THE NEWS: Hot fuss: two years out, fears linger over Tokyo's toasty Olympics

Hot fuss: two years out, fears linger over Tokyo's toasty Olympics
source: AFP

 AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI A thermometer shows the temperature exceeding 40 Celsius last week at the construction site for the new National Stadium, centrepiece for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which will open in exactly two years' time

With two years to go before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, organisers finally appear to have things under control -- although serious concerns remain over Japan's deadly summer heat.

As Tokyo staged countdown events in roasting temperatures across the Japanese capital Tuesday, officials insist they are firmly on track for the Games, which will open on July 24, 2020, following a calamitous start to their preparations.

But despite fears over the searing heat and the political and financial rows that have plagued the build-up to the city's first Olympics in over half a century, Japan's athletes can't wait to compete at a home Games.

"There is an awful lot of work to do in the next two years obviously but I'm already getting goosebumps," Rio Olympic swimming bronze medallist Daiya Seto told AFP.

"I'm incredibly lucky to be able to race at an Olympics in Japan -- I'm determined to seize the opportunity."

World champion climber Akiyo Noguchi vowed that nothing but the Olympic title will do for her.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure as a home athlete," said the bouldering star. "But all I'm thinking about is winning that gold medal."


POOL/AFP / ISSEI KATO Tokyo 2020 mascots Miraitowa (right) and Someity meet children in Tokyo with two years to go until the Olympic Games


A successful unveiling of the Olympic mascots dubbed "Miraitowa" and "Someity" last weekend built on recent momentum following a series of public relations disasters.

Tokyo has already opened its first permanent venue for the 2020 Games -- a welcome boost after plans for the Olympic stadium were torn up by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe three years ago over its $2 billion price tag.

Designs for the official Games logo were then scrapped after accusations of plagiarism, causing further embarrassment.

That was followed by more bad news last October when Olympic organisers admitted that prolonged summer rain had brought high levels of bacteria to a venue earmarked for triathlon and open water swimming.


AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI The new-look Tokyo Olympic stadium -- likened by critics in its design to a hamburger -- is already 40 percent complete

But with Tokyo taking steps to reduce its $12 billion Games budget, officials claim they have steadied the ship.

New venues have been unveiled and the new-look Olympic stadium -- likened by critics in its design to a hamburger -- is already 40 percent complete.

- 'Terror' warning -

But with Japan gripped by a heatwave that has already claimed dozens of lives, many have questioned the wisdom of staging the Olympics at a time when temperatures regularly exceed 35 Celsius (95 Farenheit).

When Tokyo first hosted the Games in 1964 they were held in October.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike this week promised that the threat of heatstroke would be given the same priority as measures to counter terrorism.

"I wouldn't call the heat a form of terrorism as such," she told reporters, comparing Japan's summer to "living in a sauna".

"But it's just as important because the purpose is also to protect people's lives."

Speaking at an event in Tokyo, she pledged "creative efforts to make sure the Games stay cool, while the competition is hot".

The celebration at Tokyo's Skytree tower, featuring hundreds of children and the Olympic mascots, was one of several marking the two-year countdown.

Organisers want the Games to tout recovery in areas devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and residents and athletes began a relay in the region Tuesday that will end in Tokyo next month.

While Olympic organisers remain under pressure to come up with ways to beat the heat, Japanese athletes will not be complaining if gets a little toasty.


 JIJI PRESS/AFP / JIJI PRESS A board records 41.1C in Saitama prefecture just outside Tokyo on Monday. A deadly heatwave is causing record high temperatures exactly two years before Tokyo hosts the 2020 Olympic Games


"We'll be more used to the heat and humidity than many of the foreign athletes," insisted Seto, who will aim to beat countryman and reigning Olympic champion Kosuke Hagino in the men's 400 metres individual medley.

"When Kosuke won in Rio it lit a fire under me and with any luck it will be my turn to win gold this time," added the two-time world champion.

"Watching Japan do well at the World Cup in Russia got me even more fired up about the Olympics. A gold medal in Tokyo will have even more value, so it's up to me to go out and win it."

Noguchi added: "You don't get many chances like this in life -- I want to make it count."

