BY RUTENDO MATANHIKE

GOVERNMENT plans to set up a horticulture department within the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture as part of efforts to boost the agricultural sector.

Speaking during a Seed Co vegetable mega field day held in Harare yesterday, Agriculture secretary, Ringson Chitsiko said the move from subsistence to commercial farming was key in development of the rural economy.

“The shift from subsistence to commercial farming is fundamental in the development of the rural economy on our way to achieve sustainable inclusive economic growth,” said Chitsiko.

Seed Co has a number of high-yielding vegetable hybrids and improved varieties conducive for local conditions.

The company’s agronomy and extension services manager, John Bhasera said vegetable farming can help farmers raise revenue when major crops are not in season.

“You cannot have a smoothly-run farming business without having several income streams. Farmers need to grow vegetables in order to spread cash revenue on the farm. This will help
supplement income on the farm,” he said.

He also said venturing into farming business helped in spreading the risk in the farming business, especially with issues to do with climate change.

“Climate change is a real problem farmers cannot control, making the business a risk. Therefore, farmers can reduce the risk through vegetable farming,” he said.

(CNN)

Jay-Z once rapped “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” Turns out he was right.

The superstar rapper is also a fashion trendsetter, a streaming music mogul, a sports management company owner and Mr. Beyonce Knowles.

All that has helped him to become the first billionaire rapper, according to Forbes.

“Less than a decade later, it’s clear that Jay-Z has accumulated a fortune that conservatively totals $1 billion, making him one of only a handful of entertainers to become a billionaire—and the first hip-hop artist to do so,” Forbes’ Zack O’Malley Greenburg writes.

The media company ticked through the various businesses that Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, either owns or has a stake in, including:

• a $70 million stake in Uber
• his ownership of the streaming service Tidal
• his $70 million art collection
• his ownership of the Roc Nation sports management company
• $50 million in assorted real estate holdings and his music catalog.
• And being married to uber-superstar Beyonce, worth an estimated $355 million herself, doesn’t hurt.

Jay-Z, who grew up in a Brooklyn housing project, rose to fame in 1996 with his debut album “Reasonable Doubt.” His sixth album, 2001’s “The Blueprint,” was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry — reserved for albums that are
“culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” — earlier this year.

He’s also been more involved in political advocacy, campaigning for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and launching a prison reform organization with fellow rapper Meek Mill this year.

Back in 2014, music mogul Dr. Dre claimed he was hip-hop’s first billionaire after he sold Beats Music, the high-end headphones and streaming music service, to Apple. But it’s estimated that while that blockbuster deal pushed Dre’s net worth to about $1.1
billion, state and local taxes ultimately nudged it to just below the $1 billion-dollar mark.

BY BBC

A French court has sentenced an imam to two years in prison for helping migrants try to cross the English Channel in inflatable boats.

The 39-year-old Iranian national was accused of arranging several crossings from northern France to England.

A 29-year-old Senegalese man who attended the mosque where the imam preaches also stood trial.

He was given nine months in jail and was banned from visiting Nord and Pas-de-Calais for three years.

The imam, who has not been named in French media, fainted upon hearing his sentence.

The men admitted providing six or seven dinghies after they were arrested in April, French newspaper Le Figaro reported.

The investigation started in late March when life jackets, wet pullovers and a rubber dinghy were discovered on a beach in northern France.

According to the prosecution, the imam was in contact with organised gangs of traffickers and took a commission on the sale of each boat.

Police found two boats, three outboard engines and life jackets in the imam’s house. The two men confessed to buying seven boats between December 2018 and April 2019.

The imam claimed he visited a shop in Deulemont, on the border with Belgium, to purchase dinghies for a person he identified only as Kamal.

Both defendants claimed they only realised later that the boats were being used for illegal Channel crossings.

“When I learnt that, I thought of the children on board and I told myself there could have been deaths,” the Senegalese man told the court. The imam said he was “ashamed”.

