Stockholm - The Swedish government Wednesday welcomed the unity government formed in Zimbabwe, and hoped it "would provide a step towards resolving the crisis" in the southern African nation.

In a statement issued after Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was sworn in as prime minister, International Development Cooperation Minister Gunilla Carlsson said it was "key that the goverment can agree on a comprehensive reform agenda."

Harare, Feb. 11 : President Robert Mugabe is planning a lavish 85th birthday feast, even as millions of Zimbabweans starve.

According to The Sun, Mugabe has demanded 2,000 bottles of Moet and Chandon or 1961 Bollinger champagne, 8,000 lobsters and
4,000 portions of caviar.

He wants 8,000 boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocs, 500 bottles of Johnnie Walker whisky, 100 kilograms of prawns, 3,000 ducks and 3,000 chocolate cakes.

Mugabe has demanded international supporters send him cash gifts of around 25,000 dollars to celebrate.

Harare - Zimbabwe's longtime opposition le

Harare  - Zimbabwe's longtime opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was due to be sworn in as prime minister on Wednesday to begin working with his arch-rival President Robert Mugabe on ending the country's economic and humanitarian crises.

Tsvangirai was scheduled to take the oath of office at State House in Harare around 11 am (0900 GMT) and then address a large crowd of his supporters in a football stadium.

Harare  - Two leading human rights lawyers, one of them closely involved in defending illegally detained pro-democracy activists, were arrested Tuesday on the eve of the swearing-in of a new power-sharing interim government in Zimbabwe, lawyers said.

Rose Hanzi, who has been representing 28 activists of Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change arrested in October, and Tawanda Zhuwarara, both of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, were seized outside Zimbabwe's parliament building at lunchtime, said ZLHR head Irene Petras.

Johannesburg  - After 10 years in the pro-democracy trenches, Zimbabwe's longtime opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is set to cement his pact with his arch-nemesis, Robert Mugabe, on Wednesday and be sworn in as prime minister of a unity government.

Supporters of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are expected to throng a football stadium in the capital Harare for a speech after the ceremony, which marks a milestone in the career of the politician derided by Mugabe as a Western lackey.