THE NEWS: Flames ravage Greek seaside as wildfires kill 60

Flames ravage Greek seaside as wildfires kill 60
source: AFP

AFP / VALERIE GACHE More than 300 firefighters, five aircraft and two helicopters have been mobilised to fight the fires in Greece

Raging wildfires killed 60 people in Greece, devouring homes and forests as terrified residents fled to the sea to escape the flames, authorities said Tuesday.

Orange flames engulfed pine forests, turning them to ash and leaving lines of charred cars in the smoke-filled streets of seaside towns near Athens.

Rescuers rushed to evacuate residents and tourists stranded on beaches after some were caught by the flames in their cars or on foot.

Video footage showed people fleeing by car as the tourist-friendly surrounding Attica region declared a state of emergency.

"I saw the fire move down the hill at around 6:00 pm and five or ten minutes later it was in my garden," said 60-year old Athanasia Oktapodi.

His home is surround by dry pine trees.

"They caught fire. I ran out like a crazy person, got to the beach and put my head in the water. Then the patrol boats came."

- Death toll soars -


AFP / John SAEKI A map showing the areas affected by deadly fires in Greece


The toll soared to 50 after the bodies of 26 people, including small children, were discovered in the courtyard of a villa at the seaside resort of Mati, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of the capital.

Local councillor Myron Tsagarakis in Rafina, the largest town in the area most affected by the fires, later told AFP that 60 had been counted dead overall.

He said the toll could continue to rise since more people were thought to have been trapped in their homes by the blaze.

The charred bodies in Mati were entwined in groups in "a final attempt to protect themselves", said rescuer Vassilis Andriopoulos.

Winds of more than 100 kilometres per hour (60 mph) in Mati caused a "sudden progression of fire" through the village, said fire brigade spokeswoman Stavroula Maliri.

"Mati no longer exists," said the mayor of nearby Rafina, Evangelos Bournous. He added that more than a thousand buildings and 300 cars had been damaged.

The government said at least 172 people were hurt, including 16 children, with 11 adults in a serious condition.

Officials said they were Greece's deadliest blazes in more than a decade.


 AFP / ANGELOS TZORTZINIS Locals watch as a wildfire tears through the port town of Rafina, one of the worse affected areas near Athens

Some of the survivors spent hours choking on clouds of ash at the edge of the water as they waited for help.

At least five people died trying to escape the flames into the sea. Some 715 people were evacuated by boats to Rafina, the government said.

"People are shocked, lost. Some of them have lost everything: children, parents, homes," said Red Cross spokeswoman Georgia Trisbioti.

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras cut short a visit to Bosnia to return home. He announced three days of national mourning.

- EU offers help -

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said "15 fires had started simultaneously on three different fronts in Athens" on Monday.

Firefighters said the fire had stopped spreading around Mati but another blaze was raging in the beach town of Kineta, 50 kilometres west of the capital.

The European Union activated its Civil Protection Mechanism after Greece sought help. Several countries said they were sending aircraft to help fight the flames.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted Tuesday that the EU "will spare no effort to help Greece and the Greek people".

- 40-degree heat -


AFP / ANGELOS TZORTZINIS The fire left lines of charred cars in Mati


Tsipras said "all emergency forces" have been mobilised to battle the fires.

Near the town of Marathon, residents fled to safety along the beach, while 600 children were evacuated from holiday camps in the area.

Officials raised the possibility they could have been started deliberately by criminals out to ransack abandoned homes.

"I am really concerned by the parallel outbreak of these fires," Tsipras said.

Supreme court prosecutors announced they had opened an investigation into the causes of the fire.

Fires are a common problem in Greece during the summer. Blazes in 2007 on the southern island of Evia claimed 77 lives.

After temperatures climbed to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), forecasters said conditions would remain challenging on Tuesday, although showers and falling temperatures were expected in Athens.

- Fires across Europe -


 TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP/File / Mats ANDERSSON There have been 27 fires across Sweden, which is experiencing an unprecedented drought and the highest temperatures in a century

Wildfires have also caused widespread damage in northern Europe in recent days.

Sweden is experiencing an unprecedented drought and the highest temperatures in a century. It has counted more than 20 fires across the country.

In Finland's northernmost Lapland province -- which calls itself the "official home" of Santa Claus -- fires have ravaged woods and grassland close to the border with Russia.

Norway, which experienced its hottest May temperatures on record, has also seen several small fires. One firefighter was killed on July 15 trying to contain a blaze.