Prosecutors said their explanations “did not reflect reality” and that the Iranian national was often in the areas where the boats were discovered.

There has been a recent spike in the number of migrants trying to cross the Channel in boats, despite the risk of dangerous currents, cold waters and collisions.

BY AFRICANEWS

Sudan’s military on Tuesday announced that elections will be held within nine months, adding that it had decided to cancel all that had been previously agreed with protesters about the country’s transition.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s announcement came the after Sudan’s military forcefully broke up a weeks-long sit-in outside Khartoum’s army headquarters calling on the country’s ruling generals to hand over to civilian rule, leaving more than 30 dead.

“The Military council decides on the following: cancelling what was agreed on and stopping negotiating with the Alliance for Freedom and Change, and to call for general elections within a period not exceeding nine months,” Burhan said in a statement broadcast on state television early on Tuesday.

The Military council decides on…cancelling what was agreed on and stopping negotiating with the Alliance for Freedom and Change.

Burhan added the election would take place under “regional and international supervision”.

The Transitional Military Council ousted president Omar al-Bashir in April after months of protests against his authoritarian rule.

What had been agreed with protesters

It had agreed a three-year transition period for transferring power to a civilian administration and that parliament be composed of 300 members for the transition, with around two-thirds from the protest alliance and the rest drawn from other political groups before talks broke down on May 20.

Thousands of people remained camped outside the military headquarters calling for the generals to cede power before security forces used force to break up the sit-in, leaving some 30 people dead and hundreds wounded, according to doctors close to the protesters.

It drew sharp international criticism, with both the US and the UN condemning the breaking up of the sit-in.

The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Tuesday to discuss Sudan, after Britain and Germany requested the talks, diplomats said.

The Alliance for Freedom and Change had announced “the end of all political contact and negotiations with the putschist Council” following the deaths.

Burhan said that the military council would order an investigation into it.

“The military council promises an investigation into today’s events and invites the general prosecutor to take that over,” he said in the address.

BY BBCSPORT

Caster Semenya will not need to take testosterone-reducing medication to compete after a Swiss court temporarily suspended a new IAAF ruling.

The Olympic 800m champion, 28, last month lost her challenge to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) against the implementation of a restriction on testosterone levels in female runners.

The ruling would have affected women competing from 400m to the mile.

“I hope following my appeal I will once again be able to run free,” she said.

“I am thankful to the Swiss judges for this decision.”

Following the decision by Cas, the South African took her appeal to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, citing the need to defend “fundamental human rights”.

Her legal representative Dr Dorothee Schramm said: “The court has granted welcome temporary protection to Caster Semenya.

“This is an important case that will have fundamental implications for the human rights of female athletes.”

In a statement to BBC Sport, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland said it had “super-provisionally instructed the IAAF to suspend the application of the ‘Eligibility Regulations for the Female Classification for athletes with differences of sex development’ with respect to the claimant, until the decision on the request for issuance of provisional measures”.

It added: “At present, it is not known when the Swiss Federal Supreme Courts will issue an interlocutory order concerning these provisional measures.”

The IAAF said it had yet to receive notification of the new decision from the Swiss court.

In its initial judgement Cas found that the new rules proposed by the IAAF – athletics’ world governing body – for athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) were discriminatory, but concluded that the discrimination was “necessary, reasonable and proportionate” to protect “the integrity of female athletics”.

