Officers wielding batons attack opposition backers

Zimbabwe police with riot gear fired tear gas and struck people who gathered Wednesday to hear a speech by the country’s top opposition leader amid growing frustration with the collapsing economy.

Dozens of people ran and dodged baton blows in the capital, Harare. Officers cordoned off the Movement for Democratic Change party headquarters ahead of Nelson Chamisa’s speech and patrolled with water cannons.

Public discontent has grown in Zimbabwe with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has struggled to fulfil promises of economic prosperity and more political freedoms.