BLANTYRE, Oct 20, 2007 (AFP) - Twenty-six political activists have been killed in central Malawi after a speeding truck carrying 62 people overturned, police and hospital authorities said Saturday.

'So far 26 people have been confirmed dead and 12 are critically injured,' police spokesman for Dedza district Frankiln Gausi told AFP.

Hospital authorities in Dedza also confirmed 26 deaths. A nurse at the district hospital said five people died on arrival at the hospital.

BLANTYRE, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi has launched a campaign to crack down on Chinese and Nigerian traders accused of operating illegally in the country, Trade and Commerce Minister Ken Lipenga said Wednesday.

'We have launched a campaign to flush out illegal foreign investors...the influx of Chinese and Nigerian traders is causing a big problem, ' Lipenga said.

He said several shops owned by Chinese nationals were shut down in the administrative capital Lilongwe, where they were found to have flouted business licencing procedures.

BLANTYRE, Oct 13, 2007 (AFP) - Despite a maize surplus, some half-a-million Malawians affected by drought may face food shortages before the 2008 harvest, a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) official said Saturday.

'Some 520,000 people in four districts which were affected by drought are on close watch as they may face risk of food shortages before next year's harvest,' Matthews Nyirenda told AFP.

BLANTYRE, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - For Malawian nurse Hilda Maganga, the financial pull of a spell on a ward in Britain is close to overwhelming her desire to tend to patients in her AIDS-stricken and impoverished homeland.

'I would like to do a two-year stint in the UK, make my money and come back to retire for good,' says the 54-year-old as she contemplates joining the brain drain of Malawian health professionals.

BLANTYRE, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - AIDS-blighted Malawi wants to more than double the number of people receiving free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs to 245,000 by 2010, Health Minister Marjorie Ngaunje said on Friday.

'With currently 115,000 people on ARVs, the government aims at increasing this number to 245,000 by the year 2010,' Ngaunje told a conference of donors and health experts.

BLANTYRE, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) - A Malawian soldier, one of the three who went missing in Sudan's Darfur region after a weekend attack on African Union peacekeepers by suspected rebels, is alive, the government said Thursday.

'I am very happy to report that Captain (Fransisco) Medi is alive,' Defence Minister Bob Khamisa told AFP.

He said Medi had 'fled to another camp', 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, after their camp was attacked by the rebels. He refused to comment further on the attack.

BLANTYRE, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi, one of Africa's poorest nations, said on Monday, that despite recent efforts to grow the economy, it would be unable to meet the UN target date of halving poverty by 2015.

A welfare monitoring survey conducted by the ministry of economic planning and development indicated that poverty dropped to 45 percent in Malawi in 2006, from 53.9 percent in 1998, Ben Botolo, a director in the ministry of economic planning and development, told AFP.

But despite this drop, 'poverty levels still remain very high'.

BLANTYRE, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi, one of Africa's poorest nations, said Monday that despite recent efforts to grow the economy, it will be unable to meet a United Nations set target date of halving poverty by 2015.

'Poverty levels still remain very high' and Malawi will not meet the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDG) target of 'halving the proportion of people living below the poverty line by 2015,' Ben Botolo, a director in the ministry of economic planning and development, told AFP.

BLANTYRE, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - AIDS-ravaged Malawi is helping up to 20,000 children with free drugs, a top government official said Wednesday.

'Close to 20,000 children are now receiving treatment,' Mary Shaba, permanent secretary for HIV/AIDS and nutrition in the president's office, told AFP.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says up to 50,000 children in the impoverished southern African country are in need of anti-retroviral therapy (ART).

BLANTYRE, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - AIDS-blighted Malawi has donated thousands of tons of maize to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to help people affected by the pandemic.

The WFP said it had received the donation of 10,425 metric tons of maize worth 1.8 million dollars from the Malawian government last week.

'The contribution will ensure that tens of thousands of vulnerable Malawians continue to receive crucial food assistance until the end of 2007,' WFP's director in Malawi, Dom Scalpelli said.

BLANTYRE, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi is probing the suspended head of the nation's anti-graft watchdog and a minister over alleged corruption, President Bingu wa Mutharika said late Tuesday.

The minister of information and civic education, Patricia Kaliati, and the suspended head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Tumalisye Ndovie, are under investigation, he told journalists on his return from a trip to Tapei.

BLANTYRE, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi has suspended the head of its anti-corruption watchdog over allegations of mismanagement of public funds, a letter released Sunday said.

Tumalisye Ndovie, head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), had been accused of drawing two salaries, according to a letter signed by the deputy secretary in the office of president and cabinet, Thouse O'dalla.

