starvation news stories on Newser

4 Mentally Ill Adults Found Chained in Philly Basement

Kevin Spak — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:13:05 CDT

Three people have been charged with kidnapping and other offenses after four mentally challenged adults were found chained and starving in the sub-basement of a Philadelphia apartment building. The building's landlord discovered the prisoners on Saturday, lying in their own filth in a 10-by-15-foot room, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. All...

Guilty Verdict Stands for Vegans Who Starved Baby

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:51:23 CDT

In April 2004, the 6-week-old son of Jade Sanders and Lamont Thomas starved to death, and Georgia’s top court today upheld the couple’s murder convictions and life sentences from 2007. A court initially found the first-time parents guilty of murder after investigators discovered they fed the boy mostly soy milk...

Somalia Famine's Brutal Toll: 29K Kids Dead in 3 Months

Kate Schwartz — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 07:42:06 CDT

The UN has said that the famine in Somalia has killed tens of thousands, and the first specific estimate to emerge paints an even more heartbreaking picture. More than 29,000 children under the age of five have died in just the last 90 days in the southern part of...

Skeleton in Bank Chimney Is Missing Man From 1984

Tim Karan — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:10:05 CDT

It's sort of a good news-bad news situation for one Louisiana family. On one hand, they finally know what happened to Joseph Schexnider, who vanished in 1984—on the other, he died inside a local bank chimney 27 years ago. Construction workers renovating a historic bank discovered skeletal remains in...

N. Korea on Kim's Birthday: Let People Eat, Um, Nothing

Kevin Spak — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:07:05 CST

North Korea held its usual lavish celebration to mark Kim Jong Il’s 69th birthday today—even though the desperately poor country couldn’t afford to hand out its usual “birthday gift” of food rations to the people. In one northeastern province, even ruling party officials haven’t gotten their gifts, which consist...

Convicted Rapist Fights for Right to Starve Himself to Death

Evann Gastaldo — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:34:05 CST

William Coleman wants to starve himself to death in prison, and now a court has given him the right to argue for doing so. The 49-year-old British man was convicted to eight years in a US prison on charges of raping his wife, and has been attempting a hunger strike...

Fist Fights, Hunger: Miners Shed Light on Life Below

Matt Cantor — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 07:50:29 CDT

Majority rule was key to the survival of the trapped Chilean miners, their foreman told the Guardian in one of the first accounts of their two months spent trapped underground. “Everything was voted on,” said Luis Urzúa from a hospital bed. “You just have to speak the truth and believe...

11 Tigers Starve to Death in China Zoo

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:58:00 CST

At least 11 Siberian tigers have starved to death in a Chinese zoo run by an owner strapped for cash. The tigers require 20 pounds of meat a day, but zoo operators only provided the big cats with a chicken carcass every couple of days. Two of the tigers, apparently...

Baby Starves While Parents Tend to Virtual Child: Cops

Kevin Spak — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:22:00 CST

A South Korean couple has been arrested for allegedly letting their real-life 3-month-old daughter starve to death while they cared for a virtual baby in an online game. Police say the 41-year-old father and 25-year-old mother spent 12 hours a night playing the Second Life-style online game PRIUS at an...