. Food comes once a day," another Iraqi mother named Ziryan said.

Migrant crisis on border

In October, Belarus suspended an agreement with the EU, obliging the country to take back migrants that crossed its territory and into the EU.
The EU accuses the Belarusian administration of "using irregular migration as a tool" and "trying to destabilize the EU" by sending migrants to the borders of EU countries Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.

Polish authorities announced that they would not allow the migrants to enter the country and would send those who managed to enter back to Belarus.

Belarus is accusing Poland of not providing humane treatment for people seeking to migrate to Europe, while the Polish administration accused Belarus of using these people as a political tool.

The EU accused the Belarusian government of "using immigrants and encouraging them to go to EU borders."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on EU member states to approve an expanded sanctions regime against Belarusian officials amid the border crisis.

According to the latest EU figures, 7,935 people tried to enter the bloc via the Belarusian-EU border in 2021, up sharply from just 150 last year.

Polish authorities stepped up border protection Monday and mobilized more than 12,000 troops after a large group of migrants started marching toward the country's frontier with Belarus accompanied by the Belarusian military./aa

Online sales hit $5.1 billion on Thanksgiving Day in the US, at lower-end of estimates, according to Adobe Digital Insights (ADI) data on Friday.

The digital market research agency expected online sales to come between $5.1-$5.9 billion on Thanksgiving Day.

While this year's e-commerce figure matched last year’s, online spending marked almost a 21% increase from Thanksgiving Day in 2019.

Online sales coming at lower-end of estimates could be a result of global supply chain issues and American consumers starting shopping early this holiday season, which officially starts on Nov. 1 and continues through New Year's Eve.

ADI, however, said e-commerce spending is on track to surpass the $200 billion mark for first time in history to reach $207 billion this season.

For Black Friday, online sales are forecast to hit a record high of $9.5 billion, according to ADI.

Cyber Monday, which started in 2005 to encourage consumers to shop on the internet, is projected to rack up $11.3 billion in a single day, ADI's data showed./aa

BioNTech said on Friday that it will need two weeks to assess if its vaccine will work against the latest coronavirus variant from southern Africa.

“We understand the concern of experts and have immediately initiated investigations on variant B.1.1.529. The variant differs significantly from previously observed variants as it has additional mutations located in the spike protein,” the German company said in a statement.

“We expect more data from the laboratory tests in two weeks at the latest,” read the statement noted, noting: "These data will provide more information about whether B.1.1.529 could be an escape variant that may require an adjustment of our vaccine if the variant spreads globally.”

The company said Pfizer and BioNTech took steps months ago so that they could adapt their mRNA vaccine within six weeks and carry first batches within 100 days in case of an escape variant.

“To that end, the companies have begun clinical trials with variant-specific vaccines (alpha and delta) to collect safety and tolerability data that can be provided to regulators as part of the blueprint studies in the event of a needed variant-specific vaccine,” the statement also said.

The new heavily mutated variant, which might be able to evade vaccines, was detected in Botswana on Nov. 11.

Britain suspended flights from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe as of Friday noon./aa

Major indices in the US stock market took a nosedive at opening bell on Friday, as a new coronavirus variant has rattled global markets and caused a major selloff.

The blue-chip Dow plummeted 891 points, or 2.5%, to 34,912 at 9.53 a.m. EDT, while the S&P 500 fell 82 points, or 1.76%, to 4,618.

Tech-heavy Nasdaq decreased 198 points, or 1.25%, to 15,645.

The steep decline came amid fears that a new coronavirus variant known as B.1.1.529 in South Africa could prompt quarantine measures, closure of businesses, and halt economic recovery around the world once again.

Growing fear rattled markets around the world on Friday, as Asian indices lost around 2%, while European stock exchanges fell more than 3%.

Amid heightened uncertainty, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, jumped almost 40% to 25.84 at the time.

The dollar index was down 0.6% to 96.21, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell 7.8% to 1.516%.

With the potential risk of lower global oil demand due to the new variant, oil prices plummeted around 7%. Price of Brent crude fell 6.9% to $76.58 a barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude lost 7.8% to $72.29.

Precious metals were mixed but investors rushed to gold as a safe haven asset, which rose 0.63% to $1,800 an ounce. Silver, however, was down 1% to $23.36 an ounce./agencies