A more personal insight...Half of the results from Zimbabwe's parliamentary polls in March have been challenged in court, state media says.
Lawyers say the 105 petitions should not disrupt the work of parliament, but could in the end overturn the opposition's historic majority.
The announcement came as southern African mediators arrived for talks over the presidential run-off impasse.
The opposition might boycott a run-off, saying candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was the rightful winner in the first round...
Meanwhile, the MDC says that five more of its supporters were beaten to death on Monday night by Zanu-PF supporters, bringing the number of MDC members killed in post-election violence to 25.
"We think the actual death toll is even higher because there are some farming areas that have been cordoned off by militias and vigilante groups," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP.
The BBC's Orla Guerin, reporting undercover in Zimbabwe, says there is a systematic attempt under way to change the political landscape.
She says the aim is electoral cleansing - to drive opposition supporters from their voting areas, or make them too afraid to vote for the MDC again.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7387738.stm
One of the men explains that his construction business bought 400 billion dollars ($4000 US) worth of supplies two weeks ago. They delayed delivery by two weeks and finally he had to go and collect everything at the warehouse. When he arrived they told him he’d have to “top-up” what he’s paid based on inflation. Another 500 billion. His entire monthly salary doesn’t pay for the petrol he needs to go to work and back for that same month. He says the real pain comes when he looks into the eyes of the man extorting him and doesn’t find a flicker of humanity - no recognition that right and wrong play a part...
On Friday afternoon I visit Dr. Francis Lovemore, the primary care physician at the Counseling Services Unit on Raleigh Road in downtown Harare... she quickly tells me that the MDC ["Move for Democratic Change", the opposition party]headquarters are being raided and hundreds of people are being arrested. Because of the steady flow of traffic between her counseling center and the headquarters, she assumes they will come to her next... because they are helping these victims...
[Norris from Kotwa said:] "When the voting was counted they wrote the numbers on the outside wall. MDC had received 210 votes in my province. That was the number that they tried to round up. One man for every vote against ZanuPF. When I was beaten there was about 30 of us...
You can read the full report, "Who is Zimbabwe?" by Andrew Breitenberg, by opening the following PDF: (it does contain some photo evidence of physical wounds so if that bothers you it's best not to look...)
http://www.sojo.net/images/blog/080507_zimbabwe.pdf