Fires have raged for five days in Latvia, destroying more than 1,000 hectares in the Baltic state's western regions.

The German Meteorological Service DWD warned of a significant risk of fires in fields and forests due to drought. Britain and the Netherlands also issued heat warnings.

THE NEWS: Hundreds missing in Laos after hydropower dam collapse

Hundreds missing in Laos after hydropower dam collapse
source: AFP

 ABC Laos/AFP / A screengrab taken from video footage of the flooding in Laos after a damn collapsed

Hundreds are missing and an unknown number feared dead after a partly built hydropower dam in southeast Laos collapsed after heavy rain and sent a wall of water surging through six villages, state media and contractors said Tuesday.

Laos News Agency said the accident happened on Monday evening near the border with Cambodia, releasing five billion cubic metres of water -- more than two million Olympic swimming pools.

The agency said there were "several human lives claimed, and several hundreds of people missing" while some 6,600 people had been made homeless as authorities scrambled to evacuate villagers.

Communist Laos is traversed by a vast network of rivers and several dams are being built or planned in the impoverished and landlocked country, which exports most of its hydropower energy to neighbouring countries like Thailand.

Aerial footage posted on the Facebook page of local news outlet ABC Laos showed a vast brown inundation swamping houses and jungle alike over a huge area.

Another video showed families waiting for rescue on the rooftop of their house, with a nearby Buddhist temple partially submerged.


AFP / Gal ROMA


Nearly 24 hours after the collapse local authorities said they were struggling to gauge the extent of the disaster.

"We do not have any formal information yet about any casualties or how many are missing," an official in Attapeu province, where much of the flooding occurred, told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that was no phone signal in the flooded region.

"We sent rescue teams who will help them and provide basic assistance first," the official added.

The Thai government said it would also send rescue experts to its northern neighbour.

- Heavy rainfall -

The $1.2 billion dam is part of a project by Vientiane-based Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Company, or PNPC, a joint venture formed in 2012 between a Laotian, a Thai and two South Korean companies, according to the project's website.

Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, the Thai company, said it had been told by operators that a 770-metre-long auxiliary dam used to divert river water had failed after heavy rainfall.

"The incident was caused by continuous rainstorm which caused high volume of water to flow into the project's reservoir," it said in a statement.

One of the South Korean companies, SK Engineering and Construction, said it had sent a crisis team to Laos, according to Yonhap news agency, and was bringing in helicopters from Thailand.

South Korea's foreign ministry said another Korean firm, Korea Western Power, was also involved. The companies and others had sent helicopters, boats and rescue workers.

"All of our 53 nationals who were taking part in this construction evacuated in advance," the ministry said in a statement.

Pope Francis said in a Vatican message he had learned with sadness of the loss of life, and expressed "hertfelt solidarity" with all those affected.

The 410 megawatt capacity plant was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019, according to the venture's website.

The project consists of a series of dams over the Houay Makchanh, the Xe-Namnoy and the Xe-Pian rivers in Champasak Province.

It planned to export 90 percent of its electricity to energy-hungry Thailand and the remainder was to be offered up on the local grid.

Under the terms of construction, PNPC said it would operate and manage the power project for 27 years after commercial operations began.

- 'Battery of Asia' -

Dam projects in Laos, mainly providing power to neighbouring countries, have long been controversial with fears over environmental damage and the impact on local communities who are often displaced.

Maureen Harris, an expert on Laotian dams at the International Rivers NGO, said the flooding raised "major questions about dam standards and dam safety in Laos, including their appropriateness to deal with weather conditions and risks".

"Many of these people have already been relocated or suffered impacts to livelihoods due to the dam construction and are now experiencing further devastating impacts –- loss of homes, property and family members," she told AFP.

Laos has been keen to turn itself into "the battery of Southeast Asia" with a series of massive hydropower projects that has sparked opposition in downstream Mekong nations like Vietnam and Cambodia, who fear it will disrupt vital ecosystems, fisheries and their own river systems.

Communist authorities in Laos keep tight control on information and are often opaque about business deals and development projects. The media is state-controlled and and the government vigorously pursues dissent or protesters.

The country has around 10 dams in operation, 10 to 20 under construction and dozens more in planning stages.

