World: Zambia: Beleaguered Host

While delegates to the Commonwealth Conference in Lusaka enjoyed the best of everything, police in Livingstone, 200 miles to the southwest, were dispersing rioting crowds with tear gas and baton charges after lines of people waiting to buy soap and cooking oil got out of hand. In Lusaka itself, laundry soap and detergents were in short supply; toilet paper and cheese were unavailable; and milk chocolate had become a rare luxury. A Lusaka car rental firm is in danger of closing because it cannot get spare parts. The nation's inflation rate is running at about 25%.

The depressed condition of the country's...

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