President Bingu wa Mutharika has earned the ire of civil society for not keeping his end of the bargain to discuss floor-crossing, a tactic that has strengthened his political arm, now that parliament has approved the national budget. Mutharika's decision to prorogue parliament soon after the budget was passed was seen as an attempt to stem any move by the opposition, who hold the majority of seats in the193-seat house, to force the speaker to table the issue of floor-crossing.

Rita Kalikokha of Dowa, a rural district in central Malawi, thinks about abandoning school every time she menstruates. The hard-working, resolute 13-year-old attends a primary school that has no running water. All 350 pupils at Rita’s school have only two pit-latrines to share, and there is no tap where they can wash their hands after using the toilet. Rita says she and other adolescent girls find these poor sanitation conditions even more awkward when it is time for their monthly periods: 'It’s so difficult to concentrate in class when you know there is no water to clean up with at break time. I usually prefer staying home every time my menses come.'

When the first cases of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) were reported in South Africa in 2006, the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged other countries in the region to improve their laboratory capacity and implement infection control measures. But Malawi still cannot test for the virtually untreatable TB strain. Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) strains cannot be treated by at least two of the main first-line TB drugs, while XDR-TB is resistant to most first and second-line drugs, severely limiting treatment options.

A project to mine uranium in northern Malawi next year promises to spur economic development in the area, but fears of serious health hazards associated with the radioactive element have aroused the country's civil society. The Malawian government granted a mining licence in April 2007 to Paladin Africa Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian company, Paladin Resources Ltd, to develop the Kayelekera uranium deposit, 40km west of the town of Karonga on the shore of Lake Malawi.

A joint project by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Malawian government is helping small-scale farmers to expand into commercial food production. Initially, 50 "lead farmers" from around the country will receive training in business management skills and planning. "The project intends to equip farmers with knowledge that would enable them to take farming as business," said Mazlan Jusoh, the FAO's country representative in Malawi.

On 13 July 2007, the High Court in Blantyre nullified the composition of the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) board because its members did not qualify for appointment. In his ruling, Judge Frank Kapanda said it was wrong for President Bingu wa Mutharika to appoint the board members while excluding old members of the board. Kapanda issued an order stopping the board members from exercising their functions and another requiring the President to comply with the Communications Act.

Malawi's death row prisoners are breathing more easily after three High Court judges unanimously agreed in a test case that the courts are not bound to sentence anyone to death for murder, as this would be a violation of that person's human rights. "The mandatory death penalty violates an individual's right that protects one from inhuman treatment or punishment and denies them the right to fair trial and have the sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal," said Justice Elton Singini, reading out the joint judgment on Apr. 27.

Malawian farmers have had a good year, enjoying their best maize harvest in 12 years or more. So why, in a year of "historic plenty", is Malawi yet again on the receiving end of food aid, asks Alex Renton in Britain's Observer newspaper. Malawi suffered food crises in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Last year it produced a 250,000-tonne surplus of maize, yet still received over 40,000 tonnes of food aid from the United States.

Malawi's utilisation of energy resources is heavily dominated by firewood, which provides 93 percent of all energy needs. Current annual household consumption of firewood and charcoal are at 7.5 million tons, exceeding sustainable supply by 3.7 million tons. Poverty and population growth in the country are placing escalating pressures on Malawi's indigenous forests which, the ministry of environment says, translates into an annual destruction of approximately 50,000 to 70,000 hectares of forest.

MISA reports that on May the 23rd 2007, Caroline Somanje, a senior reporter working with Blantyre Newspapers Limited was fired from her job for writing a story that implicated a Catholic priest and a bank manager. Somanje was summoned to a disciplinary hearing after she wrote a story on the front page of one of Blantyre Newspapers publications, The Daily Times, on May 14 which implicated the two as having an affair with a married woman.

The number of HIV-positive children accessing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment in Malawi is increasing, despite a scarcity of suitable paediatric formulas. An official in the health ministry, speaking under condition of anonymity, confirmed that adult tablets still had to be cut into smaller doses to treat children, but said this was a minor obstacle.

"Our educational system will have to come to terms with what has come to be popularly known as ICT or information and communications technology. For better or for worse this medium has come to influence and shape our lives in a way that even communication prophets like Marshall McLuhan could never have imagined", writes Prof Felix Mnthali, on the Malawian education system.

Small-scale farmers in Malawi are becoming aware that they are bearing the brunt of climate change, which has been adversely affecting productivity, according to a new study by an international aid agency. "Changing rainfall patterns and higher temperatures have forced farmers to shorten the growing season and switch to more expensive hybrid crops," said a report based on the study, 'Climate change and smallholder farmers in Malawi', by Action Aid International.

In Malawi – where 16 women die every day giving birth or during pregnancy – the Government has kicked off a United Nations-backed campaign to combat maternal and infant death. “Pregnancy and childbirth are supposed to be joyful occasions,” said Esperance Fundira, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative in Malawi.

The Strategies for Hope Trust announces the launch of 'Time to Talk: a guide to family life in the age of AIDS'. 'Time to Talk' is intended for use with church groups by pastors, lay preachers, religious Sisters, catechists, trainers, leaders of Christian men's and women's organisations and other lay church leaders. It is based on a series of workshops for local church leaders and their spouses, run by the Anglican Diocese of Southern Malawi.

A stream that has sliced a narrow channel down the side of a rocky plateau in southern Malawi represents the best hope for making the refugees of Luwani Camp self-sufficient. If the UN refugee agency succeeds in finding the funds it seeks, a 15-metre-high dam will be built to block the gap through the extremely hard hornblende rocks and a portion of the Nkhombe River will be diverted into a pipe to transform agriculture at the refugee camp some 12 kilometres away.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has reportedly intensified corruption investigations against former president Bakili Muluzi, casting the net wide to include Tanzania and South Africa after probes in the United States and the United Kingdom allegedly yielded nothing incriminating

Aids-ravaged Malawi launched a two-day national debate on Wednesday on whether to adopt male circumcision in a bid to reduce the levels of HIV infection in the south-east African country.

As the planting season draws to a close, the Malawian government has pronounced its subsidised fertiliser programme a success, but some small-scale farmers claim they have yet to benefit.

Chisomo Jonasi, 12, who lives in Lirangwe, on the outskirts of Blantyre, Malawi's second city, lost both his parents to AIDS-related illnesses 18 months ago. He now spends most of his time doing odd jobs in people's gardens to support his three siblings, the youngest of which is five.