"Once they cast themselves as the battery of Asia, exporting electricity became one of the major revenue sources, so it's basically selling natural resources such as water," Toshiyuki Doi, Senior Advisor at Mekong Watch, told AFP.

THE NEWS: Military fans out across Pakistan ahead of election

Military fans out across Pakistan ahead of election
source: AFP

 AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been deployed for security ahead of Pakistan's July 25 national election

Pakistan's military fanned out across the country ahead of Wednesday's election, deploying hundreds of thousands of troops to oversee polling stations in a short but acrimonious contest that analysts say is still "up for grabs".

Armed soldiers watched closely as election officials in the capital Islamabad Tuesday distributed ballot boxes and voting materials for polling stations across the city.

The military has stationed over 370,000 personnel nationwide to ensure the vote goes smoothly -- the largest such deployment in Pakistan's history on an election day. It has said the soldiers will work with local law enforcement to ensure "a safe and secure environment" for voting.

An additional 450,000 police were also assigned to provide security, according to election officials.

The mammoth deployment coupled with a recent decision by election authorities to grant military officers broad powers inside polling centres has stirred fears of possible manipulation.

The military presence is just the latest controversy in a bitter campaign season that has seen accusations of "pre-poll rigging", the expansion of hardline religious parties, and a string of bloody militant attacks that have killed more than 180 people, including three candidates.

Despite the controversies and bloodshed, political parties continued to criss-cross the country in the final days before the polls, holding dozens of rallies in key battleground areas.

The contest has largely been distilled to a two-party fight between jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, and cricket legend Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

"Our predictions are very murky right now," Bilal Gilani, executive director of Gallup Pakistan, told AFP, adding that a huge chunk of voters remain undecided.

"It's still up for grabs."

- 'We will fight' -

At a distribution centre in Lahore, election workers complained of general discord and delays in the delivery of ballot boxes.


AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR Imran Khan's PTI is putting up a fierce challenge to the PML-N in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province


"I have been performing election duty for the past 22 years and I have never seen such a disorganised election my whole life," said one worker who asked to remain anonymous, adding that the troops overseeing the process had done little to help.

A day before the polls, voters were largely split in Lahore, the capital of Punjab -- Pakistan's most populous province and long a PML-N stronghold that is being fiercely challenged by Khan's PTI.

"I am supporting Imran Khan because he is the best choice for Pakistan. We should give him a chance," said Muhammad Wasim, 32, pointing to what he described as the success Khan's party has had in governing northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Others cited the improvements in infrastructure under the PML-N in the sprawling city in the east of the country, vowing to stick by the party hit by several corruption convictions ahead of the election.

"They have served the masses, they have put an end to... (power cuts) and given us better facilities including roads, transport and education," said shopkeeper Muhammad Nawaz, 45.

Political parties held their final rallies Monday night -- before campaigning was suspended -- in a last-ditch attempt to energise voters.

"I am giving this task to all of you: wake up early on the 25th and cast your vote," Khan told thousands of PTI faithful in Lahore.

In southern Punjab, PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif -- the former premier's brother -- said victory was "certain".


AFP / AAMIR QURESHI Supporters of the PML-N have accused Pakistan's military of election engineering against the party

"Despite all the odds, PML-N is winning the July 25 polls," he was quoted as saying by Pakistani media.

The PML-N has accused the powerful military, the country's most powerful institution, of manipulating candidates and the media ahead of the vote in a bid to push out the party and install a pliant government, with Khan seen as the likely beneficiary.

Activists and think tanks have also widely decried a "silent coup" by Pakistan's generals.

At a PML-N rally in the military garrison city of Rawalpindi, anger simmered over what participants said was engineering by "the establishment" -- referring to the military.

Some vowed to take to the streets if directed by their leaders.

"After the election, we will fight," said PML-N supporter Aftab Anjum, 67.

"We are all ready."

THE NEWS: Trump defends trade strategy ahead of EU chief visit

Trump defends trade strategy ahead of EU chief visit
source: AFP

 AFP/File / Nicholas Kamm "Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with tariffs," Trump tweeted

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his trade strategy, insisting that imposing tariffs forces other countries to negotiate with Washington.

"Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with tariffs," he said on Twitter, ahead of the European Commission chief's US visit to prevent an all-out trade war.

"It's as simple as that -- and everybody's talking! Remember, we are the 'piggy bank' that's being robbed. All will be Great!"