• 31 July 2009: 18-year-old Semenya runs fastest 800m time of the year to win gold at the Africa Junior Championships.
• August 2009: Semenya undertakes a gender test before the World Championships in Berlin. She is unaware of the purpose of the test, with Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene telling her it is a random doping test.
• 19 August 2009: Semenya wins 800m world gold, breaking the world-leading mark she set in July. After her victory, the news of Semenya’s gender test is leaked to the press.
• November 2009: There are reports that Semenya’s test has revealed male and female characteristics. The results are not made public.
• 6 July 2010: Semenya is cleared by the IAAF to compete again.
• 22 August 2010: Semenya wins the 800m at an IAAF event in Berlin.
• 11 August 2012: Semenya wins 800m silver at the 2012 London Olympics. This is later upgraded to gold after Russian winner Mariya Savinov is given a lifetime ban for doping violations. Semenya is also upgraded to 2011 world gold.
• July 2014: India sprinter Dutee Chand, 18, is banned from competing after a hormone test shows natural natural levels of testosterone normally only found in men.
• 23 March 2015: Chand begins a legal challenge against the IAAF’s so-called gender tests.
• 27 July 2015: Chand is cleared to compete; the Court of Arbitration for Sport suspends, for two years, the introduction of an earlier version of IAAF rules requiring female athletes to take testosterone-suppressing medication.
• 20 August 2016: Semenya wins 800m gold at the Rio Olympics, but the decision to allow her to compete is questioned by other athletes.
• 4 July 2017: Research commissioned by the IAAF finds female athletes with high testosterone levels have a “competitive advantage”.
• 26 April 2018: The IAAF introduces new rules for female runners with naturally high testosterone.
• 19 June 2018: Semenya says she will challenge the “unfair” IAAF rules.
• 18 February 2019: Semenya’s legal hearing begins at Cas.
• 1 May 2019: Semenya loses her challenge.
• 29 May 2019: Semenya to make new appeal to Swiss federal supreme court.
• 3 June 2019: Swiss court temporarily suspends new IAAF rules, says her legal team.

New York (CNN Business)

The music industry has changed dramatically since Apple disrupted the way people buy songs and albums nearly two decades ago. So Apple is phasing out iTunes in favor of three more modern apps.

Apple announced Monday that iTunes will be replaced by a trio of desktop apps called Music, TV and Podcasts — similar to how these services are already divided on iPhones and iPads. It will still exist as a standalone iOS app and on Windows PCs.

Previous purchases and libraries will be maintained in each new app on Mac computers, a spokesperson told CNN Business.

At its Worldwide Developer Conference in San Jose, Apple (AAPL) showed off its next-generation mobile software iOS 13, which got a dark mode, improved Siri capabilites and an undo gesture, as well as a new Mac Pro that looks like a cheese grater.

But the move to phase out iTunes didn’t come as a total surprise as the company has been pushing users toward its Apple Music subscription service. After all, Apple can charge a monthly fee to boost revenue rather than wait for a customer to buy a few songs.

The Apple Music app is focused on music and personalized recommendations, the Podcasts app lets you search with the help of machine learning and the TV app will blend content from networks such as HBO and Showtime, along with original programming from Apple.

The company said users will still be able to purchase and download songs through iTunes’ Music store within the Music app, and can buy movies and TV shows in the Apple TV app. iTunes gift cards will stay active, a spokesperson told CNN Business.

For people who used iTunes to sync up their devices, Apple said a tool will now be located via the sidebar in Finder on their Macs.

MacOS features unveiled at WWDC typically launch in the fall.

ITunes formally launched in 2001 but its music store, launched two years later, changed the way we buy songs and albums. The format came at a time the music business struggled with online piracy and file-sharing sites. With a relatively intuitive user interface, a simple billing tool and an on-demand catalogue, iTunes far better experience than any other platform at the time.

ITunes’ strategy has been closely aligned with Apple’s devices business, but the rise of subscription content and services is a clear shift away from the iTunes model, said Jack Kent, analyst of IHS Markit.

“For Apple’s own business, it marks the strategic shift away from a central hardware focus to a business in which subscription content and services are increasingly important for margin and revenues,” said Kent, referencing the iPhone’s sluggish sales.
IHS Markit’s research found subscription services accounted for more than 80% of online music and video revenues in 2018, compared with less than 10% in 2008, in North America and Western Europe.

Over the years, critics argued standalone apps — like the ones already on iPhones and iPads — could offer a smarter approach. Now that Apple has now acquired 56 million paying customers, perhaps the time is ripe for such a change.

