Harare - The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe all but dollarised the economy Wednesday in licensing the sale of basic commodities in foreign currency in some stores as more and more traders refuse to work with the virtually worthless Zimbabwe dollar.

At a press conference Wednesday bank governor Gideon Gono defended the "innovation" as necessary to ensure the availability of goods in shops and secure much-needed foreign exchange.

Harare - Powersharing talks between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai were due to continue Wednesday in Harare with both sides sounding upbeat about a possible breakthrough amid reports Mugabe was still continuing to threaten to form his own government.

At the end of a second day of talks in Harare mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki on behalf of Zimbabwe's neighbours, Movement for Democratic Change 
(MDC) leader Tsvangirai said Tuesday there had been "some positive developments."

Brussels  - Ingrid Betancourt, the Dalai Lama and Zimbabwe's opposition leader were among eight nominations Tuesday for the prestigious Sakharov Prize, a yearly award given by the European Parliament to defenders of democracy and human rights around the world.

Betancourt, a one-time Colombian presidential candidate with French citizenship who was released in July after being held hostage for six years by FARC rebels, was nominated by parliament's socialist grouping.

Harare - South African President Thabo Mbeki, regionally- appointed mediator in crisis negotiations between Zimbabwe's political parties, has brought new proposals to just-resumed talks, Zimbabwean state media reported Tuesday.

Talks resumed in Harare on Monday after three weeks of deadlock, with President Robert Mugabe, whose Zanu-PF party has ruled the country for 28 years, and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change which has a majority in parliament, each refusing to budge over which man should wield overall authority.

Harare - Talks between Zimbabwe's parties on a power-sharing government were due to resume Monday as South African President Thabo Mbeki flew to Harare to broker fresh negotiations between President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Mbeki's office confirmed to South African media that he was on his way to Zimbabwe to try to breathe new life into the talks that have foundered over how Mugabe and Tsvangirai would share power in a unity government.

The MDC said at the weekend the issue was a matter for a new interim constitution.

Harare - Teachers at Zimbabwe's state schools have gone on strike since the beginning of the new term last week because of low pay, according to teacher union representatives.

"We have declared a strike, and quite a big chunk of the teaching force didn't report for work while those who did report, were not working," Raymond Majongwe, secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers' Union, said Sunday.

The Zimbabwe Teachers' Association, the larger of the two unions and traditionally viewed as pro-government, have not declared a strike, but effectively is part of the action.