Police disperse food protest in Zimbabwe *** HARARE, Zimbabwe - Police fired tear gas and charged crowds with batons to quell rioting in a food line in western Zimbabwe, witnesses and the state-run media said Saturday - the most serious violence reported since acute food shortages recently hit the troubled country. The unrest Friday in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city, led to the arrests of 34 people, the state-run Bulawayo Chronicle reported. No injuries were reported. Several hundred people had been waiting in the line, witnesses said. A food crisis that threatens some 6.7 million people with possible starvation - more than half the population - has been blamed on a combination of drought and the breakdown of the country's agricultural sector in the wake of the government's controversial land reform program. ***
Police crackdown on honk against Mugabe campaign in Zimbabwe*** Movement for Democratic Change lawmaker Abednico Bhebhe and senior aide Ferdinand Dropper were arrested late Thursday while putting up posters reading: "Hoot, enough is enough." Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Friday the men will be charged under strict new security laws, alleging their action was aimed at inciting public disorder and violence or would endanger public safety. The charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in jail under the sweeping Public Order and Security Act that critics say was designed to stifle opposition to Mugabe.***