“Apple had to put the pieces in place to make it all happen,” said Ramon Llamas of IDC Research. “If you look at consumer behavior in which users are willing to pay a regular fee for unlimited content — and that’s what they can get from other services such as Spotify, Pandora and Netflix — Apple is smartly aligning itself against those competitors with its own approach.”

But the news doesn’t mean CEO Tim Cook will remotely deleting years of downloaded and purchased songs and movies. It will likely roll out next steps to manage and access downloaded content in other ways, such as via Apple Music.

“Building a bridge is always important in order to not alienate its current user base, but I’d argue that it has already taken that step considering the Apple Music numbers,” Llamas said. “Clearly, it needs to direct people in that direction and show a clear cut-off date so that users are prepared.”

MOTIVATION Ashley Thaba

Victor Frankl lived in the time of Nazi Germany. He was a psychiatrist by profession and had been taught that we are a product of our environments, meaning the nature around us shapes who we become.

However, he had an “aha” moment. One day, naked and alone in the middle of the concentration camp, he realised everything he had been taught was a lie and that he did not have to be a product of his environment.

He realised that though the guards could torture him, kill his family (and they did), starve him, do despicable experiments on him and everything else that should literally make a man pray for death to come, he could still choose his response.

He realised that no one had the capacity to take away his character and ability to love others and respond with kindness. Just because everyone did evil around him did not mean he had to do evil. He had a choice to choose how he would respond and react to evil. As he began to love his enemies, he began to find purpose in his life. Amid the horrors that we can hardly even speak of or conceive, he began to change his mind in order to seek the power to love his torturers. He began to seek happiness amid the most depressing scenes the modern world has ever experienced.

And here is the coolest thing that has relevance for us today. As he began to choose happiness, as he began to choose to give his life a purpose to love the unlovable and to be a good man living in a pit of evil — he began to feel free. He began to become physically healthier! As his mind and attitude changed, his actual emotional and physical state also changed!

Eventually, even the guards came and said though you are in captivity and we are “free”, it seems you are freer than us. They realised that the mental freedom to love, to do right, and to be happy is more valuable than the kind of freedom that comes when you don’t live in chains. They were not in literal captivity, but they lived in immense guilt because of the way they treated their fellow man, but their fear of punishment kept them living like animals, torturing innocent people for no good reason.

Many of us are free in that we do not live in jail, but our minds hold us captive to thoughts that lead us to feel enslaved to bitterness, anger, corruption and hate. It destroys our freedom to feel at peace.

The Bible is full of verses telling us to love our neighbour and enemies. The Bible tells us to get rid of all bitterness and anger and to walk in light. The Bible tells us to trust in the Lord and do good. The Bible even talks about the slaves of ancient times being free once they chose to follow Christ. It seems like an oxymoron. How can someone be a slave and yet still be free? The story of Victor Frankl puts a modern example to that verse and that concept.

“Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:18-25

In a world where many of us have done things we are ashamed of — things that lead us to live in darkness for fear that our sins will find, God says don’t be so afraid of the metal bars of jail or the repercussions of confessing your sins. Real freedom is found in repenting of our sins and turning away from our evil ways.

Real joy and happiness are found in coming clean and gaining mental clarity and not living in guilt and shame. Real joy can be found God is telling us to choose obedience to the path of righteousness rather than the path to self-gain, which leads us to making decisions which end up leading to shame. God is telling us how that we can be happy.

It is a choice we make when we choose who and what we will love in this world. It is a choice we make when we cease to claim we are victims of the evil that surrounds us. We can rise above it and choose to live righteous lives, do good deeds, and love people even when they don’t deserve it.

Write me with any questions you would like me to answer at askthaba@gmail.com or through my Facebook page — Mom to Mom: Parenting Consultations.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

AFROJOY, in partnership with ZLG, has stepped up efforts to bring back the breakdance culture, at a time when many arts promoters appear to be concentrating only on music.