HARARE, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - The Anglican church in Zimbabwe Saturday said it will not 'stand with homosexuals' at a synod of four southern African Anglican churches in Malawi which is set to revive the issue of gay clerics.

Refering to a diocesan act, a cleric at Harare diocese told AFP that three of the four dioceses in Zimbabwe had 'unanimously agreed' to sever ties with dioceses in the Central African province which were in favour of homosexuals.

The Anglican province of Central Africa comprises Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

BLANTYRE, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Attempts to pass Malawi's national budget crumbled again Friday when opposition lawmakers refused to authorize money meant for the country's anti-corruption body over allegations of corruption by its head.

The country's parliament was supposed to conclude discussing the national budget for government ministries and departments, but stalled when the opposition accussed Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) head Tumalisye Ndovie of corruption.

LILONGWE, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika said on Thursday that his country will maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Speaking at Lilongwe airport shortly before his departure for the first ever Taiwan-Africa summit beginning Sunday in Tapei, Mutharika said the African nation would not abandon Taiwan for China.

'We have received numerous assistances from Taiwan and we will maintain the diplomatic relations between us and Taiwan,' he said.

The African continent is a diplomatic battleground for Taipei and Beijing.

LILONGWE, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Rwanda's President Paul Kagame said on Wednesday that his country was no longer interested in joining the southern African grouping SADC in order to avoid 'overlapping' roles with other blocs.

'As a country we need to rationalise on which organisations to join in order to avoid overlaps and of course we realised that there were duplications in the roles of most of these regional groupings,' he told journalists at the end of his three-day visit to Malawi.

LILONGWE, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Rwandan President Paul Kagame, on a visit to Malawi to boost trade between the two impoverished African nations, will Tuesday inaugurate a new arterial road named after him.

'My visit is aimed at cementing relations between my country and Malawi,' Kagame said on his arrival at Lilongwe on Monday, where he was welcomed by his counterpart Bingu wa Mutharika.

Kagame is expected to inaugurate a road in the heart of the capital with his host, which will named after him.

BLANTYRE, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - A Malawian social worker is set to visit the London home of pop star Madonna to assess the treatment of two-year-old David Banda whom she hopes to adopt, a government official said Monday.

Court-appointed inspector Penstone Kilembe's first first inspection in May was delayed due to lack of funding, but he is now expected to leave for London soon after returning from a conference in the United States.

BLANTYRE, Aug 28, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi's embattled President Bingu Wa Mutharika prospects of survival were given a shot in the arm on Tuesday after the opposition failed to agree on a joint candidate in the next election.

John Tembo, leader of the largest opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP), rebuffed calls that he should serve as former president Bakili Muluzi's running mate and intended to spearhead his own quest for power.

LUSAKA, Aug 25, 2007 (AFP) - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa and his Malawian counterpart launched a long-delayed joint rail project Saturday that is expected to help boost trade in southern Africa, state radio said.

Mwanawasa said the venture -- which will connect his landlocked nation to the coast of Mozambique through Malawi -- will become the shortest and cheapest mode of transport for Zambia.

MAPUTO, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Large amounts of drugs which have been imported into Mozambique with the aid of the international community end up being sold on the black market at home and abroad, the health minister said on Friday.

'This growing practice of diverting drugs of our national health system, is carried out with the connivance of government officials who belong to well structured gangs,' Ivo Garrido told journalists.

'They even use heavy tonnage vehicles to ferry the stolen drugs to neighbouring countries, particularly Malawi, where they are sold,' he said.

LUSAKA, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa will host his Malawian and Mozambican counterparts this week for the launch of a rail project that will link his landlocked country to the coast, state media said Wednesday.

Lameck Mangani, the cabinet minister in charge of eastern affairs, told the Zambia Daily Mail that Mozambique's President Armando Guebuza and Malawi leader Bingu Wa Mutharika would join Mwanawasa in the town of Chipata on Friday for the official start of building work on the 26-kilometer (16 mile) link.

BLANTYRE, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) - Malawian lawmakers finally kicked off a budget debate Tuesday after a one-and-a-half month stalemate and a threat from the president that he would dissolve parliament.

'The government bench started the debate after mediation efforts,' parliamentary spokesman Leonard Mengezi told AFP. 'The MPs will debate the budget for 21 days before approving it.'

Mengezi said the powerful opposition, which has flatly refused to debate the budget over the past weeks, remained quiet in the House and did not contribute to the debate.

BLANTYRE, Aug 13, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi's parliament reconvened on Monday after many adjournments but stalled on the budget debate as the opposition accused the government of 'siphoning out' money without parliamentary approval.

'Someone in government has been siphoning out money without authority... we need to regularise the use of funds,' George Mtafu of the former ruling party said when parliament finally recovened.

