Reuters breaks news of Zimbabwe PM car crash

Reuters broke news yet again on Zimbabwe’s political story with a report on March 7 that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had been in a car crash. Zimbabwe is of interest to mining firms and other investors despite its decade of decline and they are watching for any change in the political risk picture. Tsvangirai’s fate is key to chances of a revival after the formation of a new unity government with President Robert Mugabe. Reuters was 16 minutes ahead of Bloomberg in reporting the crash and 35 minutes ahead in reporting that Tsvangirai had been injured, but was not in a critical condition. Reuters was also widely quoted by international media — including the BBC — on news of the death of Tsvangirai’s wife, Susan. The accident immediately led to speculation of foul play, but Reuters was swift to report that Tsvangirai had dismissed that.