Grim Statistic

From a Vanity Fair piece on Mugabe and the Zimbabwean elections (Oh, how quickly something fades from the news):

Zimbabwe today has the world’s shortest life span—the average Zimbabwean is dead by age 36 (down from age 62 in 1990).

Another good quote:

The world’s major powers are unlikely to take significant steps against Mugabe. Zimbabwe lacks both of the two exports—oil and international terrorism—that attract direct intervention.