This comes in the wake of Afrojoy’s launch on Saturday of the breakdance competition at the Zimbabwe College of Music in Harare last Saturday.

One of the competition organisers, Brian Chiparawasha, yesterday told NewsDay Life &Style that introducing a breakdance competition was a way of breathing a new lease of life into the arts sector.

“There is very little attention given to breakdance, so as Afrojoy, we saw it fit to tap into that by organising this competition that is open to both established and upcoming breakdancers on the local scene,” he said.

“Although music is known to be the most popular genre, there is also a need to develop other smaller disciplines like dance to make them bigger, such that dancers can also use their own potential to improve their standards of living.”

Chiparawasha said the turnout at the event proved that there was a lot of untapped talent that only required exposure.

“We were overwhelmed by the level of turnout from those who are interested in urban culture in general, and breakdance in particular, as more than 100 contestants showed up for the first round of the competition. The judges selected 20 contestants to go through to the finals, where more than ZWL$20 000 will be shared among the winners,” he said.

“Through this competition, we seek to provide breakdancers with an opportunity to showcase and expose their talents. If well done, they can even clinch endorsements with potential brands.”

Chiparawasha said if they got more partners on board, who support the course, they would spread their wings to other provinces so as to accommodate as many participants.

“Breakdance is considered as an important social activity that draws out all of the youth’s positive energy, creating a strong support network that helps and encourages them to overcome challenges using art,” he said.

At least US$700 000 disbursed by the world’s soccer governing body Fifa disappeared from a Zifa account and found its way into private bank accounts of some of the association’s executive members, court documents have revealed.

BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE/XOLISANI NCUBE

Zifa board member responsible for finance Philemon Machana received US$740 000 from the association’s Ecobank nostro account through a company called Conduit Holdings where he was a director at the time the sheriff of the High Court had attached the association’s bank accounts.

Zifa accounts had been garnished over the association’s debt to Daisy Lodge amounting to US$196 000.
It was revealed that some of Zifa’s funds were moved from the association’s bank account into Conduit Holdings while some of it was withdrawn by the association’s general secretary Joseph Mamutse.

Machana claims that he deposited the money back into the Zifa account and the court has demanded to see bank statements confirming the reverse transaction.

Ecobank was dragged to court by Daisy Lodge with the financial institution charged with obstructing the course of justice for allegedly ignoring a court order that had barred Zifa from accessing its funds held by the bank.
According to documents at the Harare Magistrates’ Court in the case against Ecobank, Mamutse admits to have withdrawn US$10 000 from the association’s Ecobank account, but claims that when he made the withdrawal, the funds had not yet been judicially attached.

He said the funds were withdrawn for use by the association. He also claimed that only the association’s funds in their Steward Bank account had been attached.

According to the State outline, on January 24, 2019, the High Court ordered the seizure of Zifa funds held at Ecobank, but this was disregarded.

“On January 24, 2019 and at the High Court of Zimbabwe, Ecobank Borrowdale Sam Levy branch — being represented by Webster Mehlo — and Webster Mehlo or one or both of them unlawfully disregarded a notice of seizure and attachment made on January 22, requiring the accused to transfer the sum of US$196 049,49 held in the Zifa foreign currency accounts with the accused and transferred US$740 270 and a further US$10 000 to Conduit Investments and Mr Mamutse respectively knowing that such accounts held in the name of Zifa by the accused were under judicial attachment,” the State’s case read in part.

The first accused in the matter is Ecobank Sam Levy Borrowdale, represented by Mehlo, the head of corporate security and investigation services.

Mehlo is also the second accused in his official capacity.

Daisy is represented by Yvonne Agatha Mapika.

The matter implicates the bank and Zifa officials of connivance to move the money, which had been garnished and was supposed to be moved into the sheriff’s account for onward transmission to creditors.

