Atleast10 key traditional leaders in Thyolo are up in arms against the promotion of Chief Thomasi by President Joyce Banda, saying the chief lacks leadership skills, is stubborn and accuse her of bias when settling cases.

Malawi and Mozambique are moving towards a common understanding on the exploration of precious minerals, including oil on Lake Malawi and the re-affirmation of its borders in order to avoid diplomatic rows.

The Labour Party, which was registered by ex- UDF president Friday Jumbe after he quit the United Democratic Front last week, is likely to change to New Labour Party to avoid a legal conflict after another grouping claimed it had duly registered the Labour Party 15 years ago.

The opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has written speaker of the National Assembly, Henry Chimunthu-Banda to allocate UDF MPs seats in the opposition benches, because the party has pulled out of government.

Blantyre-based Centre for Human Rights, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA), an NGO which champions the rights of prisoners and vulnerable citizens, says most prisoners are unaware of their right to bail, a condition that leads to congestion in the prisons.

CharlesNg'oma, 25, has been slapped with a sentence of 16 years imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) for sexually abus¬ing two 15-year-old girls in Mzuzu.

Global lender International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in June gave impoverished Malawi a three-year $157 million loan package, has pledged to continue its sup¬port to fix the country's troubled economy hit by global aid suspensions.

A total of 32 sex workers at Nsanje Boma have ganged up to establish a group that will help them assist each other as well as play a part in the fight against HIV and Aids.

Former Finance Minister Professor Mathews Chikaonda has urged the government to commercialise some sections of the country's six state houses, including the hill-top Sanjika Palace in Blantyre, to generate own income to maintain and run the edifices.

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) has taken the Consolidated ICT Regulatory Management Systems (CIRMS), popularly known as the "spy machine", to the supreme court of appeal to challenge the high court August ruling that stops the regulator from going ahead with the implementation of the expensive equipment.

Petra, led by Kamuzu Chibambo, has pulled out of the opposition coalition of 15 parties formed earlier this year which geared itself to unseat the Democratic Prog¬ress Party (DPP).

Bishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe, the Right Reverend Felix Mkhori died early morning Saturday at Mwai Wathu Private Hospital in Blantyre after being admitted there on Saturday, October 13.

A confidential memo/letter of the Ombudsman to foreign missions in the country says Chief Secretary to Government, Bright Msaka, told Ombudsman Tujilane Chizumila to resign after three members of staff accused her of various allegations.

Eric Aniva, a man from Nsanje who was hired to "sexually cleanse" 104 widows in the name of the 'kupita kufa' traditional practice, has now retired from this cultural tradition and has become a HIV and Aids ambassador to fight the practice and the spread of the killer disease.

Malawi should adopt a firm stand on the lake dispute with neighboring Tanzania and avoid giving conflicting signals on how she wants the misunderstanding resolved, a leading political ana¬lyst says.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Bruno Kalemba, has given a fresh consent to Anti –Corruption Bureau to prosecute former outspoken Information Minister Patricia Kaliati on allegations that she abused her office to get 77 students from her constituency enrolled at various government secondary schools.

Malawi's renowned television (TV) personality, Geoffrey Kapusa, aka Mr. Splash, has told the latest edition of Lifestyle Magazine, a glamorous publication of the Times Group, that he tested HIV positive in December 2006.

The Malawi Defence Force (MDF) "is ready to protect citizens and the interests of the country," the Army Commander General Henry Odillo told The Sunday Times in an exclusive interview.

Opposition politicians and experts have asked President Joyce Banda to initiate more cuts on over-expenditure apart from the symbolic 30 per cent presidential pay cut if the agriculture-powered economy is to bounce back following two years of economic turmoil.

Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) is the country's most open government institution for 2012, according to a Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi survey.