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After months of growing economic struggles, the southern African country of Malawi erupted into protests last week. Rioters took to the streets nationwide last Wednesday to protest the perceived mismanagement of the national economy and an impending fuel shortage. These protesters also stormed the offices of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in the northern city of Mzuzu, and demanded that the president step down. Over three days of violence, state officials say 19 people were killed. Most of these deaths were protesters: seriously outnumbered, police forces reportedly fired live rounds into waves of rioters in order to push them away...

A few weeks ago, Malawi’s Ambassador to the United Nations said privately that the Obama administration had threatened to withhold $350 million in aid unless Malawi’s government struck down its laws on sodomy. Let’s take a look at tiny Malawi. According to the CIA World Fact Book, among Malawi’s roughly 16-million inhabitants, the life expectancy is a paltry 5I.7 years, which turns to be the 211th lowest life expectancy in the world. Malawi has the eleventh highest infant mortality rate in the world. And 44 percent of the population does not have safe sanitation, meaning they very well might be...

The star’s much-lauded effort to help girls in the African nation of Malawi just imploded. In this week’s Newsweek, Wayne Barrett asks: Is Kabbalah to blame?Late last month, it was reported that Madonna’s Raising Malawi foundation, one of the most visible celebrity-driven charity efforts in the Third World, one that pulled in major donations from around Hollywood and elsewhere, was abandoning its planned mission: to build a $15 million girls’ academy in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. A report by the Global Philanthropy Group, which Madonna brought in to represent her as trouble developed in the...

Breaking wind is set to be made a crime in an African country. The government of Malawi plan to punish persistent offenders 'who foul the air' in a bid to 'mould responsible and disciplined citizens.' But locals fear that pinning responsibility on the crime will be difficult - and may lead to miscarriages of justice as 'criminals' attempt to blame others for their offence. One Malawian told the website Africanews.com: 'My goodness. What happens in a public place where a group is gathered. Do they lock up half a minibus? 'And how about at meetings where it is difficult to...

Breaking wind is set to be made a crime in an African country. The government of Malawi plan to punish persistent offenders 'who foul the air' in a bid to 'mould responsible and disciplined citizens.' But locals fear that pinning responsibility on the crime will be difficult - and may lead to miscarriages of justice as 'criminals' attempt to blame others for their offence. One Malawian told the website Africanews.com: 'My goodness. What happens in a public place where a group is gathered. Do they lock up half a minibus? 'And how about at meetings where it is difficult to...

LONDON (AP) - A British judge Friday imposed a 13-year prison sentence on a man who admitted conspiring with shoe-bomber Richard Reid to blow up a U.S.-bound trans-Atlantic jet in 2001. Prosecutors said they believe British-born Saajid Badat, 25, may have backed out of an alleged plot with Reid, who was subdued by passengers when he attempted to detonate a bomb aboard an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami on Dec. 22, 2001. ``Turning away from crime in circumstances such as these constitutes a powerful mitigating factor,'' Judge Adrian Fulford said. ``It can take considerable courage to plead guilty...

Two men were sentenced to 20 years in prison for cutting off a nine-year-old boy's testicles, penis and eyes to sell to a Malawian witchdoctor, Mozambican state radio reported Thursday. One of the men was the boy's uncle, who lured him with crackers to go rat-hunting in woods near the Malawi border, while the accomplice hid nearby, the court sentence read. One attacker covered the youth's mouth while the other hit him on the chest with a rock. They then cut off his organs and left him for dead, while one took the body parts in a bag to a...

LILONGWE (Reuters) - A gay Malawian couple whose 14-year prison sentence for their love affair led to international condemnation has split over a girl, a newspaper report said on Tuesday. Malawi's leader pardoned the two men in late May on humanitarian grounds after a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who applauded the move and urged the country to amend "outdated" laws on homosexuality. Steven Monjeza, 26, told The Nation, a major local daily, he had left his partner, 20-year-old Tiwonge Chimbalanga, because he had been coerced into the gay relationship and found a better match with a 24-year-old woman...

SNIPPET: "The Obama administration applauded the Malawi government's pardon of a gay couple facing a 14-year prison term for marrying." SNIPPET: "White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the White House was "pleased" to learn of the decision. "These individuals were not criminals and their struggle is not unique," Gibbs said in a statement. "We must all recommit ourselves to ending the persecution and criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity. "We hope that President Mutharika's pardon marks the beginning of a new dialogue which reflects the country's history of tolerance and a new day for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and...

Gay Couple Convicted in MalawiBy BARRY BEARAK Published: May 18, 2010 JOHANNESBURG — A gay couple in Malawi were found guilty on Tuesday of unnatural acts and gross indecency, the consequence of their holding an engagement ceremony in an insular nation where homosexuality is largely seen as nonexistent or something that must be suppressed. Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 33, and Steven Monjeza, 26, face up to 14 years in prison. A magistrate said he would sentence the men on Thursday. The case has drawn worldwide attention as another example of the broad anti-gay sentiment in Africa. A law recently proposed in Uganda...

