ZIMBABWE's ruling ZANU-PF party has called the United States ambassador a "thug" and accused him of funding the opposition ahead of this week's planned anti-government protests that authorities say are meant to overthrow the government. Without providing evidence, ZANU-PF spokesman Patrick Chinamasa told reporters that U.S. ambassador to Harare, Brian Nichols, was involved in subversive activities to topple President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government. Chinamasa's comments echo the Robert Mugabe era, where the ZANU-PF government regularly accused the United States and Britain of seeking to dislodge it from power. "He (Nichols) continues to engage in acts of undermining this republic and if…