By the time police swept into the poshest suburb of Malawi's capital and surrounded the high red walls of house number 159 it was too late. Peter Wang had disappeared, leaving behind a family, a criminal empire and a gaping hole in what was supposed to be a triumph over elephant poaching.

The Malawi Human Rights Commission has observed with "great concern" public utterances from some quarters - especially politicians - that carry racial discrimination overtones. "The Commission has also received complaints from indigenous and non-indigenous Malawians, as well as people of other nationalities, that they have been victims of racial abuse," said a press release.

A senior public servant assaulted journalist McDonald Chapalapata, of "The Nation" newspaper on November 28. "He pounced on me as I took notes and I fell to the floor. He smashed my cell phone and my company dictaphone against a wall," Chapalapata, who sustained injuries to his face and arm, told NAMISA.

Population growth, land pressure and decreasing agricultural productivity have led to severe economic, ecological and social challenges in the Mulanje District of Malawi. As a result the area is experiencing structural violence, an extended socio-economic crisis, and the potential for violent conflict is slowly building up.

The Malawi Minister of Agriculture, Aleke Banda, has declared total war on hunger because he hates to see his government begging food from donors. He says the country has water and fertile land in abundance.

The Malawi government has yet to repay seven-million dollars to the European Union after the funds, intended for the health budget, went missing last August, a news report said last Wednesday.

President Bakili Muluzi has warned that he will start snatching maize from NGOs who are politicizing the distribution of the commodity in rural area.

Often some government and donor officials have denied that Malawi will privatise nearly every lifeline. But progress indicates that the government intends to privatise institutions providing food security in Malawi, water, electricity and more. This will translate into the livelihood of the people being at the mercy of 'forces of the market'. This privatisation behaviour has been opposed by civil society, says this briefing from the Malawi Economic Justice Network.

One thousand people are likely to die of diarrhea and cholera this rainy season due to 6000 broken down water points, which have not been rehabilitated. Health analysts are saying this is despite efforts by UNICEF-Malawi and the Malawi government.

The High Court of Malawi has overturned a Presidential banning order on demonstations. Justice Edward Twea said the order was "unconstitutional and wholly unreasonable".

Corruption and a food crisis were to blame for Malawi's failure to honour financial agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the finance minister has said. The fund suspended $47 million in aid to Malawi after the government failed to implement agreed fiscal discipline measures. Other donors, including Britain, the US and the European Union, have also withheld funds.

A new paper "State of disaster: Causes, consequences & policy lessons from Malawi" finds that, as with other famines, a combination of 'technical' issues and 'political' problems has conspired to create a humanitarian crisis. The paper is available at www.eldis.org, where a wide range of links on the current crisis in Malawi can also be found.

Many young people in southern Africa engage in AIDS-related migration. What are the patterns of this migration? What are the difficulties facing these children and how do they cope? What can be done to make it easier for them? Research conducted with urban and rural-based children in Lesotho and Malawi revealed that children are commonly sent to live with relatives resident elsewhere. They move in order to receive care, to care for others, or to support their own livelihoods.

In the next three years, the Agricultural Input Markets Development project aims to address constraints to sustainable agricultural development and improve smallholder farmers access to seed variants, fertiliser and crop protection products in the country. This ambitious project hopes to transform drought-hit Malawi into a possible food exporter.

The director will be responsible for ensuring the centre fulfils its three main designed functions: 1. Operational research in reproductive health care, 2. training in reproductive health, 3. knowledge base and network hub. Chichewa and English fluency preferred.

The Research Triangle Institute (RTI) is looking for a HIV/AIDS Policy/Advocacy Specialist for a 4-year USAID project focusing on behavior change to reduce HIV prevalence and reduce number of partners in Malawi to begin in January 2003.

While Malawi celebrates the onset of much needed rain, the government and a group of NGOs have started their assault against malaria by dramatically slashing the price of insecticide-treated mosquito nets. About eight million Malawians suffer from malaria every year, and up to 5,000 people die of the preventable disease which is spread by mosquitoes mainly during the rainy season.

Interference in the judiciary and an increase in the alleged harassment of journalists in Malawi are issues that the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) aims to address in a plan to promote and protect human rights in the country. The plan being drafted in consultation with civil society and the government, would study rights that include civil, political and economic, and compare "gaps" between what the constitution enshrined and the government's performance.

Opposition parties in the country are working out ways to contest together the forthcoming general elections, president of the Malawi Congress Party Gwanda Chakuamba says.

European Union Head of Delegation, Wiepk van der Goot, says Malawi can get out of its hunger situation and dependence on food aid through growing different types of crops and using irrigation practices during the winter season. Food security can also be diversified into income security through the growing of crops for sale and consumption, he says.