Via the Daily Telegraph:

President Robert Mugabe has received a hero’s welcome at the opening of an African summit, despite the turmoil at home in Zimbabwe. As he was introduced to the Southern African Development Community gathering in the Zambian capital Lusaka, dignitaries gave him thunderous applause in contrast to polite claps for other leaders. Mr Mugabe stood and smiled in acknowledgement before sitting down next to South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki. Patrick Chinamasa, Zimbabwe’s justice minister, said: “Political reform is not necessary in my country because we are a democracy like any other democracy in the world.” Zimbabwe’s last election in 2004 was widely regarded as stolen. Hundreds of thousands of people have left the country, which is also suffering serious food shortages. Yesterday, a 15-year-old boy and a security guard died in a stampede by shoppers desperate to buy sugar in Bulawayo.