Mugabe Hosts $250K Party in Starving Zimbabwe

More than half of his country is starving, just 10% have jobs, and nearly 4,000 have died of cholera since August, but none of that has stopped Robert Mugabe from partying. Zimbabwe’s president spent $250,000 on his 85th birthday bash today, which included a 187-pound cake, the BBC reports. The celebration comes just days after Zimbabwe asked other African countries for $2 billion in aid.

One Mugabe critic called the party “obscene, and a sign of insensitive leadership.” Morgan Tsvangirai didn’t show up, despite earlier signaling he might. “People should not read this as a snub,” said a Mugabe spokesman. “He excused himself.” Mugabe took the occasion to say there’d be “no going back” on his move to seize farms from white farmers, despite a South African Development Community tribunal declaring it illegal. (More Robert Mugabe stories.)