Harare

President Robert Mugabe lashed out at Britain on Friday, saying Zimbabwe can ”never be friends” with the former colonial ruler in a eulogy at the funeral of a liberation war veteran. Mugabe blamed Britain, which ruled Zimbabwe until independence in 1980, for ”the great suffering of our people, the oppression that took place, the loss of our land, the suppression of our freedoms.”

A local commercial bank in Zimbabwe that was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy was shut down on Wednesday for a period of six months, the fifth to be closed down this year due to liquidity problems. All deposits at the Royal Bank of Zimbabwe have been frozen and a curator has been named to manage the bank.

Two crowded commuter trains crashed head-on in Harare on Wednesday, injuring at least 70 people, three of them seriously, witnesses and railroad officials said. Witnesses saw crewmen jump from the trains before impact at the Zimbabwean capital’s main station. Passenger cars rolled on to their sides.

Zimbabwe police on Tuesday arrested a leader of a teachers’ union at a university in the eastern city of Mutare for allegedly addressing students without police clearance, a lawyer said. Alec Muchadehama, the secretary general of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, was arrested at Africa University in Mutare, according to his lawyer.

Zimbabwe police on Saturday searched the Harare home of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai for ”weapons of war”, his spokesperson said. ”They found nothing. They searched his four-bedroom house. They went literally into every room,” William Bango said. He could not confirm if the police had a search warrant.

A Zimbabwe court on Friday postponed until later this year a ruling in the case in which four directors of the popular independent Daily News are charged with illegally publishing the newspaper. Directors Samuel Nkomo, Brian Mutsau, Rachel Kupara and Michael Mattinson were ordered to return to court on September 20.

A court in Zimbabwe on Thursday adjourned until next month the trial of 70 men arrested in Harare on charges of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea. Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe granted a request from state prosecutor Stephen Musona to adjourn the trial until August 18 and said that proceedings will wrap up at about that time.

Sixty-seven of the 70 suspected mercenaries allegedly involved in plotting a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea pleaded guilty to some of the charges on Tuesday in Harare, Zimbabwe, and the judge accepted their plea. They pleaded guilty to violating immigration and aviation laws.

Zimbabwe’s central bank announced on Tuesday a new measure to attract much-needed foreign investment: a guarantee to pay back the entire capital within three months if investors decide to leave. ”We have opened this limited window to new foreign direct investors,” Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono said.

Bodies are piling up in Harare’s mortuaries, because relatives of the dead refuse to claim them. Most of these relatives cannot afford the cost of a funeral. While the city council has been giving paupers’ burials to the unclaimed bodies, it is now running out of burial space.

Zimbabwe’s embattled political opposition faces a crucial by-election for one of three parliamentary seats needed by the government to secure the passage of amendments to the Constitution. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has seen its representation in the 150-seat Parliament whittled down over the past four years to 52 members from 57.

Britain denied on Friday that its outgoing ambassador snubbed President Robert Mugabe by slipping quietly out of Zimbabwe and failing to observe diplomatic protocol with a farewell visit. Sir Brian Donnelly left Harare on Sunday after completing a three-year assignment in Harare dominated by diplomatic spats.

President Robert Mugabe’s government plans to ban international human rights groups from Zimbabwe and cut off overseas funding to local organisations promoting rights, according to a draft Bill obtained by the AFP news agency on Friday.

The trial in Zimbabwe of 70 suspected mercenaries accused of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea adjourned for a second straight day on Thursday with defence attorneys denying the new delay is linked to a possible plea bargain. ”There is no question of plea bargaining,” said defence attorney Alwyn Griebenow of South Africa.

Zimbabwe’s independent Tribune weekly on Wednesday lost its court bid to return to the newsstands, a month after it became the third newspaper to be shut down in a year. Justice Tendai Uchena of the Harare High Court ruled that the official media commission was entitled to revoke the Tribune‘s licence.

President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday declared that Zimbabwe was undergoing an economic ”revival” as he addressed the opening of the last session of Parliament before key elections next year. ”We have money to reap a good harvest … to ensure we meet our needs and food requirements. What enhances this … is the evident revival of our economy,” Mugabe told Parliament.

A Harare court on Monday postponed to later this month a ruling on whether to dismiss the case against four newspaper directors charged with illegally publishing the popular Daily News. Magistrate Lillian Kudya told the four to return to court on July 30, when she is expected to hand down her judgement.

Zimbabwe is threatening to close down non-governmental organisations and arrest their employees if they do not obtain permission from the government for their activities, the state-run Sunday Mail reported. The paper said ”quite a number” of NGOs had not registered for government licences and were believed to be operating illegally and engaging in political activities.

Pensioners buy a single egg when they shop. School numbers are falling because parents can’t afford to feed their children, let alone educate them. One desperate man who couldn’t make ends meet chose to pay with his life. Runaway prices are changing, perhaps for generations, the way people live and die in Zimbabwe.

Living in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, is getting harder as weary residents battle with frequent power cuts, water shortages and the ever-rising prices of basic goods. Harare once boasted the nickname ”Sunshine City” but in the depths of a Zimbabwean winter, it’s looking less and less that way for all residents.

The appointment of a Ndebele to the highest clerical position in Zimbabwe is not politically driven, says the Vatican’s diplomatic envoy to the country. Robert Ndlovu’s appointment as the archbishop of Harare has drawn criticism from those who feel that the new archbishop should be a member of the Shona ethnic group.

The trial of four Zimbabwean newspaper directors charged with illegally publishing the country’s only independent newspaper, the Daily News, resumed on Monday in Harare. The defence has asked that the charges against the four, who face fines or up to two years in jail, be dropped.

The trial of 70 suspected mercenaries detained in Zimbabwe for allegedly plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea, has been postponed to allow for a South African court to hear an appeal for their expatriation to Pretoria. The men face possible extradition to Equatorial Guinea, where they could face the death sentence.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday told hundreds of young supporters of his ruling party that the parliamentary elections due next year would be a ”fight” against British Prime Minister Tony Blair. ”We are fighting Blair. It is an anti-Blair election…” he said.

A coalition of independent human rights groups accused President Robert Mugabe’s government on Tuesday of trying to suppress an African Union report on human rights violations in Zimbabwe. The report, resulting from a fact-finding mission by the 53-nation body, presents damning allegations of a clampdown on civil liberties surrounding Zimbabwe’s 2002 presidential elections.

President Robert Mugabe ruled out any new talks with Zimbabwe’s opposition on the country’s economic and political crisis, citing its alleged ties with Britain, the former colonial power, the state Sunday Mail reported. Addressing a ruling party assembly, Mugabe alleged the Movement for Democratic Change was taking orders from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his government.

Militant ruling-party supporters armed with clubs, stones and axes on Friday attacked people at a meeting called by Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the party said in a statement. Tsvangirai escaped uninjured, but other supporters of his party received ”serious injuries”.

Heated debate erupted in Zimbabwe’s Parliament on Tuesday when the ruling party said opposition lawmakers should be probed for treason for allegedly working with Britain, the former colonial power. A ruling party lawmaker accused the Movement for Democratic Change of working ”in concert with foreign and dangerous powers — [including] Britain”.

Nearly five-million rural Zimbabweans will need food aid over the next year, the United Nations and international aid groups said on Thursday, despite claims by the government that no one in the country needs food relief. At least 2,3-million rural Zimbabweans need food aid because they have not been able to grow enough food and cannot afford to buy what they need.