Zimbabwe turns into a sewer

More depressing news about Zimbabwe as officials scramble to raise $1.4-million for its psychopathic president Robert Mugabe's birthday party.

As the country's towns and cities descend into chaos, water and sewage systems are breaking down. Many districts in the capital, Harare, are without water for weeks. Entrepreneurs sell water from shallow wells, often contaminated by the widespread use of pit latrines. Raw sewage flows through streets as sewer pipes break and are not repaired. Raw sewage is even pumped into the capital's main reservoir, Lake Chivero.

The result is a country that once had some of the highest public health standards in Africa now has the world's lowest life expectancy. The decline is highlighted by a recent outbreak of cholera. The government insists the threat is under control but medical experts disagree with three people dead so far and dozens more falling ill.

The ability of one man to inflict so much suffering on so many is one of the wonders of a supposedly intelligent species.