Nearly 5,000 store owners, managers and business executives have been arrested since the Zimbabwe government began its campaign to slash prices last month, state media reported today.

Runaway inflation and the Zimbabwe dollar’s worst crash in memory will increase pressure on President Robert Mugabe to allow free and fair elections, the main opposition leader said.

The Zimbabwe government today launched a programme to issue 99-year leases to black farmers allocated land seized mostly from white farmers.

ZIMBABWE yesterday accused the US of stepping up its campaign to oust President Robert Mugabe with “tantalising” offers of aid to ease the suffering of the southern African nation’s largely impoverished population.

A Zimbabwean churchman appealed to the British government today not to forcibly send back hundreds of people who have fled from the Mugabe regime.

South Africa’s government today said no decision had been made on a possible loan to Zimbabwe to help that country purchase electricity, food and fuel.

South African church leaders said today that Zimbabwe’s so-called urban renewal drive that has destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and livelihoods was fuelling a humanitarian crisis.

The Zimbabwe government today denied rumours about the supposed death of President Robert Mugabe, with a spokesman describing the 81-year-old “as fit as a teenager”.

England’s players hit out at cricket’s authorities last night and claimed they had been used as “political pawns” after the Zimbabwe government produced a spectacular U-turn to ensure the controversial one-day series will go ahead.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was cleared of treason today - charges that his party maintained all along were a bid by the government to frame him.

The Zimbabwe government said extra security guards will be on duty to prevent any demonstrations during today’s treason verdict against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

In its latest crackdown on democratic freedoms, the Zimbabwe government of President Robert Mugabe announced today that all farmland will be nationalised and private land ownership abolished.

Sixty-four suspected mercenaries detained in Zimbabwe this week were hired to help overthrow the government in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea with the assistance of British, American, and Spanish intelligence agencies, the Zimbabwe government claimed.

The Zimbabwe government has repossessed about 400 farms from black owners who occupied more than one property seized from white farmers under a controversial land redistribution programme.

The Zimbabwe government, desperate to ease fuel shortages, tripled the price of petrol today while introducing a second, lower price for its own vehicles, public transport and the agriculture industry.

A newspaper correspondent accused of being critical of the Zimbabwe government was due to arrive in the UK this morning after being deported.

ZIMBABWE’S main opposition leader said yesterday that his party was willing to hold discussions with the ruling party to pave the way for President Robert Mugabe to leave power smoothly.

A national strike called to protest against the increasingly authoritarian Zimbabwe government closed businesses and disrupted transport across the country for a second day today.

THE star prosecution witness in the treason trial of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, admitted yesterday the Zimbabwe government asked him to find evidence of a plot to kill President Robert Mugabe.

The Zimbabwean government has failed to hand over evidence that it paid the key witness in a treason trial who has testified that the opposition leader tried to assassinate President Robert Mugabe, defence lawyers argued today.

FRANCE has confirmed it is inviting Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to take part in a meeting of African leaders next month.

The deadline for Zimbabwe’s white farmers to leave their land expired at 12pm Irish time today, amid signs that some of them are prepared to continue to defy President Robert Mugabe’s orders.

A defiant Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has blamed rich countries for the poverty and despair in his country and the rest of Africa.

In a showdown with the judiciary, the Zimbabwe government is to defy a judge’s order to jail the justice minister.

In a showdown with the judiciary, the Zimbabwe government is to defy a judge’s order to jail the justice minister.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell today said presidential elections in Zimbabwe were marked by ‘‘numerous and profound irregularities’’ that will lead to a deepening of the crisis in that country.

Ireland is trading military goods with the Zimbabwe Government, according to reports this morning.

The Zimbabwe government has increased the price of petrol by a massive 72% overnight, raising the spectre of civil unrest.