More African countries are signing up to join BRICS, a consortium of nations comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. On Thursday, Zimbabwe’s foreign minister Amon Murwira, on a visit to Moscow, said Harare is submitting an application to join the group. BRICS has been seeking to expand its membership to deepen economic ties. Last year, Egypt and Ethiopia, became two African states admitted into the group at a BRICS summit in the Russia city of Kazan. The others included Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In January, Brazil, which holds the bloc's presidency in 2025, said it has admitted Nigeria as a “partner country” in the multinational bloc of nations. "As the 6th largest population in the world and the 1st on the African continent, as well as one of the largest economies in Africa, Nigeria has converging interests with the other members of the group," Brazil Foreign Ministry, known as Itamaraty, said in the statement.

In an attempt to end polarization in Zimbabwe's media, an organization is hosting sports events for journalists from the privately owned and state-run media. Columbus Mavhunga joins the inaugural event in Harare, where he files this report.

Cancer patients and advocates are urging authorities in Zimbabwe to ensure cancer centers have lifesaving equipment needed to properly treat patients. Some patients say public hospitals do not have working machines to provide radiotherapy. Columbus Mavhunga has more from Harare.

Zimbabwe doesn’t have a thriving standup comedy scene tradition. But when Learnmore Jonasi was exposed to the art form in his native Zimbabwe, he knew that making people laugh was what he wanted to do. VOA reporter Keith Baptist caught up with him in Harare and has this story.

Zimbabwean youth are embracing Japanese culture at this year's "Otakukon" festival, with cosplayers like Gabriel Ota spending nearly a month creating costumes of their favorite characters.

Originally from Zimbabwe, 36-year-old Tatenda Mungofa is the co-founder of a car manufacturing company headquartered in South Africa. His company strives to create vehicles made in Africa. Reporter Keith Baptist has this interview with the young entrepreneur.

Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi on Tuesday joined his Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa to officially open the Zimbabwe agricultural show in Harare. Nyusi called on Zimbabweans to invest in his country while expressing gratitude to the Zimbabwean leader and his people for their support to fight against terrorism in the north of Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province. “I am proud of what we have achieved together,” Nyusi said. Mnangagwa later told the press in an interview that President Nyusi is in his country to also see how Zimbabweans have been working to ensure food security. “He (Filipe Nyusi) admired what our people are doing in agriculture,” he said.

Zimbabwe has been grappling with currency issues for many years, with valueless notes ranging from 1 million to 100 billion, and the country has gone through six different currencies since 2009. However, Canadian entrepreneur Ryan Luke Watson believes he may have found a solution with an accounting software. Reporter Keith Baptist has this story from Harare, Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is hosting the annual summit of the 16-nation Southern African Development Community, or SADC, on Saturday. Human rights organizations have called on SADC to look at the country's human rights situation. Columbus Mavhunga reports for VOA from Harare.

In celebration of hip-hop's 51st anniversary this August, the U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe is hosting a cross-cultural exchange program called “Next Level,” featuring five artist-educators. Reporter Keith Baptist has the story from Harare.

Zimbabwe will fine businesses using inflated exchange rates as the government battles to maintain the value of its newly introduced gold-backed currency, the Zimbabwe Gold, ZiG.