This is not the first time Zifa have been accused of engaging in questionable transactions aimed at avoiding paying creditors even when instructed to do so by the courts.

It is also not the first time that Conduit Holdings has been used in dubious transactions — with indications that it was meant to “protect” the funds from creditors who had been raiding the association demanding their dues.
In 2017, Machana admitted that he had received the association’s funds, but would not state how and why his private entity was being used although he went on to say that the amount could be $100 000.

Under former Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa, who lost his post to Felton Kamambo in December last year, the football association engaged in questionable activities that included moving its assets to private individuals linked to him as well as moving the federation’s headquarters to his private property where he was charging about US$72 000 rentals annually.

Chiyangwa forced the secretariat to abandon Zifa headquarters in 2015 after his election, claiming that the premises were haunted due to persistent raids by creditors and moved them to his private offices, where last year he pocketed $72 000 in rentals while the association’s offices in town lay idle.

Furniture used at the offices was hired from Hansporte Investment — a private entity whose directors are Marshal Jonga and one Beatrice Musavengana, all employed by Chiyangwa at his own business.

MDC leader Nelson Chamisa faces a delicate balancing act of making critical appointments to serve in his top party decision-making body, the national standing committee, amid jostling and lobbying by mainly those who lost at the elective congress held in Gweru last month.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

Critical posts that need to be filled include party spokesperson, organising secretary, secretary for elections, international relations and secretary for health.

Jostling has already started in the opposition party, with Chamisa’s top allies, who include former youth assembly leader Happymore Chidziva, current spokesperson Jacob Mafume, ex-organiser Amos Chibaya, former vice-president Morgen Komichi and losing vice-presidental candidate Lilian Timveous waiting in the wings for appointments.

Insiders say Chamisa faces a daunting task driven by the desire to promote unity in the party after a divisive congress,
which left some of his faithful smarting from the bitter wounds of defeat.

“There are those in the party bitter after losing to members who once left the party. They think the party rewarded sellouts and these can be pacified by being appointed into the standing committee, but if they miss the bus, they could work against Chamisa,” a source said.

Chamisa also has to balance the equation by making appointments that add value to the party ahead of the 2023 general elections, which could make or break him, another source said.
But the youthful opposition leader said he was not under any pressure because the MDC was not a party of positions, but proposition.

“This is a party of the people and it will make appointments and deployments through the national council. This is going to happen soon after a number of issues have been looked into to ensure we build the best team going forward,” he said.

Insiders said Mafume is likely to be retained as party spokesmen, although there is some discontent that former members of Tendai Biti’s People’s Democratic Party could have taken a lion’s share in the just-ended congress.

“Mafume remains the best candidate so far. His history with the media and the fact that he has handled the portfolio with skill will favour him. Politics aside, he is our best candidate,” another source said.

Tapiwa Mashakada is likely to be appointed deputy treasurer-general, while there is a major push to elevate Happymore Chidziva to the position of organising secretary.

Chamisa has the challenge of dealing with former secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora, who many are not keen of him being part of the standing committee.

Komichi, who had also been elevated to vice-president, is another difficult call, because any appointment would be a demotion to his political life, which appeared to be on the rise.

Having lost to Biti and Welshman Ncube in the race to vice-presidency, Komichi has said he was hurt and needed healing.

“I will not leave the party. I will stand by my young man (Chamisa) and serve in whatever capacity I will have been appointed. I am hurt, yes, but I need your help so that I can heal,” Komichi said.

Chidziva said he would be appointed to a suitable position by the man he helped raise.

As youth leader, he was instrumental in defending the appointment of Chamisa to party VP and his eventual appointment as party president.

Also waiting in line for appointments are former treasurer-general Theresa Makone, Mbizo legislator Settlement Chikwinya, Murisi Zwizwai, backbencher Jameson Timba and former presidential spokesperson Luke Tambarinyoka.
Congress expanded the standing committee to include deputy secretaries and all secretaries appointed after congress.