Mugabe Buys Secret $5.8M Hong Kong Getaway

Brit learns hard way not to mess with first lady and her diamond-encrusted rings

(NEWSER) - The wife of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe attacked a photographer for the Times of London who caught her leaving a posh Hong Kong hotel, the newspaper reports. Grace Mugabe ordered her bodyguard to seize the shutterbug’s camera—and then joined in the fracas. The photographer suffered nine cuts, abrasions and bruises to the face caused by the diamond-encrusted rings Mugabe was wearing. More»

With no food, medicine, dozens die daily in death camp conditions

(NEWSER) - In Zimbabwe even a short prison term can quickly turn into a death sentence: Conditions are so unsanitary and food so scarce that dozens die daily, as revealed in a secretly shot documentary. Using smuggled cameras, the film shows rotting bodies and mass graves—and that's just in a single prison, the Times of London reports. Zimbabwe has room for 17,000 inmates in 55 locations, but incarcerates twice that number. More»

Prez speaks at service for rival's wife

(NEWSER) - Speaking today at the funeral of his rival’s wife, President Robert Mugabe told supporters “that the issue of violence must end” in Zimbabwe, the BBC reports. He pleaded with mourners to “accept” Susan Tsvangirai’s death in a car crash. “It’s the hand of God,” Mugabe told Morgan Tsvangirai. “Rest assured we are with you, honorable prime minister.” More»

(NEWSER) - Robert Mugabe has backtracked on his denial of the Zimbabwean cholera crisis, AFP reports. “He is acknowledging there is a problem,” said a UNICEF official who met with him today. “He recognizes there is a problem with the water and the sewer systems.” The admission comes as opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai returned to the country, Voice of America reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Pressure from nonprofits and watchdogs is mounting on the UN to intercede in Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis, GlobalPost reports. Physicians for Human Rights asserts that Robert Mugabe intentionally dismantled the country’s health and sanitation infrastructure, and is directly responsible for the cholera outbreak that has claimed 1,800 lives. The group urges a UN tribunal or the International Criminal Court to charge the president with crimes against humanity. More»