In a separate tweet he claimed that "countries that have treated us unfairly on trade for years are all coming to Washington to negotiate."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is scheduled to meet Trump Wednesday in Washington, a last-ditch effort to convince him to hold off imposing punitive tariffs on European auto exports to the United States, an action that the Europeans say would trigger a global economic earthquake and earn a withering riposte from Brussels.


AFP/File / JOHN THYS European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker ruffles the hair of EU Commissioner of Digital Economy and Society Gunther Oettinger at EU headquarters in Brussels


The potential car tariffs, which would deal a blow to Germany's mighty automobile industry, come on top of high levies already slapped by Trump on aluminum and steel imports.

The European Commission has reacted with retaliatory tariffs to the metal taxes, but new levies on cars would prompt Europe to take further action.

Other US allies including Canada and Mexico have also hit back against the steel and aluminum tariffs.

The foreign minister of Germany, Europe's biggest economy, said Tuesday that the continent "will not be threatened by President Trump. If we cede once, we will often have to deal with such behavior in the future," Heiko Maas wrote on Twitter.

"No one has an interest in having punitive tariffs, because everyone loses in the end," he said.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on the weekend that Europeans "refuse to negotiate with a gun to the head.

THE NEWS: Israel says shoots down Syrian warplane

Israel says shoots down Syrian warplane
SOURCE: afp

AFP / JALAA MAREY A picture taken on July 23, 2018 from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights shows a smoke plume rising during air strikes backing a Syrian-government-led offensive in the southwestern province of Daraa

Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet with surface-to-air missiles on Tuesday after the plane infiltrated its airspace, the military said, in a rare incident that could provoke tensions.

Israel signalled that the plane's infiltration may have been the result of internal fighting in Syria's civil war, but stressed it will enforce the ceasefire lines between the two countries.

"A short while ago, two Patriot missiles were launched at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet that infiltrated into Israeli airspace," the Israeli Defence Forces said in a statement.

"The IDF monitored the advance of the fighter jet, which infiltrated about two kilometres (1.25 miles) into Israeli airspace. It was then intercepted by the Patriot missiles."

A Syrian military source confirmed that Israel had fired at one of its warplanes but said the fighter jet had been carrying out operations against jihadists over Syrian territory.

Israel "targeted one of our warplanes... in Syrian airspace," the source said, cited by state news agency SANA. The source did not say whether the warplane had been hit.

It was the first time Israel shot down a manned Syrian fighter jet since 2014.

An AFP correspondent said flames and smoke could be seen rising from the area of the fence between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The army said there had been an increase in "internal fighting in Syria," including involving the air force, since the morning hours.

It said it was on "high alert and will continue to operate against the breach" of a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries.

Israel has been stressing for weeks that it would enforce the ceasefire between it and Syria amid a Russian-backed government offensive in the country's south.

Tuesday's incident comes a day after Israel's air defences fired at Syrian rockets it feared could hit its territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss the Syrian conflict.

- 'All forces must leave' -

Israel has been on high alert since June 19, when Syrian government forces launched the Russia-backed offensive to retake Quneitra and Daraa and provinces, adjacent respectively to the Israeli-held section of the Golan and to Jordan.


 AFP / JALAA MAREY A picture taken on July 23, 2018 from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights shows a warplane dropping a payload in the southwestern Syrian province of Daraa during a Syrian-government-led offensive in the area


Israel has sought to avoid direct involvement in Syria's seven-year civil war, but it has acknowledged carrying out dozens of air strikes there to stop what it says are advanced weapons deliveries to Hezbollah, one of its enemies.

It has also pledged to prevent its arch-enemy Iran from entrenching itself militarily in the neighbouring country.

A series of air strikes that have killed Iranians in Syria have been attributed to Israel in recent weeks.

The strikes have led to condemnation from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, but Israel has maintained good relations with Russia and has coordinated its actions in Syria with Moscow.

Both Russia and Iran are backing Assad in the civil war.

In Monday's meeting between Lavrov and Netanyahu, Russia offered to keep Iranian forces 100 kilometres (62 miles) away from the Israeli-occupied Golan, but Israel said the proposal did not go far enough.

"We won't accept Iranian military entrenchment in Syria, not near the border, not beyond the 100-kilometre stretch, which by the way the Russians talk about and agree to," a senior Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We said there are also long-range weapons beyond that distance, and all the forces must leave Syria."