KARONGA, Malawi (Reuters) – The latest discovery of pre-historic tools and remains of hominids in Malawi's remote northern district of Karonga provides further proof that the area could be the cradle of humankind, a leading German researcher said. Professor Friedemann Schrenk of the Goethe University in Frankfurt told Reuters that two students working on the excavation site last month had discovered prehistoric tools and a tooth of an hominid.

William Kamkwamba dreamed of powering his village with the only resource that was freely available to him. His native Malawi had gone through one of its worst droughts seven years ago, killing thousands. His family and others were surviving on one meal a day. The red soil in his Masitala hometown was parched, leaving his father, a farmer, without any income. But amid all the shortages, one thing was still abundant. Wind. "I wanted to do something to help and change things," he said. "Then I said to myself, 'If they can make electricity out of wind, I can try,...

Last year's Miss Malawi Perth Msiska abandoned her crown to pursue politics. She cited Sarah Palin as her influence. Palin who was herself a beauty pageant in Alaska went on to be the state's governor who was later selected to be John McCain's running mate in the 2008 US Presidential Elections. Though the Republican ticket failed, Palin's political aspirations encouraged many women around the world to reach out for political office. It is believed that the current Malawian President, Bingu wa Mutharika was also inspired by John McCain when he picked Joyce Banda as his running mate. Banda who is...

From Gloucester to Afghanistan: the making of a shoe bomber Saajid Badat this week pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up a plane. What drove this quiet football fan to thoughts of terror? Mark Honigsbaum and Vikram Dodd Saturday March 5, 2005 The Guardian He seemed the model British Muslim citizen - a poster boy for integration whose knowledge of the Qu'ran and achievement at grammar school made Gloucester's close-knit Islamic community proud. When in November 2003 anti-terrorist police turned up at the terraced house in the Barton and Tredworth district of the city that Saajid Badat shared with his...

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Madonna can get "Mercy," Malawi's highest court ruled Friday. The court overruled a lower court, saying the pop star can adopt 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James. "I am ecstatic," Madonna said in a statement in which she also thanked the court. "My family and I look forward to sharing our lives with her." Madonna's lawyer Alan Chinula said he would now arrange a passport for Chifundo, which could take several days, and was awaiting word from Madonna on travel plans for the girl. James Kambewa, a man who claims to be the little girl's father, told CBS...

LILONGWE, Malawi – In a surprise move, a judge on Friday rejected Madonna's request to adopt a second child from Malawi and said it would set a dangerous precedent to bend rules requiring that prospective parents live here for some period. The country's child welfare minister had come out Thursday in support of the pop superstar's application to adopt 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James. But in a lengthy ruling Friday, Judge Esme Chombo sided with critics who have said exceptions should not be made for the star who has set up a major development project for this impoverished, AIDS-stricken southern African...

BLANTYRE, Malawi (Reuters) - Hundreds of angry Malawians hounded a senior political figure from his house and stoned him late Wednesday, accusing him of harboring vampires. Blantire Urban Governor Eric Chiwaya, a member of the ruling United Democratic Front, was the latest victim of a bizarre rumor that the country's government is colluding with vampires to collect human blood for international aid agencies. Bearing severe cuts to his face and body, he told Reuters from his hospital bed that a crowd had hailed him with stones and other missiles, chanting "vampire" and threatening to kill him. Chiwaya said he knew...

Malawi Officials to Challenge Appointment of Pro-Gay British High Commissioner Say pro-gay history "dangerous" to Malawi, where homosexuality still considered felony By Meg Jalsevac Malawi, August 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The appointment of the next British High Commissioner to Malawi has provoked government officials of the African nation to speak out against his suitability for the job in the conservative nation considering his record as a proponent of gay rights in his previous position in the Scottish Government.  Former Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell was tapped to assume the position beginning in 2011 but opposition to his appointment is already...

A boy from an isolated village in Malawi's rugged bush was handed into the care of Madonna yesterday when a judge approved the pop star's adoption papers.David Banda was born in a mud hut 18 months ago. His mother, Marita, gave birth without a nurse or medical equipment, save for a plastic sheet. She died days later. The High Court in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, plucked David from his home village of Lipunga, where children in rags play in the dust beside women pounding maize, and gave him a symbol of Western popular culture for a foster mother. Mr Justice Andrew...

LONDON/MPHANDULA, Malawi (Reuters) - Madonna feels responsible for the children of the world and has found herself a "big, big project" to help orphans in Malawi. Gwyneth Paltrow declares "I am African" in a new advertisement for a charity working in Africa. The continent has long been a favorite destination for celebrity campaigners, going back to 1954 when Danny Kaye became UNICEF's goodwill ambassador. U2's Bono and fellow Irish rocker Bob Geldof are Africa veterans, and more recently Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have brought Hollywood gloss to the continent. But the latest flood of stars searching for a good...