Robert Mugabe

Sounding a note of reconciliation in the wake of a bitterly contested election, veteran President Robert Mugabe was sworn in here Sunday for another six years at a ceremony boycotted by Western diplomats and the country's political opposition. Addressing senior ruling party officials and dignitaries from neighboring African nations, Mugabe called on all Zimbabweans to unite, regardless of their politics, but made no mention of a possible coalition government.

"Mugabe and the White African," which makes its television premiere Tuesday night on the PBS series "POV," is a documentary film by Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson about Zimbabwean Mike Campbell, who took Robert Mugabe's government to court in an effort to save his family farm and to have Mugabe's "land reform" program declared officially illegal. Campbell, who died in April at age 78 from what his family described as the lingering effects of a beating by Mugabe loyalists, won that battle, though anyone with a lick of sense can see that he was bound to lose the war. The battle, however, is the subject of the film, which is cut to build toward a moment of triumph.

It was Day One for Zimbabwe's new government of national unity Friday, and already the paralysis had set in: The swearing-in ceremony that was supposed to usher in a new era of hope was delayed for hours by bitter squabbling. And in a sign that hard-liners in President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party remain bitterly opposed to the new prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, security forces arrested senior Tsvangirai ally Roy Bennett and charged him with treason.

Mike Campbell, the white Zimbabwean farmer who won a landmark case in southern Africa's highest court challenging the seizure of his farm by President Robert Mugabe's government, died Wednesday. He was 78. Campbell, whose family said he died of complications from a savage beating by Mugabe loyalists in 2008, called himself a white African. "We're not British or Scottish or anything. We're African," he said stoutly in a 2007 interviews with The Times. But he died homeless in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, after his farm was seized and his house burned down by thugs from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front.

Opposition speakers withdrew under police orders from a pro-democracy prayer meeting in the western city of Bulawayo, organizers said. Pius Ncube, the local Roman Catholic archbishop and a government critic, spoke about deepening economic hardships blamed on corruption and the policies of President Robert Mugabe.

President Robert Mugabe married his former secretary at a huge Roman Catholic wedding attended by about 15,000 people that brought sleekly suited African leaders together with barefoot villagers. Mugabe, 72, had previously married Grace Marufu, 31, in a 1992 tribal ceremony.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai left the hospital, pledging to "soldier on until Zimbabwe is free," but President Robert Mugabe said if opponents incited unrest, "we will bash them again," state radio reported. Tsvangirai, 54, was arrested Sunday after a prayer meeting organized by opposition, church, student and civic groups. Supporters said police smashed his head against a wall repeatedly.

Ruling party and opposition officials denied considering a deal to end Zimbabwe's political crisis by having President Robert Mugabe retire. Independent mediators and an opposition leader had said that under the deal, Mugabe would hand control to a power-sharing government. But armed forces chief Gen. Vitalis Zvinavashe, one of two key ruling party figures said to be working on the plan, dismissed the idea as "the work of enemies bent on destroying Zimbabwe."

The trial of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on charges of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe ended with defense lawyers calling the state's key witness a liar. Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change, denies planning to assassinate Mugabe and seize power ahead of presidential elections in 2002. He also faces separate treason charges linked to anti-government protests. He could be sentenced to death if convicted. No verdict is expected for several months.

President Robert Mugabe would resign and hand authority to a power-sharing government under a deal discussed by Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition officials, mediators said. The offer made by two of the ruling party's most powerful figures -- Parliament Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa and armed forces commander Gen. Vitalis Zvinavashe -- was an effort to help Zimbabwe regain international legitimacy and renewed aid and investment. Ruling party officials were not immediately available for

Amnesty International said Thursday that serious human rights abuses continue in Zimbabwe and criticized members of President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, saying they regard violence as a useful political tool. After a six-day trip to Zimbabwe, the group's chief, Irene Khan, dismissed the government's explanation that it lacked the funds to make improvements on human rights.

Zimbabweans on Saturday celebrated their first Independence Day under a coalition government, with President Robert Mugabe calling for national reconciliation as he shared the stage with his former political rival. As on previous anniversaries, the military paraded and fighter planes flew over a stadium in Harare, the capital. But this year's proceedings were "indeed unique," Mugabe told the crowd of about 40,000, "giving us the opportunity to celebrate as one family."

Why are all those women carrying buckets of water on their heads? That was the first riddle that David Coltart, Zimbabwe's new education minister, faced last month as he walked into his high-rise headquarters. "The reason is that the whole of the Ministry of Education, 18 floors, has no water in it. So my first, immediate task was to get the pump repaired. If you walk down the stairwells you will gag, the stench is so bad on some floors," Coltart said in an interview in his new office.

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday sought to quash speculation among his supporters and others that a car accident that injured him and killed his wife was an assassination attempt. "In this case I want to say there is no foul play. It was an accident that unfortunately took away her life," he said, addressing supporters outside his home in Harare, the capital. Many opponents of President Robert Mugabe have been killed in suspicious car crashes.

Zimbabwe's new prime minister was slightly injured and his wife killed Friday when their car collided with a truck on one of the nation's notoriously bad roads, officials with his party told reporters outside the Harare hospital where he was being treated. Morgan Tsvangirai, 56, was sworn in last month as prime minister of a unity government in the troubled southern African nation after years in opposition to the regime of President Robert Mugabe.

With his nation's economy in shambles, President Robert Mugabe threw himself a lavish 85th birthday party Saturday, using the opportunity to call on Zimbabwe's last white farmers to leave. "Land distribution will continue. It will not stop," Mugabe said in Chinhoyi, 60 miles from Harare. "The few remaining white farmers should quickly vacate their farms as they have no place there."

President Robert Mugabe has promised to print more money to fund municipal projects, a government newspaper reported. The pledge came despite hyperinflation that has created severe shortages of cornmeal, meat, milk and other staples. The printing of money is generally regarded as a recipe for inflation -- which is officially at 4,500% in Zimbabwe, though independent economists estimate it to be at least twice as high.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, moving cautiously to implement a unity accord with the former chief opposition party, named opposition leader Joshua Nkomo to a top ruling party post. Nkomo was appointed interim second vice president. Mugabe and the opposition chief agreed last December to merge their two parties, which had been fierce rivals since independence in 1980. Mugabe also announced the formation of three committees to formally integrate his and Nkomo's party.

The headline in Zimbabwe's Herald newspaper Friday measured the disconnect between hopes and reality: Southern African nations were "to invest $US 2 Billion in Zim," it screamed. But after a meeting of regional finance ministers in Cape Town, South Africa, later in the day, Zimbabwe left with nothing but vague promises.

It was Day One for Zimbabwe's new government of national unity Friday, and already the paralysis had set in: The swearing-in ceremony that was supposed to usher in a new era of hope was delayed for hours by bitter squabbling. And in a sign that hard-liners in President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party remain bitterly opposed to the new prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, security forces arrested senior Tsvangirai ally Roy Bennett and charged him with treason.