Harare/Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a prominent human rights activist being held on charges of recruiting people for insurgency training and terrorist bombings be taken to a private clinic.

Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku also deemed urgent the case, in which Jestina Mukoko of the Zimbabwe Peace Project was challenging her detention and the charges brought against her.

"The applicant must be afforded medical attention as a matter of urgency," Chidyausiku said.

Harare - Journalists in Zimbabwe on Sunday criticized recent "astronomical" accreditation fees by President Robert Mugabe's government.

Johannesburg/Harare - The Zimbabwe government Wednesday announced restrictive new licensing fees of up to 30,000 US dollars on journalists working for foreign media in Zimbabwe, prompting complaints that the government is trying to drive journalists out of the country.

The new guidelines would further require Zimbabweans working for foreign media outlets to pay a staggering 4,000 US dollars to practice journalism in Zimbabwe for one year.

Harare/Johannesburg  - A Zimbabwe magistrate court on Tuesday postponed remand proceedings in the case of top human rights campaigner and eight other rights activists until the legality of their arrests and detention has been heard by a superior court.

Jestina Mukoko and her co-accused are being held on charges of banditry.

"The accused will remain in custody pending the outcome of the determination of cases in superior courts," Magistrate Olivia Mariga said, however.

Harare  - A Zimbabwean High Court judge is to rule Friday on whether criminal proceedings against human rights activist Jestina Mukoko on charges of plotting to topple President Robert Mugabe's government should be halted until circumstances surrounding her kidnapping and subsequent arrest are established.

This follows an urgent application filed Wednesday by Mukoko's lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, seeking an order compelling the police and the attorney general to identify the people who abducted her.

Mukoko was seized early on the morning of December 3 from her home in Norton, some 40 kilometres south-west of the capital Harare. After the abduction she could not be accounted for three weeks.

Johannesburg/Harare - The International Federation of the Red Cross announced Wednesday that it has deployed seven so-called emergency response units
(ERUs) in the past week throughout Zimbabwe in response to the ongoing cholera crisis there.

The seven units include three basic health care units, two mass sanitation units, and two water supply units from Red Cross societies around the world.