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six Day war, in a move never recognised internationally.

THE NEWS: Zimbabwe economy desperate for election turn-around

Zimbabwe economy desperate for election turn-around
source: AFP

AFP / Jekesai NJIKIZANA Global market: Businessman Sifelani Jabangwe hopes the election will end Zimbabwe's 'pariah' status, opening up prospects for exports

Zimbabwean factory manager Sifelani Jabangwe is a survivor of the Mugabe years, overseeing a company that stayed in business despite hyperinflation, abandonment of the national currency and an exodus of investors.

Now he hopes that next week's election will mark a turning point if the vote brings in a legitimate government that can relaunch the shattered economy after Robert Mugabe was ousted last year.

Jabangwe's company, James North Zimbabwe, is the country's largest producer of industrial protective wear and tarpaulins, specialising in protective gloves and shoes.

It has survived by exporting to neighbouring Mozambique and Malawi as well as Kenya and Rwanda, as its client base in Zimbabwe shrunk in line with the declining economy.

Today it employs 150 people -- down from 400 about 15 years ago -- on the Southerton industrial area in the capital Harare, where derelict buildings overgrown with grass are more common than open businesses.

"The normalisation of relations with the rest of the world is the key takeaway in these elections so that we are not seen as a pariah state any more," Jabangwe, who is also president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, told AFP on a tour of his factory.

"We have lost too much time with the politics. It's now time to develop the economy.

"When the rest of the economy is functioning and everyone has money to buy what they want, we also benefit."

- An economy ruined -


 AFP / Wilfred Kajese


President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is standing in the election to retain power after succeeding Mugabe last year, has vowed to re-engage with the west after years of isolation.

He has already scrapped much of the unpopular indigenisation laws that forced foreign firms to cede 51 percent stakes to locals, and he has campaigned relentlessly on a promise to revive the economy.

Under Mugabe, the seizure of white-owned farms wrecked the agriculture sector and triggered hyperinflation, with GDP nearly halving between 2000 and 2008 -- the sharpest contraction of its kind in a peacetime economy.

Previously solid health and education services collapsed, millions fled abroad to seek work and poverty rates are still climbing.

Life expectancy has only just recovered to its 1985 level of 61 years.

"We have been reeling under self-inflicted economic pain by and large," said Shingi Munyeza, a hotel investor who also owns one Mugg and Bean cafe in Harare after a second premises closed.

"These watershed elections pose a great opportunity. We have a serious challenge of getting everybody out of this mess.

"The political establishment was more focussed on retaining power.

"We hope we are crossing from the type of leadership which maintained power at the expense of the economy and the rights of its citizens.

"I am hoping the winner will win with grace and the loser will lose with dignity and that both should embrace one another."

- Same corrupt elite? -

Monday's election comes after Mugabe, now 94, was forced to resign following a brief military takeover in November, ending his 37 years in power.

Mnangagwa, a favourite of the military, has pledged to hold a fair election and boost investor confidence, but critics say that the same corrupt elite from Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party will likely still have a grip on power after the vote.

Mnangagwa faces opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) who has also prioritised economic growth -- but Zimbabwean economist John Robertson warned that the country faced a long haul.

"The government that comes in has to relax the levels of control. There are too many uncertainties with rules being changed and lots of corruption. Businesses don't want that," he told AFP.

"Farmers need their property rights back so that they can use that to borrow money from banks. We did ourselves national damage and we have got to correct that."


AFP / Jekesai NJIKIZANA On the skids: Abel Kapodogo, a sociology graduate from the University of Zimbabwe, sells bananas in Harare while wearing his graduation cap and gown -- a protest about the country's high unemployment

The World Bank describes the country's fiscal deficit as "unsustainable" after it widened to 11.1 percent last year, and says that huge arrears to international financial institutions remain a hurdle to growth.

For Abel Kapodogo, 35, who is jobless seven years after graduating with a degree in sociology from the University of Zimbabwe, growing up under Mugabe has meant economic destitution.

"This election is a generational opportunity for us who have been failed by the ruling party," said Kapodogo who sells fruit from a pushcart in Harare, sometimes while wearing his graduation cap and gown to protest at the lack of opportunities.

"I was expecting to have a job. It's very painful."