Zim Update 1.21.09

What appear to be last ditch power-sharing talks have failed. According to Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper, trouble's a brewin' with the Zim military. "Zimbabwe's soldiers, furious at the refusal by President Robert Mugabe's government to pay them in foreign currency, have resumed spontaneous protests throughout the country, raising fears the rising anger will escalate into a mutiny. Armed police have been patrolling the streets of Harare since last week as they keep an eye on soldiers who often move in groups and target Zimbabweans they suspect of holding huge sums of foreign currency." Protesters are resorting to hunger strikes to pressure African leaders to take action against the Mugabe regime. [I hate to be cynical, but there are about 5 million Zimbabweans - and rising - that are on non-voluntary hunger strikes, and that has not done anything to sway the regional powers.]