BLANTYRE, Aug 11, 2007 (AFP) - A government funds crunch is delaying a home visit to pop star Madonna and her husband, which is part of the procedure to allow them to adopt a one-year-old boy from Malawi, a welfare officer said Saturday.

'There are no adequate financial resources for the inspection, but as soon as the government has money, we will do it,' Penston Kilembe, director of Malawi's Ministry of Women and Child Development, told AFP.

Kilembe has been mandated by the country's high court to carry out the inspection.

BLANTYRE, Aug 10, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi will deploy 800 troops to Darfur in Sudan to serve in the future United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force, the defence minister said Friday.

'Malawi will be sending a batallion as soon as possible to Darfur following the UN resolution,' Bob Khamisa told AFP.

Khamisa said the country had already notified both the African Union and the United Nations of its decision to deploy the troops, which was approved by President Bingu wa Mutharika, commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

BLANTYRE, Aug 10, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi's parliament reconvenes next week to debate and pass the impoverished African nation's already delayed budget after the Supreme Court ordered the opposition to end a boycott, an official said Friday.

Parliament spokesman Leonard Mengezi told AFP that the speaker of the 193-member house, Louis Chimango, has 'summoned all cabinet ministers, deputies and MPs to reconvene on Monday afternoon in parliament chambers.'

BLANTYRE, Aug 8, 2007 (AFP) - Malawian lawyers on Wednesday condemned the authorities for raiding the home of a high court judge who ruled against the government in a row with the opposition over the budget.

The search and raid on Judge Joseph Manyungwa's home came just hours after his verdict late Monday in which he refused to vacate an injunction sought by two opposition MPs stopping parliament from debating the budget.

BLANTYRE, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - Police, accompanied by officials from the country's graft-busting agency, late Monday raided the home of a high court judge in Malawi hours after he ruled against the government, an official said.

The acting director of the anti-corruption bureau, Tumalishe Ndovi, confirmed that police and his officials had raided the Blantyre home of Joseph Mwanyungwa, saying it was 'a normal routine operation.'

Ndovi declined to reveal the purpose of the search 'to avoid jeopardising investigations.'

BLANTYRE, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) - Students throwing rocks beseiged Malawi's parliament Monday, forcing MPs to shelter inside the building in the town of Lilongwe, a parliamentary official who declined to be named said.

The violent scene came amid a power tussle between the opposition and Malawi's minority government of President Bingu wa Mutharika.

The parliamentary official said the students had arrived in five buses and sparked 'pandemonium' with their siege.

BLANTYRE, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi's parliament was adjourned for a fourth day Monday after opposition MPs refused to debate the budget due to a political row which could topple President Bingu wa Mutharika's minority government.

Angry students gathered outside the legislature in the political capital Lilongwe, stoning vehicles to protest the impasse, a parliament official said.

BLANTYRE, Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) - Madonna's plans to adopt a Malawian boy have suffered a hitch with Malawian authorities preventing a social worker from visiting the pop star's London home for an assessment, a weekly said Sunday.

Malawi's Minister of Women and Child Development Kate Kainja has stopped social worker Penston Kilembe from travelling to London twice in 18 months to monitor David Banda's progress under her care, the Sunday Times reported.

BLANTYRE, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - A Malawi opposition MP on Friday received a 12-month suspended sentence in addition to losing his parliamentary seat for allegedly assaulting a journalist.

Joseph Njobvuyalema, member of the opposition party Malawi Congress Party (MCP), was sentenced to three months imprisonment suspended to 12 months for allegedly punching three times a Daily Times reporter, Dickson Kashoti, last February 9.

As a result of the conviction, the politician was forced to resign from public office.

BLANTYRE, Aug 1, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi's government put itself on collision course with parliament on Wednesday by announcing that it would push ahead with its spending plans despite lawmakers' refusal to debate the budget.

'Government has taken the bold decision and decided to spend without parliament's approval to ensure that all essential services are provided,' Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe said.

BLANTYRE, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - Malawian rights activists on Tuesday staged a peaceful march in a bid to pressurise the opposition to drop demands to expel 41 lawmakers and instead debate the budget of the impoverished country.

It follows weeks of political wrangling as Malawi's powerful opposition continues to demand that parliamentarians who switched allegiance to President Bingu wa Mutharika be expelled before the budget is debated.

BLANTYRE, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Malawi remained in political deadlock on Thursday as the opposition continued to demand the expulsion of 41 pro-government lawmakers before agreeing to debate the budget.

Parliament has adjourned indefinitely twice this month after the 193-member House failed to reach a compromise on which topic should first be discussed: the budget, or the fate of the lawmakers who face expulsion by the Speaker for switching their allegiance to President Bingu wa Mutharika.