We'd rather starve

A number of refugees from Zimbabwe are starving amid a hunger strike following the rejection of their asylum application in Britain. A BBC report says that while the official government line is that the refugees aren't in any immediate danger if returned home, refugee organizations maintain that if the men are returned, they face "very grave danger."

Zimbabwe is anything but stable, as army bands backed by president Robert Mugabe have destroyed large settlements in the cities, pushing citizens into the even more impoverished countryside. Political suppression is rampant, as is food shortages and malnutrition. A current government-sponsored campaign to root people out of cities is called Operation Murambatsvina, or "Drive Out Trash."